We are all looking to save money on our groceries at the moment. The cost-of-living crisis only ever seems to deepen, leaving hard-pressed families struggling to pay their bills. I have some credit-crunch dinners that I go back to time and again because they offer good nutrition and delicious flavours but don’t cost much to make, so I thought I would share.
I think that building up a decent store cupboard of dry and canned goods is essential to produce high-quality, low-cost meals. Having good stores means that you can buy in quantity when you see a particular ingredient at a good price too, rather than just when you need it for a particular recipe.
My post The Joys of a Well-Stocked Larder explains more about why I think it is important to keep a good stock of food at home and what you should consider including, so check that out if you are unsure where to begin.
In the meantime, let’s move on to our credit-crunch dinners.
Cheesy mushroom and lentil cottage pie
For nutritious credit-crunch dinners, it pays to cut down on your meat intake and embrace the humble lentil. In this meal I use red lentils, but there is no reason why you can’t explore recipes with other varieties too.
My cheesy mushroom and lentil cottage pie was always a favourite when I was a vegetarian and I still love it now. You can find the full recipe here.
Mushroom and spinach bolognese
Most people have heard of Jack Monroe, the esteemed food writer, poverty campaigner and Twitter ranter. I cook many of Jack’s recipes and enjoy the fact that most of them are straightforward and cheap to make. These days, I really can’t be bothered attempting dishes with a long list of expensive ingredients that are likely to be used once or twice and then lost at the back of the cupboard. This dish is very straightforward.
I always keep frozen spinach in the freezer, so I use that rather than fresh in Jack’s alternative to a more traditional meaty bolognese. You can find their recipe here. It was first published in 2015, so the estimated pricing of 38p a portion will be out. However, it is still a tasty and economical pasta dish.
Pasta with bacon and vegetables
Bacon, used in moderation, can add a meaty and savoury flavour to a dish without adding too much to the cost. In my recipe, I use a courgette (zucchini), but only when available home grown or in season. At other times I either leave the courgette out or used whatever else happens to be in the fridge.
Here is my simple recipe for pasta with bacon and vegetables.
Cowboy pie
My daughter first introduced me to this comforting dish, consisting of pork sausages, baked beans and mashed potatoes, and it has become a favourite. It’s a more flavoursome and glamorous version of sausage, mash and beans. There are a few different recipes online for cowboy pie, but this one from BBC Good Food is the closest to the version I make.
The great thing about this is that you can used the cheapest beans and sausages and it still comes out tasting magic.
Smoky chicken with chick peas
We do eat meat still, even when we are eating credit-crunch dinners. I find chicken is still the cheapest meat to buy, although it has increased in price a lot. I used two chicken breasts in my smoky chicken with chick peas as that was what I happened to have. However, you could just as easily use boneless chicken thighs, which are cheaper.
This dish gets its deep fragrant flavour from smoked paprika. It is worth investing in a small pot as a little goes a long way and it makes a huge difference to the taste.
What are your favourite credit-crunch dinners? I hope you enjoy my suggestions.
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