Cheap and easy recipes

[Tynieman]

Hi all, I've never really taught myself to cook and tend to live off ready meals. I can just about dothe basics but would like some easy (and cheap) recipe ideas, preferably with not too much fuss. Help!

[TheBigO]

Risotto and paella, easy tasty, filling.

 

Doing a roast chicken is great too and you have leftovers to make all sorts (I’ve had coronation chicken lots recently for some reason)

 

Bbc food is great. And as much as he can away and fling shite at himself, Jamie Oliver does good solid easy recipes.

[All roads lead to Gorgie]

I agree the rice dishes are easy and filling, cheap as well as you don't need a lot of meat.

I do a tuna pasta dish, just cook the pasta pour away the water then add a tin of tuna, some ketchup and grate some cheese and let it melt. Very tasty. 

[jake]

Buy garlic.

Eggs

Some cooked chicken breast.

Some cheese.

Slice half a clove 

Mix 

Fry

 

Salt and pepper 

 

Serve with toast or buttered bread.

 

Edited November 25, 2018 by jake
Forgot something

[William H. Bonney]

1 hour ago, Tynieman said:

Hi all, I've never really taught myself to cook and tend to live off ready meals. I can just about dothe basics but would like some easy (and cheap) recipe ideas, preferably with not too much fuss. Help!

 

BBC good food recipes are great. I made chipotle chicken tacos with pineapple salsa tonight and they were amazing. 

 

[Tazio]

YouTube can be your friend, find a recipe you fancy and you can pop into the kitchen with our tablet of laptop and copy the video. A lot of cooking decent food is about confidence with the process. 

[Tott]

1 hour ago, Tynieman said:

Hi all, I've never really taught myself to cook and tend to live off ready meals. I can just about dothe basics but would like some easy (and cheap) recipe ideas, preferably with not too much fuss. Help!

 

Loads of decent recipes onlines these days,as somebody said,some really easy stuff on the bbc websites.

 

Bonus is..it tastes far better than any ready meal,even if you only get it  half right.

 

For cheap and extremely easy to make currys ..

 

http://www.curryfrenzy.com/

 

 

[redjambo]

Stir fries. Get yourself a wok, chuck some veg in, stir them around a bit, and serve with rice or noodles. Takes minutes and is tastily nutritious.

[1874robbo]

1 hour ago, Tynieman said:

Hi all, I've never really taught myself to cook and tend to live off ready meals. I can just about dothe basics but would like some easy (and cheap) recipe ideas, preferably with not too much fuss. Help!

There’s a website called twisted food, some really good recipes and videos on making them also.

 

[Tazio]

3 minutes ago, 1874robbo said:

There’s a website called twisted food, some really good recipes and videos on making them also.

 

 

If you did all of their recipes you'd be dead from heart disease in a year. 

[1874robbo]

4 minutes ago, Tazio said:

 

If you did all of their recipes you'd be dead from heart disease in a year. 

Ha ha aye I know but some f them look amazing!!

[trotter]

Fry some thinly sliced pork, throw in some roughly chopped sage and lemon juice, mix in with some cooked papperdelle pasta. Takes about 8 minutes, next to no fat, and it's delicious. I sometimes add onion and thyme as well. 

[Boston Jambo]

Get yourself a slow cooker. I don't have the patience for the timing aspect of cooking, I leave all that to Mrs Jambo. With a slow cooker all the ingredients go in at the same time, 20 mins prep, throw it all in the pot and off you go to bed and it's ready in the morning. All you have to to is put it in a tub and anytime you go to the fridge there is a soup or a stew that just needs microwaved. Very convenient.

[fabienleclerq]

Learn how to make risotto, cheap as and filling. Use YouTube and BBC good food. Learn how to cut a whole chicken into smaller pieces, there's videos on YouTube and it saves money for minimum effort.

[Ron Swanson]

Try looking at student cooking guides or books. 

 

We use the likes of "slimming eats" and "pinch of nom" to try and make healthy recipes plus have loads of meal plans for the week so its easier to make menus/shopping lists. They are really good for easy to make meals although you might have to buy spices etc once you get going. Alot of them are healthy versions of ready meals so its all positives

 

Good luck.

