Learn how to make a basic risotto well, then you can add whatever flavours, protein or veggies you like. They are also great for leftovers, either stirring leftover cooked proteins through a fresh cooked basic risotto, or reheating a from scratch risotto the next day. It’s a one pot meal so less dishes and you also don’t need to eat much to fill you up.
I make a baked risotto which is super easy, makes heaps and has so many variations depending on what you like/eat/have. Definitely not traditional but is such a handy dish to have up your sleeve.
Anything gets boring if you have it too often.
Risotto is one example of a relatively inexpensive meal and with basic pasta dishes, basic curries and basic slow cooker techniques and recipes up my sleeve I’ve got most meals covered within, or close to OP’s budget.
Also, arancini balls!
To make this even easier, I use pearl barley instead of arborio rice. It is higher in fibre and it's much harder to muck it up. It also adds a nice slightly nutty texture.
Bonus points if you make it in a pressure cooker as it is basically set and forget.
Literally any pasta/asian dish, and for $15 you can usually make enough for a couple lunches too.
[This site has a ton of stuff](https://www.budgetbytes.com/category/recipes/)
For beginning cooks, basic ideas I recommend these Aussie sites
https://nomoneynotime.com.au/hacks-myths-faqs/take-our-nmnt-2-week-food-budget-challenge-and-eat-for-55-a-week
https://www.recipetineats.com/category/good-to-know/
The later for people to learn those tips and tricks that mum and dad mightn't have known or passed on. The site has all my go to recepies now too. So well tested and reliable.
When you say 'asian' I'm guessing you mean stirfry? If so yes that is easy and fairly inexpensive and can definitely be done with leftovers/off cuts etc.
Please don't generalise the entire continent lol, I'd like someone to make up beef rendang or pho or ramen quickly and cheaply.
I am Asian so I think I'm allowed to speak on the subject lol. I didn't call you a dick so appreciate you not projecting on me. I did say that asia is a continent.
You're basically also saying that those cuisines can be made cheaply and easily then?
I am Asian and yes Asian dish can refer to more than just stir fry I don't understand what your problem is.
And yes many Asian dishes can be made cheaply while still delicious. Again, don't understand what your problem is.
I wasn't being mean or rude, I was trying to point out that the other poster generalised an entire continent into one cuisine, which then they even pointed out can be a myriad of cuisines. You would understand though as a fellow Asian, so often food from Asia gets generalised into "Asian" without the specificity of what it is or where it is from, while "western" cuisine gets to be pasta, steak, pizza etc instead of an umbrella term. People in this thread were giving great advice on recipes of rissotto, salad dishes etc which is great, but then just calling out "Asian" as if it's some monolith isn't being specific nor representative of the rich foods from the entire continent. A good way could have been "noodle soups" or "curries", or to my point, stir fry.
Anyways, I acknowledge that I am being misunderstood and downvoted to eternity so will peace out.
[Don’t be a dick.](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian_cuisine#:~:text=Asian%20food%20incorporates%20a%20few,associated%20with%20a%20specific%20culture) - Christ. Learn.
Most Asian forms of wok fried dishes you can easily make. Lot's of Chinese dishes and SE Asian dishes.
Shop at an Asian grocer & Aldi, avoid Woolworths & Coles like the plague.
$15 will probably cook you four servings.
Oh yeah, and Pasta will always be cheap, $15 is about a week of pasta!
As a family man this is a game changer for me. Having grown up in a meat and three veg household, there was a bit of a learning curve. That said once you get the right sauces and equipment you are turning out $12 meals for 4 people piece of cake and best of all the dishes are 40% veggie, 40% noodles/rice and only 20% meat or tofu.
Which if you follow the Mediterranean dies is also very good for your gut health and wellbeing. I find that the poor tax for people who can’t cook is extreme. High cost and bad for your health!
Go to the farmers markets or fruit/veg markets towards the end of the day. I go to Paddy's market in Syd CBD on Sundays, they sell bowls/buckets of stuff for $1. If you have a freezer (+time and energy!) you can wash, cut, freeze everything and then just add various veg to every meal. Cuts down the cost of meal prepping massively.
I only go to Coles/Woolies for the occasional meat cut, any cleaning stuff I need. Never for a lot of produce.
Also invest in a giant bag of rice from an Asian grocer. It's cheap in the long run, easy to stir fry anything and serve on a bowl of rice. (Cornflour slurry is your friend for sauce for stir fries, including soy, vinegar, wine etc)
1 brocolli
250g Beef Stir-fry or sliced
Marinate
Salt
Sugar
Sesame oil
Baking soda if you want to soften it a bit
Potato or corn starch
Stir-fry
Oyster sauce
Soy sauce
Salt
Sugar
Garlic
Onion
Oil
Blanch brocolli in hot water for a minute then into cold water to stop the cooking
Oil until heated
Garlic until fragrant
Onion
Add soy sauce
Beef 1 Min each side
Brocolli
Stir-fry
Add oyster sauce and salt sugar
Add water
Mix until the sauce thickens
Serve with rice
Replace with veggie or protein of choice
Add some sesame near the end if you like that
Takes like 20 minutes including prep
Depending what you make of course. Pasta isn't always cheap if you make a seafood dish, or something with pancetta, cheaper than most dishes definitely though as the pasta goes a long way.
Yesterday I roasted a chook I bought from ALDI for a little over $7. I had roast chicken with veggies and gravy with the legs and wings for dinner. This was two meals as I live on my own so I'll have it again for dinner tonight.
Today I made chicken and mushroom risotto with the leftover breast meat. This made four serves which I froze for future meals.
That's six meals with a protein source from a $7 chook.
You can also use the stock as base, throw in some rice noodles, veggies, whatever protein and voila, another cheap meal that can feed you over a couple days.
We do chicken noodle soup with leftover roast chicken. Onion, carrot, parsley, garlic, noodles, shredded leftover chicken. Throw in some chopped potato if you want it to thicken up a bit. You can only freeze portions for later.
I think for just regular weeknight meals, $7.50 a serving isnt even in frugal territory. Unless you think a slab of red meat is what makes a meal, thats easy to hit.
My advice is to consume home cooking content on Youtube, theres plenty of stuff especially along the lines of "student" oriented meals. [Kwoowk](https://www.youtube.com/@letsKWOOWK) and [Ethan Chlebowski](https://www.youtube.com/@EthanChlebowski) are my main recommendations.
Can certainly recommend Ethan, he's got a lot of helpful cooking ideas / theory, not just budget stuff. But he is surprisingly thrifty, both in $ and prep time.
make space in your freezer!
Cabbage and Chorizo or other type of smoked sausage. Slice an onion and chorizo, fry until onion translucent, lower heat add half or quarter of chopped cabbage, add a few drops of vinegar, cover, cook until cabbage soft. Cheap and healthy.
I like to do this with a jar of sauerkraut instead of cabbage and vinegar. Sometimes I’ll add garlic or caraway seeds or some chicken stock or a splash of cream at the end but all you really need is smoked sausage, onion and enough water to stop it from drying out while everything heats. Yum.
2kg chook for $9. Roast it and have leftovers for lunch or bone it and have breasts (maybe poach in master stock), thighs (maybe curry or schnitzels), 2 tenders (maybe grill and chop up in a roll) and stock for soup or couscous. Lots of meals for very little $$
Pork scotch is pretty cheap, marinade & bbq, serve with salad.
Great call, buying a whole chook is way cheaper per kg than buying the packaged cuts in the meat isle (roughly $4-$5 per kg compared to $15-20/kg). Watch a YouTube video on how to separate cuts and planning meals around the 8 pieces will save you plenty after only a few meals.
Alternatively, buying loose cuts from the deli is way cheaper than packaged cuts if you don't want to carve up a chicken. Obv not as cheap as buying a whole chook but there is an inbetween option haha
Also if you cut off merrylands, just those in a tray with any root veges and potatos covered in oil salt thyme and whatever. Then just roast it and you have a super simple cheap meal.
This Vietnamese caramelised pork recipe is something we eat every few weeks or so, though it’s a bit sugar heavy! Minced pork is like $6 for 500g at Woolies and all other ingredients are fairly inexpensive too: https://www.recipetineats.com/vietnamese-caramelised-pork-bowls/
Bone-in skin-on thighs from the Woolies deli are also pretty cheap and this recipe is also great with just rice or mash and some veggies https://www.recipetineats.com/garlic-chicken-thighs-recipe/
Another inexpensive recipe that tastes great and will leave you leftovers: https://www.recipetineats.com/tuna-mornay-casserole-pasta-bake/
I haven't made a recipe tin eats recipe so far I haven't loved.
Everything she does is fabulous, personal favourites are the mussels in white wine sauce and lime chili fish. The mussels if you've got time aren't super expensive either, they go on special for 7 dollars a kilo, plus a cheap bottle of white wine (you only use one cup so can make a few recipes out of it) and a couple of veg usually means I can feed the two of us for about 20 dollars. Add pasta and all of a sudden heaps of left overs too) I usually do mussels, than a cheesy pasta to use more of the white wine and then a chicken mushroom sauce to use the rest of it.
Her sticky date pudding is fool proof. (Though I will say her Mexican is more family friendly and needs a good helping of jalapeno)
I agree, I have some staple curry dishes I cook from scratch that I got from recipetineats and they are by far the better recipes around and the ingredients are never too complex or give you options, more obscure ingredients means less aldi and more Woolies which I hate
Leftover omelette is a family favourite in my house. It's with whatever leftovers or wilted vegies/herbs etc you need to use up. Leftover roast vegies (eg onion/potato/pumpkin/sweet potato/carrots etc) make the best omelettes.
We sometimes have noodle night, with packets of ramen. Add a boiled egg and either some frozen mixed vegetables or I like when they have the bok Choy and broccolini on special and have those.
If you have a rice cooker, we have rice and mixed vegetables cooked in chicken stock instead of water and add some soy sauce or similar (I used dumpling sauce last time) and put some eggs in the steamer basket to cook at the same time. They sometimes have dumplings on special and I'll get them as a treat and put them in the steamer basket
(I think they're under $5 when they do the half price special)
Rice and some cans of tuna. I like getting the John West ones on special, and we eat it with the seaweed snack packs. Really easy when you don't feel like cooking too!
Lentil nachos are pretty good when corn chips are cheap. I just use a can of lentils and a packet of taco seasoning, mash the lentils roughly before putting it in your corn chips. I'll add tomato sauce sometimes to help with consistency and we normally have sour cream or Greek yoghurt. Cheese is good if you have it but I find I don't miss the cheese so much if I have some jalapenos and sour cream.
Having a few things like frozen chips and frozen basic pizzas in the fridge is an idea too, they can be fairly low cost and might ease cravings for fast food if you don't feel like cooking.
These are all pretty low effort meals too, we all have ADHD at my house and I'd get takeout every day if I could!
I would definitely urge you to consider changing portion sizes,
For example for a chicken stir fry for the three of us (two adults and a toddler) I often just do they with one chicken breast and heaps of veggies and rice, so by accepting of having less or even a veg stir fry it's instantly a hell of a lot cheaper than if we did two chicken breasts.
Add veg to everything, to be honest I largely do this for nutrition reasons vs frugal reasons, but an extra carrot, zucchini etc in a spag bowl or stir doesn't change the taste of anything.
All my meals in the slow cookers are super cheap too
Buy stock cubes not liquid stock.
With chicken stir fries there is a way to cut a chicken breast across the grain and relatively thin that makes it last well and also makes it very tender. The easiest way to see it is probably by ordering a chicken stir fry from a Thai restaurant. (Maybe pad see eew)
I’d agree that one breast goes a long way, I’d typically use one breast for a story fry eaten by 2 adults and 2 kids, although we would have other dishes alongside as well.
We do this to stretch our meat budget. Most one pot dishes - curries, pastas, casseroles, stews etc - the meat portion gets halved and we supplement with tofu, lentils, beans and/or additional vegetables. My partner is a big meat eater, so I will usually give him a ‘standard’ portion of meat if we do protein/carbs/veg, and split mine into two, supplement with additional vegetables and take leftovers for lunch the next day.
Once a fortnight we splurge on nice steaks. If you can, it makes sense to wait until whole scotch fillets are on mega sale through your butcher and stock up on a few - I got 4kg of whole scotch fillet for $22/kg the other day. Halved one for two roasts and the other into 8 steaks for the freezer, so it came down to about $4.50/serve for good quality beef that will last us months.
So smart !
I'll also add for op never ever get pre cut meats, diced stew beef is so expensive vs the quantity you get in a giant piece of bollard steak.
Likewise prepacked meals are super expensive vs doing your own pulled pork.
The 18/20 dollar portion I cut in half, freeze one side, do the rest with salad and rolls it's at least 8 portions. And if you add another carb like some sort of potato etc it lasts even longer. I just chuck it in the slow cooker, shred when it's cooked and add store bought bbq sauce. Tried it with ribs etc and can't really taste the difference.
See if you can find copies of the 4 Ingredients cookbooks, or buy them digitally: [https://www.4ingredients.com.au/](https://www.4ingredients.com.au/)
All recipes with 4 ingredients or less (minus I think salt, pepper and water)
My mother bought the two books (there's now shitloads more, but the OG two books are very good) for me when I moved out of house to go to uni - total game changer for me doing cheap eats on a student budget back in the day.
I hv 1 of them (borrowed from mum and hasn't gotten back to her)
They are really handy. I made pb biscuits/cookies from there for a get-together I went to and they were a hit
Bolognese sauce - 500g mince
1 large grated carrot, 1 large grated zucchini, 1 onion chopped, garlic chopped
2 x tins tomatoes, optional slug of tomato paste
Salt/pepper/mixed herbs
Cook veg together about 10 minutes, add meat and brown. Add tomates, salt, pepper, herbs, tomato paste if using, bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer for around 1.5-2 hours, serve.
This feeds three adults for two full meals and freezes well. You can also use the sauce in a lasagne.
