Cheapest recipies.

what is your cheapest recipie?
we are a family of 4.
have some lovely recipies from here etc but was just wondering what the cheapest lovely recipies you all do are so on very skint months-like this one(see daily chat :o ) we still eat nice things.
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Comments

  • Gingham_Ribbon
    Gingham_Ribbon Posts: 31,520
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    Our cheapest cheap recipes are home made bread and netto beans for beans on toast. We add a little chilli powder to the beans or grated cheese over. When it's decent bread, beans on toast is quite a nice meal.

    Soup n puddin' night is a cheap one from my childhood. We use bits and bobs left over to make soup (eg some red lentils or split peas, onion, carrot and potato with a stock cube and some brown sauce) and make a quick fruit crumble with what ever's available. We just have it plain in our house but when we were little we had it with milk.

    Ordinary, cheap pasta tastes absolutely fine with just a little garlic and chilli fried in some good olive oil, then grate parmasan cheese over. Macaroni cheese is also really cheap if you use the cheapie pasta and is yummie if you stick it in the oven with some grated cheese over the top and serve with a salad.

    We make pizza very cheaply too. We make our own dough now but the value plain pizza bases in supermarkets are fine. Just some tinned tomatoes simmered down (with herbs, onion and garlic if you like) until it thickens for the base sauce, with whatever is handy for topping and grated mozzarella on top. Or if you have crumpets, muffins etc, you can make mini pizzas using these as bases. The blocks of mozzarella are cheaper than the balls and are nice grated and cooked. (You can use the rest of the block to grate over a pasta bake.

    Erm. That's all I can come up with for now. Hope you get some ideas.
    May all your dots fall silently to the ground.
  • Magentasue
    Magentasue Posts: 4,229 Forumite
    Baked potatoes with grated cheese/baked beans

    Vegetable soup/Leek and potato soup with homemade bread

    Egg and chips

    Eggs on toast

    Gypsy Toast and baked beans

    Eggy things are a cheap meal for us as we have chickens who have laid every day since we got them 18 months ago, bless 'em. Same with veg, we have leeks in the garden.

    Potatoes, pasta, bread and rice are cheap 'padding' to fill you up.
  • elona
    elona Posts: 11,806
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    Cauliflower in cheese sauce

    Home made huge yorkshire pudding filled with veg and gravy poured over top.

    Potato and cheese flan

    Baked potatoes with cheese or beans on top (bake in microwave)

    Home made pancakes with cheese and veg put inside

    Slow cooker soup - steep a packet of dries peas in water overnight then rinse them and put in slow cooker with boiling water , 2 stock cubes and any veg you have (or be really sneaky and put in huge pack of cheap frozen veg.) Cook on low all day or on high for 4 or 5 hours.

    Swear blind that you have been slaving over this all day!!!

    Turkey casserole made with turkey leg for £1 in slow cooker with can tomatoes and onions,mushrooms, peppers, anything you can get.


    Best of all is home made pizza - I make the base in our breadmaker , put cans tomatoes with onion and garlic etc to simmer. When cooled down add it to pizza and add mozzarella (49p from Lidl) - put in oven for 15 mins or so.
    You can be as fancy or as plain as you like for the toppings
    A huge pizza costs about £1.50 depending on topping and feeds six of us - best of all - it is thought of as a real treat.

    Most important tip - Never say you are having a cheap or economy meal - say that you are trying something "special" or else they will turn their noses up.

    If anyone does not like what I cook then they can make themself beans on toast or a baked potato. It is surprising how often they decide to try what I have made!
    "This site is addictive!"
    Wooligan 2 squares for smoky - 3 squares for HTA
    Preemie hats - 2.
  • HOLsale
    HOLsale Posts: 1,231 Forumite
    Ordinary, cheap pasta tastes absolutely fine with just a little garlic and chilli fried in some good olive oil, then grate parmasan cheese over.
    .


    my mom used to make this only she skipped the chilli and used butter instead.

    simply boil and drain pasta as normal, then add in butter (only 53/pkt at lidl) and garlic powder (or granules, 49p lidl) and a pinch of salt. sprinkle with cheapy parmesan cheese out of the canister and mmmmm heavenly!

