Food is cheap when you are a whole food vegan, so every meal I make is low cost. Some quick examples of particularly cheap options: spring rolls (yeah, the rice paper isn’t a whole food, but I eat...
Food is cheap when you are a whole food vegan, so every meal I make is low cost.
Some quick examples of particularly cheap options:
spring rolls (yeah, the rice paper isn’t a whole food, but I eat it all the time anyways)
soups and stews: I like a lentil vegetable seasoned with things like nooch, miso, soy sauce, and whatever strikes me as good at the time. Dried mushrooms are the secret ingredient for umami goodness.
curries: there are many options but right now I am in a Thai yellow curry phase. The giant pot I just made probably cost about $8 in total and made roughly 8 servings.
tacos: I use soy curls in my tacos which are relatively expensive, but it’s still cheaper than meat and I make it even cheaper by making my own tortillas, which have the added benefit of tasting amazing. Admittedly I use super fancy masa harina so it’s still not super cheap in practice. 😅 Better advice to make it cheap would be to use maseca and make larger tortillas to make burritos filled with homemade beans.
bread: it really shouldn’t be a meal, but my homemade sourdough bread is sometimes just that tempting, especially on the day I bake it.
salads: expensive if you buy the bags, but very cheap if you prep them yourself. The key to making them tasty is to make your own dressing, which is much easier than you’d think.
If I had to pick just one thing I’d say curry is my favorite but it’s not as healthy as I would like it to be: Thai curries have a coconut milk base which is high in fat. So my more regular meal would be spring rolls chocked full of fresh vegetables.
I made my own fake spring roll paper that turned out OK. It's called brik pastry. Not worth it for being so time consuming, but if you make your own tortillas it might be of interest, it's kinda...
I made my own fake spring roll paper that turned out OK. It's called brik pastry. Not worth it for being so time consuming, but if you make your own tortillas it might be of interest, it's kinda entertaining to do and you don't need special ingredients. You put a frying pan or similar large flat pan on top of a pot of boiling water, mix flour and water into a thin-ish paste (2 cups flour + 2 cups water is about the recipe), and paint it on to the pan in thin layers with a brush. I used one of those chunky silicon food brushes that are so common nowadays. The flour paste/paint sets solid into thin papery flexible "tortillas" that work pretty well for spring rolls.
I’ve seen a simelar method of making crepes before. I actually owned a weird appliance meant to do this directly, which was basically a paddle-looking thing that plugged into mains power to heat...
I’ve seen a simelar method of making crepes before. I actually owned a weird appliance meant to do this directly, which was basically a paddle-looking thing that plugged into mains power to heat itself; I never used it though because crepes are actually really easy to make the normal way.
One of these days I’ll just try tossing the shredded veggies in a bowl and dropping the sauce on top. The rice paper makes it fun, but it’s not really doing anything for flavor.
I love curries as well but family won't eat. does soya chunks / soya wadi cook similarly as soya curl or even tvp? By "mistake" I ordered $80 worth of soya chunks; it came in a hilarious 20kg bag...
I love curries as well but family won't eat.
does soya chunks / soya wadi cook similarly as soya curl or even tvp? By "mistake" I ordered $80 worth of soya chunks; it came in a hilarious 20kg bag more than a meter tall. My animal feed bags are half the size.
Anyway, I've been rehydrating them in boiling water, rinse cool, squeeze out water, dip re-squeeze a few times. Do they cook similar to other veggie protein recipes? I need a lot of ideas to eat through this bag :/
Soya chunks are just TVP that has been put into larger shapes, usually. They may have something like wheat added to it to help it come together. To be honest, I’m not super happy with them as an...
Soya chunks are just TVP that has been put into larger shapes, usually. They may have something like wheat added to it to help it come together.
To be honest, I’m not super happy with them as an ingredient compared to Soy Curls because they are tougher and have a more assertive flavor. My recommendation is to soak them in a flavor liquid. It doesn’t have to be boiling, but hot water will make it absorb faster. Strain them out (you don’t have to get all of it out), and then stir fry them. Toss some veg in the pot after to make a good stir-fry.
