Cheap homemade dinner recipes?!
(appetizers and drinks would be great as well)
Answers: i very much enjoy cooking, but can't really afford eating expensively, any recipes or ideas that i could try? thanks!
(appetizers and drinks would be great as well)
Get a cheap cut of steak (can do for less than $5). Grill it or broil or on the stovetop (however you cook your steak and season it). Cut into strips.
On a flour tortilla shell, spread salsa and sprinkle shredded cheese. Put some steak along the middle and roll up like a burrito. Throw it in the microwave long enough to melt the cheese. It's really good and fast, too.
Also, can put whatever else you like in there (refried beans, guac, sour cream, veggies....)
Invest in a range of quality herbs and spices. These will enable you to create a huge range of meals from basic ingredients. For example, some paprika sprinkled on pan fried chicken will create a totally different meal to roasting in foil using tarragon. If you are cooking for other people and want to impress go for something Morrocan like Baharat or Ras-el-hanout. Under a ￡1 for the spice and you cant fail to impress.
OK, get a jar of roasted red peppers (store brand), croutons (with spices in a bag...store brand again CHEAP), and a bag of rigatoni (store brand again), toast some pine nuts (store brand .99cents about 2-3tbs and freeze the rest for freshness) and after the noodles are cooked pure' the croutons and nuts, add sliced peppers then mix in two cups of the cooked noodles and once nice and mixed drizzle with olive oil! It is pretty, cheap, very filling and left overs with sandwiches are awesome!
cook any lentil soups...... with toasted bread.... indian veg curries with pitta bread. just cook any lentils in pressure cooker for 30 to 45 mins(whole) 20 to 30 for(splits) then cook onion ginger garlic to llight brown add spices and cooked lentils.cook more 5-10 mins and ready.... its not very expensive...and healthy food as well....
Chili Cheese Potatoes - baked potatoes, 1 can Chili, shredded cheese. Any combo with baked potatoes is cheap - broccolli, bacon, cheese.
Hot Dogs - these are very cheap - under $2.00 for a package and buns are under $2.00, pair with any veggie
Tuna fish Casserole - Egg noodles, 1 can cream of mushroom soup, 1/2 cup milk, 1/4 cup butter, 1 can Tuna, mix in Casserole dish top with Parmesean Cheese bake at 350 for a half hour
Eggs - Scramble eggs with those Hillshire Farms Sausage and cheese.
Where you shop makes a big difference, I'm not sure where you live but I am fortunate enough to live by Winco Foods and a Super Walmart, the Grocery Outlets are pretty good too.
Here is something I've enjoyed:
Baked Chicken with salt, pepper, oregano, and garlic
Broccoli and cauliflower with cheese sauce
Rice
1-layer cake with blackberry sauce
For a drink, I had iced tea. But I imagine you can think of other things!
Another thing I've done is cooked noodles, broccoli, and cauliflower. Then I would mix that with cheese and Alfredo sauce, and top it with bread crumbs to make a sort of crust. That's good with garlic bread.
If I'm in a bit of a hurry and have tuna fish on hand, I would put that and shortening in a pan and make gravy, then serve it over bread.
I haven't done this in a while- but sometimes I would cook rice then add mushrooms, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, chopped onions, and celery. And maybe I would use browned hamburger, Then I would stuff that into and around green peppers and bake it.
I hope this is a start!
Pork chops and pork steaks are inexpensive cuts of meat, you can experiment with them. Fry them, grill them, broil, bake, etc. Try baking them with a homeade plum sauce of plum jelly/jam and soy sauce. Or marinade them in apple juice, add fresh, cracked pepper and grill them on medium heat for 15 minutes. Try them with BBQ sauce and apple butter.
Here is a recipe that's easy, and cheap but very good:
Cube 1lb of chicken (white meat), sautee in olive oil until done. Add one cup of uncooked rice (white or brown), 1 cup of chicken broth, and 1 jar of salsa. Cover with a lid and turn down to med-low for 10-15 mins.
Make a meatloaf, but use salsa or chili sauce instead of the traditional ketchup or tomato sauce.
Soups untilize a lot of ingredients, but will provide several meals from one pot. You can make different soups using a broth base, rice/pasta and veggies (fresh, canned or frozen).
With cube steaks (very cheap cut) you can make Country Fried Steak, Swiss Steak, Salisbury Steak, etc.