[Ribble]

Sauces, learn those and you are halfway there. A base tomato sauce can be a start of tons of dishes from spag bol and meatballs to curries etc.

Edited November 26, 2018 by Ribble

[All roads lead to Gorgie]

I found a cheap Tagine (North African cooking pot) in a charity shop and it is great for stews of all sorts. Just chuck in everything, meat veg beans etc and it all cooks on the one hob. The lid is shape to condense the flavours and it definitely makes food taste better. 

[Ray Gin]

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/category/quick-easy

[Tynieman]

Thanks for the replies, the big attempt tonight is chorizo and chicken tortillas with onion and peppers. I'll attempt a few suggestions over the week and let you know how it goes!

[Салатные палочки]

Chicken and chorizo pasta.  Chop and fry your chicken, add chopped chorizo, peppers and onions, season, add two jars of lloyd groseman sauce and add to pasta.  

 

Chicken and chorizo together is heaven. 

[Ray Gin]

44 minutes ago, Salad Fingers said:

Chicken and chorizo pasta.  Chop and fry your chicken, add chopped chorizo, peppers and onions, season, add two jars of lloyd groseman sauce and add to pasta.  

 

Chicken and chorizo together is heaven. 

 

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/node/97233/comment-undefined

 

Chicken & Chorizo Jambalaya

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 26, 2018 by Ray Gin

[milky_26]

once you get a bit more confident with our cooking start to make bigger portions and freeze some. then you have a cheap and most likely tasty meal in the freezer that you just need to heat up.

[Auld Reekin']

18 hours ago, TheBigO said:

Risotto and paella, easy tasty, filling.

 

Doing a roast chicken is great too and you have leftovers to make all sorts (I’ve had coronation chicken lots recently for some reason)

 

Bbc food is great. And as much as he can away and fling shite at himself, Jamie Oliver does good solid easy recipes.

 

I wouldn't say that an authentic and well-made paella is easy to make - you need the right kind of pan for a start, then some really good stock, and you also have to get your ratio of stock to rice spot-on - but it is certainly do-able given a bit of practice and experience. However, I'd agree that there are loads of easy, tasty, and filling rice-dishes out there, and that they are a good starting point for the aspiring cook.

 

Risotto is easier, as you are adding stock regularly and stirring it constantly, but there's still quite a lot that can go wrong.

 

Roast chicken, or even roast beef / lamb / pork, if done as a pot-roast with all the potatoes and veg in with it, is a great suggestion. Season well, make sure there's some liquid (wine, beer, stock, or even just water) in with it, that the oven-proof cooking pot or dish has a tight-fitting lid, then just cook it "slow and low" (for example 160c, for 2-3 hours) in a pre-heated oven and it's difficult to go too far wrong.

 

The OP would be best to start off using recipes though until they get confident about what they're doing. Hearty soups, stews, and casseroles are also all good options for the novice cook.

 

Edited November 26, 2018 by Auld Reekin'

[Herbert.]

If your a complete novice maybe do simple stuff such as macaroni,spaghetti Bolognese,chilli,stews,steaks etc. Just make your own sauces so you can try different flavours. Those are all cheap apart from steak and you can bulk cook them and freeze them.

[Roxy Hearts]

Fajitas, washed down with chilled lager. 

[Bridge of Djoum]

I use this site...https://www.allrecipes.com/

 

 

[Салатные палочки]

3 hours ago, Ray Gin said:

 

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/node/97233/comment-undefined

 

Chicken & Chorizo Jambalaya

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jamboz]

Another shout for getting a slow cooker. Can’t recommend highly enough. Quick and easy prep then leave it to do it’s thing. 

[heartsfc_fan]

Can't beat Spaghetti Bolognese:

 

Beef mince.

Onion.

Pepper.

Chopped tomatoes.

Tomato Puree.

Beef stock.

Garlic.

 

All in a big pot/wok. Can usually feed a 4-5 people for about £1.50 a head.

 

[SUTOL]

OP, I'd suggest starting with something easy and basic.

 

Mince and tatties!

 

Buy some mince from a butchers or shop. 

Buy an onion.

 

That's the basic ingredients, then add some potatoes and veg. Frozen peas are a good option as they can be added to the pan when everything else is nearly done. You could also just buy some ready prepared, fresh mashed potato to make things even easier for yourself.

