Cheap meal ideas including cooking cost

[Chersfrozenface]

I've found several sites with meals for £1 per portion, but that only seems to include the ingredients (and often doesn't include the cost of things like spices, herbs, oils, flour, that you're supposed to keep in your store cupboard).

For instance, on the BBC website, there's a recipe for leek and cheese filo tart. But the cooking time is given as 30 minutes to 1 hour, including at least 25 minutes in the oven, which has to be pre-heated.

So are there any collections of recipes for meals that are cheap in terms of total cost of ingredients and cooking?

A big massive lasagne with 50/50 lentils and meat and add in veg. Only needs to be cooked once then can microwave portions.

Daal - fry up onions in butter or oil until v soft with garlic, cumin and coriander, plus chilli to taste. Add red lentils and water, and cook until all soft. Add salt to taste. Does require some spices, but the other ingredients (onion, lentils) are so cheap that the spices can be justified in a shop. Plus once you have them, can use for other recipes. I make a big batch so that you're only using the hob once, then defrost and quick reheat in the microwave. Serve with rice or bread.

Creamy mushroom pasta - fry onion, garlic and mushrooms. Add to pasta with big dollop of cream cheese, salt and pepper. Mix it all up and ready to go.

Chickpea curry - stove top and only takes 15 minutes if using tinned chickpeas. I use curry paste from a jar, as this will last about 4 curries and use tinned tomato

curry paste £2
chickpeas 50p
tinned tomato 40p
onions £1 bag

then I use this rice Here

I double quantify of curry to microwave

and put onion chopped in with rice & mushrooms or peppers if I have them

eat two nights running with pitta breads on side

Shakshuka with crusty bread (use frozen peppers to save money / prevent food waste)

Tortilla wraps with either black or refried beans (heat in microwave) then cheese, sour cream, chopped up tomatoes, bit of lettuce, rice if you can be bothered.

Root veg stew with mash.

Sweet corn fritters e.g. something like this: www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/sweetcorn_fritters_46558/amp but you can drop the cayenne and spring onions. With potato salad and steamed veg.

'Buddha bowl' with couscous, dollop of houmous, chopped salad, then some kind of protein (quick fried halloumi, tofu, spiced chickpeas, hard boiled egg).

Homemade soup, any veggies you have that need using up (would prob batch cook this one).

Jambalaya

All soups are cheap, use up whatever you have, blend or not, have with toast. Leek and potato soup is very nice. Omelettes are cheap, although added extras like ham and cheese increase the cost. Make dhal with rice, and make extra rice to have fried egg rice with peas and carrots the next day. Grilled cheese on toast or Welsh rarebit. Fish cakes made with mash (packet Idahoan mash is £1 and very nice) and onions and tinned fish. Bubble and squeak with a fried egg. Curried eggs - spices are quite cheap if you buy from the Indian section in bags rather than jars and last forever. Cauliflower soufflé is delicious. Macaroni cheese (can add mushrooms or bacon for extra flavour and protein). Kidneys in gravy on toast. Spaghetti with tomato's and tinned tuna.

The bags of rice are great if your a small household. You can do stir fry’s with them as well.
www.deliciousmagazine.co.uk/recipes/fried-halloumi-with-warm-harissa-rice-and-chickpea-salad/

www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/spring-green-fried-rice-eggs

I buy the lazy garlic, chillis and ginger (well lidls own)

I always cook extra rice, cool quickly and store in the fridge.
I use it to make nasi goreng, stir fry frozen mixed veg with some chilli paste (I use gochujang) and then add the cooked rice. Stir to combine and reheat it then add some sweet soy sauce or kejup manis and serve topped with a fried egg and sriracha to taste.
Takes under 10 minutes and if you have an Asian supermarket then the ingredients are fairly cheap and last ages.

Some great ideas. And come to think of it, there's an Asian supermarket round the corner!

If you do put the oven on to cook, then at the same time cook jacket potato and maybe another dish for later in the week that can be heated in the microwave.

This not only save energy but effort and time

Get a halogen oven. You can cook basically anything you can cook in an oven, it cooks quicker and doesn't need time to preheat. I hardly use my oven now.

Slow cookers or pressure cookers are also good. If course you need the money to buy one in the first place - Asda has a slow cooker for £13

Alternatively, if you're putting the oven on then put more stuff in it. I made a lasagne, crumble and a casserole, put them all in the oven together rather than separately and also chucked in a few baked potatoes to fill the space. It will use slightly more energy than an empty oven for the same length of time, but you would only put it on once rather than 3 times so overall would save.

I have discovered that if you shred meat to go in a sauce it goes a lot further than if you chop it. I've just made two individual chicken and vegetable pies for DH and me with just one small chicken thigh. If it's shredded you get some chicken in each mouthful and it feels like you have more.
I've also found I can cook pies in the air fryer. I browned fish pie in there last night and have done my chicken pies in there tonight. Saves heating the big oven up and takes less time.