Food costs have risen sharply in recent years, but cutting back on more expensive ingredients when cooking doesn’t have to mean missing out on flavour.
So, if you’re looking for tasty meal ideas that won’t cost the earth, why not give these recipes a go?
Budget breakfast
While a quick bowl of cereal might stave off your morning hunger for a little while, there are plenty of other nutritious and affordable options to try.
Apple and cinnamon porridge
This recipe only takes minutes to whip up and costs less than 40p per portion. Porridge makes a great breakfast, as it’ll hopefully keep you full until lunch, and you can customise it to your taste. Inspired by a BBC Good Food recipe, here’s what you’ll need for one portion…
Ingredients
- 40g oats
- Pinch of salt
- Pinch of cinnamon
- 30g raisins
- 100ml semi-skimmed milk
- 100ml water
- 1 small apple, grated
Utensils
- Small saucepan
- Grater
- Wooden spoon or spatula
Method
Start by stirring in the oats, salt, cinnamon, and raisins in a small saucepan until the cinnamon is well distributed. Mixing them without the milk and water helps the cinnamon to combine more easily when you add the wet ingredients.
Once mixed, add the milk and water, stirring well to combine.
Take your pan over to the hob and set it to high heat, stirring the porridge frequently to keep it from sticking.
The porridge should start to bubble and thicken. Once you’re happy with the consistency, turn off the heat and add half your grated apple. Adding it at this stage gives your porridge a natural sweetness, so there’s no need for honey or sugar.
Once everything is warmed through, tip your porridge into a bowl, top with the rest of the grated apple, and enjoy!
Budget dinners
Pasta alla vodka
This is a recipe for when you don’t fancy spending ages cooking or feel like there’s nothing much in the fridge. Before you reach for a takeaway menu, take a look in your cupboards, because you’ve probably got most of the ingredients for this quick pasta dish.
Pasta alla vodka is a popular Italian-American dish, and while plenty of recipes will tell you theirs is the ‘right way’ to make it, it’s actually pretty flexible. So if you don’t have certain ingredients, it’s easy enough to substitute in others.
Here’s what you’ll need for two portions…
Ingredients
- 1 tsp oil – preferably olive
- ½ red onion – diced
- 3 cloves of garlic – minced
- Pinch of chilli flakes
- 1 tbsp tomato purée
- 40ml vodka
- 1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes
- 100ml double cream
- 20g of Parmesan, finely grated
- 200g of penne
- A few basil leaves, chopped into ribbons
Utensils
- Large frying pan
- Large saucepan
- Fine grater
- Sharp knife
Method
Set a large frying pan on low heat and drizzle in a little oil. Add the onion and cook on low heat for about 10 minutes until softened. Don’t worry if your onion gets a little bit of colour – it will add flavour.
Once the onions have cooked down, put your pasta on to boil, following the instructions on the packet.
Whilst the pasta heats, add the garlic, chilli flakes, and tomato purée to the pan with your onions, and cook for a minute or two, allowing the purée to darken slightly.
Turn up the heat and pour in the vodka – it’ll sizzle loudly. Boil this for a couple of minutes until the strong alcohol smell has cooked off.
You can then add the chopped tomatoes, keeping the heat high to reduce the sauce. This will take around five minutes, but make sure to stir frequently to stop it from burning. Once it’s reduced, turn the heat off and add your cream, stirring to combine.
Now drain your pasta, reserving a couple of spoonfuls of pasta water.
Add two-thirds of the cheese and the cooked pasta to the frying pan with your sauce, lower the heat, and mix well. Add as much pasta water as you need to loosen the sauce. You want to coat the pasta without it swimming in sauce.
Once you’ve reached a consistency you’re happy with, you can serve your pasta. Divide between two bowls, then top with the rest of the cheese and your basil.
A note on substitutions
If you don’t have some of the ingredients we’ve listed here, it’s easy to swap them out. Here are some substitutions that work well…
| Original ingredient | Substitution |
| Red onion | Any type of onion, including white, spring, or shallot. |
| Fresh garlic | Granulated garlic – swap one clove for ¼ tsp. |
| Tomato purée and chopped tomatoes | If you don’t have both, using just one of them will do. If you have neither, you can use fresh tomatoes instead. |
| Vodka | Other neutral spirits like unflavoured schnapps, white rum, or gin will work, but if you don’t have any spirits, white or red wine also work well. |
| Parmesan | The best alternatives are Grana Padano or Pecorino, but any hard cheese would work. |
| Cream | Crème fraîche, cream cheese, or Greek yoghurt can also be used. |
Veggie burgers
These burgers are a cheap and delicious dinner option, and at around 49p per portion, you can feed four people for less than £2.