The stuff I get is Chinese, so I use Chinese flavors when I cook mine. For the flavor liquid, I really like mushroom boullion, which goes well with that kind of flavor pallet, but you can also use something like veggie broth.
I haven’t tried it with this particular ingredient, but I find that it’s much easier to get the texture I want out of soy curls by air frying or baking it. That might also work for those soy chunks. I also saw a video recently of a man making tacos with them and he fried them in oil, but that’s not something I would like to do myself (both because of the health and the fact that you are adding water to burning hot oil).
If all else fails, maybe you can just rehydrate the stuff you have and use it as animal feed?
Interesting, yeah I'll try to hydrate in flavoured liquid, "clean" it by purging the liquid, then dry it a bit (air fry/stir fry/convection) before using it in recipes. Tacos seem like a good...
Interesting, yeah I'll try to hydrate in flavoured liquid, "clean" it by purging the liquid, then dry it a bit (air fry/stir fry/convection) before using it in recipes. Tacos seem like a good candidate because it's quite strongly flavoured.
Speaking of mushroom bouillon, I found powdered mushrooms at a Taiwanese grocer, as well as the crystal extra version of something similar, works great when I need a vegan flavouring.
I add chopped onions, chopped mushrooms, a beef bone with meat on it, a bay leaf and various hard low flavor vegetables like carrots or cauliflower and sometimes potatoes. I wouldn't add celery or...
I add chopped onions, chopped mushrooms, a beef bone with meat on it, a bay leaf and various hard low flavor vegetables like carrots or cauliflower and sometimes potatoes. I wouldn't add celery or asparagus unless you really want that flavor.
I add salt and pepper at the table.
Some cooks use stock or a boullion cube for flavor. Both can be made vegetarian.
I'm certain that gourmet cooks do it better but it works for me.
One my favourites is a riff on this sausage, chard, lentil soup. I generally omit the sausage and use italian sausage spices (eg, thyme, paprika, fennel, pepper) directly. I also prefer green...
One my favourites is a riff on this sausage, chard, lentil soup. I generally omit the sausage and use italian sausage spices (eg, thyme, paprika, fennel, pepper) directly. I also prefer green lentils, as they hold up better imo. Plus, I'll swap out for whatever green/leafy I have on hand (spinach, collards, cabbage all work).
I also like french lentil soup, similar to this recipe, though again, I adapt to my tastes.
I can’t visualise eating soup with rice (I’ve only really ever used bread or plain). Do you put the rice in the soup? Or pour it on top of rice like a curry?
I can’t visualise eating soup with rice (I’ve only really ever used bread or plain). Do you put the rice in the soup? Or pour it on top of rice like a curry?
Tortilla (aka Spanish omelette), just made it tonight actually. Goes great with a little ketchup. Just eggs, potatoes oil, and maybe an onion if you're feelin' fancy or like it a little sweeter....
Tortilla (aka Spanish omelette), just made it tonight actually. Goes great with a little ketchup. Just eggs, potatoes oil, and maybe an onion if you're feelin' fancy or like it a little sweeter.
Probably related to the Spanish Omelette, is Filipino Torta. An egg based "pancake" looking thing, but mixed with ground beef or ground turkey or canned corned beef or canned beef hash, canned...
Probably related to the Spanish Omelette, is Filipino Torta. An egg based "pancake" looking thing, but mixed with ground beef or ground turkey or canned corned beef or canned beef hash, canned sardines...and probably anything else one wants to try. Break eggs in a bowl, add in the meat/fish and/or vegetables, salt and pepper as desired, mix it all up, then fry it like pancakes. Serve over rice, with ketchup for extra taste. Or put it between two slices of bread, and boom, you got a sandwich. But I think over rice makes more sense so you can make the torta last.
this spaghetti is dirt cheap -- especially if you grow your own basil. most meals are cheap if you use proper butchers, proper farm markets, and not supermarkets or posh spots with the same...
this spaghetti is dirt cheap -- especially if you grow your own basil.
most meals are cheap if you use proper butchers, proper farm markets, and not supermarkets or posh spots with the same produce at 5x the cost just because its stacked in a pyramid. I do most of my produce shopping at a persian market and my animal proteins from either an indian, greek, or italian butcher -- depending on the day of the week. Way cheaper and better quality across the board compared to the trash at any supermarket.
