Share your favourite cheap home made meals.

[JudithOnHolidayAgain]

DD requested soup tonight as she isn't feeling great. She loves lentil and root veg so I made a 5L pot full and we all had it with cheese and crusty bead.
Soups are a family staple. Tasty, nutritious and cheap to make.....today's cost about £2.50 for the whole pot, with plenty left over.
What are your go to cheap family meals?

Chickpea and spinach curry (with frozen spinach). Ready in 20 mins.

Sounds great....care to share your recipe?
I have spinach in the freezer and chickpeas in the larder.

Veg curry. I steam half a large cauliflower, two big carrots, a tin of kidney beans and 8oz frozen green beans. Then mix them with whatever curry sauce I feel like making.

1 tin of heinze baked beans drained (keep the sauce in a separate bowl)

Mash half the beans and mix together, add a dash of salt and white pepper plus 2-47 garlic cloves crushed.

Grate 250g mature cheddar cheese add 3/4 mix, add breadcrumbs by the spoonfuls until the mixture is able to be rolled into balls without sticking too much to your fingers.

Chill in the fridge for an hour, press into patties, dust with plain flour and fry off in some oil and butter each side until golden brown.

Plate up with wedges or alone, a small amount of cheese on each pattie and microwave the bean sauce until nuclear, pour on top and enjoy.

Using it up pasta bake
pasta plus tinned tomatoes/passata plus whatever veg, bits of meat and cheese you have left in the fridge at the end of the week!
ham, sweetcorn, onion, courgette, peppers, tomatoes all work great

To be honest, there isn’t a consistent flavour because I do it from my head. The secret is to cook the onions low and slowly and add a lot of salt. Garlic, ginger if you have it. Turmeric, cumin, chilli - any other Indian spices or a mild curry powder. Chickpeas (1 or 2 tins). Frozen spinach. Sometimes I add a tin of tomatoes or just some water. Lemon juice can be helpful. Bit of yoghurt to make it a bit creamy at the end or if it’s too spicy. It’s very adaptable! Tastes even better on the second day.

Thankyou @Mamamia35
I will give it a go.....that's how I cook too!!!🤣

Lentil stew in the pressure cooker. Saute onions and garlic in the bottom of the pressure cooker, then add dry lentils (red or brown), chopped up veg of whatever needs eating up in the fridge, rice or barley, and water or stock. Can throw in herbs and spices if you like. Bring it to pressure and in 10-15 minutes you have a tasty, healthy stew.

I love a veg curry for the diversity.
You can switch it up by the use of so many different vegetables, lots of spices, and my sauce usually has coconut milk in it, ladled over basmati rice.
Great to read of everyone's special curry recipes, an interesting thread @JudithOnHolidayAgain .
@TomatoSandwiches your recipe is a new one to me!
Copied it and I'm looking forward to making it, the DC's will love it!
Pasta bakes and lentil stew, thanks for great ideas!