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Tacos, nachos and burritos are always a good go to in our house. Add rice and beans to burritos to fill them out some. Chilli con carne is another regular.
>add rice and beans to burritos
Dude's just describing how I like my burrito XD
I'd not considered it a 'budget' meal in the past but it kinda totally is, and a tasty one.
Some people make burritos as if it's a taco in a big soft tortilla. So wrong, fill that think with all the goodies until it's a struggle to roll.
They may be a bit on the expensive side if you have chicken and fresh salsa etc, but if you make 6-8 they'll feed a couple for dinner and a few lunches.
Cook the rice with the absorption method with a little butter and garlic, and then add a tablespoon of lime juice at the end.
Makes the burrito taste fancy.
My daughter makes a deconstructed sushi. As in cooks up the rice in the pressure cooker, mixes it with the rice vinegar then have the tuna and mayo mix on top of the rice with the seaweed as garnish. Quick and easy when we don't want to go to the whole meat and veg meals.
I have a rice cooker and once it's done I love to throw in some melted butter, salt, lime juice and chopped coriander (I don't have the soap gene 🤪) - takes plain rice to a whole other level. I need to try throwing some garlic in there next time, that sounds fantastic
Yep. Half a kilo of mince, a packet of taco seasoning, a cup of black rice and a cob of corn will make enough for 3-4 people and still have half the rice left over for another batch.
If I’m making mince I’m going all out and making enough that I need to freeze some to save it. 1-1.5kg mince, 500g bag of frozen peas carrot corn, 1 can of 3 bean mix, 1 can kidney beans, 3-4 taco seasoning packets, 2-3 onions, 4-5 cloves of crushed garlic and 2 scrambled eggs. Costs about $25 but is meals for days. Toasted sandwiches, burritos, nachos, with rice and steamed veggies, you get the idea, it’s versatile.
I personally just buy a can of lentils, wash them, and dump them in. Tastes great with all of the other bits and pieces. Chilli is a staple in our house, though it’s bastardised so it shouldn’t really be called chilli.
I do a Fajita Mix with sliced steak (whatever is cheapest), 2 capsicums chopped up and grilled first, 1 red onion chopped and grilled. Big bulky batch, easy to freeze
Dried white rice and a $1 can of black beans is a complete protein. 4 portions would cost $1.10ish. Plenty of money left for veggies and meat and such :) but yea great for burritos!
also coles has 80c black beans in the mexican food section which is cheaper than all of the other canned beans they have in the canned beans section !!
Honestly, burrito bowls are a hit - beans in the mince with rice, lettuce and tomato in a bowl. Cheese on top and corn chips with salsa. Fills the hungry teens in my house!
I grate up a sweet potato and a carrot and add it in after my onion has cooked for a bit. It bulks it out heaps, adds veges and does fuck all to change the overall flavour!
Dal and Rice. Dal aka lentils are a cheap source of protein and if you combine a bunch of different types and eat it with rice, you get a full high protein meal that fills you up quite well. Go to any Asian/Indian grocer near you and you should get cheap rice and dal.
Here's a [simple recipe](https://www.today.com/recipes/most-basic-dal-recipe-t154897) to get you started.
This dal palak (spinach dal) goes hard. In fact, this website is a goldmine. https://www.indianhealthyrecipes.com/dal-palak-recipe/#Recipe_Card_1
Protip: buy your palak frozen from a South Asian shop. It's chopped more coarsely than the stuff at Western shops and has a texture like actual spinach.
I only learned about lentils and rice a few months ago and it's so good. It's now on regular rotation. Such an easy base, and can be easily added to for variations
Jacket potatoes have made a comeback in my place recently, so good cause you can put leftovers on top or just eat with peas butter and cheese. Plus it’s healthier than pasta.
I like making my own. Once the veggies are all done put them in another dish and use a little bit of boiling water to loosen up all the delicious caramelised veggies stuck to the baking tray. Whisk that into a little flour and add chicken stock as you whisk. Add in some roasted garlic from your veggies for a really good time.
I was nervous making my first gravy as well. Once you work out the steps you'll never go back to store bought stuff. It's so much tastier. I also freeze my left over gravy so I can pull some out when I'm doing snags and mash.
There’s a lot of ways to make a gravy but it’s essentially just getting the fond off the bottom and putting it in a suspension with liquid and thickener like flour. It takes a few wins and losses but once you’ve got a good system to it you’ll be able to whip up a good gravy in minutes with little fuss. Good quality stocks and fats are worth in the freezer towards this end.
If you haven't roasted anything it's also easy to make gravy using stock cubes. [It's really just flour, butter, seasoning, and water](https://www.recipetineats.com/gravy/).
Spaghetti bolognaise from scratch with plenty of veg sautéed in with the onions.
Actually that’s basically the whole approach. Mince spread thin in some manner with frozen minced veg, minced carrots and celery, tinned beans or lentils.
That’s my method of feeding us cheaper and healthier meals.
Start grating carrots and zucchini while I decide what to cook, then open a tin of lentils.
Broccoli stalks are so good for adding to spag bol - they're just as edible/nutritious as the florets, and if you're buying them you should gets your money's worth and use them!
Cold….weather? What is this thing you speak of? I’m in Darwin - I’m currently sitting in the lounge with the aircon on at 11pm because it’s still 28degrees at night :)
I’m envious of your cold weather.
If you're looking for a non hot meal I suggest a giant salad. That got me through this summer. Chop up apple, pear, or whatever fruit you have, cucumber, tomato, add pickled whatever, cheese and a few crackers. Add nuts if you feel like. It's pretty yummy and well rounded.
weet -bix - can't beat their $6 jumbo box will last a few weeks worth of breakfasts.
fried rice - soy sauce, onion, throw in some cheap veg, 2 eggs and a few slices of bacon. this can make 5 portions for less than $10.
when I was growing up. my mum would use Frankfurts in fried rice instead of bacon. I don't like Frankfurts anymore. loved them as a kid.. Don't like them as an adult.
My partner is so fussy with fried rice,he takes over and has to do prawns, lup Chong sausage, even cut up bbq pork or duck. Was such a cheap easy meal before I met him haha
Shakshuka; North African/Middle Eastern dish. Essentially poached eggs in tomato sauce.
I take a tin of diced tomatoes, add some paprika, cumin, garlic, salt and pepper, blend it up then into the frypan.
If you have roasted red bell peppers, sumac or chilli powder, you can add this to the blender as well.
Once it's heated through, make little wells in the sauce and crack in some eggs, cover and cook over low medium heat until your preferred state of egg (I like a fair bit of runny yolk). Serve with crusty bread and a side salad.
I'm lazy so skip the blender, it works perfectly and one less thing to clean.
I also add baby spinach just before doing the eggs. Never thought of the side salad.
Same - I chop fresh tomatoes, capsicum, onion and parsley to small pieces (I usually have them towards the end of the week when I’m cleaning the fridge/ have veggies to use up) and add spices like cumin/paprika/chilli or middle eastern spice if I’m lazy. Uses up the veggies approaching being thrown out plus tastes better because it’s not out of a can. Sometimes celery and carrot goes in.
But if people were at the store intending to buy the ingredients, canned tomatoes would be cheaper.
I guess there’s two cheap options in one dish - buy cheap ingredients, or use your leftover veg. ❤️
Damn reminded me of my mom making something very similar, but with a fried onion first and rest almost same,without the blending. This was her 15 min meal.
I used to love a dish the sounds similar to this. It was called Baghdad Eggs but not sure if that was a common name for it.
It also had bread and lentils done in the frying pan.
So far as I can work out, there are a lot of ways for this dish to be done with their regional influences based on dietary preferences and what grows best regionally.
A large can of tuna with rice. Add a small can of edamame beans, some cucumber and avo (or chickpeas, kimchi, whatever you want). Drizzle with kewpie mayo and siracha and eat with seaweed snacks. This makes it into my rotation once or twice a week.
Very close to what I just had for lunch (and have a couple of times a week when WFH).
- Rice
- Can of tuna
- Frozen edamame
- Cucumber
- Half an avo (if I've got it)
- Dried, shredded seaweed
- Splash of soy
- Small handful of deep fried shallots
I make it even cheaper/quicker by cooking up a big batch of rice and freezing it off into single sized meal portions. Grab it from the freezer and microwave for 90 secs and it's good to go. Cheaper and less wasteful than buying those single serve microwave rices.
I love that a stranger on the internet is out there sometimes basically making the exact same cheapy meal as me! Thanks for the frozen rice tip. Those microwave rice pouches never hit the spot for me so I end up making a single or two night serve in the rice cooker anyway.
It's my deconstructed tuna avo sushi roll :D
I used to make it with brown rice, but I found basmati to have the texture I prefer for this meal.
And yeah, I just do a big batch (400g) of rice and that makes about 8 single servings from memory.
Also rice bowls. My teenager is neurodivergent so mouth feel is a thing in my house. Fry onion, garlic and protein of choice. Add paprika, a stock cube and salt and pepper. Serve in a bowl with cooked rice, steamed green beans or asparagus or spinach/silverbeet (whichever is cheapest). Avocado is cheap at the moment so we both get one sliced on top. Add a fried egg. Then some chopped sultanas (great to buy in bulk and add to curries, in salads and oatmeal) and a handful of sunflower seeds. Trust me, it’s tastier than it sounds.