Sounds fantastic and I will be trying this soon! Very excited What does it mean for parsley or basil to be rubbed? I don't think I've ever paid attention to what pasta is made of, checked the...
Sounds fantastic and I will be trying this soon! Very excited
What does it mean for parsley or basil to be rubbed? I don't think I've ever paid attention to what pasta is made of, checked the pantry, it's semolina. Is durum healthier / tastier / pricier? I didn't know there was a difference, I've only ever bought cheap pasta. And last question, what is the purpose of throwing away the onion, instead of say, mincing it in or blending it in? I don't think I have it in me to throw away food in a recipe.
This video or this one are decent practical summaries. Alex aka FrenchGuyCooking did a full series on pasta, and not all of it is required watching, but he does go through all the ins and outs of...
I don't think I've ever paid attention to what pasta is made of, checked the pantry, it's semolina. Is durum healthier / tastier / pricier? I didn't know there was a difference, I've only ever bought cheap pasta.
This video or this one are decent practical summaries. Alex aka FrenchGuyCooking did a full series on pasta, and not all of it is required watching, but he does go through all the ins and outs of what pasta's real quality can be. I definitely recommend watching his visit to the pasta factory at the least.
just rub it in your hands -- it'll be more fragrant and taste better. when you look for a pasta, get something that has a good texture to it; not a slick yellow surface. The textured stuff will...
just rub it in your hands -- it'll be more fragrant and taste better.
when you look for a pasta, get something that has a good texture to it; not a slick yellow surface. The textured stuff will hold on to sauce way better. Long story short, the slick stuff is a teflon die and is used because they can crank out pasta faster at the cost of quality and your final product.
For the onion, there's nothing left in it. All of its goodness is in the sauce and it has served its purpose. Taste it -- it'll be almost like a shitty apple. Blending it in also ruins the texture of the sauce. Try it like the one I posted and then try it with it minced up later -- you might prefer your way. Nothing wrong with that. :) But its like if you made pho or any other sort of broth or soup.
If you do a garlic bread, toast up the bread in the oven or whatever and then rub garlic all over that. You could also make a compound butter, which is handy to have around.
Sopa de Fideo Hits the cheap/delicious notes perfectly, and is easy to make to boot. Don't forget the beans! Sopa de Ajo is another good one for using up stale bread while being packed with cheap...
Sopa de Fideo Hits the cheap/delicious notes perfectly, and is easy to make to boot. Don't forget the beans!
Sopa de Ajo is another good one for using up stale bread while being packed with cheap flavor.
Pancit is one of my personal favorites, and is great as a kitchen cleanout dish, using up whatever you have on hand.
Outside of what I posted, speaking of extreme budget meals in general, you cannot beat anything potato based. The least expensive of all staples, yet still a surprisingly well-rounded food.
Japanese curry. It's milder and different from Indian and Thai curry, and they got it by way of Britain in the 1800s. It's an exceptionally popular dish in Japan, with more of a savory-forward...
Japanese curry. It's milder and different from Indian and Thai curry, and they got it by way of Britain in the 1800s. It's an exceptionally popular dish in Japan, with more of a savory-forward flavor than a spicy one, so I've found people who don't tolerate spicy foods are still likely to be okay with it.
You can get packages of S&B Golden Curry mix at Walmart now, so it's widely available. (Get "medium hot." It's not hot, and the "mild" option lacks flavor and is sad.) It's a few dollars for a package that's good for 5-6 people, easily. You also need carrot, onion, potato, rice, and some sort of meat. (I usually just use a pound of ground beef.)
While your rice cooker is running, you just throw the other ingredients (not the curry mix yet) in a large pan or pot to brown for a bit, add water, boil and then simmer, then add the curry mix and stir until it mixes in an thickens.
We have this all the time. But we keep it vegan and just add extra firm tofu. It works amazingly in it. To keep it leaner, we also lose the potatoes and add mushrooms and broccoli. It's so filling...
We have this all the time. But we keep it vegan and just add extra firm tofu. It works amazingly in it.
