Cheapest Meals Ever

frosty · 2 January 2006 at 12:37AM

When I go shopping I look at buying things I can bulk out a bit,if I buy a pack of pork mince from tesco (89p)I will use half for a shepherds pie,if you add veg that needs using up,this will make it go further.Then use the other half to make a chilli and serve with rice or baked potato and salad,I stretch everything to serve 5 adults.

Rebob · 2 January 2006 at 1:00AM

Don't forget soya mince and chunks. I sometimes bulk out mince dishes or use the chunks in a curry. Dh and DS both like it. dh says it is nicer with a bit of this in as the dish is often less fatty.

Queenie · 2 January 2006 at 1:14AM

Located these topics in our Mega Index might be worth a read through

Inspiration:
- Cheap, easy recipies required! (for children to make)
- Cheap meals?
- Dinner party on a budget- ideas please!
- Elimination diet - help please
- Food for hot weather?
- Food on the go...............HELP!!!!!
- Help me use what I've got left
- Helllpppppp!!! running out of ideas...
- Inspiration needed
- Lots of help needed please (mostly recipes)
- My store cupboard needs clearing out - Help!
- Saturday brunch ideas
- Tinned spaghetti? and soups?
- Vegetables
- Vegetable selection... what can I make?
- What can I make with? Mushrooms, peppers, carrots, celery?
- What's for breakfast/lunch/dinner?

Challenge:
- Cheapest cake to feed six
- Cheapest meal
- Feed six for £1.62
- Got £1 and hungry
- Store cupboard Challenge

Leftovers:
- Barbecue
- Beef
- Chicken
- Chicken leftovers
- Chicken - Tea: inspiration needed!
- Lamb - What to do with leftover lamb?
- Leftover Christmas veg
- Lleftover potatoes
- Marzipan, icing, mandarins...
- Mostly mash and...
- Pasta??
- Pesto - ideas pls?
- Rice
- Rice ideas?
- Roast beef
- 2 in 1 recipes
- Use-it-up experiments

Mega Index

researcher · 2 January 2006 at 1:36AM

Luckily I'm not on a tight budget now - but there have been times in my life when I've have been on a very tight one. Even so I often buy a ham hock for between £1 - £1.50 and gently simmer it in water for 2 - 3 hours. (Add peppercorns and bayleaf but no salt). Save the stock.

I then make a parsley sauce with half milk, half stock and serve the meat with vegs, ptoatos etc. This is a lovely meal, and there's often enough meat left for sandwiches too!

The rest of the stock - I add a bag of split peas (green or yellow) and cook for another hour, and then add a mixture of onion, carrot, celery which I've sauted gently. (Veges can be varied to whatever is in season). The result is a huge quantity of delicious soup. (And you can add any bits of ham to it too).

Eating on a tight budget does not mean having to eat loads of potatos, rice or pasta - or poor quality processed foods. It just needs more planning (and time).

apple_mint · 2 January 2006 at 9:20AM

A few more ideas:

Lamb Pasties (value SR flour 12oz, value butter 6 oz, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 5 tablespoons of water - knead and chill in fridge for half an hour. Filling - 1/2 lb of lamb mince, one medium potato finely chopped, one onion finely chopped, one carrot finely chopped, one tablespoon dried herbs, 3 tablespoons worcester sauce. Divide pastry into 6 and roll into circles. Fill one half with filling. Brush water round edge of pastry, fold over filling and press edges together, then fold over edges firmly to stop filling bubbling out when cooked. Make 5 more and put on baking trays. Cut a slit on top of each to let steam out and brush with beaten egg. Bake in oven (180c) for 30 minutes - ready when golden brown) Eat some hot and save rest for cold packed lunches.

Pizza - make dough in bread maker - tomoto base can be tomato puree, or passata or a tin of value tomatoes cooked with a chopped onion an herbs. Topping - anything you have in the fridge (I often used up the odd rasher of bacon this way - chopped). Look at for cheese reduced in the supermarket and store in the freezer until needed. But you don't always need cheese!