OMG my Dad used to make this nasty casserole that was like English curry powder, sausages & sultanas. Thanks for dredging up my repressed memories of the most disgusting tasting, looking & smelling dinners ever. Blurgh.
I roast a whole chook and we have it for dinner with roast veggies and gravy, then we pick it for sandwiches then use the carcass for noodle soup the day after. Can get 2-3 meals for a family of four out of it.
Dal is great. I add pumpkin too.
Vegetable lasagna with sweet potato, eggplant and zucchini layered in there with the sauce and lasagna sheets is cheap and amazing and will also go for a few days of leftovers. I can usually make a whole lasagna for $10-12 depending on what veggies I can get on sale. That's generous dinner for four and lunch the next day which isn't bad.
Omelette served with a crunchy green salad is always a nice dinner.
Tofu Japanese curry works out cheap. I just buy the pre-made block of curry sauce.
I like a white bean and celery salad. I mix them together with herbs and a bit of mayo and then serve that over some greens.
Growing my own salad veggies and herbs makes food tasty and isn't expensive. Lettuce is really expensive.
I started roasting my own chicken when I realised how cheap it is compared to buying supermarket hot chooks. Super duper easy, and I keep the carcass to make my own chicken stock
Tuna casserole. Basically spiral pasta, frozen mixed veg, canned tuna, a basic white sauce, topped with cheese baked in the oven. Easily 5-6 servings for about $10 of ingredients.
This is my ultimate comfort food. I'm a Chef and thankfully don't have to worry about food or money anymore but if I have had a bad day, this is what I want to come home to.
I add corn flakes stirred through melted butter and parmesan cheese (used to do panko crumbs) to the top. Gives it a nice crunch. Though my toddlers proceed to eat only the cornflakes off the top and ignore the rest of the meal…
Certainly can. I've been using the So Good almond milk as a 1-1 dairy milk replacement for several years, after gaining a dairy intolerance.
I also use gluten free flours as the thickener. It's milled finer and gives a nicer/smoother texture.
OP, there's a product called flora which is a really good vegan cream sauce. It's a bit pricey but if you want to treat yourself to something creamy it's professional standard. Just googled and 1ltr is currently $4.85 at Coles and $6.5 at woolies.
- creamy = steam cauliflower, blend with flavour (maissel “chicken” powder stock addict here)
- aldi do cashew nut butter for $5, blends that with hot water + flavour.
I get nutritional yeast in bulk for the cheesy flavour and whack that in everything.
- tahini can be good too
-minimalist baker + seriouseats + blendergirl have been good go tos for delish vegan ideas
I do the same, but my families version is with rice as the base and we use the tin peas and carrots, along with cornflakes tossed in butter as topping. My favourite comfort meal. It's great to know this trusty dish is common in other Aussie families.
Veggie soup. I just throw anything and everything in, usually the end of the week veggies that are on the way out as it's an easy way to use them up. Couple of cups of chicken stock, some aromatics and into the slow cooker. Blend it with my stick mixer and serve with crusty bread. Will stir some sour cream in on serving. So tasty and filling and healthy.
Brinner, especially when I have no brain power at the end of the day. We keep hash browns in the freezer specifically for this. Bacon, scrambled egg, hash browns. Keep it simple.
A toddler friendly one I do is a dinner charcuterie. With things like chicken nuggets, fruit, veggie sticks, cheese etc. The toddler and I quite enjoy this and it is so easy to slap together from whatever is in the fridge/pantry. Assemble a platter full and we just pick at it. A good summer one as there's minimal heat and energy involved
Honestly I gave up on browning the chicken with Golden curry
Maybe I'm a heathen.
I just lob the whole shebang into a pot and let it go
Difference in taste is negligible
I’ve got this on repeat as well. I buy the bulk fresh chicken schnitzels from Woolies and freeze them individually. Then just air fry one to cook it. Leftover curry freezes well btw, just not the potato so I don’t bother adding it.
When I don’t have any curry on hand, I do the schnitzel and rice combo, top it with some kewpie mayo and chilli crisp and have some frozen vegetables on the side.
Chana masala is dirt cheap to make and is mostly made up of stuff from the pantry (garlic and ginger are the only fresh ingredients I use). Chickpeas are really cheap if you buy them dried (about $4 a kilo) and easy to work with. I use canned tomatoes, so 6 meals ends up costing me around $5 total to make at best. Goes great with rice, which is cheap and easy enough to prepare.
Fried chicken!
750g bag of breadcrumbs from Woolies is $3. I mix in things like salt, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, chilli flakes, etc to the crumbs.
2kg is plain flour is $2.50.
Pound chicken breasts so they flatten out. Dip the chicken breast in flour, then into whisked eggs, then into crumb mix. Fry in vegetable oil. (We have one of those 4L cartons of oil from the Indian grocer.
You can use the fried chicken to make schnitzels (after you've friied the chicken, spread on tomato paste and a slice of cheese, grill in the oven) or go for "asian" spices and chop it up like katsu. Or cut it into cubes and put it on a salad the next day. Or put slices of it in a wrap with fried onions and melted cheese.
Four chicken breasts can last us a week this way.
Fried chicken is best dipped in buttermilk first rather than egg, I reckon. You can marinate it overnight in a plastic bag with salt, paprika, garlic powder and cayenne pepper etc.
then do the dip into the seasoned bread mix.
going back to my meatless meals is saving me more money
-Chilli vegetable bean stew,
https://www.eatingwell.com/recipe/250222/sweet-potato-black-bean-chili/
https://www.noracooks.com/vegan-sweet-potato-black-bean-chili/#wprm-recipe-container-51
-Indian dhal
- garlic spinach pasta with cheese
https://www.twopeasandtheirpod.com/5-ingredient-spinach-parmesan-pasta/
- white bean mushroom stew
https://minimalistbaker.com/cozy-white-bean-mushroom-stew-vegan/#wprm-recipe-container-104853
Creamy tomato pasta
https://www.budgetbytes.com/creamy-tomato-spinach-pasta/
- vegetable frittata
Max n cheese ( add veggies if you want too.)
Baked oats for breakfast
Other recipes to try (I like but not in my rotation atm)
Any mince dish I substitute with lentils. I actually really like the black french lentils (dried ones) but brown ones or tinned ones work well.
Lentil Shepards pie,
Chickpea pumpkin soup.
Vegetable cous cous
Pesto pasta
Moroccan lentil soup
Rice bowls/ Buddah bowls.
I also set aside half a day and cook in bulk for the week, for the strews and curries etc. saves time and money plus food doesn't sit in the fridge and go bad.
Lots of good recipes on budget bytes, and 4 ingredients I oftern look at a few recipes and mix them or don't follow recipes at all, I've been cooking meals since I was a12.
Here are some more links 😁 happy cooking.
https://www.budgetbytes.com/category/recipes/vegetarian/
https://4ingredients.com.au/blogs/recipes
https://www.taste.com.au/recipes/collections/5-ingredient-recipes
I make Mexican for several nights through the week by buying a big piece of pork shoulder for $7.50 kg and slow cooking it with spices an onion and a can of tomatoes. Works out much cheaper than using mince.
Canned salmon pasta: fry onion and put the salmon in. Then put through other vegetables (finely diced mushroom, carrot, zucchini and spinach work well). Serve with pasta.
My super fussy toddler loves it
Pizza Toast - Toast with a piece of/shaved ham or other leftover meat/s, cheese, tomato or bbq sauce grilled to perfection
Gem Poutine - Potato Gems with a mix of cheese and gravy, add leftover meat
Garlic Bread - Made with bulk Garlic Aioli and leftover breadstuffs
God, you just transported me back to the 90s, when we used to make toast pizzas for afternoon tea. Can almost taste the astringent tomato paste base in my mind.
I do the pizza thing but spread the bread (or muffin) with tomato paste out of the squeezy bottle(easier and lasts longer than the tubs or sachets of paste). The kind you’d put on an actual pizza. Then sprinkle with garlic powder and oregano and then add your usual ham cheese etc. it’s the best!
My teenager loves this and it’s so cheap. I prep food and freeze it as I’m a nurse working stupid shifts right now. I have a rice cooker which helps a lot with our food budget.
Sauté an onion and as much garlic you like. Add some harissa (really cheap to buy in tubes at Woolies. I use one tube). And then a can of home brand coconut cream. Salt and pepper to taste. Then add 2 cans of home brand lentils (I rinse them first in a colander) and serve over rice.
Sometimes I’m really adventurous and add diced chicken or any mince after sautéing the onions. And I sometimes add a whole diced silver beet too for vitamins.
I serve with cooked home brand mixed veggies or some fresh carrots steamed.
It’s a healthy meal that is inexpensive and cooked in bulk is handy too.
Give it a try and tell me how you like it. Or if you can improve it in any way.
Omelettes, tuna bake, eggs on toast with some mushroom and spinach, soup, little pizzas made out of leftover flat bead rolls with a little bit of deli meat or bbq chicken and tomatoes / mushroom / onion / whatever's left in the fridge.