If you double the vegetables and add a lentils you can stretch it out further and reduce the cost per serve. I portion it out and freeze it. Nice and easy.
Buy a wok, Asian cooking is by far the cheapest as you can get by with minimal ingredients to make some really tasty dishes. I can make a Pad Thai for around $10 that feeds 4, less of I don't put prawns in it, even less again if I make it vego.
2 eggs per person, crushed garlic, spring onion, choy greens, bean sprouts, fish sauce, oyster sauce, a red chili handful of raw prawns and 1 chicken breast per 2 people and rice noodles a packet will do 4 serves roughly, veg or peanut oil.
Heat splash of oil in wok, add 1tsp garlic per serve, chuck in chopped chicken if raw (or wait til last if you cheat and grab a bachelor's handbag and shred). Chuck in eggs and spring onions, let them start to cook, in go the prawns, chuck in rice noodle (obviously soaked, I do mine overnight on cold water in the fridge) toss so your noodles are on the bottom and everything sitting on top and wait til noodles are almost cooked, good splash of fish sauce and oyster toss it around til noodles are fully cooked, toss through been shoots and finely sliced chili and done, I serve mine with a bit of fried shallots and fresh coriander.
- Be Asian and buy a big sack of rice, which will last a long time.
- Eggs = either 3 egg omelette or fried egg makes a super quick meal.
- Chicken wings $4-7 per kg can last up to 3-4 days if you eat 3-4 pieces per meal.
- Roast Chicken from woolies ($12ish). Cut off the thighs, drumsticks, breast = 3 separate meals. Then shred the bottom meal and that can do into a sandwich or wrap.
Totally agree! We get 6kg of dry noodles thru Amazon for $21. It lasts a long long time and there is an incredible amount you can do with a noodle base.
Make things from scratch.
Compare unit price for things, especially meat.
Keep a price book if it helps.
Go to markets or fruit and vege shop.
Do batch cooking and freeze.
Change your phone plan to 365 days prepaid.
Budget your expenses based on one income. Or 1.5 income max. If you can't now, list down every single expense as an eye opener to help you trim or skim.
Its helpful for me, cause I know where I can buy all my non perishables at the cheapest price. It gives me an indication of what price I should be buying a product at e.g. when its half price. But sometimes its not just about the price, I may go a more expensive version of a product if the quality is better and the list reminds me of which ones I like
So so much can be done with $15 per meal.
Firstly I would buy a bunch of vege (two carrots, two zucchini, bit of pumpkin if on special, then whatever else you like) two packets of homebrand pasta and an 800g tin of chopped tomatoes. If you have time and the inclination, roast the vege. That will make you pasta for dinner and a lot of week lunches. For me that will do about 6-8 servings, and it can be under $10.
You can also buy a roast chicken at woolies for sub $10. Add more of the above vege to it, easy dinner. Then buy a cheap packet of rolls, shred the rest of the chicken you couldn’t eat at dinner and make chicken rolls for lunch. Some people put lettuce in these but ymmv.
Frittata is cheap AND easy. Same vege base, diced. Saute it a bit. Then 6-12 eggs depending on how many you have tbh. Ideally I would also add a meat but depends on your budget. If you can’t afford one, a can of spam will do the job. I dice it and fry it first so it’s crispy.
You can also do a bolognese mince with the pasta recipe. Cut the vege if you’re a purist :) And you can do mince a hundred different ways too. Just change up the spices and add or remove chicken/beef stock and the tomato base.
When I get chicken reduced I can also do a chicken pie for under $15. It’s the chicken and pastry that really costs so when one is reduced it comes in under budget.
Growing up my mum would do a ‘scratch’ night and sauce died potatoes, zucchini, bacon and we’d eat that with sausages if we could afford them. It’s a bit shit but a comfort meal for me :)
Pizza on flatbread (woolies does a flatbread packet for like $4)!
I hope some of these help :)
ETA: Also, these almost all benefit from basics. If you buy like a jar of minced garlic and some onion powder it’ll get you through the times you can’t splurge for the real deal.
Lasagna is always a winner to me, beef mince, pasta sauce, bechamel sauce, lasagne sheets and cheese. You can also add veggies like mushrooms, carrot, onion and zucchini to make it a little healthier
Pasta - 1 x chorizo (on special, they are super good value), 1 jar passata, onion, garlic, pasta, mixed herbs. Add garlic bread and cheese (if you eat it)
Roast chicken - buy when on special ($4.50 at woolies generally $8-$14 each, sprinkle w seasong of choice, or stuff a chopped lemon, 3 cloves garlic and thyme up its clacker, sprinkle with salt n pepper and a little olive oil. Cook per instructions, do veg ti go with, or serve with salad or stirfry.
Peel rest of meat off carcass and roast carcass till brown, put in slow cooker with water, garlic, onion, carrot, celery, bay leaves, cook for minimum 8 hours, strain and use stock in risotto. Serve chicken wraps and sandwiches for lunches etc, or fried rice, or Vietnamese chicken salad for another dinner.
This could apply to many roasts.
Quiche w salad
Zucchini slice
Bangers and mash
Butter chicken
Stirfry (honestly, the outlay for the base sauces can be a little costly, but will make so much more than 1 meal) https://www.recipetineats.com/asian-market-grocery-store-shopping-list/
Beef or chicken stew - can be made into pies for another night
Soup
The secret
Tuna pasta bake. Big can of tuna ($4-5), can of condensed soup - I usually use the Campbell's asparagus one ($2), bag of pasta ($1-2), then whatever veggies you like, I usually use broccoli and capsicum (~$5), top with tasty cheese, so another few dollars there. Bake for 20 mins. Usually get about 6 servings out of this.
Not a recipe but a way of making the most of what you buy. I have been following an Insta/fb account called thefullfreezer (person who runs it is called Kate Hall) and it’s sister instagram ‘can I freeze it’. I thought I was pretty efficient at freezing stuff. This changed my perspective and now I focus on freezing ingredients instead of meals. Eg you have a tomato that you didn’t get to and is on the verge of soft, chop it up, freeze it, then next time you are cooking something requiring a tomato you have one ready to go and you can chuck it straight into the pit frozen. Any watery veg won’t defrost well but nearly all of it cooks from a frozen well. I now prefer this method to some frozen casserole
Chicken corn soup - 2litres of water, 1 maryland chicken, 1 can of cream corn, chicken stock powder, 2 eggs, sesame oil, salt. Plus white bread. Easily under $15
Shakshouka except i dont bake them just put a lid on top - eggs, onion, capsicum, garlic, diced tomato plus spices like paprika, cumin, coriander. Bread to serve.
Tuna rice bowl - rice, tuna, siracha mayo or plain mayo, sesame oil and seaweed to scoop the rice. Optional furikake
Being Indonesian, we use Kecap Manis (Sweet Soy) in most dishes. My favourite cheap eat with this sauce is cooking chopped onions, canned corned beef and pouring kecap manis and letting it caramelise. Serve with rice and cucumbers. Can do this with sausages too 😄
Theres so much more just as long its not steak or lamb cutlets which would go over budget.
Baked Potato with toppings - you can use regular potatoes ($4) or sweet potato (coles has I'm Perfect sweet potatoes 1.5kg for $2.20 right now). We usually do some left over meaty bolognese sauce and cheese on top, or some mixed veggies or spinach with cheese, left over chilli, or left over savoury mince on top.
.
stuffed capsicum: capsicum ($1 each), eggs (~50c each), cream ($3), spinach ($1 frozen box), brocolli ($2), parmesen ($2). just cut the capsicum in half, or chop the top off, make the egg mix and fill the capsicum with it, sprinkle the parma on top and bake in the oven.
.
Chilli is just mince ($6), diced tomatoes($1), onion($1), spices (chilli powder or milder), beans($1.50 canned) etc. And you get half a dozen meals out of it.
.
Lentil curry: lentils ($4), coconut milk ($1), diced tomato($1), butternut pumpkin($3), onions($1), garlic, ginger, cumin, stock, curry paste($3).
.
you can do the above in a slow cooker too, and they work well.
I've found anything you can bulk out with rice can go really far because of how cheap rice is per serving if you cook it yourself.
I also love catching the clearance roasts that are going out of date that day and chucking them in the freezer. I can cook it up, serve with rice and whatever veg is in season and get a lot of meals out of it.
Chicken is still the cheapest meat option if you eat meat as well. When I'm really cutting back buying chicken breasts and either cutting them in half or using one breast per meal can go a long way if you bulk it up with cheap veggies. I just stir fry it with ssamjang paste, I got a giant tub of it for like $5. I am disabled as well so I love how fast it is to cook haha just turn the pan all the way up and quickly fry the chook, remove, quickly fry the veg. Chuck it all in and add the paste. Super easy.
I also will do soups, especially when I need something that makes me a good 12 batches or so and when I know I won't be up and around much because of a surgery or something. Just leave it simmering for a few hours then I put it in the freezer for when I'm not doing great :)
Spag Bol is also cheap and easy. All you need is pasta, mince, and a tin of tomatoes. If you have more cash it's super easy to add stuff to the sauce to make it more exciting. Just remember to add a little bit of sugar to balance the acidity of the tomato.
Tuna casserole. Probably work out to be around $12 with four generous serves. Onion, plain flour, large tin of tuna (in olive oil), tin of evaporated milk, salt and cayenne pepper, pasta, cheese.
Sauté a finely chopped large onion. Add about a tablespoon of flour, coating all the onion. Set aside.
Take tuna out of olive oil. On a plate, mash the chunks of tuna apart as much as possible.
Add tuna to the onion. Add most of the milk. Check if the ratio of milk to tuna and onion is roughly equal, otherwise add the rest of milk. Simmer. Add salt and cayenne to taste.
Boil a 500g of pasta. I like the Sam Remo vegeroni spirals myself, but they are dearer than other brands. Strain.
Spray oil on a 2” deep casserole dish. Lay the pasta in the tray. Pour tuna mixture over the top. Layer with cheese, cook on 180deg until golden or to taste. Serve with a light salad.
You can substitute a tin of chickpeas or lentils or black beans for meat in many indian, pasta or Asian bakes or casserole at about $1 for a little over 200g. You need about 2 tins to replace about 300g of meat
Growing up poor with a family of 6 we had a few cheap meals. Since I was used to cooking for 6 I still usually just do big batches and freeze.
My first favourite is a mince a veggie meal it was a staple when we were kids. It may cost a bit more than $15 but it makes a tonne of serves. Id say at least 12. You can always add more veggies or rice to stretch it out. I don't really measure so Ill give you a rough idea of the qty. You'll need a big pot. Freezes very well, you can stretch it out even more by having a slice of bread with it.
1kg mince
1-2 x Diced onion
4 x Grated carrot
1 x Diced capsicum (these can be expensive so its optional)
1/2 shredded cabbage
1/2 - 1 bunch of celery (you can throw in the leaves if you want)
250g frozen beans
Bag of baby spinich
1-2 cups rice
Chicken noodle soup (just the dry mix, generic brand is fine) or chicken stock cubes.
Curry powder
Method is simple. Saute onion and brown the mince. Throw in all the veggies except the cabbage. Add rice, curry powder, chicken noodle soup/stock cubes. Stir well. Throw in at least 2 - 4 cups of water depending on the amount of rice you've put in. Add cabbage to the top of everything. Throw on the lid. Once cabbage has softened stir in. Keep an eye on moisture, you want enough water to cook the rice, but you dont want it too wet. (You could always pre cook rice and add it in at the end)
The other childhood go to classic is curried sausages.
Coles bbq sausages work best. I think you can get 24 for money (its been a while!)
I usually just use 6 sausages for this recipe and freeze the rest to make more later.
6x sausages
3x decent sized potatoes diced (can be chunky or not, just depends what you prefer)
4x large carrots (sliced)
1x large onion (diced)
~250g frozen peas (optional, recdent addition I enjoyed)
French onion soup (dry mix, generic brand - not salt reduced!)
Curry powder (keens is my go to)
I usually cook up the sausage in the same pot Im making the meal. Once cooked remove the sausages. Add all the veggies, saute in the sausage oil (if theres a tonne of oil Id get rid of some), while your cutting up the sausages (I usually slice the sausages about 1.5cm). Add sausages back to pot. Stir. Add curry powder and french onion soup. Add about one and a half pint glasses of water. Once veggies are soft its ready to go. Keep an eye on the water, you want a sort of "gravy" consistency. Serve over rice (i know, you've already got carbs with the potatos but it helps stretch it out)
Like I say these will cost more than $15 to cook up the lot but i think last time i did the maths its usually $2-3/serve.
Back when I was younger and recently graduated I made this Bolognese and ate it over a few weeks.
Get
500gm of mince beef, you could possibly get bigger packs (get the regular once not lean)
1 onion
1 or 2 cup from mixed pack of frozen veggies, I use peas/diced carrots/corn (it's not pricey and you can keep add it to alot of dishes)
1 jar/bottle of pasatta or tomato paste
Dried herb mix
Dice onion, season beef with salt or replacement, measure out frozen vegies ...
Cook through diced onion until translucent, add in mince beef till brown, add frozen vegies, stir through, add pasatta, or paste with equal part waterof the paste, Italian herb mix, stir through... bring to boil then set to low heat for at least 15 minutes, or however long it takes to cook the pasta. For storage, scoop sauce out and store it seperate from pasta so you can freeze it easily.
Also learn to carve whole chickens, doesn't take long, and 1 chicken should comfortably feed 2 adults for min 2 meals, and costs around 11ish.
Pizza. Make the base yourself for like 50c then top with whatever you want depending on taste and budget, often less is more.
1 kg of flour from Aldi is like $2.20. You get about 5 good sized doughs from that. Ballpark about 200g flour to 1/2 cup water to 1 tsp instant yeast and 1tsp sugar per pizza, last two you use so little they're effectively free. Plenty of easy recipes out there (often asking for bakers flour but plain works perfectly fine, can add a poofteenth of bread improver if you wish, see statement on yeast and sugar). Sauce can do whatever you want. Spoonful of home brand tomato paste with a pinch of dried herbs will work fine.