To keep it leaner, we also lose the potatoes and add mushrooms and broccoli. It's so filling and wholesome in the winter.
I’m obsessed with those little curry packages we’re basically living off them right now its so cheap and so low effort. We started buying chicken thighs in bulk, we always have rice, and then we...
I’m obsessed with those little curry packages we’re basically living off them right now its so cheap and so low effort.
We started buying chicken thighs in bulk, we always have rice, and then we toss in frozen veggies. We pre cook all the chicken at the start of the week so all we have to do is cut it up and toss it in.
20 min home cooked meal every day and theres so many flavors we’re never bored!
I can confirm that the mild S&B curry is sad. It’s surprising to see the curry roux so cheap; when I first started making Japanese curry those packages were over $5. Add in the cost of meat and it...
I can confirm that the mild S&B curry is sad.
It’s surprising to see the curry roux so cheap; when I first started making Japanese curry those packages were over $5. Add in the cost of meat and it was a fairly expensive proposition.
The one thing I will say is that I don’t think S&B’s curry mix is that great. It’s not bad but it’s like the vanilla of curry. The house ones are better, and they have a few different formulations. If going with S&B it is better to get the can of spice instead and make your own roux; it’s not that much harder to do and you can mix in your own spices. I particularly like adding an Indian garam masala blend.
Surprised to see that people hate on the mild one. Admittedly it's all I've tried, but me and my partner love it. I like spicy and she does not, so I haven't wanted to risk it.
Surprised to see that people hate on the mild one. Admittedly it's all I've tried, but me and my partner love it. I like spicy and she does not, so I haven't wanted to risk it.
Unlike many other nearby countries, Japanese cuisine is not remotely spicy, and their curry is not an exception. Even the spiciest variant of that curry roux is barely hot by American standards....
Unlike many other nearby countries, Japanese cuisine is not remotely spicy, and their curry is not an exception. Even the spiciest variant of that curry roux is barely hot by American standards. The medium one isn't really hot at all.
Misir wot is mostly lentils and onion. Making the berbere spice mix can be an up front investment though as spices aren't cheap. Although you can find cheap bulk spices usually at Indian grocers,...
Misir wot is mostly lentils and onion. Making the berbere spice mix can be an up front investment though as spices aren't cheap. Although you can find cheap bulk spices usually at Indian grocers, in my experience, and make a big batch.
Rice and beans of course. The quintessential low cost food. Great with a little shredded cheese on top.
I have been trying to find somewhere in person that sells berbere spice mix just for this and have recently given up. I was contemplating ordering some from Ethiopian which looks good, but now I...
I have been trying to find somewhere in person that sells berbere spice mix just for this and have recently given up. I was contemplating ordering some from Ethiopian which looks good, but now I want to hear about yours. Which spices did you end up adding to your mix?
Well first, just a disclaimer, I’m a white dude from the Midwest so this absolutely should not be taken as gospel. But basically, I start with this recipe but I’m pretty flexible with it. If I’m...
Well first, just a disclaimer, I’m a white dude from the Midwest so this absolutely should not be taken as gospel. But basically, I start with this recipe but I’m pretty flexible with it. If I’m missing a spice or two I don’t sweat it, and sometimes I’ll add in other spices I have on hand. The ratios in that recipe are a good place to start though. I toast the whole spices before grinding them and I usually double or triple the recipe so I end up with a small jar’s worth.
It turns out really good in my opinion. I’ve since bought some berbere from the local ethiopian place and it’s very good, but different. The homemade stuff is comparable imo.
Glad to hear it! The misir wat recipe on that same site is also great, it is in my rotation and I make it pretty frequently. I skip the nitter kibbeh and substitute with either butter or ghee,...
Glad to hear it! The misir wat recipe on that same site is also great, it is in my rotation and I make it pretty frequently. I skip the nitter kibbeh and substitute with either butter or ghee, along with around a table spoon of the homemade berbere. That's in addition to the berbere that the recipe calls for. I honestly usually eyeball that too. It's hard to go wrong when the base flavors are already so strong and tasty.
We have a few "go-to" meals for when we want simple, low cost food. Speed rice bowl with a fried egg. We will break up a box of salted seaweed and mix it into a bowl of rice, then fry an egg in...