This is based on Jack Monroe’s carrot, cumin, and kidney bean burger recipe, but we’ve added a few tweaks and extras.
Here’s what you’ll need for four portions…
Ingredients
For the burger patties
- 400g kidney beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 onion, finely diced
- 1 carrot, grated
- 2 tbsp oil
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1 heaped tsp plain flour
- Pinch of salt
- Pinch of pepper
To assemble
- 4 x burger buns
- 50g cheese, sliced or grated
- 2 tbsp mayonnaise
- 2 salad tomatoes, thinly sliced
- 4 Romaine lettuce leaves, washed and torn in half widthways
Utensils
- Medium-sized saucepan
- Grater
- Sharp knife
- Frying pan
Method
Start by cooking the kidney beans. Tip the rinsed beans into a medium-sized saucepan and cover with cold water. Set the saucepan on the hob on high heat and, once it’s boiling, cook the beans for 10 minutes until they’ve softened slightly.
While the beans cook, drizzle one tablespoon of oil into a large frying pan and set it on a low heat. Add the onion and carrot and cook for about 10 minutes until they’re softened and lightly golden. Make sure to stir occasionally to prevent the mixture from catching.
While the carrot and onion cook, your beans should be ready, so drain them before tipping them back into the saucepan. Grab a fork and mash the beans against the side of the pan until you have a paste-like texture.
When the carrot and onion mixture has cooked down, tip the mashed beans into the frying pan and mix. Then add cumin, coriander, flour, salt, and pepper, again mixing well and heating for a couple of minutes to cook out any raw flavours in the flour and spices.
Once combined, turn off the heat and set the burger mixture aside to cool.
Meanwhile, you can prep your burger toppings. We like to toast the burger buns in a hot, dry pan for a couple of minutes, as this gives the burger extra structure.
With the toppings prepped, take the cooled burger mixture and separate it into four parts to shape into patties.
Drizzle some oil in a frying pan and set it to medium heat. Place the burger patties in the pan, pressing them down gently so they spread a little. Let them cook for two or three minutes before flipping them over and cooking for another couple of minutes. Be careful when flipping the patties as they can be fragile, but don’t worry if they break; just push them back together. You’re looking for a nice golden colour on each side.
When the patties are cooked, you can assemble the burgers. They’re great either on their own or with a side of home-cooked chips or salad.
Odds and ends pesto
This pesto recipe is great for using up leftovers, particularly any fresh herbs or greens.
While traditional pesto is made with basil, switching it out for other greens and herbs and changing the nuts you use can make completely different, but equally delicious, kinds of pesto.
You can use the following recipe as a guide, but feel free to replace the ingredients with ingredients you already have in your cupboards and change the ratios to taste. For example, if you don’t have the nuts we’ve listed, you can use any others you have instead.
The following recipe makes around six to eight portions…
Ingredients
- 1 garlic clove, roughly sliced
- 85ml of olive oil
- 85g of nuts (half smoked almonds, half walnuts)
- 4 large handfuls of chopped curly kale, raw or cooked and cooled
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 40g of Grana Padano, finely grated
- Pinch of salt
Utensils
- Grater
- Sharp knife
- Small blender or food processor
Method
Put the garlic, olive oil, nuts, kale, and half the lemon juice in a blender or food processor and blend to a paste. Add the cheese and blend again for 10–20 seconds, or until combined.
Taste your pesto and season with salt. You can also add the rest of the lemon juice if needed.
If your pesto is too thick, add more olive oil or a splash of water to loosen it.
Enjoy it with pasta, spread on toast and topped with an egg, or any other way you fancy!
A note on using other ingredients
As we’ve said, you can switch out the nuts and greens for other combinations. Some ideas include…
- Watercress and walnut
- Rocket and pine nut
- Cavolo nero and pistachio
- Pea, mint, and pine nut
You can also experiment with other hard cheeses, like Parmesan or Pecorino, for a slightly different flavour. If you want your pesto a bit hotter, you can add more garlic or chilli, whereas if you’d like a more mellow flavour, you could add more nuts or cheese. Adding breadcrumbs can make it go further, too.
If you enjoyed these recipes, you might like our food and drink section, where you’ll find articles like: 10 money-saving recipes made from leftover foods or 10 meals you can cook for under £3.
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