 

Dice the onion into small squares, and put into the pan, fry them lightly in a small amount of oil and add a knob of butter. Let them fry off gently, you want them soft and almost clear, not crispy and dark. After that few minutes turn the heat back up and add the minced meat. Stir it around the pan so it doesn't stick and that it all get coloured. Add some salt and pepper if you wish. Turn the heat down a bit and let it simmer. You can add a small amount of water and put a lid on the pan and let it gently cook away for a 20 minutes or so. Check it now and again to give it a stir and make sure it isn't getting too dried out. Add a small dash of water if needed. If you have stock cubes or gravy granules you could add them to the sauce, but I'm going to presume you don't have any, that's why I'm saying just add a little water. If you have any you could add a dash of balsamic vinegar or Worcester style sauce etc just to add a little bit of character. 

 

Have a taste to see if you need to add seasoning etc and also to check the mince is soft and not gritty. If gritty turn the heat right down if it isn't already and just leave it to cook out for another 10 minutes, and check again. 

 

When the mince is a good texture you can add some frozen peas straight to the pan from the freezer, and left them cook out for a few minutes. Add a small knob of butter again and it's all ready to serve on the mashed potatoes you had heating in the microwave for a few minutes. 

 

Any left-overs can be frozen and quickly microwaved or you could add some tinned chopped tomatoes etc and you have the bolognese for serving with pasta. (with added peas!) Or some curry powder or chilies etc. 

 

You could also have cooked some carrots (batons or diced) in with the mince if you wanted. 

 

Main thing is don't panic and don't rush. Some things need a gentle cooking whilst others need a hot quick flash. 

 

If you get that basic mince done then you can just change to stew (beef, lamb, pork, goat, venison, chicken) and add or change things as you go and get more experience. 

The same softened onions is a good base to start several different things. I also like to add some chopped mushrooms at the start.

 

 

[reaths17]

morrisons(other supermarkets may also) sell bags of blocks of minced garlic, chilli and ginger frozen, essentials in lots of recipes, takes a lotta the strain outta many meals, just use as much as you need, cut the about 2 inch blocks into what you need. stir frys/curries/ pastas are made so much easier.

 

block garlic, half a ginger, half chilli, depending on your heat preference, spoon or two of light soya sauce, spoon cornflower in water for thicker sauce. some veg peppers broccoli, sugar snaps etc and a meat of choice and you have a chuck it all in a wok easy stir fry in minutes. rice or noodles.

 

jarred pesto green or red boil your pasta drain and chuck in pesto easy

Edited November 27, 2018 by reaths17

[Sooperstar]

On 26/11/2018 at 16:08, Tynieman said:

Thanks for the replies, the big attempt tonight is chorizo and chicken tortillas with onion and peppers. I'll attempt a few suggestions over the week and let you know how it goes!

Not been back to tell us how it went. Died of food poisoning.

[Auld Reekin']

21 minutes ago, Sooperstar said:

Not been back to tell us how it went. Died of food poisoning.

 

The Chicken Tartare recipe he invented on the spur of the moment was certainly inadvisable.

[Sooperstar]

1 hour ago, Auld Reekin' said:

 

The Chicken Tartare recipe he invented on the spur of the moment was certainly inadvisable.

Cooking: With Patrice Evra.

 

 

[Cade]

On 25/11/2018 at 22:27, Tynieman said:

Hi all, I've never really taught myself to cook and tend to live off ready meals. I can just about do the basics but would like some easy (and cheap) recipe ideas, preferably with not too much fuss. Help!

Per person: 1 chicken breast, 1 clove of garlic, 1/2 chicken stock cube, pinch tarragon, pinch black pepper, juice of half a lemon; 1/2 cup quick-cook couscous (or rice or any other grain you wish), 1 salted lemon, pinch salt.

Finely slice/chop/mince the garlic then soften in a little bit of oil in a saucepan. Throw in the chicken, lemon juice, black pepper, tarragon and stock cube then add enough water to come about half way up the chicken. Boil hard, turning the chicken every few minutes until the chicken is cooked and the sauce well reduced. Meanwhile, add twice the volume of boiling water to couscous in a separate bowl, stir and cover then leave for 5mins (or cook according to instructions for other grains). Finely chop salted lemon and mix it through the cooked grains. Serve the chicken on a bed of grains with the sauce poured over the top.
Take about 15 minutes from start to end, 1 pan and 1 bowl.

