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! 😂

My ex MIL used to make these in the 1960s/1970s ( there was a big age gap between us 😀) Thank you for reminding me!

Tuna pasta salad.

Tonight I'm doing chicken flatbreads. Chicken thighs (pretty cheap) marinaded in a mix of lemon juice, pepper, chilli, mixed herbs and garlic puree.
Cover and cook in the oven then when done remove the skins and bones and shred the meat with two forks (like pulled pork)
Serve with flatbreads and salad, cheese/mayo/chilli sauce etc if you want them

Pink pickled onions are also good with this (finely slice a red onion or two, put in a bowl and cover with boiling water. Drain after 10 mins or when you remember! Season well, add dried chilli flakes plus the juice of one orange and two limes - bottled juices can be easier and cheaper. Squish it all together with your hands, cover and leave to rest till you're ready to eat)
I like a yoghurt sauce too - cheap plain yoghurt mixed up with a bit of lemon juice and garlic puree, season to taste

May accidentally find some chips fall into the oven too....

Pasta with mushrooms, garlic and cream. So simple and cheap. But delicious.

Liver and onions, devilled kidneys, stuffed hearts.

I do something similar. Great stomach filler 😀

This is one of mine too, very tasty, quick and cheap.

Cottage pie is another, bulk mince out with red lentils and serve with frozen veg.

Courgette, tomato and bell pepper with orzo.
Courgette Discs (.5cm) quartered and flash fried in the electronic pressure cooker a touch of olive oil with finely sliced onion until they are starting to go a little translucent. Add frozen sliced peppers, a tin of decent toms, a load of crushed garlic and herbs/spices and seasoning to your preference ( I just buy whichever is most cost effective- usually Italian mixed herbs and some dried chilli flakes and paprika).
Cook down in the pressure cooker and then chuck some orzo in for a final few mins. I have been known to use pearl barley or random tins of canned beans to give extra fibre. DD insists on adding olives and capers but they are completely optional.

Red lentil bolognese.

Pasta e fagioli and pasta e ceci. Jim at sip and feast does a lovely recipe.

Red beans and rice.
https://damndelicious.net/2019/04/15/red-beans-and-rice/

Turtle bean burgers. Mash cooked turtle bean burgers, mix with tinned sweetcorn, season with chilli and fresh coriander. Form into patties. Chill them till firm then fry. The patties freeze too.

Get a couple of duck legs and teriyaki them. Put them in an oven dish with water, soy and mirin and slow cook them. Shred the meat. You can use it to make donburi, fried rice etc. You don't need much as it's a rich flavour.

Pancakes are cheap to make, fill them with chopped veg and tomato sauce, top with cheese and oven bake.

Bolognese or chilli and bulk out with a tin of lentils and lot of veg.
Make a roast chicken and use the leftovers for something else and make soup from the bones.
Make a roast beef and Make stovies or broth from the leftovers.

Wow these are so good. Thanks everyone.

I am starting at the top and this week doing a couple of chicken traybakes (bulk buy the thighs!); one with rice. one with potatoes.

Have a recipe for a potato one that I like…

And also going to do the puttanesca pasta I always see everyone talking about.

Keep them coming! 😊

Put on basic supermarket pasta to cook. Basic supermarket tomato pasta sauce, add tin of tuna, stir until bubbling then drain pasta then stir in tuna/tomato sauce. Sauce and tuna cost together about £1.30 plus pasta and the best news is it takes about 10/15 minutes total to cook.

Veg and bean tagine, with cous-cous.

I do something similar but without the mozzarella. I grate odds and ends of cheese like Parmesan, cheddar and keep it in a box in the fridge; good for sauces, toppings and cheese on toast 🙂

bean chilli with lots of added sweet potato and other veg. Make a huge batch and freeze a bunch. Then have the chilli various ways - with rice or quinoa, on jacket potato/sweet potato, as quesadillas, stuffed peppers (with added rice or quinoa), nachos.

lentil curry or soup.

No, it’s not basic, it’s a great idea. And you are so right about higher fat being tastier.
I often buy 2 kilos of higher fat mince (15% - 20%). I sautè 3/4 chopped onions, add the meat until brown. I add nothing else. Not even salt or pepper. Then I freeze it in portions labelled Batch Mince.
It’s very handy because the batch mince can be used for so many different dishes.