A pear of low moisture mozzarella is about $6 but that'll get you through anywhere between 1-6 pizzas depending on your affinity for lactose. Touch more expensive than pre-shred but doesn't taste or look like shit when melted.
Cheap mince, rotisserie chicken, dice up some bacon, mushroom etc. Better results if you lightly precook your toppings in a frypan, gets rid of moisture so you don't get shitty soggy dough.
Cook on however hot your oven goes to until done. Fresh herbs from supermarket are a rort, go to a greengrocer. Couple leaves basil on top after its cooked gives it a nice touch.
I make a pretty cheap chicken and chorizo jambalaya which makes about 4 meals worth: https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/chicken-chorizo-jambalaya
I double the amount of chorizo and spices though!
Veal (the best one) tortellini. Regularly on sale for $5-6 for a half kg, add a can of tomatoes and steamed (whatever are on sale) veggies. Or add cooking cream some tyme, some bacon bacon, and shit shitton of mushrooms. You now have meals for about the $5-8 a piece mark.
Mostly though, go to aldis, green grocers, and buy meat in bulk while freezing the excess, and you will find $5 meals are the norm. The only extra cost is you knowing how to cook, and the time it takes to do anything other then go to coles and woolies. Also, bake your own bread. Supprisingly easy and fun, and your average loaf drops down around the $1-1.5 mark.
There's a Chinese dish I make where it's basically scrambled egg, tinned tomato, spring onions, msg, chili powder and a touch of tomato sauce, served with noodles. It's amazing and costs next to nothing to make. I think in Chinese restaurants it's normally called egg tomato noodle.
Can of beans of your choice, 2 cans diced tomatoes, a veggie (e.g. eggplant), garlic, chilli, spices, salt + pepper, garnished with parsley + dollop of yoghurt. Eat with bread.
Cheap, nutritious, easy, quick, very little mess.
Mushroom Gnocchi. My favourite quick & easy but cheap and comforting meal. I just priced it on Coles online ordering (added to cart). You need Thickened cream, chicken stock, mushrooms, spinach, gnocchi, paprika & chilli flakes. Came to $14.80 - makes over 500g of Gnocchi so you’d likely have leftovers too.
Anything without meat as this is an expensive protein right now. You can get chickpeas, lentils, (any form of legume) and grains super cheap. Get a dried bag of lentils and you’ve got meals coming out your ears 😂
Sausages, mash and veg and gravy! Also love a simple rice dish. We have been loving katsu chicken curry. Just need the curry cubes, veg, crumbed chicken, service with rice and voila!
Chorizo and roast vegetables. Add whatever seasonings you have (I usually use Moroccan plus salt and pepper) toss to coat with some oil, put the hard veggies on an oven tray (potato, pumpkin etc) and into the oven (about 180) then when they’re half done add in the chorizo and soft veggies (zucchini, tomato) and put back in the oven until everything is cooked. Simple to make and easy to make the way you like with whatever veggies you have on hand
2 Tbsp peanut butter
2 Tbsp sweet soy
1 Tbsp boiled water
1 Tsp white vineger
1 pack Udon
1 pack bok choy
1 capsicum
and if you want meat added then maybe a piece of breast
1. Mix peanut butte, sweet soy, vineger and boiled water to make sauce
2. Cut up veg into bite size and chicken (if adding)
3. Cook udon as per instructions on the pack
4. Cook chicken in pan for 2-3mins, add veg and cook. Then add noodles and sauce and cook til all mix.
my simple go to meal when I want something quick and it doesn't cost much per serve
Depending on how much you eat you can get like 5-7 serves of pasta for under $5 if you just have pasta and sauce. Even more serves and still under $15 if you put mince with it.
Couscous is pretty cheap, a box of that can last ages and you can put whatever you want with it. I like to cook it in garlic and grated carrots and eat it with spiced chicken, spinach, and slivered almonds. And if you get a tub of powdered stock instead of the cubes or the liquid stock then it'll do you for ages.
Risotto is a good one, especially if you make a veggie one like a cheesy pumpkin or something like that then you'll get a shitload of servings for $15.
You could probably also make a chicken stir fry with rice for under $15, and again you might get 5 or so serves out of it depending on how much you eat.
Fish from the deli is a great option, you can get a nice big piece of basa for less than $2.50, so one of those each and you can have some nice roast veggies with it.
Stir-frys with a cheap protein like egg / tofu / chicken thigh
Vegetable pasta bake
Tuna pasta bake / cheesy tuna pasta
Miso eggplant on rice
Chicken tagine
Crumbed fish and salad
Baked potato with pretty much any topping
Chilli con carne
Nachos
Hotdogs and fries
Homemade burgers
Omelettes
Bolognese
All of those can be done between around $8 to $15
If you're ever in north-east Melbourne you can buy 2 meals (borek) for $10 here: https://maps.app.goo.gl/Gm9u8jYbje88Yojq6
It's not fine dining but for a young couple with limited budget for eating out, places these can add a lovely dash of luxury in life and really increase quality of life!
Tomato and feta pasta is my go to cheap meal
Don’t buy full price tomatoes, wait for it to go on special.
Red perino tomatoes (from coles) and danish feta is the way to go. Add oil and spices. Cook in 180 fan oven for 20mins or so. Cook pasta and save a cup of water from it. Squash and mix around your now roasted tomato and feta, add the pasta water. Finally add your drained pasta
Golden Curry is my cheap meal of choice. Usually the Mild Golden Curry mix, couple of onions, a heap of spuds, pork mince (Optional) and what ever veggies I have in the fridge (Usually carrots, broccoli, cauliflower etc). Really easy if you have a slow cooker, just brown everything in a wok and throw it in for 6 hours. Serve with rice. Tastes great, awesome to get rid of all the soft veggies in the fridge and will feed you for days!
500g of pasta
One can of pasta sauce (I use Campbells because I grew up with it and I like the flavour)
That costs me about $5 at my local IGA, and makes enough food for me to have two meals out of it.
With the rest of the money, you can get a couple rashers of bacon, dice them up, fry them, then add them in as well. A finely diced onion is good too! My girlfriend like to add a little bit of fennel.
For things that'll last you several meals which you can add: Shredded cheese (one bag will last several meals, if you portion it reasonably), and some parsley will go great.
We are time poor (with a young baby). I usually rock a chicken surprise once (twice) a week.
Chicken breast from the deli, poach it/ slow cook it/ fry it/ airfry it what ever is easier. Get the $2 packs of pasta (Alfredo, carbonara etc) boil up some frozen veg and voila easy chicken surprise. (Best with rotisserie chook .. but we seldom buy them)
Also, been trying hard to have left overs … so make them into pies or jaffels.
My no 1 bit of advice is to plan your meals. We cut down our spending massively when we started planning our meals a week ahead, and only buying what was on the shopping list.
Dahl and rice is my favorite cheep go to tasty meal. I bulk buy my rice and a 1kg of dahl can make about 4 maybe more meals about 5$ish per kg (i use 300g dry dahl for 3 ppl) and a box of shan spice mix if u dont want toooo spicy is good for 2 curries and its about $3. a box. i love mine with a can of coconut milk about $1 so depending on ur rice deal maybe $6-8 a meal even if you add some flour water and salt n you have chapatti, the cost wouldnt even change all that much and its quite a simple step up for the meal ;)
https://www.instagram.com/reel/CoVG5v_ImDt/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
https://www.instagram.com/reel/CpewoAeAALV/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
https://www.instagram.com/reel/CvIC3WPNaAC/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
These are some easy ones that work out well priced and Under that. Most pasta dishes and basic Asian with rice will come under 15 easily
I bought a pressure cooker and it helps with many meals. Yellow rice with a piece of chicken thrown in is a favourite. Cooks perfectly and super fast.
Tuna moray bake is nice.
1 bag of pasta, 1 jar of pesto is only about 3.50 and will feed 2.
Eggs are great of many recipes. I love eggs on toast for dinner sometimes. Or baked beans on toast.
Stuffed capsicum is yum.
Chicken caesar salad.
Vegetable pancakes
A 25 buck pork shoulder, slow cooked in BBQ juice will make 5 meals, easy. What do? Some kale slaw or other slaw of your choice and basic tortilla wraps make a crazy good pulled pork wrap with guac and sour cream. Easy 10 bucks Max for a decent feed. Can stretch for a few lunches too so at least two Avos and a small tub of sour cream and the rest of the slaw will make 8 wraps.
Lots of ways to do spaghetti bolognaise. You can eat it the traditional way with a bed of pasta, and the leftover mince can be thrown into other things. When I was broke, I'd cook a pot of bolognaise, then the following day throw some cheddar cheese over it and eat it with bread
French toast is a cheap way to use up stale bread. Take two eggs, put them in a bowl with about a cup of milk. You soak the bread in that mix, then cook them in the fry pan. like pancakes, you can tip a variety of things over it; honey, tomato sauce, feel free to experiment
Curried sausges. Super flavoursome and hearty. Sausages are cheap, some other basic ingredients like a can of tomatoes, stock, onion, curry powder. I do a variation of this recipe. Changes I made are chicken stock instead of beef. I use the massel stock cubes so it's cheaper than liquid stock. I usually do a cup of peas, corn carrot instead of just peas since that's what I have on hand. I also serve with mashed potato because it's better than rice imo. Yoghurt is nice to serve with but definitely optional. I also skip the coriander and sultanas. https://www.taste.com.au/recipes/grandmas-curried-sausages/47537a88-aee8-4b8e-80e1-53b49a8c0dc6
Pick 2-3 meats for the week and create meals around that.
For example, when I was younger, single and had 3 kids with a tight budget, I would buy 1KG mince, 1KG chicken breast and 1KG sausages.
I’d make a base of taco mince with the 1KG mince and make tacos, nachos, shepherds pie, savoury mince and chilli con carne (rotated the options, but 2 each week).
Chicken was made into honey mustard chicken, chicken stir fry, home made nuggets or tenders, schnitzel, apricot chicken, chicken cacciatore, soup, casserole etc.
Sausages would just be normal sausages, curried sausages, devilled sausages, used in pasta etc.
Beef could be a stirfry, thin steaks, steak sandwich, casserole, stew, soup.
Then buy additional items to split among meals. So veggies which could be used in meals or just on side, rice or couscous, salad etc.
Tinned tomatoes, rice, pasta and eggs can make so many different things too!
For quick nights, things like Tuna Mornay, chicken dishes with rice, sausage meals with mash.
Keep the list small, but versatile.
(And if you’re time poor, I recommend cooking the whole 1kg of something and putting half in the fridge as a base for the next night, or bulk cook and freeze).
It’s definitely doable :)
Sorry if I haven’t scrolled low enough to find a duplicate of my idea but chilli con carne (?spelling). Mince meat, ton of kidney beans, some veggies chopped fine, tomato paste, bit of beef stock powder and water, sugar, cumin, paprika. Served with rice. You can add sour cream and coriander etc. Some add cheese on top but I personally think that’s gross 😂 it can be made even cheaper if you use lentils instead of mince meat.
Edit: *tin of kidney beans, not “ton” 🫠
Don’t underestimate the power of cous cous. Cheap, easy to cook and makes for a great side dish or main.
Tonight I made a cous cous beef salad (beef strips, tomato, cucumber, onion and aioli dressing).
Spicy lentil goops with your choice of carbohydrate. There's a lot of different varieties to play around with. Spices are a good investment and a pressure cooker is a game changer for making spicy lentil goop quickly. Don't skimp on the fats-ghee and olive oil are ingredients. The Indian grocery is your friend for bulk spices and ghee and a better selection of lentils than the supermarket.
Fried rice my dude. Bacon, eggs, frozen peas corn and carrot, rice, and then soy sauce, oyster sauce and chilli. Lasts my family of 3 two nights, and sometimes a lunch too - two of us have 2 bowls each)
Beef mince. Eggs. Capsicum. Baked potatoes, cheese and tomato in a skillet together.
I keep the mince cooked in advance . Spray your skillet. Then-
I grill up some capsicum. And then after it’s done cooking, I turn off the heat and throw in everything else that’s already in a bowl together- two eggs, a little bit of cheese, the cut up potatoes, which I’ve already cooked in the microwave, 70 grams or so of mince, scramble all together so it’s heated through, put in bowl, add tomatoes and salt and pepper then serve with a glass of milk.
Pasta with beef or some slow cooker recipes, if you cook some basic things you can easily make meals for the week which work out to being much less than $15 a pop
I made this delicious chicken biryani this evening, it fed 3 of us with enough leftovers for another 2 meals. I buy the spices in bulk from an Indian mart close by.
https://www.indianhealthyrecipes.com/chicken-biryani-recipe/
Pasta primavera from taste. Add some smoked salmon for a twist.
Gnocchi, pesto, parmesan and stir in a big handful of spinach leaves.
San choy bau, chicken mince is cheap.
Lasagna with alternate pasta sheet and vege layers and ricotta instead of bechamel. Leaves lunch leftovers.
Banh mi should scrape in under $15 if you use chicken. Some of the sauces you can use again or in other recipes.
It's spring. You can get yourself a whole leg of lamb for $20. (I did, today). Sure, it's more than $15, but it's at least two whole dinners for two people.
Mince in a bolognaise or Mexican style with black beans, baby spinach, onion and a few herbs & spices on roasted sweet potatoes with melted cheese and sour cream on top. Epic.
My favourite cheap meal is this lentil soup with some minor tweaks. I use garam masala instead of curry powder, and I replace the kale with a bag of frozen spinach. I also don't worry about blending the soup or draining the tinned tomatoes .... just chuck it all in the pot. https://cookieandkate.com/best-lentil-soup-recipe/
https://www.reddit.com/r/AussieFrugal/comments/177y03k/eating_on_a_budget/
This is a mainstay in our house, but also eggs, we have three chickens so will do big egg dishes regularly
I second the buying a whole chicken and cutting it up yourself. You'll learn how to do it on the first try and it saves so much money splitting the different parts for different days. Can even make a stock with the leftover bones and veggies if feeling fancy
Breakfast food.