We have a few "go-to" meals for when we want simple, low cost food.
Speed rice bowl with a fried egg. We will break up a box of salted seaweed and mix it into a bowl of rice, then fry an egg in sesame oil with a bit of soy sauce, and pour it on top of the rice. It's quite salty, but I'm a big fan.
Refried beans. These are quite versatile, use them in a burrito, taco, bowl, whatever. I use Samin Nosrat's recipe.
Sweet potato and bean quesadilla. This one is a bit of a wildcard and best for when I want something warm and filling but not very involved to cook. I toss a sweet potato in the microwave, rinse a can of black beans, spread out the cooked sweet potato onto a tortilla, press in the beans, add some cheese, then cook in a skillet. It's not terribly fast, but I quite like the flavor.
Classic beans and greens stew. I use Mark Bittman's recipe.
Pasta Alla Norma (tomato and eggplant based sauce), again Mark Bittman's recipe.
I peruse BudgetByes regularly for tasty cheap meals. A couple I make frequently- https://www.budgetbytes.com/cajun-sausage-and-rice-skillet/ -I sub field roast sausage...
The budgetbytes vegan split pea soup recipe is extremely easy and tasty. I like adding fried spam or bacon as a garnish. Soy bacon bits do the trick too. Really good with some crusty toasted bread...
The budgetbytes vegan split pea soup recipe is extremely easy and tasty. I like adding fried spam or bacon as a garnish. Soy bacon bits do the trick too. Really good with some crusty toasted bread to dunk and scoop.
I also enjoy their vegetarian lentil chili but I would skip the slow cooker and just do 45 minutes on the stove. Might require a bit of tuning to really pop. I add re-hydrated shiitake mushrooms, peanut butter(mouthfeel), cocoa(acidity), pepper brine(acidity), and indian curry powder(reduces tomatoey taste) to mine. Generally served on rice.
I haven't made them in a long time, especially since I've gone mostly plant-based this year, but chicken kotleti: ground chicken, onions, bread, milk, egg. Mix it all together, and you have a meat...
I haven't made them in a long time, especially since I've gone mostly plant-based this year, but chicken kotleti: ground chicken, onions, bread, milk, egg. Mix it all together, and you have a meat patty you can pan fry. They're delicious, easy, and cheap if you shop at aldi or grocery outlet, or bulk buy. It's a Ukranian/Eastern European food I grew up with that's always filling and makes a lot, so you can use the leftovers in a breakfast fry with eggs and potatoes the next morning.
My current plant-based cheap meal is rice and beans. Rice is cheap, beans are cheap, and we buy them dry, so they're even cheaper. I mix it all together and throw in a bay leaf to my rice cooker, and it comes out perfectly mixed and delicious. Some hot sauce or salsa on it, and it's a perfect, low effort, cheap meal.
Slow cooked Shoyu Chicken Take 2-4 lbs chicken, throw it in slow cooker. Make Sauce 1 cup soy sauce 1/4th cup sugar 1/4th cup brown sugar 2 cloves garlic Minced ginger, at least 1tsp but I do more...
Slow cooked Shoyu Chicken
Take 2-4 lbs chicken, throw it in slow cooker.
Make Sauce
1 cup soy sauce
1/4th cup sugar
1/4th cup brown sugar
2 cloves garlic
Minced ginger, at least 1tsp but I do more
Star of anise
1/2 cup water
Stir it up. Add sauce to slow cooker. Cook 5ish hrs on low. Your time might vary. I don't think it matters that much tbh. I usually set it and eat it when I feel like it.
Thicken sauce
Mix 2 tbsp cornstarch, 2 tbsp water.
Take 1/2 cup of sauce out, add corn starch mixture, stir, put it back in the slow cooker. Let cook for ~30 minutes longer.
Make rice on the side using a rice cooker. Optionally steam some broccoli if you want a green. Throw it all in a bowl. Dead easy and delicious.
Chicken drumsticks or Chicken thighs are some of the cheaper meats I’ve seen. Potatoes and/or Rice Premade salads tend to run around 5 dollars where I’m at. If not you can get something like a bag...