 

Serves 2:

4 sausages, 1 small tin tomatoes, 1 small tin butter beans, 1/2 chicken stock cube, handful breadcrumbs, 2 cloves garlic, 1 onion, pinch rosemary or thyme or basil or oregano or any other herb you like, black pepper, salt.

Pre-heat oven to 180. Brown sausages in a saucepan. Chop onion and add to the sausages and soften. Chop garlic, add to the pan and soften. Add tomatoes, butter beans, herbs, salt, pepper and stock cube and mix well. Add a splash of water if it looks too dry. Cook for a few minutes then transfer the whole lot to a casserole dish and cover in breadcrumbs. Bake in oven until breadcrumbs are golden and crispy.

 

You can easily change the sausages out for chicken, exchange the herbs for some spices like cumin, coriander, ginger and paprika, and swap the breadcrumb topping out for a side of salted lemon couscous and you have yourself a very basic Tagine.
 

[Herbert.]

1 hour ago, Sooperstar said:

Cooking: With Patrice Evra.

 

 

 

I was beginning to wish I was that chicken.

[dsk1210]

Mexican rice is easy, tasty and cheap.

 

Dice 1 onion.

2 cups of rice (basmati for me)

3 garlic cloves diced

4 cups of chicken stock

2 tablespoons of tomato puree

1 teaspoon turmeric

1 tablespoon  of olive oil

Salt and pepper.

Coriander (optional)

Red green pepper sliced (optional)

 

Fry the onion and garlic until slightly browned, add rice, stock, turmeric, puree, salt peppers and coriander and simmer until all liquid is absorbed.

 

Fluff with fork and garnish with coriander and any cooked meats you fancy (chicken and chorizo)

 

Tasty.

 

Edited November 27, 2018 by dsk1210

[Taffin]

Read a few recipes or watch YouTube videos you like the sound of in a style of cuisine you like and have a go at making them.

 

It won't go perfectly at first but after a couple of goes you'll now have a few staple dishes you can do. I recommend sticking to two types of cuisine to begin with and my recommendation would be to make one of those Chinese as you can use the same flavours that you've learnt but apply them to different meats etc for variation. This also saves on what you need to buy.

 

For example, I learnt how to make a Chinese sticky beef stew and required mirin, soy sauce, garlic, ginger, 5 spice, chilli etc and now use those flavours to do salt and pepper chicken, Chinese beef/chicken/veg soup, stir fry and so on.

 

 

Also try to figure out how to use fresh herbs in a way you find palatable and again buy a few core ingredients in and then you can just chuck them in with something they complement and your food will taste much better.

 

 

Following a recipe is great and satisfying but if you can teach yourself a few core flavourings you'll know how to apply them to a different meat or make a soup base from them and generally enable you to have some fun and experiment when you maybe don't have all the ingredients on a recipe list without going to the shops.

 

Failing that, buy an air fryer and get a repeat order from musclefood into your freezer. Defrost the meat you want, stick in air fryer and then serve with sweet potato mash (microwaved) and a generous portion of spinach. Easy and nutritious.

Edited November 28, 2018 by Taffin

[Dagger Is Back]

On 26/11/2018 at 02:54, Boston Jambo said:

Get yourself a slow cooker. I don't have the patience for the timing aspect of cooking, I leave all that to Mrs Jambo. With a slow cooker all the ingredients go in at the same time, 20 mins prep, throw it all in the pot and off you go to bed and it's ready in the morning. All you have to to is put it in a tub and anytime you go to the fridge there is a soup or a stew that just needs microwaved. Very convenient.

 

This in absolute spades.

[All roads lead to Gorgie]

My gran taught me to make smoked haddock kedgeree. Just fry the fish gently with chopped onion. At the same time boil rice until ready and drain. Add the rice to the frying pan and then stir in a beaten egg and let the heat cook the egg for a few seconds. You can add peas or a chopped tomato if you like. 

Forget to say to flake the fish before adding the rice. 

