What’s your favourite cheap & healthy meals?

[Budget37477483]

Hia,

We are going on an economy drive! I am looking to expand my repertoire of cheap and healthy meals.

By healthy I don’t mean diet. I mean healthy as in still giving us good calories, good protein, dairy, carbs, veg etc. despite the lower budget.

What are your favourites?

No dhall please! 😂

We like fried rice with veggies- using brown rice, Shaksuka, and sweetpotatos with cottage cheese or sweet potato nachos.

Chicken rice tray bake, bake chicken legs seasoned with cajun seasoning alongside red onion, peppers and garlic in the oven till the chicken is done, take it out, mash the garlic then add rice, chicken stock and put it back in the oven with foil on it till the rice is done. I think its a Jamie oliver recipe

Savoury rice with chopped tofu, pepper, onion, and mixed beans chucked in.

Beans and toast (wholemeal bread, natch).

Anything with egg.

Sardine puttanesca
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/spaghetti-sardines

so cheap yet so delicious

Roasted vegetable and hummus wraps. Sometimes chuck some falafels in there with it.
Black bean burritos
Roasted veg and pesto gnocchi
Black bean enchiladas

Old fashioned Potato Hash made with 5% fat minced beef:

• 250g minced beef
• 1-2 onions, chopped
• 1-2 beef stock cubes
• Bisto powder and flour
• 2-4 carrots chopped
• 2 kg potatoes, peeled and chopped into biggish chunks.

Fry onions in a little oil. Add beef and brown. Add beef stock cubes and water to cover. Simmer for 10 minutes or so. Add carrots. Simmer another 10 minutes. Add potatoes. Simmer until almost done. Make a thickener with heaped teaspoon of Bisto and heaped teaspoon flour and water. Pour gradually into hash whilst stirring. Stir until thickened and simmering. Simmer 10 minutes or so. You can serve it as it is or pour into a large pie dish and top with pastry to make it really filling. This is a recipe from my childhood that I have reverted to during the COL crisis. You can make it your own by adding more meat, fewer or more potatoes, different stock powder or cubes. Feeds at least 4. A 750g pack of beef will cost around £6.50 which means you can make 3 of these for around £2.20 plus onions, carrots, potatoes.

Random veg pasta - whatever veg needs to be used cooked up with a tin of tomatoes and herbs and seasoning, finish with cheese on top

Also chilli. Can pack in loads of veg and will make several portions.

Smashed chicken flatbreads
Take chicken mince with herbs spices of choice flatten on a wrap and fry meat side down when cooked fill with salad and sauce if choice
Quick tasty and cheap

Jacket potato with beans, cheese, chili, tuna anything really.

Mackerel fajitas - tinned mackerel, onions & peppers, fry with garlic, cumin and paprika, served in warm wraps or pitta.

Or get a bag of flour and make your own flatbreads - dead cheap and quick and easy!

Butter beans or chickpeas in a curry with a bag of spinach.

I find powdered soup mix great or tinned soup. Its very flavoursome so you can add your own lentils/chickpeas veg/potatoes and can be put on the fridge or freezer for other days. Many are healthy except for the higher salt and making a big pot will bring it down. Very economical and nutritious. Homemade bruchetta is handy too. The balsamic vinegar, olive oil, frozen garlic, basil in a pot from Tesco will last weeks

Good one. I do this.

oh, no dhal
this is lovely
Gigantes Plaki – COOKING ON A BOOTSTRAP

Chicken legs are a great buy. A kilo is around £2.50-£3. Can be roasted on a tray to make a massive Sunday dinner with lots of roast potatoes and vegetables.

I love threads like this. Real people swapping great ideas which actually work. Not like some silly Jamie Oliver ideas which use small amounts of expensive ingredients. Or those ‘feed your family for a week for £20’ articles which allow for one meal a day. How many families eat one meal a day for goodness sake?

Risotto with mixed veggies and bacon.
spaghetti bolognese
chicken thighs and vegetable tray bake
vegetable curry and rice
chicken enchilada bake with green salad
ham, egg and chips

Your chicken recipe sounds good.

cauliflower cheese
i usually add a bit of macaroni,
and leek
and top with mozzarella
we eat this weekly

Does cake count as annoying with egg? 🤞🏼😁

I sometimes do cheesy leeks on toast for breakfast or lunch - leeks sauteed - I use the low cal spray. Seasoned to taste, stir in some grated cheese - mozzarella would be lower in calories, but I usually have cheddar to hand. On wholemeal toast. I often find leeks are reduced in price at my local shop, but they keep for a good while in the fridge.

Frittata

Panko mushroom burgers - those big mushrooms, take out the stalk. Coat in beaten egg then breadcrumbs (I use panko, but you could use whatever you have), air fry till golden. Serve in a bun with whatever you want in the bun/on the side. I usually do Sriracha mayo, salad and chips.

There's a fabulous cook called Amy Sheppard online. I've seen her on Facebook, but she may well be in other spaces too. She does chicken mince balls for a roast dinner. Basically just mix 500g of chicken mince with a pack of stuffing mix. Shape into balls and cook. Easy, cheap, low fat and delicious. Serve with veg and gravy. She does straightforward home cooking. Totally recommend having a look at her other posts! (I'm not connected to her in any way)

Overnight oats using frozen fruit.

As well as Greek yogurt, obviously!

I love Amy’s recipes so delish 🤤

Mines a bit basic but buy - large pack of mince- the higher fat ones are so much tastier and cheaper- then I make spag Bol, cottage pie, chilli out of it, burgers sometimes. I think the main thing is make sure you have a good spice cupboard!

I grew up on a variation of this made with corned beef rather than mince. Method otherwise basically identical.

I think I need to make both versions soon!

We love a rice dish made with chorizo. A little goes a long way for flavour. So fry off slices off chorizo to release the oils, then soften onion in the oil. Add garlic chopped peppers, courgettes, mushrooms (whatever you have/ like really), then shake over some paprika and/ or Cajun spices. Add in rice, cover in stock and simmer until the liquid is absorbed/rice is cooked. If you have leftover scraps of meat from a roast then it's great with chicken in. Or a tin of cannelini or other small beans for extra protein.