Chicken drumsticks or Chicken thighs are some of the cheaper meats I’ve seen.
Potatoes and/or Rice
Premade salads tend to run around 5 dollars where I’m at. If not you can get something like a bag of green beans or asparagus.
That usually lasts me most of the week, with it including both lunch and dinner.
Rice with pretty much anything. My wife and I have a rice cooker that runs almost 24/7 (it makes rice and then keeps it warm for the next few days until we make a new batch). Throw in some eggs...
Rice with pretty much anything.
My wife and I have a rice cooker that runs almost 24/7 (it makes rice and then keeps it warm for the next few days until we make a new batch).
Throw in some eggs and you’ve got eggy rice. Throw in some veggies and you’ve got veggie rice. Throw in some cheese and you have cheesy rice. Add any meat and you basically have a full meal. Or mix em all up in whatever combination you desire.
If you want to get healthier with it just make it brown rice instead, equally delicious.
Food is cheap when you are a whole food vegan, so every meal I make is low cost.
Some quick examples of particularly cheap options:
spring rolls (yeah, the rice paper isn’t a whole food, but I eat it all the time anyways)
soups and stews: I like a lentil vegetable seasoned with things like nooch, miso, soy sauce, and whatever strikes me as good at the time. Dried mushrooms are the secret ingredient for umami goodness.
curries: there are many options but right now I am in a Thai yellow curry phase. The giant pot I just made probably cost about $8 in total and made roughly 8 servings.
tacos: I use soy curls in my tacos which are relatively expensive, but it’s still cheaper than meat and I make it even cheaper by making my own tortillas, which have the added benefit of tasting amazing. Admittedly I use super fancy masa harina so it’s still not super cheap in practice. 😅 Better advice to make it cheap would be to use maseca and make larger tortillas to make burritos filled with homemade beans.
bread: it really shouldn’t be a meal, but my homemade sourdough bread is sometimes just that tempting, especially on the day I bake it.
salads: expensive if you buy the bags, but very cheap if you prep them yourself. The key to making them tasty is to make your own dressing, which is much easier than you’d think.
If I had to pick just one thing I’d say curry is my favorite but it’s not as healthy as I would like it to be: Thai curries have a coconut milk base which is high in fat. So my more regular meal would be spring rolls chocked full of fresh vegetables.
I made my own fake spring roll paper that turned out OK. It's called brik pastry. Not worth it for being so time consuming, but if you make your own tortillas it might be of interest, it's kinda entertaining to do and you don't need special ingredients. You put a frying pan or similar large flat pan on top of a pot of boiling water, mix flour and water into a thin-ish paste (2 cups flour + 2 cups water is about the recipe), and paint it on to the pan in thin layers with a brush. I used one of those chunky silicon food brushes that are so common nowadays. The flour paste/paint sets solid into thin papery flexible "tortillas" that work pretty well for spring rolls.
I’ve seen a simelar method of making crepes before. I actually owned a weird appliance meant to do this directly, which was basically a paddle-looking thing that plugged into mains power to heat itself; I never used it though because crepes are actually really easy to make the normal way.
One of these days I’ll just try tossing the shredded veggies in a bowl and dropping the sauce on top. The rice paper makes it fun, but it’s not really doing anything for flavor.
I love curries as well but family won't eat.
does soya chunks / soya wadi cook similarly as soya curl or even tvp? By "mistake" I ordered $80 worth of soya chunks; it came in a hilarious 20kg bag more than a meter tall. My animal feed bags are half the size.
Anyway, I've been rehydrating them in boiling water, rinse cool, squeeze out water, dip re-squeeze a few times. Do they cook similar to other veggie protein recipes? I need a lot of ideas to eat through this bag :/
Soya chunks are just TVP that has been put into larger shapes, usually. They may have something like wheat added to it to help it come together.
To be honest, I’m not super happy with them as an ingredient compared to Soy Curls because they are tougher and have a more assertive flavor. My recommendation is to soak them in a flavor liquid. It doesn’t have to be boiling, but hot water will make it absorb faster. Strain them out (you don’t have to get all of it out), and then stir fry them. Toss some veg in the pot after to make a good stir-fry.