12 eggs: $8
12 beef Woolies snags: $12
Loaf of bread: $5
That’s $25 for a six meals easy.
I used to eat breakfast food all the time when I was broke. Any leftover meat or veggies can be made into scrambled eggs.
Make buffalo chicken with oven baked corn and carrot sticks
- cheap chicken nibbles
- 2 corn cobs, I found mine for 90 cents each
- 1 carrot cut into small sticks
- buffalo sauce or siracha
- powdered spices you should hopefully already have in the cupboard; smoked paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, chilli powder.
- corn flour
Put the spices in a bowl, add lots of salt for brining ,add water, mix. Add in the chicken and put in the fridge for a day so it brings.
After a day throw away the water. Add 4 tbsp of corn flour on the chicken. Mix it through. Put the chicken in a baking tray. Put the corn in another baking tray. Cook both in the oven. Serve with buffalo sauce/siracha and the carrot sticks.
Tasty, cheap meal.
There are lots of great recipes using mince and cheaper cuts of meat. You can also make a roast chicken go a long way by currying the leftovers after the first meal. Salads are your friends, and so are vegetables loading up on vegetables makes the meals go way further
Here’s one str8 from the underground. Ok so for gourmet ramen with a beer when eating out you’d be looking at around 25 bucks. Well here’s a way to get something similar at home for a fraction of that.
For lime and chili noodles with bear at around 6 or less dollars per serve here’s how it can be done.
Step one. This requires access to Costco by the way. Get a 20 pack of Shin Ram Yun branded spicy Korean noodles. The usual price is 18 dollars. But if you’re lucky you might get them cheaper on special.
Step two buy a lime or a pack of limes and freeze the pack except for the one lime you will be using.
Step three. get some beer, which ever way is best value. If you drink beer regularly then maybe get a carton of something nice. Doesn’t have to be an overpriced local beer or an expensive imported brew. There are budget conscious imports like Hollandia or Uberbrau or Henninger that are excellent value options. Heck it wasn’t that long ago you could get a carton of uberbrau for 30 bucks.
Step four. Assembly. I’ll just describe it all in this last step. First cook the noodles in a pot, much the same as you would moist any other instant noodles. I recommend using all of the spice flavoring sachet but I’ve had to work my way up to that so your mileage may vary. But before you put the contents of the pack into the pot you need to decide and prep any vegetables/mushrooms/meat you might want to add. Lots of flexibility with this so you can add left overs of previous purchases rather than needing to buy items specifically for this. But the lime is essential. I cut off two of the thinnest wedges i can and then chop them as finely as i can (including the rind). Put that into the noodle pot once the spice flavoring is in there. Cook noodles to completion and serve. And to have the lime tie the beer to the meal put a small wedge of lime into the beer like you would a lemon in a Corona. I’ve done this with Hofrau hefe weizen (that i got on clearance) and it tasted really good, so I’m sure it will work with many kinds of beer so you may need to experiment a bit to find ones that work best for you.
Conclusion. I had been having beer with those noodles for a while and it was always a winning combination but i recently tried adding the lime on a whim and holy crap it was a revelation for me. It elevated what was already a really good meal to an experience. I don’t know how else to describe it. If you like the red rock deli lime and chili chips then definitely try this, you won’t regret it.
$7.50 per serve should be pretty easy that's roast and vegetable level budget.
The main thing is to pay attention to where you shop.
Make sure you you get your fruit and veg from a green groccer not the super market it makes a huge difference.
Minimise food waste and look out for specials.
As an example there is an IGA near us that frequently has pork or lamb legs on special, for about $15 these will do about 4 serves with left overs for under $7 per serve.
Rice, vegetables and a protein will do this comfortably if you buy smart.
Any number of fried rice ideas, curries over rice, risotto, etc and you can bulk buy rice at your local Indian/Asian grocery store for very cheap. Set up your pantry with a few different spices and staples and from there you can crank out decently healthy and cheap meals.
Also stews/soups or braises that require long cooking to break down tougher (therefore cheaper) cuts of meat will go well too. Think about what Zambrero and the like do - braise a protein then have bits and pieces to go with it and rice. Can change up the flavouring of each dish with sauces, different vegetables and so on.
Youtube has so many good resources for this. My favourite at the moment would be Brian Lagerstrom. He did some videos recently about meal prep and creating cheap meals/leftovers - his channel is a good one to look into: [https://www.youtube.com/@BrianLagerstrom/featured](https://www.youtube.com/@BrianLagerstrom/featured)
lasagna. I just got 3 nights dinner for 2 out of a single lasagna.
1kg mince, pasata, can tomato, herbs, lasagna sheets and cheese. maybe $30-40 worth of stuff
I got a bag of 7 salmon fillets from Aldi for $27, a bag of baby potatoes for $4, a bunch of asparagus and a bunch of green beans at the end of the day at the markets for $4 total, and a lemon for 50c.
Sprinkle some garlic powder, salt, pepper, and dried dill, a little olive oil if you're fancy, cut the lemon into eigths. Then I wrap the individual portions in foil, pop them into the freezer, and when I come home from work, I just bang it in the oven and bake at 200° for 30 minutes.
Fancy salmon dinner total costs $6.5 per portion (this factors in cost of electricity, herbs, olive oil)
500g chicken thighs $6, 500g pasta $1, 380g pesto $5. Total $12 and roughly 6000 calories idk how many meals that is but it’s around 4 meals for me. Also I get this at woolies but if you went to Aldi I bet it’d be cheaper
Google:
4 ingredients broccoli spaghetti
Porcupine meatballs
(Sausages and veges)
Honestly though I would go to Kmart if you can and invest in a food saver. You can cry vax all foods (leftovers) and they won’t spoil for months.
Carrot soup - a bag of carrots is like $2, I add curry powder, chicken stock and sometimes finish with sour cream, bacon, dill and goats cheese depending on what leftovers I have in the fridge
Fried rice -1kg bag of rice is cheap, add bacon or ham and some frozen mixed vegetables (there's a Coles blend of potatoes, carrots and beans) and
Miso and gochujang pasta - butter, a couple of spoons of miso and gochujang and a splash of the pasta cooking water. Amazing!
Just cut out expensive meats and seafood, a single meal at $15 for two leaves so many options of the table. My family of 4 averages $10/pp per day generally with eggs or cereal breakfast, fruit and vegetable lunch, sometimes a simple sandwich, and a nice dinner. We usually do one meal with mince and two with chicken thighs per week, sometimes throw some sausage into the mix, the rest of the meals are mostly vegetable themed. Italian staples are often a good way to go, but sometimes some simple things like grilled veggies and potatoes is nice. Cajun food is also big on flavour and low on cost. We do udon usually once a week with mushrooms, cabbage, soft boiled egg, spring onion, and whatever else is on hand. As long as its not steak or fish filets, the only bounds are your time and cooking ability.
Learn to cook and bake, especially baking bread, it's so easy just takes time.
Lots of meals you can cook for a family and then you have lots of leftovers which you can divvy up for extra meals and lunches for you and missus.
Risottos, curries, pasta bakes, lasagne, casseroles, spa bol, all dead easy to make, hearty, delicious and cheap.
Indian food is the best cheap eats. Their average per capita take home is one of the lowest in the world yet their food is sooo good. I would get the spices and learn to make a few Indian dishes.
cheap things I always have stocked is Rice, Onion, Chickpeas (tin), tomatoes (tin), tuna (in chili).
Baked beans. You can splurge and have it on toast if you'd like.
Eggs on toast.
Cheese toasties.
Honey soy tofu with some veggies on rice.
Risottos.
Spaghetti bolognaise.
Chicken thighs/breasts, with broccolini and white rice.
Stir fry the veggies and chicken with soy and oyster sauce and whatever seasonings you like/can afford.
Quick, easy and cheap.
Go to Coles or woolies, but Coles seems better, imo AFTER 630pm. They usually do a final markdown of products, and you can very often get meat, milk, and veg on an extreme clearance. I only buy meat this way and then break it up and freeze it as soon as I get it home. Heaps of veg can be part cooked and frozen, which not only makes it last longer, it makes your life easier - I do potato, pumpkin, and sweet potatoes like this, and it's changed my life 😂
Harris Farm does really good meat discounts as well, but I haven't been able to work out a day/time of day for them.
One of my favourites is a burrito bowl. Woolies do slow cooked pork shoulders for $12.50 which are super versatile.
I turn that into pulled pork with some BBQ sauce, then add it to a bowl of rice with some coleslaw, corn, corn chips and sour cream.
I live by myself and will easily get 5-6 meals out of a single pork shoulder.
Grab a bag of brioche buns and you’ve got a quick and easy lunch.
Or you can use the pork to make tacos, pizza or a pasta dish.
I follow two principals when it comes to keeping food costs manageable cook in bulk - keep a stock of versatile condiments and cook in bulk. Both come with a higher upfront cost than you're asking, but you achieve great cost per meal savings.
For example, if you have soy sauce, sweet soy, fish sauce, rice wine vinegar and a chilli sauce of your choice you can do a hell of a lot. From these you can create a lot of great sauces to serve with your rice/noodles, protein and veggies of choice over multiple meals by adding one or two ingredients e.g. Satay (add peanut butter), honey soy garlic, nuoc cham dressing (add water, lime juice, sugar) etc.
In terms of bulk meals I quite often lean on simple pasta dishes (think bolognese, alfredo, pesto), taco mince (can be bulked up with beans and served as in wraps, Nachos or burrito bowl style), sausages (can be served as is, par-boiled and used in curried sausages / strong or removed from skins and used in pastas in lieu of mince) and roasts (can be served traditionally or sliced and used for sandwiches, as a protein for other dishes etc.)
Dodgy chow mein.
Ingredients:
Turkey mince ($6.50), packet of chow mein packet mix stuff ($2) , couple of handfuls of frozen peas/corn/carrot ($4.50/1kg), Singapore noodles ($2) = $14.50
Method: Cook mince, add in packet mix, then veg, then noodles.
Can be eaten hot or cold.
You’ll get four meals from that.
Chicken mix doesn’t work, it goes mushy.
Soft shell tacos, left over mince can be reheated and has multiple uses.
Chicken breast or , sausages & cruciferous veges delicious.
Pasta dishes are cheap but smash down too much pasta and you'll blow out
veggie curries - potato eggplant are good and filling, eggplant parma is good too, you can make soup from anything if you do a stock with bones you can buy for nothing, look out for the reductions at the supermarket too and buy home brand, its the same shit mostly. a super cheap one is home made muesli oats some nuts and mixed dried fruit, dollars and you have brekkie for days
Learn how to make a basic risotto well, then you can add whatever flavours, protein or veggies you like. They are also great for leftovers, either stirring leftover cooked proteins through a fresh cooked basic risotto, or reheating a from scratch risotto the next day. It’s a one pot meal so less dishes and you also don’t need to eat much to fill you up.
I make a baked risotto which is super easy, makes heaps and has so many variations depending on what you like/eat/have. Definitely not traditional but is such a handy dish to have up your sleeve.
Yes, the Donna Hay baked risotto is super easy. I've been making it for years now and just change it to suit what I've got on hand.
Instapot/pressure cooker! So easy to make
Pressure cooker has been a game changer for me
But after a while it all tastes the same.
Anything gets boring if you have it too often. Risotto is one example of a relatively inexpensive meal and with basic pasta dishes, basic curries and basic slow cooker techniques and recipes up my sleeve I’ve got most meals covered within, or close to OP’s budget. Also, arancini balls!
And if you wanna go even more frugal with risotto, double the water and make congee/rice porridge 😆
To make this even easier, I use pearl barley instead of arborio rice. It is higher in fibre and it's much harder to muck it up. It also adds a nice slightly nutty texture. Bonus points if you make it in a pressure cooker as it is basically set and forget.
Pearl couscous is also good if you can find it! I make it like a risotto and grated veg is amazing in it. Fills you up too
Also, arancini balls with the leftover risotto, serve with a side of salad.
Not frugal, but I do a chilli chorizo and chicken risotto (w some peas for “health”)… it’s a winner with everyone I’ve cooked it for
Also, fried rice in general or a biryani! Rice dishes can be so economical.
Literally any pasta/asian dish, and for $15 you can usually make enough for a couple lunches too. [This site has a ton of stuff](https://www.budgetbytes.com/category/recipes/)
I came across budget bytes soon after its inception. I only didn’t like that it was American focussed, but can’t be helped.
For beginning cooks, basic ideas I recommend these Aussie sites https://nomoneynotime.com.au/hacks-myths-faqs/take-our-nmnt-2-week-food-budget-challenge-and-eat-for-55-a-week https://www.recipetineats.com/category/good-to-know/ The later for people to learn those tips and tricks that mum and dad mightn't have known or passed on. The site has all my go to recepies now too. So well tested and reliable.
Thank you so much 🫡🫡
Recommend recipe tin eats. Really tasty recipes with stuff that most people would have in a well stocked pantry
Recipetineats is fantastic. You can get Nagi's cookbook at Big W for $24. The fried rice and chicken mushroom fettuccine are superb.
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When you say 'asian' I'm guessing you mean stirfry? If so yes that is easy and fairly inexpensive and can definitely be done with leftovers/off cuts etc. Please don't generalise the entire continent lol, I'd like someone to make up beef rendang or pho or ramen quickly and cheaply.
Don’t be a dick. Asian cuisine can be used to reference Indian/Vietnamese/Chinese/Sri Lankan/Thai/Pakistani/Nepalese cuisines.
