Need some (cheap) alternatives to cheese sauce, please share!

[CatchaChristmasStar]

Am sick of having cheese sauce on everything, not to mention the cost of the cheese now!

Need some easy and cheap sauce recipies for me and 18mo dd. I'm not very experienced in the kitchen lol, I'm good at what I make but it's all boring stuff now. Hoping to be able to spice things up a bit but on a budget!

I make a white sauce and add finely chopped mushrooms mushrooms and parsley, or some cooked spinach.

You don't need as much cheese as you think, especially not if you addm plenty of mustard and pepper to the sauce and use a very strong cheese. This actually makes it cheaper.

Other than that, what about passata? VERY easy and cheap.

I buy a tub of Bisto cheese sauce and add a small handful of grated cheese (or scraped cheese as DS calls it) with a pinch of mustard powder and a pinch of onion powder. Sauteed leeks or some chopped broccoli are nice too

I love passata too.

An easy tomato sauce is to fry an onion until soft then add some big red squishy tomatoes (about 3 big ones per adult) that you have taken the skins off and the seeds out. It is most theraputic to squidge them through your fingers into the onion then cook for a few mins until soft and squidgy. Tinned Tom sauce is not a patch on this! You can add timmed tuna to it too.

Make a cheese and ONION sauce. The flavour of the onions is enough that you only need a pinch of cheese, and onions are cheap enough.

These are good. Me and dd not overly fussy but I'd like to get better with my cooking, and need a bit more variety. Unfortunately because of the cost of everything we do have a budget for food. I have a cubord full of herbs and spices that don't really get used.

I just feel like I don't experiment enough. We have lots of pasta, potatoes and veg in our diets because they're all cheap to buy. Thought that a sauce could make it more different and less boring iykwim?

What's passata - yes I am that crap!

What about pesto and cream cheese? Really quick and easy stirred into pasta.
Or what about tomato and veg sauce? Chopped onions, garlic, tin of toms and chopped veg like mushrooms, pepper, courgette. If your DD is picky about veg you could always blend it so she can't see them!

Parsley sauce is great on ham or fish. Red sauce for pasta is easy. Just chop up an onion or leek, fry up, add any other veg, bung in a tin of tomatoes. Cook for a bit. I usually then blend it and either use it like that on pasta or add mince or tinned fish.

I make a nice tomato sauce using tinned toms, onions, mushrooms and peppers with a bit of chilli and some basil. That's almost a blognese without the mince though, and we have that weekly.

passata is sstrained tomatoes, and makes an excellent pasta sauce. It's with all the tomatoey 'stuff' and is about 40p a carton. Don't buy the dear stuff.

Soften some diced onion in a pan and some garlic if you want, too. Add a tin of tomatoes (just as good for you as fresh tomatoes), some herbs and some water and simmer. Cheap as chips passata ( a tomato based sauce - good for pasta and as a base for other dishes, like bolognese, rattatouille etc)

I cooked up some mushrooms and courgettes with onion because I couldn't be bothered and had it over pasta and it was surprisinly nice.

Maybe you could make a mild curry sauce - something with yoghurt?

We both love fish in butter/parsley/creamy sauces. Have some fish portions in the freezer that I've been staring at and wondering what to fo with. Could do a creamy sauce with mushrooms for them.....

I think I'm just a lazy 'cook', I have a few things I make well, and I just stick to them. I've bought some lovely cooking books but the fancyness of it all intimidates me lol

Fishcakes! Loads of mash, add in some tinned tuna, salmon, pilchards, a few boiled mashed veggies (slip in some turnip, broccoli, pumpkin, etc). They freeze well after you've cooked them.

Fishcakes, have never tried them, think dd would like them though.

Fiscakes are fab. Dead easy and very healthy!

Fishcakes are always good as is the passata type pasta sauces imho. If you are cooking veggies, put a few more in and instead of bubbpe and squeak what about bubble 'n' squeak 'patties', they freeze quite well and will recook in the oven to go 'crispy, or defrost and coat in breadcrumbs and fry.

Parsley sauce instead of cheese sauce, same bechamel base just put in parsley. Very mild peppercorn sauce (for 18mo dd), is very similar Forget the poncy a*se bit but you know what i mean?. Tbh DS likes a mild spicy flavour so this works well.

Packet Korma mix, herby and spicy?

It all depends on what you are trying to introduce your dd on to for flavour and texture. There is loads out there and the best critique is always..... [spits food out onto nicely prepared gourmet meal!!]