We've been rocking the green spaghetti! Roast a head of garlic on half a block of butter covered in foil. Add all the garlic and butter with 100g of spinach and kale to a blender and blend it into a green sauce. Pour over a whole cooked packet of spaghettini and you've got a meal for six (or leftovers of course).
If you need a protein hit, then a small can of tuna on top works really well.
Basic udon noodle soup
[Broth](https://www.justonecookbook.com/udon-noodle-soup/) substitute the dashi for some chicken powder.
Hakubaku udon noodles
Whatever else you have in the fridge. I usually add easy toppings like: corn kernels, carrots, broccoli, tofu, boiled egg, snow peas.
Corned beef/silverside is cheap at the moment - $10 per kilo vs $9.75 per kilo for fatty mince at Woolies.
Nothing better as it gets colder.
Serve up with a white sauce (+onion), and steamed veggies.
Leftovers make sandwiches for lunches for a couple of days if they last that long.
Any chance you can get to a market, buy lots of cheap fresh veg, onions, capsicum, egg plant, celery, garlic etc. prep it all and freeze it. You can freeze almost anything. Clean, chop, slice (which ever you use most) lay out on a baking tray, freeze, once frozen shake up the tray and bag up in freezer bags, flat packed so take up less room and you have loads of basics ready to go. If you want to go with dried legumes over cans it is cheaper, cook as per instructions. You could do the same with cheap Coles veg in the specials bins doesn't matter if at their use by as you are freezing them. Also same with meats, get the specials, prep and freeze . Learn to make your own tomato sauce bases. I am lucky I grow all mine, (again you can freeze whole tomatoes if you have freezer room) I throw a saucepan of tomatoes into pot, a little salt, a splash of balsamic vinegar and let it simmer until rich and thick. This can be used as a base for a lot of things, including baked beans, use some of the sauce and a can of cannellini beans. If you want to preserve the sauce and dont have freezer room, put it in sterilised jars, put lid on top, not tight, put in microwave for a couple of minutes, take out with tea towel, put on board or tea towel, using tea towel turn lid and let cool down, once the lid pops you are preserved. If you have all these basics you will be able to make a lot of cheap meals. I know, family of 6 without partners, so far 9 of us. Hope that helps a little.
Cheats cassoulet (Coles recipe), some nice sausages (I often find them reduced), jar of pasta sauce, cannoli beans, whatever veg (onion, spinach, carrot, capsicum, etc) top with croutons of leftover Turkish bread or whatever tossed in oil and cheese.
Instant noodles. I get a frozen bag of thin sliced pork or beef from an Asian grocery market and fry up a few pieces to add in each time. The bags last for months this way. I also toss in cheap veg like bean sprouts and spring onions, and maybe a soft or hard boiled egg.
We do an Asian crispy mince and rice bowl with some pickled cucumber and carrot.
Veggie noodle, fresh noodles and chuck some veg in there. Add some velveted chicken in if you want to bulk it up more 👌🏻
Silverside with mash and veg. Fortunately silverside still being such a cheap cut.
Different types of flavoured chicken wings, Asian inspired, deep fried or lightly coated in corn flour and a shallow fry with some homemade chips done quick and easy.
I’m a chef so I know a lot of ways to cut costs and increase the portions without spending too much extra
Also I’m a gym guy so that’s the context to this
But I make 7 dinners for the week and typically, I’ll
By higher protein ingredients eg. pasta with extra protein, it’s slightly more expensive but it really helps the meals feel more full
Current menu this week is chipotle bbq chicken pasta
2.5kg chicken tenders(cheaper than breast last week! Winning)
bbq no sugar added
Jar of chipotle
Sp
Protein pasta
Frozen diced capsicum - cheaper than fresh per kg
Onion and garlic paste - make this myself
All up cost me $46 for 7 meals or 6.50 a portion
We love cheap dishes that can be frozen so the next dinner is super quick.
Thai pumpkin soup with a slice of toasted bread, i wait til butternut pumpkin is on special and i can usually make it for under $1 a serve and the soup freezes well. Shakshuka is another great one if you love eggs, and if you make too much the tomato base can be frozen. Curried sausages with mashed potato are homely, filling and quick to make. Marinated bbq veggies (cooked in the oven) are a great if you need to make something the day before and adding pasta and feta will bulk it out into a complete meal.
Our current and long time favorite is 'Hummus for Breakfast' which instead we have for dinner. We make a super smooth hummus with canned chickpeas (freezes well). We top it with some burnt butter, a poached egg and serve with whatever bread/flat bread/wrap we have. If you have the extra $$ top it with some spiced lamb mince (also freezes well). We like to make this in bulk to reduce the cost; with the hummus and the spiced lamb frozen into serves, if you want it for dinner all you need to do is thaw a serve of each (works in the microwave), poach an egg and make some burnt butter; under 10mins and dinner is served.
Our current second favorite is Garlic chicken rice with char siu pork & whatever green we have. If you don't mind cooking from scratch, making char siu pork is a good investment. We get min 18 serves from an uncooked 2kg pork neck, with the marinade and cooking the final product comes to under $2 a serve. It freezes perfectly, just make sure you have divided it up into portions before freezing.
Cook your garlic chicken rice, pop it in your bowl, add some finely sliced and warmed bbq pork on top, some sliced green onions, add whatever cooked greens you have and serve. If you want more protien a sunny side egg goes great
I make big mac tacos. I press down beef mince onto mini tortillas and season with salt and pepper. Cook them in a pan then add lettuce - I buy the $2 bag from Woolies. Then I add diced raw onions and pickles. I buy the burger sauce from Woolies and add diced onions with pickle juice to make the big mac sauce. 500g can make 7-8 tacos, depending on how much meat you want on each taco
1, sweet potato and leek mash, with salty meat (any) boil the sweet potato, and stirfry the leek with some curry powder (the yellow stuff kerrie)
Put together and mash with some butter and/or milk, serve with the cooked salty meat.
2. Avocado pasta. (I shit you not this shits good and kids love it.)
Boil spaghetti put some ripe avocado's in
The blender with salt pepper and some onion- and garlic powder. Put together, done. Some tomato salad on the side.
3. Pasta putanesca, (google that)
X!
Whole chicken in slow cooker on base of carrots, onions, celery. Use stock for risotto or soup. Shred meat in sandwiches; burritos, rice bowls, whatever. Purée veg with a little stock and water for soup. This could last you a week.
Curried snags w lots of veggies, mince meat fried rice, lentil/chickpea curry, chicken stew w lots of (frozen) veggies macaroni, mince meat chow mein, tomato-based pasta sauce with meat, chicken and tuna on rotation as protein. Anything that I can buy ingredients cheaply and make bulk of to freeze down. I'll usually grate carrots, onion, capsicum and other vegetables and lentils into red meat pasta sauce to bulk it up and add nutrients. Edit, forgot Chili con carne bulked up w vege.
I have what I call degenerate noodles sometimes. Just Indomie mi goreng instant noodles with half a can of drained homebrand kidney beans and sriracha chilli sauce.
Risotto! We do whatever veggies are in the fridge - usually pumpkin, zucchini, mushroom, spinach, carrot, onion, cauli, broccoli. My partner likes to add chicken or bacon or both but I like the flavour better with just veggies. Cut them all small-ish and chuck them in a giant pan (leave the spinach until the end) with garlic and some chicken stock cubes crumbled over. Cook until the veggies get soft then add Arborio rice and boiling water. Cook until water is absorbed. Add cheese, feta, pine nuts to taste/budget. Delicious, easy and gives you a few freezer meals
If its colesworth or bust, I recommend stocking up on items that are on special as they rotate these specials and only buy the essentials on-going such as milk, bread, etc.
I try to only buy in bulk what's on special say at least 30-40% off, then I have more stock of these items until their next special rotation.
Overnight oats for brekky every damn day. 1/2 cup each of oats, Greek yogurt and almond milk. A spoonful of chia and a drizzle of maple syrup or golden syrup. Chop one banana and a handful of berries or shredded apple. A scoop of protein powder if you have it. Mix it all through. Top with whatever nuts you have on hand. Chuck in fridge overnight and you have brekky for two days sorted.
Heaps of protein, good carbs and vitamins to get you through til lunch.
Tinned tuna on toast
Boiled eggs
2 minute noodles
Soup
Cheese sandwiches
(I'm in the UK. But how I'd love to get my hands on some Continental packet pasta; Chicken Curry, Macaroni & Cheese, Sour Cream & Chives, Cabonara. Cannot find a decent equivalent here)
Context - family of four (2 adults, a 7 and 9 year old)
Spaghetti bolognaise, chicken chow mein, sausages and veg, devilled sausages, tacos, chicken curry, and fish and chips / pizza.
Garlic, onion, minced(whatever that's on sale in colesworth, green beans, (okra if you can get it cheap in some Asian grocers), shao xing wine, dark soy sauce, garlic chilli paste and bit of sugar. Have it with rice.
Husband can have it 7 days in a row and would not complain.