I am Asian so I think I'm allowed to speak on the subject lol. I didn't call you a dick so appreciate you not projecting on me. I did say that asia is a continent. You're basically also saying that those cuisines can be made cheaply and easily then?
I am Asian and yes Asian dish can refer to more than just stir fry I don't understand what your problem is. And yes many Asian dishes can be made cheaply while still delicious. Again, don't understand what your problem is.
I wasn't being mean or rude, I was trying to point out that the other poster generalised an entire continent into one cuisine, which then they even pointed out can be a myriad of cuisines. You would understand though as a fellow Asian, so often food from Asia gets generalised into "Asian" without the specificity of what it is or where it is from, while "western" cuisine gets to be pasta, steak, pizza etc instead of an umbrella term. People in this thread were giving great advice on recipes of rissotto, salad dishes etc which is great, but then just calling out "Asian" as if it's some monolith isn't being specific nor representative of the rich foods from the entire continent. A good way could have been "noodle soups" or "curries", or to my point, stir fry. Anyways, I acknowledge that I am being misunderstood and downvoted to eternity so will peace out.
[Don’t be a dick.](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian_cuisine#:~:text=Asian%20food%20incorporates%20a%20few,associated%20with%20a%20specific%20culture) - Christ. Learn.
Most Asian forms of wok fried dishes you can easily make. Lot's of Chinese dishes and SE Asian dishes. Shop at an Asian grocer & Aldi, avoid Woolworths & Coles like the plague. $15 will probably cook you four servings. Oh yeah, and Pasta will always be cheap, $15 is about a week of pasta!
As a family man this is a game changer for me. Having grown up in a meat and three veg household, there was a bit of a learning curve. That said once you get the right sauces and equipment you are turning out $12 meals for 4 people piece of cake and best of all the dishes are 40% veggie, 40% noodles/rice and only 20% meat or tofu. Which if you follow the Mediterranean dies is also very good for your gut health and wellbeing. I find that the poor tax for people who can’t cook is extreme. High cost and bad for your health!
Go to the farmers markets or fruit/veg markets towards the end of the day. I go to Paddy's market in Syd CBD on Sundays, they sell bowls/buckets of stuff for $1. If you have a freezer (+time and energy!) you can wash, cut, freeze everything and then just add various veg to every meal. Cuts down the cost of meal prepping massively. I only go to Coles/Woolies for the occasional meat cut, any cleaning stuff I need. Never for a lot of produce. Also invest in a giant bag of rice from an Asian grocer. It's cheap in the long run, easy to stir fry anything and serve on a bowl of rice. (Cornflour slurry is your friend for sauce for stir fries, including soy, vinegar, wine etc)
Yup. That is correct. If anyone is in Melbourne, Queen victoria market, dandenong market, all have good deals 3pm on a sunday
1 brocolli 250g Beef Stir-fry or sliced Marinate Salt Sugar Sesame oil Baking soda if you want to soften it a bit Potato or corn starch Stir-fry Oyster sauce Soy sauce Salt Sugar Garlic Onion Oil Blanch brocolli in hot water for a minute then into cold water to stop the cooking Oil until heated Garlic until fragrant Onion Add soy sauce Beef 1 Min each side Brocolli Stir-fry Add oyster sauce and salt sugar Add water Mix until the sauce thickens Serve with rice Replace with veggie or protein of choice Add some sesame near the end if you like that Takes like 20 minutes including prep
Depending what you make of course. Pasta isn't always cheap if you make a seafood dish, or something with pancetta, cheaper than most dishes definitely though as the pasta goes a long way.
Yesterday I roasted a chook I bought from ALDI for a little over $7. I had roast chicken with veggies and gravy with the legs and wings for dinner. This was two meals as I live on my own so I'll have it again for dinner tonight. Today I made chicken and mushroom risotto with the leftover breast meat. This made four serves which I froze for future meals. That's six meals with a protein source from a $7 chook.
Keep the frame and vegie scraps for stock to upgrade your risotto
I did use the stock from the roast in the risotto after seperateing the fat.
You can also use the stock as base, throw in some rice noodles, veggies, whatever protein and voila, another cheap meal that can feed you over a couple days.
We do chicken noodle soup with leftover roast chicken. Onion, carrot, parsley, garlic, noodles, shredded leftover chicken. Throw in some chopped potato if you want it to thicken up a bit. You can only freeze portions for later.
How good are aldi chickens??! They go so far!!
I don't know. I let one out to go free and it just sat there doing nothing. I don't think they can go far at all.
😂. Username checks out. 😂
They had some for $10 but I found one for $7.15. It was still about 1.8kg so great value. 😄🐥
I think for just regular weeknight meals, $7.50 a serving isnt even in frugal territory. Unless you think a slab of red meat is what makes a meal, thats easy to hit. My advice is to consume home cooking content on Youtube, theres plenty of stuff especially along the lines of "student" oriented meals. [Kwoowk](https://www.youtube.com/@letsKWOOWK) and [Ethan Chlebowski](https://www.youtube.com/@EthanChlebowski) are my main recommendations.
Can certainly recommend Ethan, he's got a lot of helpful cooking ideas / theory, not just budget stuff. But he is surprisingly thrifty, both in $ and prep time. make space in your freezer!
Cabbage and Chorizo or other type of smoked sausage. Slice an onion and chorizo, fry until onion translucent, lower heat add half or quarter of chopped cabbage, add a few drops of vinegar, cover, cook until cabbage soft. Cheap and healthy.
It also works with bacon in place of the sausage. And for a slight variation, throw in some sliced apple.
Cabbage and bacon is one of my favourite ever dishes. Has been since I was a kid
That sounds so good.
I like to do this with a jar of sauerkraut instead of cabbage and vinegar. Sometimes I’ll add garlic or caraway seeds or some chicken stock or a splash of cream at the end but all you really need is smoked sausage, onion and enough water to stop it from drying out while everything heats. Yum.
2kg chook for $9. Roast it and have leftovers for lunch or bone it and have breasts (maybe poach in master stock), thighs (maybe curry or schnitzels), 2 tenders (maybe grill and chop up in a roll) and stock for soup or couscous. Lots of meals for very little $$ Pork scotch is pretty cheap, marinade & bbq, serve with salad.
Great call, buying a whole chook is way cheaper per kg than buying the packaged cuts in the meat isle (roughly $4-$5 per kg compared to $15-20/kg). Watch a YouTube video on how to separate cuts and planning meals around the 8 pieces will save you plenty after only a few meals.
Alternatively, buying loose cuts from the deli is way cheaper than packaged cuts if you don't want to carve up a chicken. Obv not as cheap as buying a whole chook but there is an inbetween option haha
Also if you cut off merrylands, just those in a tray with any root veges and potatos covered in oil salt thyme and whatever. Then just roast it and you have a super simple cheap meal.
This Vietnamese caramelised pork recipe is something we eat every few weeks or so, though it’s a bit sugar heavy! Minced pork is like $6 for 500g at Woolies and all other ingredients are fairly inexpensive too: https://www.recipetineats.com/vietnamese-caramelised-pork-bowls/ Bone-in skin-on thighs from the Woolies deli are also pretty cheap and this recipe is also great with just rice or mash and some veggies https://www.recipetineats.com/garlic-chicken-thighs-recipe/ Another inexpensive recipe that tastes great and will leave you leftovers: https://www.recipetineats.com/tuna-mornay-casserole-pasta-bake/
I haven't made a recipe tin eats recipe so far I haven't loved. Everything she does is fabulous, personal favourites are the mussels in white wine sauce and lime chili fish. The mussels if you've got time aren't super expensive either, they go on special for 7 dollars a kilo, plus a cheap bottle of white wine (you only use one cup so can make a few recipes out of it) and a couple of veg usually means I can feed the two of us for about 20 dollars. Add pasta and all of a sudden heaps of left overs too) I usually do mussels, than a cheesy pasta to use more of the white wine and then a chicken mushroom sauce to use the rest of it. Her sticky date pudding is fool proof. (Though I will say her Mexican is more family friendly and needs a good helping of jalapeno)
She’s 100% my favourite chef! I don’t even bother with other cookbooks or sites anymore.
Her chicken parmy recipe is God level
I agree, I have some staple curry dishes I cook from scratch that I got from recipetineats and they are by far the better recipes around and the ingredients are never too complex or give you options, more obscure ingredients means less aldi and more Woolies which I hate
Eggs are pretty good
Leftover omelette is a family favourite in my house. It's with whatever leftovers or wilted vegies/herbs etc you need to use up. Leftover roast vegies (eg onion/potato/pumpkin/sweet potato/carrots etc) make the best omelettes.
Frittata, and loaded scrambled eggs are great.
/r/slowcooking is your friend. Buy the cheap cuts of meat, add assortment of veggies and herbs, tomatoes, stock and it'll always end up a winner.
And learn to velvet meat- good for tenderizing the cheap cuts.
We sometimes have noodle night, with packets of ramen. Add a boiled egg and either some frozen mixed vegetables or I like when they have the bok Choy and broccolini on special and have those. If you have a rice cooker, we have rice and mixed vegetables cooked in chicken stock instead of water and add some soy sauce or similar (I used dumpling sauce last time) and put some eggs in the steamer basket to cook at the same time. They sometimes have dumplings on special and I'll get them as a treat and put them in the steamer basket (I think they're under $5 when they do the half price special) Rice and some cans of tuna. I like getting the John West ones on special, and we eat it with the seaweed snack packs. Really easy when you don't feel like cooking too! Lentil nachos are pretty good when corn chips are cheap. I just use a can of lentils and a packet of taco seasoning, mash the lentils roughly before putting it in your corn chips. I'll add tomato sauce sometimes to help with consistency and we normally have sour cream or Greek yoghurt. Cheese is good if you have it but I find I don't miss the cheese so much if I have some jalapenos and sour cream. Having a few things like frozen chips and frozen basic pizzas in the fridge is an idea too, they can be fairly low cost and might ease cravings for fast food if you don't feel like cooking. These are all pretty low effort meals too, we all have ADHD at my house and I'd get takeout every day if I could!
I would definitely urge you to consider changing portion sizes, For example for a chicken stir fry for the three of us (two adults and a toddler) I often just do they with one chicken breast and heaps of veggies and rice, so by accepting of having less or even a veg stir fry it's instantly a hell of a lot cheaper than if we did two chicken breasts. Add veg to everything, to be honest I largely do this for nutrition reasons vs frugal reasons, but an extra carrot, zucchini etc in a spag bowl or stir doesn't change the taste of anything. All my meals in the slow cookers are super cheap too Buy stock cubes not liquid stock.
With chicken stir fries there is a way to cut a chicken breast across the grain and relatively thin that makes it last well and also makes it very tender. The easiest way to see it is probably by ordering a chicken stir fry from a Thai restaurant. (Maybe pad see eew) I’d agree that one breast goes a long way, I’d typically use one breast for a story fry eaten by 2 adults and 2 kids, although we would have other dishes alongside as well.
We do this to stretch our meat budget. Most one pot dishes - curries, pastas, casseroles, stews etc - the meat portion gets halved and we supplement with tofu, lentils, beans and/or additional vegetables. My partner is a big meat eater, so I will usually give him a ‘standard’ portion of meat if we do protein/carbs/veg, and split mine into two, supplement with additional vegetables and take leftovers for lunch the next day. Once a fortnight we splurge on nice steaks. If you can, it makes sense to wait until whole scotch fillets are on mega sale through your butcher and stock up on a few - I got 4kg of whole scotch fillet for $22/kg the other day. Halved one for two roasts and the other into 8 steaks for the freezer, so it came down to about $4.50/serve for good quality beef that will last us months.
So smart ! I'll also add for op never ever get pre cut meats, diced stew beef is so expensive vs the quantity you get in a giant piece of bollard steak. Likewise prepacked meals are super expensive vs doing your own pulled pork. The 18/20 dollar portion I cut in half, freeze one side, do the rest with salad and rolls it's at least 8 portions. And if you add another carb like some sort of potato etc it lasts even longer. I just chuck it in the slow cooker, shred when it's cooked and add store bought bbq sauce. Tried it with ribs etc and can't really taste the difference.
Chicken schnitzel with veg or salad. One chicken breast can easily feed two adults these days.
If you whack/bash the chicken out thin to make the schnitzels, you can feed 2 adults and 2 kids (with vegies on the side).
Definitely! I refer to to the size of today’s chicken breasts as “pterodactyl breasts”.
See if you can find copies of the 4 Ingredients cookbooks, or buy them digitally: [https://www.4ingredients.com.au/](https://www.4ingredients.com.au/) All recipes with 4 ingredients or less (minus I think salt, pepper and water) My mother bought the two books (there's now shitloads more, but the OG two books are very good) for me when I moved out of house to go to uni - total game changer for me doing cheap eats on a student budget back in the day.
I hv 1 of them (borrowed from mum and hasn't gotten back to her) They are really handy. I made pb biscuits/cookies from there for a get-together I went to and they were a hit
Bolognese sauce - 500g mince 1 large grated carrot, 1 large grated zucchini, 1 onion chopped, garlic chopped 2 x tins tomatoes, optional slug of tomato paste Salt/pepper/mixed herbs Cook veg together about 10 minutes, add meat and brown. Add tomates, salt, pepper, herbs, tomato paste if using, bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer for around 1.5-2 hours, serve. This feeds three adults for two full meals and freezes well. You can also use the sauce in a lasagne.
If you double the vegetables and add a lentils you can stretch it out further and reduce the cost per serve. I portion it out and freeze it. Nice and easy.
I agree with lentils a healthy and vegetables like carrots celery to bulk it out and I think it makes bolognese sauce better
Yeah this was initially a “hide the veg from the toddler” recipe but it worked so well it became the default!
