Budget dinners: Five easy and affordable family meal ideas using cheap ingredients

Discover budget-friendly dinners made with ingredients that are easy to find and won't burn a hole in your wallet

Store cupboard ingredients make delicious and nutritious midweek meals.

Vegetarian cottage pie

This recipe makes the most of tinned beans or lentils and frozen peas for a filling meal that’s accidentally vegan but also very budget friendly

Servings

5

Preparation Time

 10 mins

Cooking Time

 2 hours 0 mins

Total Time

 2 hours 10 mins

Course

 Main

Cuisine

 Irish

Ingredients

• 1kg of potatoes, peeled and chopped

• 1 medium turnip, peeled and chopped 

• 30ml oil

• 1 red onion, peeled & chopped

• 2 tbsp plain flour

• 4 medium carrots, peeled & chopped

• 1 vegetable stock cube

• 300ml of hot water

• 1 tin of mixed beans or lentils

• 150g frozen peas

Method

1. Boil the potatoes and turnip together until cooked. Drain, mash well, season to taste, and put to one side.

2. Take a large saucepan and heat the oil on medium. Add the chopped onions and cook until tender before adding the carrots and cooking for a further 4 minutes until they soften a little. Dissolve the stock cube in the hot water to make stock.

3. Sprinkle the flour on top of the carrots and onions and stir until it absorbs the oil. Add one third of the stock and stir well, making sure you get rid of the lumps. Once you have a thick paste, add the next third of the hot stock and stir again. Repeat with the remainder of the hot stock until you have a thick sauce.

4. Add the drained beans or lentils and frozen peas to your sauce and stir until they are coated well. Place the mixture in the bottom of a large ovenproof dish then top with the mash. 

5. Bake in the oven at 160℃ for 90 minutes before serving.

Slow cooker sausage stew

recipe by:Derval O'Rourke

This recipe is inspired by my constant desire to make really easy dinners that are toddler friendly

Servings

4

Preparation Time

 10 mins

Cooking Time

 4 hours 0 mins

Total Time

 4 hours 10 mins

Course

 Main

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp olive oil

• 12 good quality sausages

• 2 carrots, roughly chopped

• 4 celery sticks, roughly chopped

• 1 large onion, roughly chopped

• 1.5 litres beef stock

• 1 tin of tomatoes

• 2 tbsp tomato puree

• 6 sprigs fresh thyme

• 3 large sprigs of fresh rosemary

Method

1. Heat the oil in a pan on medium heat.

2. Add the sausages and cook until lightly brown on all sides.

3. Remove the sausage from the pan and chop into bite sized pieces.

4. Place all the ingredients into the slow cooker.

5. Turn it on to high and cook for 4 hours.

6. If you are out for the day you can pop this on low for around 8- 10 hours.

7. This is also a good recipe to do over night.

8. I suggest serving this with potatoes.