The stuff I get is Chinese, so I use Chinese flavors when I cook mine. For the flavor liquid, I really like mushroom boullion, which goes well with that kind of flavor pallet, but you can also use something like veggie broth.
I haven’t tried it with this particular ingredient, but I find that it’s much easier to get the texture I want out of soy curls by air frying or baking it. That might also work for those soy chunks. I also saw a video recently of a man making tacos with them and he fried them in oil, but that’s not something I would like to do myself (both because of the health and the fact that you are adding water to burning hot oil).
If all else fails, maybe you can just rehydrate the stuff you have and use it as animal feed?
Interesting, yeah I'll try to hydrate in flavoured liquid, "clean" it by purging the liquid, then dry it a bit (air fry/stir fry/convection) before using it in recipes. Tacos seem like a good candidate because it's quite strongly flavoured.
Speaking of mushroom bouillon, I found powdered mushrooms at a Taiwanese grocer, as well as the crystal extra version of something similar, works great when I need a vegan flavouring.
I'm a huge fan of lentil soup (dried lentils) with rice or potatoes or bread. (We make our own bread)
I also love split pea soup. (Dried peas)
Have any lentil soup pointers? I've had some in restaurants that I've liked a lot, but never made it myself.
I add chopped onions, chopped mushrooms, a beef bone with meat on it, a bay leaf and various hard low flavor vegetables like carrots or cauliflower and sometimes potatoes. I wouldn't add celery or asparagus unless you really want that flavor.
I add salt and pepper at the table.
Some cooks use stock or a boullion cube for flavor. Both can be made vegetarian.
I'm certain that gourmet cooks do it better but it works for me.
One my favourites is a riff on this sausage, chard, lentil soup. I generally omit the sausage and use italian sausage spices (eg, thyme, paprika, fennel, pepper) directly. I also prefer green lentils, as they hold up better imo. Plus, I'll swap out for whatever green/leafy I have on hand (spinach, collards, cabbage all work).
I also like french lentil soup, similar to this recipe, though again, I adapt to my tastes.
I can’t visualise eating soup with rice (I’ve only really ever used bread or plain). Do you put the rice in the soup? Or pour it on top of rice like a curry?
Like a curry. I make the lentil soup thick in this case.
Tortilla (aka Spanish omelette), just made it tonight actually. Goes great with a little ketchup. Just eggs, potatoes oil, and maybe an onion if you're feelin' fancy or like it a little sweeter.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_omelette
Probably related to the Spanish Omelette, is Filipino Torta. An egg based "pancake" looking thing, but mixed with ground beef or ground turkey or canned corned beef or canned beef hash, canned sardines...and probably anything else one wants to try. Break eggs in a bowl, add in the meat/fish and/or vegetables, salt and pepper as desired, mix it all up, then fry it like pancakes. Serve over rice, with ketchup for extra taste. Or put it between two slices of bread, and boom, you got a sandwich. But I think over rice makes more sense so you can make the torta last.
I love Spanish omelettes!
this spaghetti is dirt cheap -- especially if you grow your own basil.
most meals are cheap if you use proper butchers, proper farm markets, and not supermarkets or posh spots with the same produce at 5x the cost just because its stacked in a pyramid. I do most of my produce shopping at a persian market and my animal proteins from either an indian, greek, or italian butcher -- depending on the day of the week. Way cheaper and better quality across the board compared to the trash at any supermarket.
Sounds fantastic and I will be trying this soon! Very excited
What does it mean for parsley or basil to be rubbed? I don't think I've ever paid attention to what pasta is made of, checked the pantry, it's semolina. Is durum healthier / tastier / pricier? I didn't know there was a difference, I've only ever bought cheap pasta. And last question, what is the purpose of throwing away the onion, instead of say, mincing it in or blending it in? I don't think I have it in me to throw away food in a recipe.
This video or this one are decent practical summaries. Alex aka FrenchGuyCooking did a full series on pasta, and not all of it is required watching, but he does go through all the ins and outs of what pasta's real quality can be. I definitely recommend watching his visit to the pasta factory at the least.
just rub it in your hands -- it'll be more fragrant and taste better.
when you look for a pasta, get something that has a good texture to it; not a slick yellow surface. The textured stuff will hold on to sauce way better. Long story short, the slick stuff is a teflon die and is used because they can crank out pasta faster at the cost of quality and your final product.