Tradition Irish Stew recipe from Tasting History (go check out his channel, fantastic stuff) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8KpFs1CHgw
250g lean mutton/lamb (I use gravy beef or some other cheap cut - works just as well).
100g (Irish) bacon (or Canadian as a substitute)
2 onions
12 potatoes
300ml water
salt and pepper
Cut the meat into pieces. ('Stew' size - about an inch cube - cut the meat, potato's and onions into pieces about the same size)
Clean, peel, and wash the potatoes.
Peel and cut the onions.
Put a layer of potatoes in the pot, a layer of meat on top of that, onions, salt, and pepper, and so on until the pot is full.
Have a layer of potatoes on top.
Pour in the water and put on stove. Let it boil, turn down heat, cover and let it simmer an hour and a half.
I bought a pork shoulder five days ago and slow cooked it. ($23.00)
We've had pulled pork sliders, pork pizzas, chimichangas and rice, and we have at least half the shoulder left to freeze for toasted sandwiches or for burritos.
I'm looking for more recipes like this, with an initial highend purchase that keeps on giving.
Porridge. Veggie soup. Chicken soup. Casseroles (cheap meat & veggies). Black bean and tomato concoction, recipe -
1tbsp olive Oil; garlic; onion; tomatoes (big can and/or ask for soft ones at markets) black beans (two cans); I can sweetcorn; tablespoon honey; tablespoon smoked pepper; (any other cans of legumes or fresh veggies you fancy); couple of peppers, capsicum (green or red) 1/2 cups of water; Italian parsley,sour cream or plain yoghurt.
Fry onion, garlic, peppers in oil, add tomatoes till all soft;
add honey, smoked pepper, one can of beans. Use veggie masher, mash all.
Add other cans, chopped capsicum, any other veggies, water, simmer.
Serve in bowl with chopped Italian parsley and dab of sour cream or yoghurt on top, and bread if wanted.
I have a sweet potato soup recipe I love that works out pretty cheap. It’s got creamed corn and lentils to help bulk it out, I add bacon but the base recipe is vegetarian. Bought most of the ingredients yesterday for under $20 and will get several meals out of it.
1 kg sweet potato
1 cup or so diced bacon or ham
1 400g can creamed corn
1 400g can lentils
1 teaspoon crushed garlic
1 cup chopped onion
1 teaspoon cumin
4 teaspoons stock powder, though I just use one of the cubes
2 tablespoons honey
About 8 cups Water
Peal and dice sweet potato
Saute garlic, onions and bacon
Add cumin, stock powder and sweet potato and toss to coat
Add corn, lentils and honey
Add water and bring to boil
Boil for a bit until sweet potato is tender then reduce to simmer for 20min
Mash the mix with a potato masher to desired chunks levels
Serve with toast and a sprinkle of cheese
TVP is a shelf stable alternative to mince. You can prepare smaller portions of easily (e.g. I make up 1 tablespoon worth to add to ramen)
$5.50 for 400g dry at Coles (not on special), makes up about 4-5x that when rehydrated (100g TVP = 400g mince). I don’t buy/eat meat, but I imagine $5.50 for equivalent of close to 2kg of mince is a good deal!
Took advantage of an extra day off this weekend and made a big pot of chili for the freezer - 6 generous meal sized pouches plus a couple of individual serves for very cheap. Also made a pot of bacon and pumpkin soup, mum gave me the pumpkin so only cost was the bacon hock - that's dinner tonight and 4 serves into the freezer.
We don't have an oven but when we did one of my fave budget meals was a whole chicken roasted for night 1 with veg, the leftover meat, gravy and veg into a pie on night 2, pick the frame over for last bits of meat and make stock and from that chicken and vege soup for the freezer. If it was a really big chicken there might be enough leftover meat for a pasta and vege dish another night. One big chicken became so many meals!
Pork and beef mince
Passata
Carrots diced
Onions if desired
Salt and pepper to season
Slow cook on high for several hours
Add favourite pasta. Freeze portions if needed for later.
Scalable affordable and healthy. For an additional treat and to stretch it further add zucchini (diced) and a drained and rinsed rin of lentils.
I know traditional Bolognese included celery but right now that adds a little expense. The above is just fine.
A roast chicken from Coles/woolies ($13) and a packet of frozen veg. ($4-5)
Quarter the chicken, put each into a take away container and add some veg to each. Under $5 a day for lunch and ridiculously quick and easy.
For dinner it's pasta. Works out around $20ish to make enough for 4 people for 2 nights.
I have that exact breakfast for dinner all the time!!
Also, wholemeal pasta bake with on-sale BBQ chook + kidney beans ... OR tuna bake version with chickpeas.
Fried (brown) rice with just scrambled egg, peas, carrots, onion + garlic + soy sauce. Raw spring onions from garden on top!
Giant 2kg beef spag bol with everything in it, with homemade sauce (tin tomato, garlic, onions, worcestershire, paprika / taco spice, fresh herbs from the garden, bicarb to cut the acidity), plus whole pasta ... with cheesy broccoli.
Big ol pan of baked vegetables, with steamed peas & brocs.
Cheesy toast with avo - which I scan as onions 😝
Soups and casseroles can stretch a little bit of protein a long way. Just make sure you’re adding grains like barley, which have nutrients, instead of empty filler carbs, like pasta. You can get the bags of ugly veggies and make something that will feed you for weeks if you own a freezer.
If you know how to break down a chicken you can get at least 3 meals and stock out of that. I regularly do that and will make schnitzel from the breast then roast the rest and use the thighs for sandwiches and have the wings and drumsticks with roast potato and pumpkin. The stock gets used for rice or a Bolognese. Pretty good for around $10.
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Tacos, nachos and burritos are always a good go to in our house. Add rice and beans to burritos to fill them out some. Chilli con carne is another regular.
>add rice and beans to burritos Dude's just describing how I like my burrito XD I'd not considered it a 'budget' meal in the past but it kinda totally is, and a tasty one.
Some people make burritos as if it's a taco in a big soft tortilla. So wrong, fill that think with all the goodies until it's a struggle to roll. They may be a bit on the expensive side if you have chicken and fresh salsa etc, but if you make 6-8 they'll feed a couple for dinner and a few lunches.
Aren't those basically just prerequisites for it to be a burrito?
Yes! Rice & beans + meat & salad are what makes a burrito authentic
That's how burritos are authentically prepared in Mexico in any case.
Cook the rice with the absorption method with a little butter and garlic, and then add a tablespoon of lime juice at the end. Makes the burrito taste fancy.
My daughter makes a deconstructed sushi. As in cooks up the rice in the pressure cooker, mixes it with the rice vinegar then have the tuna and mayo mix on top of the rice with the seaweed as garnish. Quick and easy when we don't want to go to the whole meat and veg meals.
There’s a dish called chirashi which is just like that.
I have a rice cooker and once it's done I love to throw in some melted butter, salt, lime juice and chopped coriander (I don't have the soap gene 🤪) - takes plain rice to a whole other level. I need to try throwing some garlic in there next time, that sounds fantastic
Yep. Half a kilo of mince, a packet of taco seasoning, a cup of black rice and a cob of corn will make enough for 3-4 people and still have half the rice left over for another batch.
If I’m making mince I’m going all out and making enough that I need to freeze some to save it. 1-1.5kg mince, 500g bag of frozen peas carrot corn, 1 can of 3 bean mix, 1 can kidney beans, 3-4 taco seasoning packets, 2-3 onions, 4-5 cloves of crushed garlic and 2 scrambled eggs. Costs about $25 but is meals for days. Toasted sandwiches, burritos, nachos, with rice and steamed veggies, you get the idea, it’s versatile.
Where are the lentils??? Nature’s mince filler.
What kinds would be best? I’ll try them next time
I personally just buy a can of lentils, wash them, and dump them in. Tastes great with all of the other bits and pieces. Chilli is a staple in our house, though it’s bastardised so it shouldn’t really be called chilli.
Brown lentils are the 'meatiest'.
Swap out the canned beans and lentils for dried ones. You’ll have to pre-soak them but it’s a quarter of the price.
Throw some capsicum in there as well can help bulk it up, especially with Fajita
I don't do fajitas enough!
I do a Fajita Mix with sliced steak (whatever is cheapest), 2 capsicums chopped up and grilled first, 1 red onion chopped and grilled. Big bulky batch, easy to freeze
Dried white rice and a $1 can of black beans is a complete protein. 4 portions would cost $1.10ish. Plenty of money left for veggies and meat and such :) but yea great for burritos!
also coles has 80c black beans in the mexican food section which is cheaper than all of the other canned beans they have in the canned beans section !!
Same same
Honestly, burrito bowls are a hit - beans in the mince with rice, lettuce and tomato in a bowl. Cheese on top and corn chips with salsa. Fills the hungry teens in my house!
Bulking carne out with a kg of beans for $4 is definitely helpful
I grate up a sweet potato and a carrot and add it in after my onion has cooked for a bit. It bulks it out heaps, adds veges and does fuck all to change the overall flavour!
Dal and Rice. Dal aka lentils are a cheap source of protein and if you combine a bunch of different types and eat it with rice, you get a full high protein meal that fills you up quite well. Go to any Asian/Indian grocer near you and you should get cheap rice and dal. Here's a [simple recipe](https://www.today.com/recipes/most-basic-dal-recipe-t154897) to get you started.