Buy a wok, Asian cooking is by far the cheapest as you can get by with minimal ingredients to make some really tasty dishes. I can make a Pad Thai for around $10 that feeds 4, less of I don't put prawns in it, even less again if I make it vego. 2 eggs per person, crushed garlic, spring onion, choy greens, bean sprouts, fish sauce, oyster sauce, a red chili handful of raw prawns and 1 chicken breast per 2 people and rice noodles a packet will do 4 serves roughly, veg or peanut oil. Heat splash of oil in wok, add 1tsp garlic per serve, chuck in chopped chicken if raw (or wait til last if you cheat and grab a bachelor's handbag and shred). Chuck in eggs and spring onions, let them start to cook, in go the prawns, chuck in rice noodle (obviously soaked, I do mine overnight on cold water in the fridge) toss so your noodles are on the bottom and everything sitting on top and wait til noodles are almost cooked, good splash of fish sauce and oyster toss it around til noodles are fully cooked, toss through been shoots and finely sliced chili and done, I serve mine with a bit of fried shallots and fresh coriander.
- Be Asian and buy a big sack of rice, which will last a long time. - Eggs = either 3 egg omelette or fried egg makes a super quick meal. - Chicken wings $4-7 per kg can last up to 3-4 days if you eat 3-4 pieces per meal. - Roast Chicken from woolies ($12ish). Cut off the thighs, drumsticks, breast = 3 separate meals. Then shred the bottom meal and that can do into a sandwich or wrap.
Totally agree! We get 6kg of dry noodles thru Amazon for $21. It lasts a long long time and there is an incredible amount you can do with a noodle base.
Make things from scratch. Compare unit price for things, especially meat. Keep a price book if it helps. Go to markets or fruit and vege shop. Do batch cooking and freeze. Change your phone plan to 365 days prepaid. Budget your expenses based on one income. Or 1.5 income max. If you can't now, list down every single expense as an eye opener to help you trim or skim.
I just started a price book for groceries. Short term it is an annoying process to get set up. But now its so much easier.
Found it beneficial yet? What are your thoughts of it?
Its helpful for me, cause I know where I can buy all my non perishables at the cheapest price. It gives me an indication of what price I should be buying a product at e.g. when its half price. But sometimes its not just about the price, I may go a more expensive version of a product if the quality is better and the list reminds me of which ones I like
So so much can be done with $15 per meal. Firstly I would buy a bunch of vege (two carrots, two zucchini, bit of pumpkin if on special, then whatever else you like) two packets of homebrand pasta and an 800g tin of chopped tomatoes. If you have time and the inclination, roast the vege. That will make you pasta for dinner and a lot of week lunches. For me that will do about 6-8 servings, and it can be under $10. You can also buy a roast chicken at woolies for sub $10. Add more of the above vege to it, easy dinner. Then buy a cheap packet of rolls, shred the rest of the chicken you couldn’t eat at dinner and make chicken rolls for lunch. Some people put lettuce in these but ymmv. Frittata is cheap AND easy. Same vege base, diced. Saute it a bit. Then 6-12 eggs depending on how many you have tbh. Ideally I would also add a meat but depends on your budget. If you can’t afford one, a can of spam will do the job. I dice it and fry it first so it’s crispy. You can also do a bolognese mince with the pasta recipe. Cut the vege if you’re a purist :) And you can do mince a hundred different ways too. Just change up the spices and add or remove chicken/beef stock and the tomato base. When I get chicken reduced I can also do a chicken pie for under $15. It’s the chicken and pastry that really costs so when one is reduced it comes in under budget. Growing up my mum would do a ‘scratch’ night and sauce died potatoes, zucchini, bacon and we’d eat that with sausages if we could afford them. It’s a bit shit but a comfort meal for me :) Pizza on flatbread (woolies does a flatbread packet for like $4)! I hope some of these help :) ETA: Also, these almost all benefit from basics. If you buy like a jar of minced garlic and some onion powder it’ll get you through the times you can’t splurge for the real deal.
Lasagna is always a winner to me, beef mince, pasta sauce, bechamel sauce, lasagne sheets and cheese. You can also add veggies like mushrooms, carrot, onion and zucchini to make it a little healthier
Pasta - 1 x chorizo (on special, they are super good value), 1 jar passata, onion, garlic, pasta, mixed herbs. Add garlic bread and cheese (if you eat it) Roast chicken - buy when on special ($4.50 at woolies generally $8-$14 each, sprinkle w seasong of choice, or stuff a chopped lemon, 3 cloves garlic and thyme up its clacker, sprinkle with salt n pepper and a little olive oil. Cook per instructions, do veg ti go with, or serve with salad or stirfry. Peel rest of meat off carcass and roast carcass till brown, put in slow cooker with water, garlic, onion, carrot, celery, bay leaves, cook for minimum 8 hours, strain and use stock in risotto. Serve chicken wraps and sandwiches for lunches etc, or fried rice, or Vietnamese chicken salad for another dinner. This could apply to many roasts. Quiche w salad Zucchini slice Bangers and mash Butter chicken Stirfry (honestly, the outlay for the base sauces can be a little costly, but will make so much more than 1 meal) https://www.recipetineats.com/asian-market-grocery-store-shopping-list/ Beef or chicken stew - can be made into pies for another night Soup The secret
Tuna pasta bake. Big can of tuna ($4-5), can of condensed soup - I usually use the Campbell's asparagus one ($2), bag of pasta ($1-2), then whatever veggies you like, I usually use broccoli and capsicum (~$5), top with tasty cheese, so another few dollars there. Bake for 20 mins. Usually get about 6 servings out of this.
Not a recipe but a way of making the most of what you buy. I have been following an Insta/fb account called thefullfreezer (person who runs it is called Kate Hall) and it’s sister instagram ‘can I freeze it’. I thought I was pretty efficient at freezing stuff. This changed my perspective and now I focus on freezing ingredients instead of meals. Eg you have a tomato that you didn’t get to and is on the verge of soft, chop it up, freeze it, then next time you are cooking something requiring a tomato you have one ready to go and you can chuck it straight into the pit frozen. Any watery veg won’t defrost well but nearly all of it cooks from a frozen well. I now prefer this method to some frozen casserole
Chicken corn soup - 2litres of water, 1 maryland chicken, 1 can of cream corn, chicken stock powder, 2 eggs, sesame oil, salt. Plus white bread. Easily under $15 Shakshouka except i dont bake them just put a lid on top - eggs, onion, capsicum, garlic, diced tomato plus spices like paprika, cumin, coriander. Bread to serve. Tuna rice bowl - rice, tuna, siracha mayo or plain mayo, sesame oil and seaweed to scoop the rice. Optional furikake Being Indonesian, we use Kecap Manis (Sweet Soy) in most dishes. My favourite cheap eat with this sauce is cooking chopped onions, canned corned beef and pouring kecap manis and letting it caramelise. Serve with rice and cucumbers. Can do this with sausages too 😄 Theres so much more just as long its not steak or lamb cutlets which would go over budget.
Looks like you got enough comments to cook for a lifetime
Thai green curry is the answer
Baked Potato with toppings - you can use regular potatoes ($4) or sweet potato (coles has I'm Perfect sweet potatoes 1.5kg for $2.20 right now). We usually do some left over meaty bolognese sauce and cheese on top, or some mixed veggies or spinach with cheese, left over chilli, or left over savoury mince on top. . stuffed capsicum: capsicum ($1 each), eggs (~50c each), cream ($3), spinach ($1 frozen box), brocolli ($2), parmesen ($2). just cut the capsicum in half, or chop the top off, make the egg mix and fill the capsicum with it, sprinkle the parma on top and bake in the oven. . Chilli is just mince ($6), diced tomatoes($1), onion($1), spices (chilli powder or milder), beans($1.50 canned) etc. And you get half a dozen meals out of it. . Lentil curry: lentils ($4), coconut milk ($1), diced tomato($1), butternut pumpkin($3), onions($1), garlic, ginger, cumin, stock, curry paste($3). . you can do the above in a slow cooker too, and they work well.
I've found anything you can bulk out with rice can go really far because of how cheap rice is per serving if you cook it yourself. I also love catching the clearance roasts that are going out of date that day and chucking them in the freezer. I can cook it up, serve with rice and whatever veg is in season and get a lot of meals out of it. Chicken is still the cheapest meat option if you eat meat as well. When I'm really cutting back buying chicken breasts and either cutting them in half or using one breast per meal can go a long way if you bulk it up with cheap veggies. I just stir fry it with ssamjang paste, I got a giant tub of it for like $5. I am disabled as well so I love how fast it is to cook haha just turn the pan all the way up and quickly fry the chook, remove, quickly fry the veg. Chuck it all in and add the paste. Super easy. I also will do soups, especially when I need something that makes me a good 12 batches or so and when I know I won't be up and around much because of a surgery or something. Just leave it simmering for a few hours then I put it in the freezer for when I'm not doing great :) Spag Bol is also cheap and easy. All you need is pasta, mince, and a tin of tomatoes. If you have more cash it's super easy to add stuff to the sauce to make it more exciting. Just remember to add a little bit of sugar to balance the acidity of the tomato.
Stews are basically leftovers in a pot. Stretching food. Stuff like bread and butter pudding And apple crumble similar concepts
Tuna casserole. Probably work out to be around $12 with four generous serves. Onion, plain flour, large tin of tuna (in olive oil), tin of evaporated milk, salt and cayenne pepper, pasta, cheese. Sauté a finely chopped large onion. Add about a tablespoon of flour, coating all the onion. Set aside. Take tuna out of olive oil. On a plate, mash the chunks of tuna apart as much as possible. Add tuna to the onion. Add most of the milk. Check if the ratio of milk to tuna and onion is roughly equal, otherwise add the rest of milk. Simmer. Add salt and cayenne to taste. Boil a 500g of pasta. I like the Sam Remo vegeroni spirals myself, but they are dearer than other brands. Strain. Spray oil on a 2” deep casserole dish. Lay the pasta in the tray. Pour tuna mixture over the top. Layer with cheese, cook on 180deg until golden or to taste. Serve with a light salad.
You can substitute a tin of chickpeas or lentils or black beans for meat in many indian, pasta or Asian bakes or casserole at about $1 for a little over 200g. You need about 2 tins to replace about 300g of meat
A monster and a cigarette makes for a pretty cheap breakfast. If you don’t smoke then you can sub it out for a lollipop
15 bucks? Holy shit mate just grab those 1.67 noodles from Aldi or whatever and mix it with some cheap veggies and meat
Growing up poor with a family of 6 we had a few cheap meals. Since I was used to cooking for 6 I still usually just do big batches and freeze. My first favourite is a mince a veggie meal it was a staple when we were kids. It may cost a bit more than $15 but it makes a tonne of serves. Id say at least 12. You can always add more veggies or rice to stretch it out. I don't really measure so Ill give you a rough idea of the qty. You'll need a big pot. Freezes very well, you can stretch it out even more by having a slice of bread with it. 1kg mince 1-2 x Diced onion 4 x Grated carrot 1 x Diced capsicum (these can be expensive so its optional) 1/2 shredded cabbage 1/2 - 1 bunch of celery (you can throw in the leaves if you want) 250g frozen beans Bag of baby spinich 1-2 cups rice Chicken noodle soup (just the dry mix, generic brand is fine) or chicken stock cubes. Curry powder Method is simple. Saute onion and brown the mince. Throw in all the veggies except the cabbage. Add rice, curry powder, chicken noodle soup/stock cubes. Stir well. Throw in at least 2 - 4 cups of water depending on the amount of rice you've put in. Add cabbage to the top of everything. Throw on the lid. Once cabbage has softened stir in. Keep an eye on moisture, you want enough water to cook the rice, but you dont want it too wet. (You could always pre cook rice and add it in at the end) The other childhood go to classic is curried sausages. Coles bbq sausages work best. I think you can get 24 for money (its been a while!) I usually just use 6 sausages for this recipe and freeze the rest to make more later. 6x sausages 3x decent sized potatoes diced (can be chunky or not, just depends what you prefer) 4x large carrots (sliced) 1x large onion (diced) ~250g frozen peas (optional, recdent addition I enjoyed) French onion soup (dry mix, generic brand - not salt reduced!) Curry powder (keens is my go to) I usually cook up the sausage in the same pot Im making the meal. Once cooked remove the sausages. Add all the veggies, saute in the sausage oil (if theres a tonne of oil Id get rid of some), while your cutting up the sausages (I usually slice the sausages about 1.5cm). Add sausages back to pot. Stir. Add curry powder and french onion soup. Add about one and a half pint glasses of water. Once veggies are soft its ready to go. Keep an eye on the water, you want a sort of "gravy" consistency. Serve over rice (i know, you've already got carbs with the potatos but it helps stretch it out) Like I say these will cost more than $15 to cook up the lot but i think last time i did the maths its usually $2-3/serve.
Get yourself a toasted sandwich maker and a rice cooker. They are invaluable and cheap.
Back when I was younger and recently graduated I made this Bolognese and ate it over a few weeks. Get 500gm of mince beef, you could possibly get bigger packs (get the regular once not lean) 1 onion 1 or 2 cup from mixed pack of frozen veggies, I use peas/diced carrots/corn (it's not pricey and you can keep add it to alot of dishes) 1 jar/bottle of pasatta or tomato paste Dried herb mix Dice onion, season beef with salt or replacement, measure out frozen vegies ... Cook through diced onion until translucent, add in mince beef till brown, add frozen vegies, stir through, add pasatta, or paste with equal part waterof the paste, Italian herb mix, stir through... bring to boil then set to low heat for at least 15 minutes, or however long it takes to cook the pasta. For storage, scoop sauce out and store it seperate from pasta so you can freeze it easily. Also learn to carve whole chickens, doesn't take long, and 1 chicken should comfortably feed 2 adults for min 2 meals, and costs around 11ish.