If you do want to splurge and make a more expensive dish, make a lot of it or eat a small portion so it can serve you again and therefore the cost will be more justified for 2 meals instead of 1.
Just take your favorite 'expensive' recipes and trade out some ingredients or cuts of meat. You can still eat well, and cheap.
Dude you're talking my language. I can't afford to eat expensive meals either- I came across this recipe and tweaked it to the following:
1 can pinto beans
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
2 tablespoons Olive oil
1 cup water
1 onion
1 small tomato (or half a large one)
1-4 slices bacon
Rice, quinoa, or other affordable grain
Keep pintos at a fast simmer for 15-30 minutes, depending on how soupy you want them. Meanwhile, fry bacon in olive oil until crispy. Remove bacon from skillet. Chop the onion and tomato, and sautee until onion is light brown. Remove from heat. Crumble bacon into bite-size strips. Dump bacon into pan with onion and tomato, add 1/4 tsp cumin, and mix well over medium heat for 2 minutes. (I keep some cooked grain in the refrigerator, otherwise cook that beforehand). Add onion mix to pintos, mix well, and simmer for 3-5 minutes. Served mixed in with 1 cup rice or other grain. You can stretch the bacon to make several servings. This is a fast, cheap, easy, delicious and filling meal, and I highly recommend that you try it ASAP, regardless of the 'Best Answer' outcome :D
P.S. The second answer down hit it on the head, invest in a couple basic spices (paprika, cumin, garlic powder, red pepper flakes, and/or cayenne pepper) to make eating cheap food worthwhile.
Spanish rice-a-roni, follow directions on back of box, add browned hamburger to this, really good.
Adobe Chicken
Ingredients
2 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. pepper
? c. soy sauce
? c. white vinegar
1 Tbsp heaping minced garlic
4 boneless chicken breasts
Mix first 4 ingredients well, put into frying pan. Heat well, and add chicken breasts. Cover and cook until no longer pink (approximately 20-25 minutes). Meanwhile, prepare Minute Rice as directed on package. Pour sauce from chicken over rice and serve. ENJOY!
Lemon Cheese Bars
1 pudding recipe yellow (lemon) cake mix
1 8-oz. pkg. cream cheese
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp. lemon juice
2 eggs
1/3 cup oil
Mix dry cake mix, 1 egg and 1/3 cup oil until crumbly-reserve on cup. Pat remaining mixture lightly in an ungreased 9 by 13 inch pan. Bake 15 minutes at 350 degrees. Beat cheese, sugar, lemon juice and 1 egg. Spread over baked layer, sprinkle with reserved crumb mixture. Bake 15 minutes at 350 degrees. Let cool and ENJOY!
Orange Julius
1 6 oz. can orange juice concentrate
1/3 c. sugar
1 c. milk
about 10 ice cubes
? c. water
1 tsp. vanilla
Blend together in electric blender. Serve immediately and ENJOY!
Hope this helped :)
i just asked the same question about 15 minutes ago and i made it in about 5 minutes:
the recipe was
mix frozen spinach but thaw it out first eggs and chopped up hot dogs in a bowl and then fry..put seasonings and hot sauce in also if u want..put on a piece of toast...and or just bread...it was actually very good---
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ok with top ramen noodles the possibilities are endless!..seriously
u could boil them and then drain and add veggies, and pasta sauce and if u really want some kind of meat..do u have canned meat? if so there u go..
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u can also cook, and drain them and then fry them in a pan with shredded or any kind of cheese that you have..add a few vegetables and some already cooked meat if u want..
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chopped hot dogs and scrambled eggs..
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pb and j but instead of the jelly use nutella if u have it?
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huevos ranchers: take some tortillas fry them and then put them asided to drain the oil from the pan. take a couple of eggs and for my i dont cook them all the way through i love them drainy like u know..ne ways cook the eggs sunny side up and while they are cooking put some tomatoe sauce (small can) and add sugar to it....make sure u keep tasting it as ur adding the sugar bc u want the taste to be sweet not bittery..ne ways take the sunny side up eggs put them on the tortillas and drizzle the tomatoe sauce mixture..
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oh and this is really good and healthy..if u have ne lettuce green lead preferable take it rinse it off dry it and then chopped off some tomatoes, cucumbers and what ever other veggies u like in a salad...and just throw some olive oil and vinegar salt and pepper if u want..this is the BEST most simple salad i have ever eaten..
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i hope my low budget college recipes for meals helped u:)