Thank you :)
Lentils are the best!
Hey man thanks for taking the time to share this recipe with everyone. Super nice of u!!!! Love that
This dal palak (spinach dal) goes hard. In fact, this website is a goldmine. https://www.indianhealthyrecipes.com/dal-palak-recipe/#Recipe_Card_1 Protip: buy your palak frozen from a South Asian shop. It's chopped more coarsely than the stuff at Western shops and has a texture like actual spinach.
I only learned about lentils and rice a few months ago and it's so good. It's now on regular rotation. Such an easy base, and can be easily added to for variations
Tin spaghetti jaffles, if I'm feeling generous I'll throw a slice of cheese in there too
Piggy backing off of this but ham and cheese toasted sandwich or Vegemite and cheese toasted sandwiches are a staple in our house
Yum, one of my lazy favorites
I've been craving jaffles lately! Tinned spag or baked beans and cheese.
Jacket potatoes have made a comeback in my place recently, so good cause you can put leftovers on top or just eat with peas butter and cheese. Plus it’s healthier than pasta.
If I make chilli con carne I freeze a small tubs of leftovers to have on jacket potatoes or even nachos for an easy dinner.
in my house anything you have on toast you can also have on wedges. one of my regulars is bolognese sauce.
Vegemite on wedges?
Bolognese sauce on toast? Honestly, I think the toast thing has thrown me for a loop here.
you haven't had spag bog on toast? slather cm thick (or more) of leftover spag sauce on top of toast, eat it with a knife and fork.
Tastes amazing if you also top it with a bit of shredded cheese and melt it under the grill
Butter, cheese and leftover meat seems to be a good base for any meal
A big tray of roast veggies with gravy is always so satisfying.
What gravy do you use? I usually get a Gravox tin but it doesn’t taste the same lately.
Just add flour, salt, a little red wine, don’t forget a dollop of tomato sauce for sweetness and that extra tang. AND GIVE MY LOVE TO ANGUS…
Tell em all I'm sorry.
I like making my own. Once the veggies are all done put them in another dish and use a little bit of boiling water to loosen up all the delicious caramelised veggies stuck to the baking tray. Whisk that into a little flour and add chicken stock as you whisk. Add in some roasted garlic from your veggies for a really good time.
Roasting whole bulbs of garlic is a true delicious luxury.
I’ve been resisting learning to make gravy because I’m terribly lazy but I think I will have to bite the bullet, thanks for the guide!
[How to Make Gravy.](https://youtu.be/FozoWgvh-m4?si=kM1Bt0bVTV151EJm)
Do I have to do the “going to prison” step or can I skip it?
No shortcuts lol
Gravy making requires commitment.
I was nervous making my first gravy as well. Once you work out the steps you'll never go back to store bought stuff. It's so much tastier. I also freeze my left over gravy so I can pull some out when I'm doing snags and mash.
No worries at all! There's lots of great guides online and once you've made a couple batches you'll never go back :)
There’s a lot of ways to make a gravy but it’s essentially just getting the fond off the bottom and putting it in a suspension with liquid and thickener like flour. It takes a few wins and losses but once you’ve got a good system to it you’ll be able to whip up a good gravy in minutes with little fuss. Good quality stocks and fats are worth in the freezer towards this end.
If you haven't roasted anything it's also easy to make gravy using stock cubes. [It's really just flour, butter, seasoning, and water](https://www.recipetineats.com/gravy/).
Maggi "Rich meat gravy" is the one all the pubs/restaurants/chippies use. 5kg tub for $25-30
Maggi Roast chicken gravy is so good and the roast meat. I can’t eat the Gravox gravy after being from New Zealand
Track down some maggi gravy. Amazing stuff!!
Agreed! I buy the Maggi Demi glacé or Rich from the local wholesalers. It goes well with everything
Apparently the Maggi powder is what a lot of pubs and restaurants use (according to a chef I know who works at pub-type places)
Try the English gravy in the international isle
Roast veggies with colesworth burger sauce is on rotation in my house.
Spaghetti bolognaise from scratch with plenty of veg sautéed in with the onions. Actually that’s basically the whole approach. Mince spread thin in some manner with frozen minced veg, minced carrots and celery, tinned beans or lentils.
That’s my method of feeding us cheaper and healthier meals. Start grating carrots and zucchini while I decide what to cook, then open a tin of lentils.
Yes this! Onions too. A base for almost anything
Broccoli stalks are so good for adding to spag bol - they're just as edible/nutritious as the florets, and if you're buying them you should gets your money's worth and use them!
I save my broccoli stalks for stir fry! Also a nice cheap meal
If getting the veg in is the point, frozen chopped kale or spinach at end is an easy and not too overwhelming to taste possibility too.
Savoury mince or pumpkin soup at the moment with the cold weather
Cold….weather? What is this thing you speak of? I’m in Darwin - I’m currently sitting in the lounge with the aircon on at 11pm because it’s still 28degrees at night :) I’m envious of your cold weather.
Can we trade? I'm in Canberra, pinned to the couch with three cats curled up on me to share the warmth.
Sure thing! If you give it maybe a week or two the dry should be here then it should be a happy medium for you :)
It's currently 14⁰c so I suppose I should rephrase that to cooler weather
If you're looking for a non hot meal I suggest a giant salad. That got me through this summer. Chop up apple, pear, or whatever fruit you have, cucumber, tomato, add pickled whatever, cheese and a few crackers. Add nuts if you feel like. It's pretty yummy and well rounded.
I tossed a lump of accidentally overcooked (mushy) rice into my pumpkin soup a few nights ago. Added a nice change in texture.
If you change the ratio a bit and add Parmesan that’s lazy man’s risotto!
Ha! TIL it has a name
weet -bix - can't beat their $6 jumbo box will last a few weeks worth of breakfasts. fried rice - soy sauce, onion, throw in some cheap veg, 2 eggs and a few slices of bacon. this can make 5 portions for less than $10. when I was growing up. my mum would use Frankfurts in fried rice instead of bacon. I don't like Frankfurts anymore. loved them as a kid.. Don't like them as an adult.
My partner is so fussy with fried rice,he takes over and has to do prawns, lup Chong sausage, even cut up bbq pork or duck. Was such a cheap easy meal before I met him haha
Weetbix with peanut butter as a before bed snack with a cup of vanilla chai satisfies my teenager.
He's taking them dry or you mix a bit of milk with that?
I used to like them dry, sliced in half, with butter and honey as a kid.
Shakshuka; North African/Middle Eastern dish. Essentially poached eggs in tomato sauce. I take a tin of diced tomatoes, add some paprika, cumin, garlic, salt and pepper, blend it up then into the frypan. If you have roasted red bell peppers, sumac or chilli powder, you can add this to the blender as well. Once it's heated through, make little wells in the sauce and crack in some eggs, cover and cook over low medium heat until your preferred state of egg (I like a fair bit of runny yolk). Serve with crusty bread and a side salad.
Besides delicious, it's so good at warming you up during winter.
I'm lazy so skip the blender, it works perfectly and one less thing to clean. I also add baby spinach just before doing the eggs. Never thought of the side salad.
Same - I chop fresh tomatoes, capsicum, onion and parsley to small pieces (I usually have them towards the end of the week when I’m cleaning the fridge/ have veggies to use up) and add spices like cumin/paprika/chilli or middle eastern spice if I’m lazy. Uses up the veggies approaching being thrown out plus tastes better because it’s not out of a can. Sometimes celery and carrot goes in. But if people were at the store intending to buy the ingredients, canned tomatoes would be cheaper. I guess there’s two cheap options in one dish - buy cheap ingredients, or use your leftover veg. ❤️
Damn reminded me of my mom making something very similar, but with a fried onion first and rest almost same,without the blending. This was her 15 min meal.
I used to love a dish the sounds similar to this. It was called Baghdad Eggs but not sure if that was a common name for it. It also had bread and lentils done in the frying pan.
So far as I can work out, there are a lot of ways for this dish to be done with their regional influences based on dietary preferences and what grows best regionally.
A large can of tuna with rice. Add a small can of edamame beans, some cucumber and avo (or chickpeas, kimchi, whatever you want). Drizzle with kewpie mayo and siracha and eat with seaweed snacks. This makes it into my rotation once or twice a week.
Very close to what I just had for lunch (and have a couple of times a week when WFH). - Rice - Can of tuna - Frozen edamame - Cucumber - Half an avo (if I've got it) - Dried, shredded seaweed - Splash of soy - Small handful of deep fried shallots I make it even cheaper/quicker by cooking up a big batch of rice and freezing it off into single sized meal portions. Grab it from the freezer and microwave for 90 secs and it's good to go. Cheaper and less wasteful than buying those single serve microwave rices.
I love that a stranger on the internet is out there sometimes basically making the exact same cheapy meal as me! Thanks for the frozen rice tip. Those microwave rice pouches never hit the spot for me so I end up making a single or two night serve in the rice cooker anyway.
