Let's do this..... budget but delicious!

[MissReginaPhilange]

Right I've seen so many threads about feeding a family for "x amount " weekly and they are cropping up all over the spot. I propose to start a thread with recipe ideas for meals along with rough costs. Share the knowledge and the savings. I am not on a particularly tight budget but personally hate spending loads on food, especially when I know I can cook a decent meal from scratch. So let's have some ideas!
Also side note, a lot of my cooking does include recipes for gluten/nut/dairy/soya/egg allergies as these are the known allergies so far of my youngest. Some recipes are what I cook dp and the other kids.
Off to find some good ones.....ill be back!!

Pasta in creamy mushroom sauce

1 packet 'basics' tagliatelle - 60p
1 or 2 pots of basic cream cheese - 50p (£1)
1 packet of mushrooms - £1

boiling water
drop of cooking oil
salt and pepper

Cook the pasta for 10 mins, then turn off the hob and leave the pasta in the water.

While it is cooking slice the mushrooms

Heat the oil and fry the mushrooms with salt and pepper, one the mushrooms are cooked add the cream cheese (1/3 - 1/2 tub per person) stir into the mushrooms, add a little of the pasta cooking water if it looks too thick.

drain the pasta and add to the mushrooms and cream cheese.

A full packet of pasta and 2 pots of cream cheese would be 4 generous helpings for £2.60 plus oil and seasoning, maybe £2.80

Ahhh sounds yummy :)
Will be popping some up soon , just got back from an overnight hospital visit with the youngest

Broccolli & cheese soup

Head of broccolli (60p)
Stock cube (veg or chicken) (20p)
Half a tub of cream cheese (full fat tastes best) (70p)
Baguette (£1)

Chop up broccolli into big chunks.
Simmer in enough water to cover, with stock cube, for 10 mins.
Add cream cheese, blend until smooth.

Eat with baguette

Oooh great thread.

Thank you!

Sardines on toast.

Open a tin of sardines in tomato sauce and tip into bowl.
Grind black pepper, a pinch of salt, half tablespoons of Worcester sauce, chilli flakes if you fancy and stir/mash it all together til sardines have broken up into small flakes

Meanwhile, brown seeded bread under grill, toast . Turn, lightly butter, return under grill to toast very gently. Take out and spread with sardines, return to grill to heat through.
Serve.

Costs Pennies I tell ya.

packet of frankfert sausages.jar of dolmio(own brand version of pasta sauce) packet of fusilli.grating of cheese.cook pasta and sausages.cut the sausages into pasta.add jar of sauce grate some cheese over..done.delcious.

tin of beans.packet of sausages.tin of tomatos.-sausage and beans bake.serve either topped or garlic bread on the side.

This is really delicious and cheap too. I had it somewhere and got the recipe, and I make it quite often now. realfood.tesco.com/recipes/coconut-dhal.html

Packet of Tesco basics vegetable/golden rice (25p), jar of basic sweet n sour sauce (85p) pack of sausages, plus steamed broccoli. Cook sausages while rice is cooking, and heat sauce.

Serve sausages on the rice, broccoli on the side, pour sauce over the sausages.

Cut some courgettes into long fine matchsticks. Soften in butter, add a good squeeze of lemon, some shredded mint and a handful of grated parmesan. Add some freshly cooked linguine. Salt and pepper - Delicious

Thunder and lightning - my mum made this for me when I was a kid, then I ate it all the time as student, and reviving it with my kids.

Pasta 45p
Onion or red onion - sliced, softened and caramelised in some oil (8p/5p)
Tin of chickpeas 39p
50g finely grated cheese
Salt and pepper (garlic or paprika if feeling fancy)
Drain the pasta and chickpeas, throw it all in a pan together and heat till the cheese goes melty.

So good. Like the 1970s in a bowl. The above serves 2 adults and a kid easily.

Great idea OP
@sashh, where are you getting basics tagliatelle from please?

tuna splodge-cook pasta
tin of condensed tomato cambells soup(is it batchelors now)
stir in a tin of tuna

Huevos rancheros

Take a big frying pan
Fry an onion and a pepper until soft
Add a couple of cloves of garlic and a teaspoon of chilli powder
(Or if you've got it handy flavour with chopped up chorizo instead)
Add a tin of tomatoes and a tin of beans, including the water
Cook for 20 minutes until mixture is quite thick
Make wells with a spoon and crack an egg into each one
Cover (I use a baking sheet for this) and cook for a few minutes, depending on how you like your eggs

Sometimes I add some spinach or cooked ham or coriander

Serve with value tortilla chips sprinkled with grated cheddar flashed under the grill

Costs pennies, looks pro and really much more filling than you would imagine.