Edited November 28, 2018 by All roads lead to Gorgie

[jackal]

https://www.gousto.co.uk/cookbook

 

easy one pot stuff as well.

[Cade]

Basic dough making should be in your repertoire as well.

 

Even a simple recipe of  flour, water and a pinch of salt for making your own flatbreads to go with your curries or for flour tortillas to go with chillis will open the door to more fancy stuff.

 

I love making my own bread, rolls, pizzas, naans and tacos. None of it keeps as well as factory produced stuff but it will all freeze just fine.

[Auld Reekin']

1 hour ago, Cade said:

Basic dough making should be in your repertoire as well.

 

Even a simple recipe of  flour, water and a pinch of salt for making your own flatbreads to go with your curries or for flour tortillas to go with chillis will open the door to more fancy stuff.

 

I love making my own bread, rolls, pizzas, naans and tacos. None of it keeps as well as factory produced stuff but it will all freeze just fine.

 

What do you use for your bread: fresh yeast, instant yeast, dried yeast, sourdough starter? It's almost always sourdough or fresh yeast for me these days, but the instant stuff is still useful for pizzas and naans and the like.

 

Agree that bread-making skills are very useful and it's great to be able to make a better and tastier loaf than you can buy, but without all the crap that the wrapped supermarket loaves have in them.

[Brian Whittaker's Tache]

On 26/11/2018 at 02:54, Boston Jambo said:

Get yourself a slow cooker. I don't have the patience for the timing aspect of cooking, I leave all that to Mrs Jambo. With a slow cooker all the ingredients go in at the same time, 20 mins prep, throw it all in the pot and off you go to bed and it's ready in the morning. All you have to to is put it in a tub and anytime you go to the fridge there is a soup or a stew that just needs microwaved. Very convenient.

 

I found a great dish for this, 

 

Packet of skinless chicken thighs

Onion chopped 

Tin of kidney beans 

Packet of Taco seasoning

Half a bottle of beer

 

Everything in the slow cooker overnight then shred the chicken up in the morning, great with rice or in a rapo or on top of a baked tattie.

 

 

[Brian Whittaker's Tache]

https://www.pinterest.co.uk/search/pins/?rs=ac&len=2&q=slow cooker recipes&eq=slow c&etslf=5030&term_meta[]=slow|autocomplete|0&term_meta[]=cooker|autocomplete|0&term_meta[]=recipes|autocomplete|0

 

[franko1874]

Google 'Korean Pork and red pepper stew'. 

Very easy to make and great if you have friends coming over, cheap enough also. Tasty as... 

[Cade]

2 hours ago, Auld Reekin' said:

 

What do you use for your bread: fresh yeast, instant yeast, dried yeast, sourdough starter? It's almost always sourdough or fresh yeast for me these days, but the instant stuff is still useful for pizzas and naans and the like.

 

Agree that bread-making skills are very useful and it's great to be able to make a better and tastier loaf than you can buy, but without all the crap that the wrapped supermarket loaves have in them.

Instant fast action stuff for me, it's cheapest if you buy it in the wee tubs and keeps for months (longer than it takes to use it all).

Fresh yeast has too short a shelf-life, dried is a bit of a faff reactivating it and sourdough is like a pet that needs daily feeding and a friend to look after it if you go away anywhere.

 

[Auld Reekin']

2 minutes ago, Cade said:

Instant fast action stuff for me, it's cheapest if you buy it in the wee tubs and keeps for months (longer than it takes to use it all).

Fresh yeast has too short a shelf-life, dried is a bit of a faff reactivating it and sourdough is like a pet that needs daily feeding and a friend to look after it if you go away anywhere.

 

 

Yep, the instant yeast is certainly handy, although you need to be very careful how you store it - if it gets damp, overheated, or the air gets to it, it won't survive. Same with most other dry ingredients, I suppose.

 

I've had good results freezing blocks of fresh yeast: just chip or flake-off what you need each time and it activates again really easily during the mixing and kneading process. It's also really cheap. I usually buy around 200gms (enough for around a dozen loaves) from the bakery section at Sainsburys and it usually costs around 30p or so.

 

You might be surprised just how resilient and undemanding sourdough culture can be. I keep mine in the fridge and usually feed them every week, but they've gone 3-4 weeks without feeding and have survived fine.