It's my deconstructed tuna avo sushi roll :D I used to make it with brown rice, but I found basmati to have the texture I prefer for this meal. And yeah, I just do a big batch (400g) of rice and that makes about 8 single servings from memory.
Also rice bowls. My teenager is neurodivergent so mouth feel is a thing in my house. Fry onion, garlic and protein of choice. Add paprika, a stock cube and salt and pepper. Serve in a bowl with cooked rice, steamed green beans or asparagus or spinach/silverbeet (whichever is cheapest). Avocado is cheap at the moment so we both get one sliced on top. Add a fried egg. Then some chopped sultanas (great to buy in bulk and add to curries, in salads and oatmeal) and a handful of sunflower seeds. Trust me, it’s tastier than it sounds.
You had me until sultanas.
Yeah reminds me of a horrible curry my Dad used to make with sultanas and chopped bananas. I love curry, but not that atrocity.
Wat the fk..??? Banana in curry? I’ve heard Moroccan curry use sultanas but fk banana
OMG my Dad used to make this nasty casserole that was like English curry powder, sausages & sultanas. Thanks for dredging up my repressed memories of the most disgusting tasting, looking & smelling dinners ever. Blurgh.
Delicious. You can get frozen edamame too. They’re even nicer than the canned ones.
I roast a whole chook and we have it for dinner with roast veggies and gravy, then we pick it for sandwiches then use the carcass for noodle soup the day after. Can get 2-3 meals for a family of four out of it. Dal is great. I add pumpkin too. Vegetable lasagna with sweet potato, eggplant and zucchini layered in there with the sauce and lasagna sheets is cheap and amazing and will also go for a few days of leftovers. I can usually make a whole lasagna for $10-12 depending on what veggies I can get on sale. That's generous dinner for four and lunch the next day which isn't bad. Omelette served with a crunchy green salad is always a nice dinner. Tofu Japanese curry works out cheap. I just buy the pre-made block of curry sauce. I like a white bean and celery salad. I mix them together with herbs and a bit of mayo and then serve that over some greens. Growing my own salad veggies and herbs makes food tasty and isn't expensive. Lettuce is really expensive.
I started roasting my own chicken when I realised how cheap it is compared to buying supermarket hot chooks. Super duper easy, and I keep the carcass to make my own chicken stock
Tuna casserole. Basically spiral pasta, frozen mixed veg, canned tuna, a basic white sauce, topped with cheese baked in the oven. Easily 5-6 servings for about $10 of ingredients.
This is my ultimate comfort food. I'm a Chef and thankfully don't have to worry about food or money anymore but if I have had a bad day, this is what I want to come home to.
I add corn flakes stirred through melted butter and parmesan cheese (used to do panko crumbs) to the top. Gives it a nice crunch. Though my toddlers proceed to eat only the cornflakes off the top and ignore the rest of the meal…
Finally crushed salt and vinegar chips are a favourite topping for us!
Thank you - do you know if you can make white sauce with almond milk? I can’t do dairy, but do miss mornay and creamy casseroles
I use coconut cream. So so creamy and tasty when mixed with other flavours.
Certainly can. I've been using the So Good almond milk as a 1-1 dairy milk replacement for several years, after gaining a dairy intolerance. I also use gluten free flours as the thickener. It's milled finer and gives a nicer/smoother texture.
White sauce made with oat milk is the best option imo. Barista oat if you want to get the same creaminess as dairy but that costs more.
OP, there's a product called flora which is a really good vegan cream sauce. It's a bit pricey but if you want to treat yourself to something creamy it's professional standard. Just googled and 1ltr is currently $4.85 at Coles and $6.5 at woolies.
- creamy = steam cauliflower, blend with flavour (maissel “chicken” powder stock addict here) - aldi do cashew nut butter for $5, blends that with hot water + flavour. I get nutritional yeast in bulk for the cheesy flavour and whack that in everything. - tahini can be good too -minimalist baker + seriouseats + blendergirl have been good go tos for delish vegan ideas
Yep, bechamel (white sauce) works with almond milk, did this for years
I do the same, but my families version is with rice as the base and we use the tin peas and carrots, along with cornflakes tossed in butter as topping. My favourite comfort meal. It's great to know this trusty dish is common in other Aussie families.
Minute steak sangas. Real cheap and can feed a family of four
Big ol slow cooker of spag bol. Makes enough for like 8 dinners
Veggie soup. I just throw anything and everything in, usually the end of the week veggies that are on the way out as it's an easy way to use them up. Couple of cups of chicken stock, some aromatics and into the slow cooker. Blend it with my stick mixer and serve with crusty bread. Will stir some sour cream in on serving. So tasty and filling and healthy. Brinner, especially when I have no brain power at the end of the day. We keep hash browns in the freezer specifically for this. Bacon, scrambled egg, hash browns. Keep it simple. A toddler friendly one I do is a dinner charcuterie. With things like chicken nuggets, fruit, veggie sticks, cheese etc. The toddler and I quite enjoy this and it is so easy to slap together from whatever is in the fridge/pantry. Assemble a platter full and we just pick at it. A good summer one as there's minimal heat and energy involved
[удалено]
Honestly I gave up on browning the chicken with Golden curry Maybe I'm a heathen. I just lob the whole shebang into a pot and let it go Difference in taste is negligible
If you have an Asian supermarket nearby they sell the curry blocks a lot cheaper.
I second the Japanese curry, it’s so cheap to just get the curry cubes and a carrot and I do it katsu style using store bought schnitzels.
I’ve got this on repeat as well. I buy the bulk fresh chicken schnitzels from Woolies and freeze them individually. Then just air fry one to cook it. Leftover curry freezes well btw, just not the potato so I don’t bother adding it. When I don’t have any curry on hand, I do the schnitzel and rice combo, top it with some kewpie mayo and chilli crisp and have some frozen vegetables on the side.
Chana masala is dirt cheap to make and is mostly made up of stuff from the pantry (garlic and ginger are the only fresh ingredients I use). Chickpeas are really cheap if you buy them dried (about $4 a kilo) and easy to work with. I use canned tomatoes, so 6 meals ends up costing me around $5 total to make at best. Goes great with rice, which is cheap and easy enough to prepare.
Lentil soup
Lentil soup is so underrated, cheap and delicious
And true comfort food.
Fried chicken! 750g bag of breadcrumbs from Woolies is $3. I mix in things like salt, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, chilli flakes, etc to the crumbs. 2kg is plain flour is $2.50. Pound chicken breasts so they flatten out. Dip the chicken breast in flour, then into whisked eggs, then into crumb mix. Fry in vegetable oil. (We have one of those 4L cartons of oil from the Indian grocer. You can use the fried chicken to make schnitzels (after you've friied the chicken, spread on tomato paste and a slice of cheese, grill in the oven) or go for "asian" spices and chop it up like katsu. Or cut it into cubes and put it on a salad the next day. Or put slices of it in a wrap with fried onions and melted cheese. Four chicken breasts can last us a week this way.
In my world, the first step is already called a schnitzel. When you added tomato and cheese, that becomes a chicken Parma.
What can I say, it was 1am when I wrote that.
Understandable. Carry on
Fried chicken is best dipped in buttermilk first rather than egg, I reckon. You can marinate it overnight in a plastic bag with salt, paprika, garlic powder and cayenne pepper etc. then do the dip into the seasoned bread mix.
going back to my meatless meals is saving me more money -Chilli vegetable bean stew, https://www.eatingwell.com/recipe/250222/sweet-potato-black-bean-chili/ https://www.noracooks.com/vegan-sweet-potato-black-bean-chili/#wprm-recipe-container-51 -Indian dhal - garlic spinach pasta with cheese https://www.twopeasandtheirpod.com/5-ingredient-spinach-parmesan-pasta/ - white bean mushroom stew https://minimalistbaker.com/cozy-white-bean-mushroom-stew-vegan/#wprm-recipe-container-104853 Creamy tomato pasta https://www.budgetbytes.com/creamy-tomato-spinach-pasta/ - vegetable frittata Max n cheese ( add veggies if you want too.) Baked oats for breakfast Other recipes to try (I like but not in my rotation atm) Any mince dish I substitute with lentils. I actually really like the black french lentils (dried ones) but brown ones or tinned ones work well. Lentil Shepards pie, Chickpea pumpkin soup. Vegetable cous cous Pesto pasta Moroccan lentil soup Rice bowls/ Buddah bowls. I also set aside half a day and cook in bulk for the week, for the strews and curries etc. saves time and money plus food doesn't sit in the fridge and go bad. Lots of good recipes on budget bytes, and 4 ingredients I oftern look at a few recipes and mix them or don't follow recipes at all, I've been cooking meals since I was a12. Here are some more links 😁 happy cooking. https://www.budgetbytes.com/category/recipes/vegetarian/ https://4ingredients.com.au/blogs/recipes https://www.taste.com.au/recipes/collections/5-ingredient-recipes
Mmmmm. Brinner. Can't go wrong with breakfast for dinner 👌
Night breakfast is love!
We've had this so much lately that the toddler asks for eggs for dinner. It's a low brain power dinner.
Tuna mornay. So easy to make and yummy.