I made 8 portions of chilli con carne for about £8 the other day. Used this recipe - www.bbc.com/food/recipes/chilliconcarne_67875 but omitted the coriander and lime (you can omit the wine too - I already had some open).

Butternut Squash and Black Bean Chilli

400g cubed butternut squash (£1 I buy frozen prepared )
2 400g tins of black beans, drained and rinsed (55p each)
Red onion, diced (15p)
2 400g tins chopped tomatoes (31p each)
2 tbsp Chilli powder (10p)
2 tbsp Ground cumin (10p)
2 tbsp Smoked paprika (10p)

Total cost - £3.17

Put everything in a pan and simmer until the flavour have come together - about 30 mins

One of my favourite meals! Makes 4 huge portions

MartagonLilies

Tesco - I've just had a look and it isn't basics but it is 65p a pack.

I suppose you could also do the same dish with spaghetti, that's only 20p

www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/250211356?sc_cmp=ppcGHS+-+Grocery+-+NewPX+%7C+Shopping+GSC+%7C+All+Products+%2B+Tesco+BrandPRODUCT+GROUP250211356&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIueOd1Kmv2wIVCJ7VCh0vDgHxEAQYASABEgIacvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds&dclid=CJPeoNapr9sCFWkC0wodShAIKg

Pea and bacon risotto

Cooking bacon - 60p a pack I use 1/3
Frozen peas -20p
Risotto rice - 60p
Stock cube - 10p
2 Eggs - 30p
That feeds 2 adults and a toddler

Cook the risotto rice with stock as per instructions.

Chop the bacon in to small lardons and fry until crispy

Stir in peas and bacon (save some for the top) whilst you poach an egg

Risotto in bowl, egg on top, sprinkle with bacon - heaven!

Good knob butter or long splash of oil
An onion
A carrot
A sweet potato
A white potato
Half tin chickpeas
Big handful lentils
Water to just cover veg.

Chop all veg, fry in oil for five mins. Add chickpeas and lentils. Bayleaf/garlic salt etc if you have it. Cover with water. Simmer for 20 mins till soft. Wait five mins, remove baykeaf, blend till chunky. Mega filling and makes tons. Can add chopped spinach at the end.

Could add curry powder and can coconut milk to make it interesting. Or oregano and tinned Tom's to make it Italian.

Obv add s and p to taste

Love the sound of the butternut and black bean chili! Straight on the shopping list thank you

Ahhh amazing guys !fab ideas. Sorry I'm in and out hospital visits etc been quite tied up.

Haven't got costs to hand but here's the first one of mine. Easy but amazing and tasty .

Carrots
Sweet potato
Parsnips
2 chicken stock cubes

Peel and chop veg, boil til soft and add stock cubes and blend. Doesnt matter on amounts of veg I differ everytime I make it. So very yum. Will find the prices and recipe for the homemade bread that goes with it that costs about 70p per loaf

Learn to love chicken thighs. They are so cheap. I think Lidl do them for £1.79 a pack.

Season and cook them slowly on a lower heat - about 160

Take out and whilst still warm, strip the meat off and use in all kinds of recipes from pasta to soup to sandwiches. You get loads of meat. And it tastes better than breast

Excellent thread! Placemarking so I can come back later with my own suggestions

My tip is to keep broccoli stalks and clean cauli leaves (in a bag in the freezer if necessary): basically the bits you would throw away (except the really manky bits..they can go!).
Sweat a sliced onion in a knob of butter. Add stock and the chopped leftover B+C. . Blitz to smoothness and season to taste.
Yummy soup. Cost (presuming that you have used leftovers veg offcuts) one onion, one knob of butter. If you don't make stock with leftover bones/veg etc then add the cost of 2 stock cubes.
I have served this with a swirl of cream, a twist of black pepper and a parmesan crisp at a dinner party and no-one could have guessed it was practically free.

Place marking also. We are a very big family and i love budget recipes. Especially when they’re quick to cook too. I’ll come back and add my own later.