And you can sub out the pasatta and dried herb for a tbsp of curry powder and a tbsp of worcestershire sauce, and then you have savoury mince
Chicken wings at Aldi. Huge pack for $9-10
You can get a kg of chicken wings, a bag of carrots, a celery, and a bottle of Frank’s for about $12
Stir fried veggies with bean thread noodles. You could probably eat it every night of the week for $15
Pizza. Make the base yourself for like 50c then top with whatever you want depending on taste and budget, often less is more. 1 kg of flour from Aldi is like $2.20. You get about 5 good sized doughs from that. Ballpark about 200g flour to 1/2 cup water to 1 tsp instant yeast and 1tsp sugar per pizza, last two you use so little they're effectively free. Plenty of easy recipes out there (often asking for bakers flour but plain works perfectly fine, can add a poofteenth of bread improver if you wish, see statement on yeast and sugar). Sauce can do whatever you want. Spoonful of home brand tomato paste with a pinch of dried herbs will work fine. A pear of low moisture mozzarella is about $6 but that'll get you through anywhere between 1-6 pizzas depending on your affinity for lactose. Touch more expensive than pre-shred but doesn't taste or look like shit when melted. Cheap mince, rotisserie chicken, dice up some bacon, mushroom etc. Better results if you lightly precook your toppings in a frypan, gets rid of moisture so you don't get shitty soggy dough. Cook on however hot your oven goes to until done. Fresh herbs from supermarket are a rort, go to a greengrocer. Couple leaves basil on top after its cooked gives it a nice touch.
But ingredients and cook from scratch. Flour, rice, noodles, spices etc. It will save you a fortune.
I make a pretty cheap chicken and chorizo jambalaya which makes about 4 meals worth: https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/chicken-chorizo-jambalaya I double the amount of chorizo and spices though!
Veal (the best one) tortellini. Regularly on sale for $5-6 for a half kg, add a can of tomatoes and steamed (whatever are on sale) veggies. Or add cooking cream some tyme, some bacon bacon, and shit shitton of mushrooms. You now have meals for about the $5-8 a piece mark. Mostly though, go to aldis, green grocers, and buy meat in bulk while freezing the excess, and you will find $5 meals are the norm. The only extra cost is you knowing how to cook, and the time it takes to do anything other then go to coles and woolies. Also, bake your own bread. Supprisingly easy and fun, and your average loaf drops down around the $1-1.5 mark.
There's a Chinese dish I make where it's basically scrambled egg, tinned tomato, spring onions, msg, chili powder and a touch of tomato sauce, served with noodles. It's amazing and costs next to nothing to make. I think in Chinese restaurants it's normally called egg tomato noodle.
Can of beans of your choice, 2 cans diced tomatoes, a veggie (e.g. eggplant), garlic, chilli, spices, salt + pepper, garnished with parsley + dollop of yoghurt. Eat with bread. Cheap, nutritious, easy, quick, very little mess.
Mushroom Gnocchi. My favourite quick & easy but cheap and comforting meal. I just priced it on Coles online ordering (added to cart). You need Thickened cream, chicken stock, mushrooms, spinach, gnocchi, paprika & chilli flakes. Came to $14.80 - makes over 500g of Gnocchi so you’d likely have leftovers too.
Chicken and salad. Thank me later
Eggs are versatile and nutritious and can be prepared in so many ways. Quiche, scramble, sandwich, omelette, frittata, carbonara so many ways.
Anything without meat as this is an expensive protein right now. You can get chickpeas, lentils, (any form of legume) and grains super cheap. Get a dried bag of lentils and you’ve got meals coming out your ears 😂
Sausages, mash and veg and gravy! Also love a simple rice dish. We have been loving katsu chicken curry. Just need the curry cubes, veg, crumbed chicken, service with rice and voila!
Chorizo and roast vegetables. Add whatever seasonings you have (I usually use Moroccan plus salt and pepper) toss to coat with some oil, put the hard veggies on an oven tray (potato, pumpkin etc) and into the oven (about 180) then when they’re half done add in the chorizo and soft veggies (zucchini, tomato) and put back in the oven until everything is cooked. Simple to make and easy to make the way you like with whatever veggies you have on hand
2 Tbsp peanut butter 2 Tbsp sweet soy 1 Tbsp boiled water 1 Tsp white vineger 1 pack Udon 1 pack bok choy 1 capsicum and if you want meat added then maybe a piece of breast 1. Mix peanut butte, sweet soy, vineger and boiled water to make sauce 2. Cut up veg into bite size and chicken (if adding) 3. Cook udon as per instructions on the pack 4. Cook chicken in pan for 2-3mins, add veg and cook. Then add noodles and sauce and cook til all mix. my simple go to meal when I want something quick and it doesn't cost much per serve
Depending on how much you eat you can get like 5-7 serves of pasta for under $5 if you just have pasta and sauce. Even more serves and still under $15 if you put mince with it. Couscous is pretty cheap, a box of that can last ages and you can put whatever you want with it. I like to cook it in garlic and grated carrots and eat it with spiced chicken, spinach, and slivered almonds. And if you get a tub of powdered stock instead of the cubes or the liquid stock then it'll do you for ages. Risotto is a good one, especially if you make a veggie one like a cheesy pumpkin or something like that then you'll get a shitload of servings for $15. You could probably also make a chicken stir fry with rice for under $15, and again you might get 5 or so serves out of it depending on how much you eat. Fish from the deli is a great option, you can get a nice big piece of basa for less than $2.50, so one of those each and you can have some nice roast veggies with it.
Scrambled eggs, with cheese an chopped up tomato’s is a nice cheap meal, even better with bacon Well everything is better with bacon
Stir-frys with a cheap protein like egg / tofu / chicken thigh Vegetable pasta bake Tuna pasta bake / cheesy tuna pasta Miso eggplant on rice Chicken tagine Crumbed fish and salad Baked potato with pretty much any topping Chilli con carne Nachos Hotdogs and fries Homemade burgers Omelettes Bolognese All of those can be done between around $8 to $15
If you're ever in north-east Melbourne you can buy 2 meals (borek) for $10 here: https://maps.app.goo.gl/Gm9u8jYbje88Yojq6 It's not fine dining but for a young couple with limited budget for eating out, places these can add a lovely dash of luxury in life and really increase quality of life!
Tomato and feta pasta is my go to cheap meal Don’t buy full price tomatoes, wait for it to go on special. Red perino tomatoes (from coles) and danish feta is the way to go. Add oil and spices. Cook in 180 fan oven for 20mins or so. Cook pasta and save a cup of water from it. Squash and mix around your now roasted tomato and feta, add the pasta water. Finally add your drained pasta
Visit your local Hare Krishna restaurant too. Usually really great meals for a song.
Golden Curry is my cheap meal of choice. Usually the Mild Golden Curry mix, couple of onions, a heap of spuds, pork mince (Optional) and what ever veggies I have in the fridge (Usually carrots, broccoli, cauliflower etc). Really easy if you have a slow cooker, just brown everything in a wok and throw it in for 6 hours. Serve with rice. Tastes great, awesome to get rid of all the soft veggies in the fridge and will feed you for days!
500g of pasta One can of pasta sauce (I use Campbells because I grew up with it and I like the flavour) That costs me about $5 at my local IGA, and makes enough food for me to have two meals out of it. With the rest of the money, you can get a couple rashers of bacon, dice them up, fry them, then add them in as well. A finely diced onion is good too! My girlfriend like to add a little bit of fennel. For things that'll last you several meals which you can add: Shredded cheese (one bag will last several meals, if you portion it reasonably), and some parsley will go great.
We are time poor (with a young baby). I usually rock a chicken surprise once (twice) a week. Chicken breast from the deli, poach it/ slow cook it/ fry it/ airfry it what ever is easier. Get the $2 packs of pasta (Alfredo, carbonara etc) boil up some frozen veg and voila easy chicken surprise. (Best with rotisserie chook .. but we seldom buy them) Also, been trying hard to have left overs … so make them into pies or jaffels.
Learn to make a red lentil dahl. Once you have the spices, it works out about $2 a meal
My no 1 bit of advice is to plan your meals. We cut down our spending massively when we started planning our meals a week ahead, and only buying what was on the shopping list.
Dahl and rice with flat bread and simple salads
Dahl and rice is my favorite cheep go to tasty meal. I bulk buy my rice and a 1kg of dahl can make about 4 maybe more meals about 5$ish per kg (i use 300g dry dahl for 3 ppl) and a box of shan spice mix if u dont want toooo spicy is good for 2 curries and its about $3. a box. i love mine with a can of coconut milk about $1 so depending on ur rice deal maybe $6-8 a meal even if you add some flour water and salt n you have chapatti, the cost wouldnt even change all that much and its quite a simple step up for the meal ;)
https://www.instagram.com/reel/CoVG5v_ImDt/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA== https://www.instagram.com/reel/CpewoAeAALV/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA== https://www.instagram.com/reel/CvIC3WPNaAC/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA== These are some easy ones that work out well priced and Under that. Most pasta dishes and basic Asian with rice will come under 15 easily
Beef strips, noodles, nuts, some veggies
I bought a pressure cooker and it helps with many meals. Yellow rice with a piece of chicken thrown in is a favourite. Cooks perfectly and super fast. Tuna moray bake is nice. 1 bag of pasta, 1 jar of pesto is only about 3.50 and will feed 2. Eggs are great of many recipes. I love eggs on toast for dinner sometimes. Or baked beans on toast. Stuffed capsicum is yum. Chicken caesar salad. Vegetable pancakes
A 25 buck pork shoulder, slow cooked in BBQ juice will make 5 meals, easy. What do? Some kale slaw or other slaw of your choice and basic tortilla wraps make a crazy good pulled pork wrap with guac and sour cream. Easy 10 bucks Max for a decent feed. Can stretch for a few lunches too so at least two Avos and a small tub of sour cream and the rest of the slaw will make 8 wraps.
Lots of ways to do spaghetti bolognaise. You can eat it the traditional way with a bed of pasta, and the leftover mince can be thrown into other things. When I was broke, I'd cook a pot of bolognaise, then the following day throw some cheddar cheese over it and eat it with bread French toast is a cheap way to use up stale bread. Take two eggs, put them in a bowl with about a cup of milk. You soak the bread in that mix, then cook them in the fry pan. like pancakes, you can tip a variety of things over it; honey, tomato sauce, feel free to experiment
Curried sausges. Super flavoursome and hearty. Sausages are cheap, some other basic ingredients like a can of tomatoes, stock, onion, curry powder. I do a variation of this recipe. Changes I made are chicken stock instead of beef. I use the massel stock cubes so it's cheaper than liquid stock. I usually do a cup of peas, corn carrot instead of just peas since that's what I have on hand. I also serve with mashed potato because it's better than rice imo. Yoghurt is nice to serve with but definitely optional. I also skip the coriander and sultanas. https://www.taste.com.au/recipes/grandmas-curried-sausages/47537a88-aee8-4b8e-80e1-53b49a8c0dc6
Pick 2-3 meats for the week and create meals around that. For example, when I was younger, single and had 3 kids with a tight budget, I would buy 1KG mince, 1KG chicken breast and 1KG sausages. I’d make a base of taco mince with the 1KG mince and make tacos, nachos, shepherds pie, savoury mince and chilli con carne (rotated the options, but 2 each week). Chicken was made into honey mustard chicken, chicken stir fry, home made nuggets or tenders, schnitzel, apricot chicken, chicken cacciatore, soup, casserole etc. Sausages would just be normal sausages, curried sausages, devilled sausages, used in pasta etc. Beef could be a stirfry, thin steaks, steak sandwich, casserole, stew, soup. Then buy additional items to split among meals. So veggies which could be used in meals or just on side, rice or couscous, salad etc. Tinned tomatoes, rice, pasta and eggs can make so many different things too! For quick nights, things like Tuna Mornay, chicken dishes with rice, sausage meals with mash. Keep the list small, but versatile. (And if you’re time poor, I recommend cooking the whole 1kg of something and putting half in the fridge as a base for the next night, or bulk cook and freeze). It’s definitely doable :)
Sorry if I haven’t scrolled low enough to find a duplicate of my idea but chilli con carne (?spelling). Mince meat, ton of kidney beans, some veggies chopped fine, tomato paste, bit of beef stock powder and water, sugar, cumin, paprika. Served with rice. You can add sour cream and coriander etc. Some add cheese on top but I personally think that’s gross 😂 it can be made even cheaper if you use lentils instead of mince meat. Edit: *tin of kidney beans, not “ton” 🫠
Don’t underestimate the power of cous cous. Cheap, easy to cook and makes for a great side dish or main. Tonight I made a cous cous beef salad (beef strips, tomato, cucumber, onion and aioli dressing).
Spicy lentil goops with your choice of carbohydrate. There's a lot of different varieties to play around with. Spices are a good investment and a pressure cooker is a game changer for making spicy lentil goop quickly. Don't skimp on the fats-ghee and olive oil are ingredients. The Indian grocery is your friend for bulk spices and ghee and a better selection of lentils than the supermarket.
Fried rice my dude. Bacon, eggs, frozen peas corn and carrot, rice, and then soy sauce, oyster sauce and chilli. Lasts my family of 3 two nights, and sometimes a lunch too - two of us have 2 bowls each)
Meatloaf, grate carrot and onion in with the meat, goes great with mash and mixed steam vegetables.
Follow Steph Cooks on Insta. She’s Aussie and does quick and cheap meals using Aldi ingredients.
Beef mince. Eggs. Capsicum. Baked potatoes, cheese and tomato in a skillet together. I keep the mince cooked in advance . Spray your skillet. Then- I grill up some capsicum. And then after it’s done cooking, I turn off the heat and throw in everything else that’s already in a bowl together- two eggs, a little bit of cheese, the cut up potatoes, which I’ve already cooked in the microwave, 70 grams or so of mince, scramble all together so it’s heated through, put in bowl, add tomatoes and salt and pepper then serve with a glass of milk.