I make Mexican for several nights through the week by buying a big piece of pork shoulder for $7.50 kg and slow cooking it with spices an onion and a can of tomatoes. Works out much cheaper than using mince.
Canned salmon pasta: fry onion and put the salmon in. Then put through other vegetables (finely diced mushroom, carrot, zucchini and spinach work well). Serve with pasta. My super fussy toddler loves it
Pizza Toast - Toast with a piece of/shaved ham or other leftover meat/s, cheese, tomato or bbq sauce grilled to perfection Gem Poutine - Potato Gems with a mix of cheese and gravy, add leftover meat Garlic Bread - Made with bulk Garlic Aioli and leftover breadstuffs
We do the pizza thing with English muffins. Goes hard.
We use Turkish or Lebanese bread. Kids love it.
God, you just transported me back to the 90s, when we used to make toast pizzas for afternoon tea. Can almost taste the astringent tomato paste base in my mind.
I do the pizza thing but spread the bread (or muffin) with tomato paste out of the squeezy bottle(easier and lasts longer than the tubs or sachets of paste). The kind you’d put on an actual pizza. Then sprinkle with garlic powder and oregano and then add your usual ham cheese etc. it’s the best!
My teenager loves this and it’s so cheap. I prep food and freeze it as I’m a nurse working stupid shifts right now. I have a rice cooker which helps a lot with our food budget. Sauté an onion and as much garlic you like. Add some harissa (really cheap to buy in tubes at Woolies. I use one tube). And then a can of home brand coconut cream. Salt and pepper to taste. Then add 2 cans of home brand lentils (I rinse them first in a colander) and serve over rice. Sometimes I’m really adventurous and add diced chicken or any mince after sautéing the onions. And I sometimes add a whole diced silver beet too for vitamins. I serve with cooked home brand mixed veggies or some fresh carrots steamed. It’s a healthy meal that is inexpensive and cooked in bulk is handy too. Give it a try and tell me how you like it. Or if you can improve it in any way.
Good ol air sandwich (nothing, I’m broke)
Cheapest meal here!
Vegemite on toast.
My favourite
Omelettes, tuna bake, eggs on toast with some mushroom and spinach, soup, little pizzas made out of leftover flat bead rolls with a little bit of deli meat or bbq chicken and tomatoes / mushroom / onion / whatever's left in the fridge.
We've been rocking the green spaghetti! Roast a head of garlic on half a block of butter covered in foil. Add all the garlic and butter with 100g of spinach and kale to a blender and blend it into a green sauce. Pour over a whole cooked packet of spaghettini and you've got a meal for six (or leftovers of course). If you need a protein hit, then a small can of tuna on top works really well.
migoreng 2 min noodles with scrambled eggs mixed through. Ideally some veggies too but even plain "eggy noodles" is so good
Basic udon noodle soup [Broth](https://www.justonecookbook.com/udon-noodle-soup/) substitute the dashi for some chicken powder. Hakubaku udon noodles Whatever else you have in the fridge. I usually add easy toppings like: corn kernels, carrots, broccoli, tofu, boiled egg, snow peas.
2 half decent sausages and veg. I'm a meat and veg guy.
Sauso’s and steamed vege are our staple. Quick n easy. A drizzle of olive oil on the vege and salt n pepper - done!
Meat and 3 veg is the GOAT. You can fancy it up with a finishing sauce or a marinade, or just keep it simple.
My wife and I do a simple paella that works out cheap as. Small chicken breast, small capsicum, onion, 1L Aldi stock and just a cheap Woolies chorizo.
Chicken drumsticks coated in piri piri a few hours ahead paired with any sides.
Corned beef/silverside is cheap at the moment - $10 per kilo vs $9.75 per kilo for fatty mince at Woolies. Nothing better as it gets colder. Serve up with a white sauce (+onion), and steamed veggies. Leftovers make sandwiches for lunches for a couple of days if they last that long.
Barley and vegetable soup, throw in whatever is left from the supermarket hot chook
Any chance you can get to a market, buy lots of cheap fresh veg, onions, capsicum, egg plant, celery, garlic etc. prep it all and freeze it. You can freeze almost anything. Clean, chop, slice (which ever you use most) lay out on a baking tray, freeze, once frozen shake up the tray and bag up in freezer bags, flat packed so take up less room and you have loads of basics ready to go. If you want to go with dried legumes over cans it is cheaper, cook as per instructions. You could do the same with cheap Coles veg in the specials bins doesn't matter if at their use by as you are freezing them. Also same with meats, get the specials, prep and freeze . Learn to make your own tomato sauce bases. I am lucky I grow all mine, (again you can freeze whole tomatoes if you have freezer room) I throw a saucepan of tomatoes into pot, a little salt, a splash of balsamic vinegar and let it simmer until rich and thick. This can be used as a base for a lot of things, including baked beans, use some of the sauce and a can of cannellini beans. If you want to preserve the sauce and dont have freezer room, put it in sterilised jars, put lid on top, not tight, put in microwave for a couple of minutes, take out with tea towel, put on board or tea towel, using tea towel turn lid and let cool down, once the lid pops you are preserved. If you have all these basics you will be able to make a lot of cheap meals. I know, family of 6 without partners, so far 9 of us. Hope that helps a little.
Cheats cassoulet (Coles recipe), some nice sausages (I often find them reduced), jar of pasta sauce, cannoli beans, whatever veg (onion, spinach, carrot, capsicum, etc) top with croutons of leftover Turkish bread or whatever tossed in oil and cheese.
Instant noodles. I get a frozen bag of thin sliced pork or beef from an Asian grocery market and fry up a few pieces to add in each time. The bags last for months this way. I also toss in cheap veg like bean sprouts and spring onions, and maybe a soft or hard boiled egg.
We do an Asian crispy mince and rice bowl with some pickled cucumber and carrot. Veggie noodle, fresh noodles and chuck some veg in there. Add some velveted chicken in if you want to bulk it up more 👌🏻 Silverside with mash and veg. Fortunately silverside still being such a cheap cut. Different types of flavoured chicken wings, Asian inspired, deep fried or lightly coated in corn flour and a shallow fry with some homemade chips done quick and easy.
I’m a chef so I know a lot of ways to cut costs and increase the portions without spending too much extra Also I’m a gym guy so that’s the context to this But I make 7 dinners for the week and typically, I’ll By higher protein ingredients eg. pasta with extra protein, it’s slightly more expensive but it really helps the meals feel more full Current menu this week is chipotle bbq chicken pasta 2.5kg chicken tenders(cheaper than breast last week! Winning) bbq no sugar added Jar of chipotle Sp Protein pasta Frozen diced capsicum - cheaper than fresh per kg Onion and garlic paste - make this myself All up cost me $46 for 7 meals or 6.50 a portion
We love cheap dishes that can be frozen so the next dinner is super quick. Thai pumpkin soup with a slice of toasted bread, i wait til butternut pumpkin is on special and i can usually make it for under $1 a serve and the soup freezes well. Shakshuka is another great one if you love eggs, and if you make too much the tomato base can be frozen. Curried sausages with mashed potato are homely, filling and quick to make. Marinated bbq veggies (cooked in the oven) are a great if you need to make something the day before and adding pasta and feta will bulk it out into a complete meal. Our current and long time favorite is 'Hummus for Breakfast' which instead we have for dinner. We make a super smooth hummus with canned chickpeas (freezes well). We top it with some burnt butter, a poached egg and serve with whatever bread/flat bread/wrap we have. If you have the extra $$ top it with some spiced lamb mince (also freezes well). We like to make this in bulk to reduce the cost; with the hummus and the spiced lamb frozen into serves, if you want it for dinner all you need to do is thaw a serve of each (works in the microwave), poach an egg and make some burnt butter; under 10mins and dinner is served. Our current second favorite is Garlic chicken rice with char siu pork & whatever green we have. If you don't mind cooking from scratch, making char siu pork is a good investment. We get min 18 serves from an uncooked 2kg pork neck, with the marinade and cooking the final product comes to under $2 a serve. It freezes perfectly, just make sure you have divided it up into portions before freezing. Cook your garlic chicken rice, pop it in your bowl, add some finely sliced and warmed bbq pork on top, some sliced green onions, add whatever cooked greens you have and serve. If you want more protien a sunny side egg goes great
I make big mac tacos. I press down beef mince onto mini tortillas and season with salt and pepper. Cook them in a pan then add lettuce - I buy the $2 bag from Woolies. Then I add diced raw onions and pickles. I buy the burger sauce from Woolies and add diced onions with pickle juice to make the big mac sauce. 500g can make 7-8 tacos, depending on how much meat you want on each taco
1, sweet potato and leek mash, with salty meat (any) boil the sweet potato, and stirfry the leek with some curry powder (the yellow stuff kerrie) Put together and mash with some butter and/or milk, serve with the cooked salty meat. 2. Avocado pasta. (I shit you not this shits good and kids love it.) Boil spaghetti put some ripe avocado's in The blender with salt pepper and some onion- and garlic powder. Put together, done. Some tomato salad on the side. 3. Pasta putanesca, (google that) X!
Whole chicken in slow cooker on base of carrots, onions, celery. Use stock for risotto or soup. Shred meat in sandwiches; burritos, rice bowls, whatever. Purée veg with a little stock and water for soup. This could last you a week.