    tuna noodle casserole is cheap and filling

    boil and drain noodles (any kind but shells or twists best for catching sauce)
    mix in a tin of cream of mushroom soup and a tin of drained tuna. mix well, reheat until warmed through and top with a bit of cheese if you like
    founder of Frugal Genius UK (Yahoo Groups)
  • squeaky
    squeaky Posts: 14,129
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    In the Cooking section of the MEGA Index sticky - listed under "challenges" are a number of threads - including one entitled "Feed my six for £1.62"
    Hi, I'm a Board Guide on the Old Style and the Consumer Rights boards which means I'm a volunteer to help the boards run smoothly and can move and merge posts there. Board guides are not moderators and don't read every post. If you spot an inappropriate or illegal post then please report it to [email protected]. It is not part of my role to deal with reportable posts. Any views are mine and are not the official line of MoneySavingExpert.
    Never ascribe to malice that which is adequately explained by incompetence.
    DTFAC: Y.T.D = £5.20 Apr £0.50
  • HOLsale
    HOLsale Posts: 1,231 Forumite
    ooh i forgot stromboli!

    i make up this mix in the bread machine


    1.5 cups lukewarm water
    3 tbsp olive oil
    3 cups white flour (i use self rising it makes it extra light)
    1 tsp salt
    1.5 tsp dry yeast (for breadmakers, £1 pkt from Lakeland, keep in fridge!)
    1tbsp dried herbs (£1.49 jar from lidl- parsley, garlic, leeks etc) (optional)

    i put this in my breadmaker on the dough setting. when the dough is ready turn your oven on to preheat at 200C.

    on an oil surface roll out the dough into roughly a rectangle (dough should be no more than 1/2inch thick). once it's rolled out shift it over to your oiled and floured pan. lay it out flat again and using the back of a spoon lightly coat in either olive oil or a tomato sauce. (bbq sauce or ketchup will do in a pinch or if you use lidl's sun dried tomatoes you can use that oil, gorgeous stuff!)

    now you will fill with a mixture of mince, onion and whatever veg you fried up with it (make sure meat is cooked through). add extra sauce if you think it will be dry. toss in some cheese of choice.spread this out on the dough making sure to not get it more than 1/4 inch from the edges. once spread out gently roll the whole thing up, pinch the ends shut, make a few notches in the top to let the steam out and pop it in the oven for 20-35 minutes until a skewer going in comes out clean of dough!

    this is soooooooo filling and tasty. they inside gets lighly gummy and nice, the outside is pleasantly crispy and the middle of the dough is like gorgeous fresh scones!

    dh always asks for this one!
    founder of Frugal Genius UK (Yahoo Groups)
  • henhog
    henhog Posts: 2,786 Forumite
    Here's a cheapo meal that most kids love (and adults!)
    Baked bean lasagne

    8 oz cheese - value cheese is absolutely fine
    1 large onion, chopped
    garlic - about two cloves
    2 tins of beans (value ofcourse)
    about 12 lasagne sheets (value)
    cheese sauce

    Heat the oven to about gas mark five. Cook the onion and garlic and then mix with the beans. Layer up the beans, lasagne and cheese sauce like a normal lasagne and put grated cheese on the top. Bake for about 30 mins.

    Pasta with a cheap homemade tomato sauce is also very cheap and filling.

    BTW, there is a good article in this months Runner's World magazine about eating healthily on a budget.
  • I think my toddler would love that. Will give it a go.
    May all your dots fall silently to the ground.
  • sorry squeaky...i have read that post but wanted to see if there were any more ideas without a certain amount of people in mind or a certain amount of money.is that ok? mind you after my dumbness with the banana muffin recipie i dont blame you for pointing it out :D :rotfl: :D
    fab ideas so far...thankyou all :T
  • Cheapest recipe we have:

    bulgar wheat - this is even cheaper than rice
    1 tin of chopped tomatos
    herbs
    any meat you like - we normally use the cheapo frozen diced lamb
    Still wish I could buy a TARDIS instead of a house!
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