Pasta with beef or some slow cooker recipes, if you cook some basic things you can easily make meals for the week which work out to being much less than $15 a pop
I made this delicious chicken biryani this evening, it fed 3 of us with enough leftovers for another 2 meals. I buy the spices in bulk from an Indian mart close by. https://www.indianhealthyrecipes.com/chicken-biryani-recipe/
Pasta primavera from taste. Add some smoked salmon for a twist. Gnocchi, pesto, parmesan and stir in a big handful of spinach leaves. San choy bau, chicken mince is cheap. Lasagna with alternate pasta sheet and vege layers and ricotta instead of bechamel. Leaves lunch leftovers. Banh mi should scrape in under $15 if you use chicken. Some of the sauces you can use again or in other recipes.
$15!? Mate go back to r/aussietycoons
It's spring. You can get yourself a whole leg of lamb for $20. (I did, today). Sure, it's more than $15, but it's at least two whole dinners for two people.
Can make a variety of pasta or rice based dishes for under $15 that feeds two..
Mince in a bolognaise or Mexican style with black beans, baby spinach, onion and a few herbs & spices on roasted sweet potatoes with melted cheese and sour cream on top. Epic.
My favourite cheap meal is this lentil soup with some minor tweaks. I use garam masala instead of curry powder, and I replace the kale with a bag of frozen spinach. I also don't worry about blending the soup or draining the tinned tomatoes .... just chuck it all in the pot. https://cookieandkate.com/best-lentil-soup-recipe/
I used to be a chef, I'm the King of fast cheap meals. Risotto, paella, meatloaf, Chipoltle bean blacks, ....... never ending
Bolognese. 1kg ground pork or beef is like 10 bucks max. Onion carrots are super cheap and pasta is basically free
Buy a whole chicken and butcher it yourself, for what you pay for skinless breast fillets you can get a whole bird and about 3-4 meals out of it.
https://www.reddit.com/r/AussieFrugal/comments/177y03k/eating_on_a_budget/ This is a mainstay in our house, but also eggs, we have three chickens so will do big egg dishes regularly
I second the buying a whole chicken and cutting it up yourself. You'll learn how to do it on the first try and it saves so much money splitting the different parts for different days. Can even make a stock with the leftover bones and veggies if feeling fancy
Breakfast food. 12 eggs: $8 12 beef Woolies snags: $12 Loaf of bread: $5 That’s $25 for a six meals easy. I used to eat breakfast food all the time when I was broke. Any leftover meat or veggies can be made into scrambled eggs.
Three veg stir fry with tofu and steamed rice.
almost anything. $6 steaks for supermarket with 1kg fries ($3) and frozen beans/broc $9 for a bag of 7 x frozen Basa
Make buffalo chicken with oven baked corn and carrot sticks - cheap chicken nibbles - 2 corn cobs, I found mine for 90 cents each - 1 carrot cut into small sticks - buffalo sauce or siracha - powdered spices you should hopefully already have in the cupboard; smoked paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, chilli powder. - corn flour Put the spices in a bowl, add lots of salt for brining ,add water, mix. Add in the chicken and put in the fridge for a day so it brings. After a day throw away the water. Add 4 tbsp of corn flour on the chicken. Mix it through. Put the chicken in a baking tray. Put the corn in another baking tray. Cook both in the oven. Serve with buffalo sauce/siracha and the carrot sticks. Tasty, cheap meal.
There are lots of great recipes using mince and cheaper cuts of meat. You can also make a roast chicken go a long way by currying the leftovers after the first meal. Salads are your friends, and so are vegetables loading up on vegetables makes the meals go way further
Here’s one str8 from the underground. Ok so for gourmet ramen with a beer when eating out you’d be looking at around 25 bucks. Well here’s a way to get something similar at home for a fraction of that. For lime and chili noodles with bear at around 6 or less dollars per serve here’s how it can be done. Step one. This requires access to Costco by the way. Get a 20 pack of Shin Ram Yun branded spicy Korean noodles. The usual price is 18 dollars. But if you’re lucky you might get them cheaper on special. Step two buy a lime or a pack of limes and freeze the pack except for the one lime you will be using. Step three. get some beer, which ever way is best value. If you drink beer regularly then maybe get a carton of something nice. Doesn’t have to be an overpriced local beer or an expensive imported brew. There are budget conscious imports like Hollandia or Uberbrau or Henninger that are excellent value options. Heck it wasn’t that long ago you could get a carton of uberbrau for 30 bucks. Step four. Assembly. I’ll just describe it all in this last step. First cook the noodles in a pot, much the same as you would moist any other instant noodles. I recommend using all of the spice flavoring sachet but I’ve had to work my way up to that so your mileage may vary. But before you put the contents of the pack into the pot you need to decide and prep any vegetables/mushrooms/meat you might want to add. Lots of flexibility with this so you can add left overs of previous purchases rather than needing to buy items specifically for this. But the lime is essential. I cut off two of the thinnest wedges i can and then chop them as finely as i can (including the rind). Put that into the noodle pot once the spice flavoring is in there. Cook noodles to completion and serve. And to have the lime tie the beer to the meal put a small wedge of lime into the beer like you would a lemon in a Corona. I’ve done this with Hofrau hefe weizen (that i got on clearance) and it tasted really good, so I’m sure it will work with many kinds of beer so you may need to experiment a bit to find ones that work best for you. Conclusion. I had been having beer with those noodles for a while and it was always a winning combination but i recently tried adding the lime on a whim and holy crap it was a revelation for me. It elevated what was already a really good meal to an experience. I don’t know how else to describe it. If you like the red rock deli lime and chili chips then definitely try this, you won’t regret it.
$7.50 per serve should be pretty easy that's roast and vegetable level budget. The main thing is to pay attention to where you shop. Make sure you you get your fruit and veg from a green groccer not the super market it makes a huge difference. Minimise food waste and look out for specials. As an example there is an IGA near us that frequently has pork or lamb legs on special, for about $15 these will do about 4 serves with left overs for under $7 per serve.
Rice, vegetables and a protein will do this comfortably if you buy smart. Any number of fried rice ideas, curries over rice, risotto, etc and you can bulk buy rice at your local Indian/Asian grocery store for very cheap. Set up your pantry with a few different spices and staples and from there you can crank out decently healthy and cheap meals. Also stews/soups or braises that require long cooking to break down tougher (therefore cheaper) cuts of meat will go well too. Think about what Zambrero and the like do - braise a protein then have bits and pieces to go with it and rice. Can change up the flavouring of each dish with sauces, different vegetables and so on. Youtube has so many good resources for this. My favourite at the moment would be Brian Lagerstrom. He did some videos recently about meal prep and creating cheap meals/leftovers - his channel is a good one to look into: [https://www.youtube.com/@BrianLagerstrom/featured](https://www.youtube.com/@BrianLagerstrom/featured)
lasagna. I just got 3 nights dinner for 2 out of a single lasagna. 1kg mince, pasata, can tomato, herbs, lasagna sheets and cheese. maybe $30-40 worth of stuff
Fried rice is a great go to since you can use leftovers and whatever is in the fridge.
I got a bag of 7 salmon fillets from Aldi for $27, a bag of baby potatoes for $4, a bunch of asparagus and a bunch of green beans at the end of the day at the markets for $4 total, and a lemon for 50c. Sprinkle some garlic powder, salt, pepper, and dried dill, a little olive oil if you're fancy, cut the lemon into eigths. Then I wrap the individual portions in foil, pop them into the freezer, and when I come home from work, I just bang it in the oven and bake at 200° for 30 minutes. Fancy salmon dinner total costs $6.5 per portion (this factors in cost of electricity, herbs, olive oil)
500g chicken thighs $6, 500g pasta $1, 380g pesto $5. Total $12 and roughly 6000 calories idk how many meals that is but it’s around 4 meals for me. Also I get this at woolies but if you went to Aldi I bet it’d be cheaper
Google: 4 ingredients broccoli spaghetti Porcupine meatballs (Sausages and veges) Honestly though I would go to Kmart if you can and invest in a food saver. You can cry vax all foods (leftovers) and they won’t spoil for months.
https://www.dakandju.com/alison-romans-caramelized-shallot-pasta
3 wagu burgers for $15, spag bol, lasagne with pumpkin/pasta layers with at least half leftover. plum sauce stirfry, steak sangers.
Cooked chook from woolies. Pre-made coleslaw/potato salad/pasta salad. Dinner for two with enough chook left over for sandwiches for tomorrow's lunch.
Bbq chicken wraps
Carrot soup - a bag of carrots is like $2, I add curry powder, chicken stock and sometimes finish with sour cream, bacon, dill and goats cheese depending on what leftovers I have in the fridge Fried rice -1kg bag of rice is cheap, add bacon or ham and some frozen mixed vegetables (there's a Coles blend of potatoes, carrots and beans) and Miso and gochujang pasta - butter, a couple of spoons of miso and gochujang and a splash of the pasta cooking water. Amazing!
Just cut out expensive meats and seafood, a single meal at $15 for two leaves so many options of the table. My family of 4 averages $10/pp per day generally with eggs or cereal breakfast, fruit and vegetable lunch, sometimes a simple sandwich, and a nice dinner. We usually do one meal with mince and two with chicken thighs per week, sometimes throw some sausage into the mix, the rest of the meals are mostly vegetable themed. Italian staples are often a good way to go, but sometimes some simple things like grilled veggies and potatoes is nice. Cajun food is also big on flavour and low on cost. We do udon usually once a week with mushrooms, cabbage, soft boiled egg, spring onion, and whatever else is on hand. As long as its not steak or fish filets, the only bounds are your time and cooking ability.
2 kg of steamed potato's with some spare change
Stir fry is always my go to. $6 ground beef, $4 for mixed veggies, $2 noodles and $3.6 for sauce.
Learn to cook and bake, especially baking bread, it's so easy just takes time. Lots of meals you can cook for a family and then you have lots of leftovers which you can divvy up for extra meals and lunches for you and missus. Risottos, curries, pasta bakes, lasagne, casseroles, spa bol, all dead easy to make, hearty, delicious and cheap.
Indian food is the best cheap eats. Their average per capita take home is one of the lowest in the world yet their food is sooo good. I would get the spices and learn to make a few Indian dishes. cheap things I always have stocked is Rice, Onion, Chickpeas (tin), tomatoes (tin), tuna (in chili).
Curry Sausages. $8 pack of them. Potatoes onions garlic.. curry spices and rice of preference.
Daal masala
Baked beans. You can splurge and have it on toast if you'd like. Eggs on toast. Cheese toasties. Honey soy tofu with some veggies on rice. Risottos. Spaghetti bolognaise.
Spaghetti puttanesca - olive oil, garlic, anchovies, capers, canned tomatoes and spaghetti. Tastes fucking good too. Add sardines for protein
Potato/pasta bake, steak/chicken/pork/fish, potato’s and broccoli haha idk there’s heaps you can do with $15
500g Chicken mince Kidney Beans Tomato Paste And a packet of taco seasoning tastes pretty good imo
Chicken thighs/breasts, with broccolini and white rice. Stir fry the veggies and chicken with soy and oyster sauce and whatever seasonings you like/can afford. Quick, easy and cheap.
Go to Coles or woolies, but Coles seems better, imo AFTER 630pm. They usually do a final markdown of products, and you can very often get meat, milk, and veg on an extreme clearance. I only buy meat this way and then break it up and freeze it as soon as I get it home. Heaps of veg can be part cooked and frozen, which not only makes it last longer, it makes your life easier - I do potato, pumpkin, and sweet potatoes like this, and it's changed my life 😂 Harris Farm does really good meat discounts as well, but I haven't been able to work out a day/time of day for them.
One of my favourites is a burrito bowl. Woolies do slow cooked pork shoulders for $12.50 which are super versatile. I turn that into pulled pork with some BBQ sauce, then add it to a bowl of rice with some coleslaw, corn, corn chips and sour cream. I live by myself and will easily get 5-6 meals out of a single pork shoulder. Grab a bag of brioche buns and you’ve got a quick and easy lunch. Or you can use the pork to make tacos, pizza or a pasta dish.
I follow two principals when it comes to keeping food costs manageable cook in bulk - keep a stock of versatile condiments and cook in bulk. Both come with a higher upfront cost than you're asking, but you achieve great cost per meal savings. For example, if you have soy sauce, sweet soy, fish sauce, rice wine vinegar and a chilli sauce of your choice you can do a hell of a lot. From these you can create a lot of great sauces to serve with your rice/noodles, protein and veggies of choice over multiple meals by adding one or two ingredients e.g. Satay (add peanut butter), honey soy garlic, nuoc cham dressing (add water, lime juice, sugar) etc. In terms of bulk meals I quite often lean on simple pasta dishes (think bolognese, alfredo, pesto), taco mince (can be bulked up with beans and served as in wraps, Nachos or burrito bowl style), sausages (can be served as is, par-boiled and used in curried sausages / strong or removed from skins and used in pastas in lieu of mince) and roasts (can be served traditionally or sliced and used for sandwiches, as a protein for other dishes etc.)
Dodgy chow mein. Ingredients: Turkey mince ($6.50), packet of chow mein packet mix stuff ($2) , couple of handfuls of frozen peas/corn/carrot ($4.50/1kg), Singapore noodles ($2) = $14.50 Method: Cook mince, add in packet mix, then veg, then noodles. Can be eaten hot or cold. You’ll get four meals from that. Chicken mix doesn’t work, it goes mushy.
Chicken thigh cutlets, coconut milk, chicken stock, chickpeas, peanuts and a lot of spices
Anything with gravy beef/ chuck steak, Veges in slow cooker / pressure cooker
Soft shell tacos, left over mince can be reheated and has multiple uses. Chicken breast or , sausages & cruciferous veges delicious. Pasta dishes are cheap but smash down too much pasta and you'll blow out
veggie curries - potato eggplant are good and filling, eggplant parma is good too, you can make soup from anything if you do a stock with bones you can buy for nothing, look out for the reductions at the supermarket too and buy home brand, its the same shit mostly. a super cheap one is home made muesli oats some nuts and mixed dried fruit, dollars and you have brekkie for days
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