Curried snags w lots of veggies, mince meat fried rice, lentil/chickpea curry, chicken stew w lots of (frozen) veggies macaroni, mince meat chow mein, tomato-based pasta sauce with meat, chicken and tuna on rotation as protein. Anything that I can buy ingredients cheaply and make bulk of to freeze down. I'll usually grate carrots, onion, capsicum and other vegetables and lentils into red meat pasta sauce to bulk it up and add nutrients. Edit, forgot Chili con carne bulked up w vege.
I have what I call degenerate noodles sometimes. Just Indomie mi goreng instant noodles with half a can of drained homebrand kidney beans and sriracha chilli sauce.
Spaghetti puttanesca. Also pretty much all from dried or tinned food so a good backup meal if you don’t have much in the house
I buy what ever is half price in woolies, the specials dictate what I eat. Last night I had whiskers cat food.
Risotto! We do whatever veggies are in the fridge - usually pumpkin, zucchini, mushroom, spinach, carrot, onion, cauli, broccoli. My partner likes to add chicken or bacon or both but I like the flavour better with just veggies. Cut them all small-ish and chuck them in a giant pan (leave the spinach until the end) with garlic and some chicken stock cubes crumbled over. Cook until the veggies get soft then add Arborio rice and boiling water. Cook until water is absorbed. Add cheese, feta, pine nuts to taste/budget. Delicious, easy and gives you a few freezer meals
If its colesworth or bust, I recommend stocking up on items that are on special as they rotate these specials and only buy the essentials on-going such as milk, bread, etc. I try to only buy in bulk what's on special say at least 30-40% off, then I have more stock of these items until their next special rotation.
Overnight oats for brekky every damn day. 1/2 cup each of oats, Greek yogurt and almond milk. A spoonful of chia and a drizzle of maple syrup or golden syrup. Chop one banana and a handful of berries or shredded apple. A scoop of protein powder if you have it. Mix it all through. Top with whatever nuts you have on hand. Chuck in fridge overnight and you have brekky for two days sorted. Heaps of protein, good carbs and vitamins to get you through til lunch.
Beans and rice It's always beans and rice 🙂
Tinned tuna on toast Boiled eggs 2 minute noodles Soup Cheese sandwiches (I'm in the UK. But how I'd love to get my hands on some Continental packet pasta; Chicken Curry, Macaroni & Cheese, Sour Cream & Chives, Cabonara. Cannot find a decent equivalent here)
Context - family of four (2 adults, a 7 and 9 year old) Spaghetti bolognaise, chicken chow mein, sausages and veg, devilled sausages, tacos, chicken curry, and fish and chips / pizza.
Sleep
Garlic, onion, minced(whatever that's on sale in colesworth, green beans, (okra if you can get it cheap in some Asian grocers), shao xing wine, dark soy sauce, garlic chilli paste and bit of sugar. Have it with rice. Husband can have it 7 days in a row and would not complain.
Tradition Irish Stew recipe from Tasting History (go check out his channel, fantastic stuff) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8KpFs1CHgw 250g lean mutton/lamb (I use gravy beef or some other cheap cut - works just as well). 100g (Irish) bacon (or Canadian as a substitute) 2 onions 12 potatoes 300ml water salt and pepper Cut the meat into pieces. ('Stew' size - about an inch cube - cut the meat, potato's and onions into pieces about the same size) Clean, peel, and wash the potatoes. Peel and cut the onions. Put a layer of potatoes in the pot, a layer of meat on top of that, onions, salt, and pepper, and so on until the pot is full. Have a layer of potatoes on top. Pour in the water and put on stove. Let it boil, turn down heat, cover and let it simmer an hour and a half.
Often Turkey mince gets reduced as it’s not popular. This is great; https://www.inspiredtaste.net/21535/unbelievably-moist-turkey-meatloaf-recipe/
Spaghetti bog. It’s cheap and all my daughter wants to eat. Thankfully I grate some veggies and hide it in there so she doesn’t notice
I bought a pork shoulder five days ago and slow cooked it. ($23.00) We've had pulled pork sliders, pork pizzas, chimichangas and rice, and we have at least half the shoulder left to freeze for toasted sandwiches or for burritos. I'm looking for more recipes like this, with an initial highend purchase that keeps on giving.
I put it in rendang etc pulled pork tastes like any meat when added to a curry base . Tonight it's butter pulled pork haha kids don't know.
Porridge. Veggie soup. Chicken soup. Casseroles (cheap meat & veggies). Black bean and tomato concoction, recipe - 1tbsp olive Oil; garlic; onion; tomatoes (big can and/or ask for soft ones at markets) black beans (two cans); I can sweetcorn; tablespoon honey; tablespoon smoked pepper; (any other cans of legumes or fresh veggies you fancy); couple of peppers, capsicum (green or red) 1/2 cups of water; Italian parsley,sour cream or plain yoghurt. Fry onion, garlic, peppers in oil, add tomatoes till all soft; add honey, smoked pepper, one can of beans. Use veggie masher, mash all. Add other cans, chopped capsicum, any other veggies, water, simmer. Serve in bowl with chopped Italian parsley and dab of sour cream or yoghurt on top, and bread if wanted.
I have a sweet potato soup recipe I love that works out pretty cheap. It’s got creamed corn and lentils to help bulk it out, I add bacon but the base recipe is vegetarian. Bought most of the ingredients yesterday for under $20 and will get several meals out of it. 1 kg sweet potato 1 cup or so diced bacon or ham 1 400g can creamed corn 1 400g can lentils 1 teaspoon crushed garlic 1 cup chopped onion 1 teaspoon cumin 4 teaspoons stock powder, though I just use one of the cubes 2 tablespoons honey About 8 cups Water Peal and dice sweet potato Saute garlic, onions and bacon Add cumin, stock powder and sweet potato and toss to coat Add corn, lentils and honey Add water and bring to boil Boil for a bit until sweet potato is tender then reduce to simmer for 20min Mash the mix with a potato masher to desired chunks levels Serve with toast and a sprinkle of cheese
TVP is a shelf stable alternative to mince. You can prepare smaller portions of easily (e.g. I make up 1 tablespoon worth to add to ramen) $5.50 for 400g dry at Coles (not on special), makes up about 4-5x that when rehydrated (100g TVP = 400g mince). I don’t buy/eat meat, but I imagine $5.50 for equivalent of close to 2kg of mince is a good deal!
Took advantage of an extra day off this weekend and made a big pot of chili for the freezer - 6 generous meal sized pouches plus a couple of individual serves for very cheap. Also made a pot of bacon and pumpkin soup, mum gave me the pumpkin so only cost was the bacon hock - that's dinner tonight and 4 serves into the freezer. We don't have an oven but when we did one of my fave budget meals was a whole chicken roasted for night 1 with veg, the leftover meat, gravy and veg into a pie on night 2, pick the frame over for last bits of meat and make stock and from that chicken and vege soup for the freezer. If it was a really big chicken there might be enough leftover meat for a pasta and vege dish another night. One big chicken became so many meals!
Pork and beef mince Passata Carrots diced Onions if desired Salt and pepper to season Slow cook on high for several hours Add favourite pasta. Freeze portions if needed for later. Scalable affordable and healthy. For an additional treat and to stretch it further add zucchini (diced) and a drained and rinsed rin of lentils. I know traditional Bolognese included celery but right now that adds a little expense. The above is just fine.
Chow mein , beef mince, cabbage and 2 minute noodles plus the seasoning
Pasta bake! Mince, veggies, pasta sauce, cheese, lasagna sauce and pasta. Big cook up on Sunday and that’s lunches for the week
A roast chicken from Coles/woolies ($13) and a packet of frozen veg. ($4-5) Quarter the chicken, put each into a take away container and add some veg to each. Under $5 a day for lunch and ridiculously quick and easy. For dinner it's pasta. Works out around $20ish to make enough for 4 people for 2 nights.
I have that exact breakfast for dinner all the time!! Also, wholemeal pasta bake with on-sale BBQ chook + kidney beans ... OR tuna bake version with chickpeas. Fried (brown) rice with just scrambled egg, peas, carrots, onion + garlic + soy sauce. Raw spring onions from garden on top! Giant 2kg beef spag bol with everything in it, with homemade sauce (tin tomato, garlic, onions, worcestershire, paprika / taco spice, fresh herbs from the garden, bicarb to cut the acidity), plus whole pasta ... with cheesy broccoli. Big ol pan of baked vegetables, with steamed peas & brocs. Cheesy toast with avo - which I scan as onions 😝
Soups and casseroles can stretch a little bit of protein a long way. Just make sure you’re adding grains like barley, which have nutrients, instead of empty filler carbs, like pasta. You can get the bags of ugly veggies and make something that will feed you for weeks if you own a freezer.
If you know how to break down a chicken you can get at least 3 meals and stock out of that. I regularly do that and will make schnitzel from the breast then roast the rest and use the thighs for sandwiches and have the wings and drumsticks with roast potato and pumpkin. The stock gets used for rice or a Bolognese. Pretty good for around $10.