Shepherds Pie - make two - one for the meal and one for the freezer

Chicken thighs - until I joined OS I always ignored these. We skin them and have two per person in casseroles etc. A lot more meat than you think on these.

Cheese and Leek pasta. Cook pasta, whilst cooking - in a separate pan cook a sliced leak and a few chopped mushrooms in about 1/2 inch of stock and some dried herbs. Add a tub of supermarket own brand soft cheese (philly type

) about 45p. This turns the leek / mushroom mix into a cheese sauce. Drain pasta and stir in cheese sauce mix. This is a real favorate in our house, especially with vegetarian daughter and is very filling. Adapt portion sizes for more and add some chopped ham for those meat eaters who want a little more.

Take a look at all the ideas on MSE for 'rubber chicken' - this has really turned round our finances with 4 or more meals from a whole chicken (some of which is above).

ashbart · 3 October 2007 at 1:12PM

This thread is fantastic and I'd love to share my cheap meal ideas so, here goes:

Sausage and Mash with Gravy - perfect Winter food and the only expense here, really, is the Sausages. Most families will have potatoes on their weekly list and gravy is a cupboard item, surely! We have Yorshire Puddings on the side if we're feeling brave!

Easy Spaghetti Carbonara (serves 2)

Half Tesco packet of Bacon Lardons (or normal bacon cut into pieces)
Mushrooms (optional)
approx. 8 cherry tomatoes
1 garlic clove, cut into small pieces
Squirt of tomato paste
A dash of Schwartz Italian seasoning (or similar) to taste
250ml (approx) Double Cream
Spaghetti

Cook the spaghetti, as per packet instructions and set aside when done. While the spaghetti is cooking, cook the bacon on high in a deep frying pan/large pot until it has gone fairly crispy. Remove bacon from pan and set aside on a plate (make sure you leave the bacon dripping in the pan as you are going to use it for the rest of the dish.) Cook mushrooms in bacon dripping, set aside with bacon. Cut the cherry tomatoes into really tiny pieces and fry in the pan of bacon dripping with the garlic, Italian seasoning, and tomato paste. Stir until all ingredients together until they have a paste-like consistency. Add double cream, cooked bacon, and mushrroms, and stir over a medium heat until warm. Add the cooked spaghetti and toss (while over the heat) with tongs until the spaghetti is well coated and the sauce has thickened slightly. Serve up and Enjoy!

Also, as mentioned before, soup is always a cheap option, or a simple fry-up. For a light meal, we have 'beans and cheese' toasties which sounds weird but, it's fantastic! Just put some cheese and canned baked beans in between two slices of bread and toast the sandwich in a sandwich toaster or we use our George Foreman grill. Fantastic!

I hope these help! Happy cooking everyone!!

odds-n-sods · 3 October 2007 at 1:22PM

Didn't notice its 21 months old??

tiff · 3 October 2007 at 2:21PM

Does it matter? Its nice to have all the ideas in one thread, thanks ashbart.

Skint_Catt · 3 October 2007 at 2:46PM

My colleague used to have a bowl of plain pasta, with value baked beans and a bit of cheese over it. I don't think you can get much cheaper than that!

kittyscarlett · 3 October 2007 at 4:42PM

Heh. No, I don't think it matters that the thread's that old... new people will always come on to the site and rediscover them, its not a bad thing

My Poverty Soup special - generous handful of oatmeal simmered for about 40 mins in whatever stock you've got to hand ( go for the lighter types rather than beef oxo etc ) with a finely chopped carrot and one finely chopped small onion or half a larger one, with some mixed dried herbs or herbes de provence if you have them... I usually have some fresh parsley in a pot so that chopped in at the end cheers it up greatly.

Cheap as anything, hot, savoury, filling, healthy, and tastes a lot better than you think.

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Cheapest Meals Ever

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