Do you know any 20 minute dinners for £2?

[TheIndisputableRuth]

I've set myself a challenge to find nice dinner recipes (for 4) that cost about £2 and take 20 minutes (or less) to make.

So far:

Pasta, feta & spinach
500 g pasta (Aldi 29p)
300g feta cheese crumbled (Aldi (£97p)
250 g frozen spinach (Asda £35p)
50 ml olive oil (Aldi 15p)
25 ml spoon basalmic vinegar (Aldi 5p)
i/2 teaspon garlic granules (Asda 10p)

Put pasta on
Defrost spinach in microwave & cook a bit
Squeeze out spinach
Mix all ingredients together in a big bowl

Do you know any?
I'll post some more when I can.

[TheIndisputableRuth]

Thank you for more brilliant ideas.
This is basically my meal planning page!

[sharond101]

I normally cook from scratch but being extra tired today got some Iceland own vegetable burgers (89p) and some sesame seed rolls (Lidl 5 for 50p) and served with salad and it was delicious. The burgers were lovely and took 20 mins to cook.

[atticusclaw]

chicken and pea risotto comes out at about £2. Arborio rice fried off in a little butter or olive oil just so that its coated, handful of chopped onions sweated off. Add garlic, some chopped herbs if you have them and chicken stock. Keep adding stock until all absorbed and the rice is soft. Add a handful of frozen peas and a handful chopped cooked chicken (we use roast dinner leftovers) towards the end. You can add any vegetables you like and I also like to add a lump of boursin if there's any around (I always have some in the freezer and just carve off a lump when I need it).

Leftovers pasta bake is a staple here. Any leftover cooked meat added to pasta shells a tin of tomatoes, herbs to season, some chopped veg all thrown into a pyrex dish and bunged in the oven. Towards the end add some cheese on top. I save any leftovers of garlic bread and pizza and blitz them in the food mixer and then freeze the crumbs. Makes a great tasty crunch topping for pasta bake.

[ShoeWhore]

Chickpea and pasta soup - my dcs love this. Not sure if it costs

[riverboat1]

There's a great recipe for 'green eggs and ham' in Nigella Express. Basically pancakes with a dollop of pesto in them, folded up around slices of ham, and I always add grated cheese too. Not sure on pricing, but I don't think it's much.

[guyropegirl]

Chickpea curry

Main ingredients
2 tin chickpeas 70p
2 tins tomatoes 90p
Chopped carrots 20p
Chopped apple 20p

Fry onion with:
Cumin, coriander, tumeric, cardamon, mustard seeds and tbspn curry paste. Reduced down for about 15mins. Add a dash of Worcester sauce too and a chicken stock cube for more flavour.

[KikitheKitKat]

Gotta book mark this thread!

[Snog]

V cheap pud at the mo is to cook up blackberries and windfall apples/plums that have fallen onto public land and make into a crumble. Add custard if feeling flash. Small kids can make this themselves quite easily.

[lolalotta]

Oh and would mushrooms go in raw too?

[lolalotta]

Whatamess do you add chopped onion and if so does that need cooking first?

[TheIndisputableRuth]

Just did justicewoman 's halloumi & potatoes. It really was tasty and you can make a smallish dinner for 4 for £2 in 20 minutes (although probably would need to make more if you're hungry, so more like £2.50)

140g halloumi £1.03 Aldi
400g potatoes £25p "
Tin tomatoes 31p "
1/4 pack chopped frozen onions 37p Sainsburys
Shake of herbs & splash of oil let's say 5p if you get them from Aldi

Fry onions
Cube potatoes and half boil them (for speed I boil a kettle, then put them in the microwave for 10 minutes covered with the boiled water)
Cube halloumi
When potatoes are a bit soft add to onions & fry for a few minutes
Add tin of tomatoes
When hot add halloumi
Stir around

[PotteringAlong]

Bean stew? A couple of tins of mixed beans, tins of tomatoes and root veg (it'll nearly be the time when you get those stew packs for £1). Chilli flakes in it to give to some oomph.

Mop it up worth crusty bread - make your own to come under budget or buy a baguette if feeling flash!

[TheIndisputableRuth]

I was thinking about pancakes.
Will investigate. Thank you!

Thank you for the Jamie Oliver book, I didn't know he had a 15 minute one!

[BreezefromtheWest]

Have you seen Jamie Oliver's 15 min meal book - i have just made two cheap recipes from there - veg chilli with chick peas, black eye beans, peppers and falafels. Both are really good and although I haven't costed them, think they should be within your budget.

[PotteringAlong]

How about savoury pancakes? The pancake batter is pence, filled with scrambled egg, cheese and bacon would definitely come under the £2.

Or fill them with cheese, onion and fried potatoes (either fresh or tinned)?

[TheIndisputableRuth]

Thank you - brilliant ideas. I'll be back with costings and timings!

[Whatamessiamin]

It's farenheit so it will be about 200 degrees celcius

[Whatamessiamin]

This is great and super cheap to make!

Egg Muffins!!! These are one of my all-time favorite & EASY meal-preps.

Spray a muffin/cupcake pan w/ non-stick spray.
Fill with ANYthing you want: ham & broccoli, chicken & carrots, spinach w/ feta & tomatoes, steak & bell peppers....whatever you have in the fridge. (Note: add all veggies RAW - they will cook to perfection during the baking process)
Mix approx 1 egg per/muffin in a blender w/ a splash of milk. Pour directly into each cup just below the rim.
Top with shredded or sliced cheeses of your choice.
Bake at 425 degrees for approx 20 min.
Let cool before removing from pan
These can be stored in your fridge for up to 3-4 days! Simply warm in the microwave for a quick breakfast on-the-go!

[GilbertBlytheWouldGetIt]

Potato wedges and veggie chilli

[PotteringAlong]

Beans on toast!

[momwhereismy]

Marking my place :)

[justicewomen]

Im not sure of the costings but a family favourite is cubed halloumi and cubed saute potatoes stirred into a tomato sauce (ie fry onion, garlic, tinned tomatoes, pinches of dried oregano and mint) and warmed through until the halloumi has softened slightly. How much you make depends on hunger. Its really tasty

[bluestrawhat]

Lentil dhal, veggie curry, veggie chilli, beans on toast, scrambled egg on toast, omelette, baked potatoes and beans

[TheIndisputableRuth]

The potato thing sounds lovely though, so I'm doing it. The boiled potatoes could've been done a night or two before from another cooking session, to save time.

Thank you!