For the onion, there's nothing left in it. All of its goodness is in the sauce and it has served its purpose. Taste it -- it'll be almost like a shitty apple. Blending it in also ruins the texture of the sauce. Try it like the one I posted and then try it with it minced up later -- you might prefer your way. Nothing wrong with that. :) But its like if you made pho or any other sort of broth or soup.
If you do a garlic bread, toast up the bread in the oven or whatever and then rub garlic all over that. You could also make a compound butter, which is handy to have around.
Thanks :) okay I definitely want to try your recipe exactly at least once. ....the chickens can have left over onion lol do they eat onions....
nice! i’d love to have chickens. let me know how it goes
Sopa de Fideo Hits the cheap/delicious notes perfectly, and is easy to make to boot. Don't forget the beans!
Sopa de Ajo is another good one for using up stale bread while being packed with cheap flavor.
Pancit is one of my personal favorites, and is great as a kitchen cleanout dish, using up whatever you have on hand.
Outside of what I posted, speaking of extreme budget meals in general, you cannot beat anything potato based. The least expensive of all staples, yet still a surprisingly well-rounded food.
Japanese curry. It's milder and different from Indian and Thai curry, and they got it by way of Britain in the 1800s. It's an exceptionally popular dish in Japan, with more of a savory-forward flavor than a spicy one, so I've found people who don't tolerate spicy foods are still likely to be okay with it.
You can get packages of S&B Golden Curry mix at Walmart now, so it's widely available. (Get "medium hot." It's not hot, and the "mild" option lacks flavor and is sad.) It's a few dollars for a package that's good for 5-6 people, easily. You also need carrot, onion, potato, rice, and some sort of meat. (I usually just use a pound of ground beef.)
While your rice cooker is running, you just throw the other ingredients (not the curry mix yet) in a large pan or pot to brown for a bit, add water, boil and then simmer, then add the curry mix and stir until it mixes in an thickens.
We have this all the time. But we keep it vegan and just add extra firm tofu. It works amazingly in it.
To keep it leaner, we also lose the potatoes and add mushrooms and broccoli. It's so filling and wholesome in the winter.
Totally agree that medium-hot is the one.
I’m obsessed with those little curry packages we’re basically living off them right now its so cheap and so low effort.
We started buying chicken thighs in bulk, we always have rice, and then we toss in frozen veggies. We pre cook all the chicken at the start of the week so all we have to do is cut it up and toss it in.
20 min home cooked meal every day and theres so many flavors we’re never bored!
Pataks is one we buy often https://www.pataksusa.com/categories-products/veggie-meals the lentil tikka masala is my fav so far
I can confirm that the mild S&B curry is sad.
It’s surprising to see the curry roux so cheap; when I first started making Japanese curry those packages were over $5. Add in the cost of meat and it was a fairly expensive proposition.
The one thing I will say is that I don’t think S&B’s curry mix is that great. It’s not bad but it’s like the vanilla of curry. The house ones are better, and they have a few different formulations. If going with S&B it is better to get the can of spice instead and make your own roux; it’s not that much harder to do and you can mix in your own spices. I particularly like adding an Indian garam masala blend.
Surprised to see that people hate on the mild one. Admittedly it's all I've tried, but me and my partner love it. I like spicy and she does not, so I haven't wanted to risk it.
Unlike many other nearby countries, Japanese cuisine is not remotely spicy, and their curry is not an exception. Even the spiciest variant of that curry roux is barely hot by American standards. The medium one isn't really hot at all.
Medium is barely spicy. Give it a try next time.
Misir wot is mostly lentils and onion. Making the berbere spice mix can be an up front investment though as spices aren't cheap. Although you can find cheap bulk spices usually at Indian grocers, in my experience, and make a big batch.
Rice and beans of course. The quintessential low cost food. Great with a little shredded cheese on top.
I have been trying to find somewhere in person that sells berbere spice mix just for this and have recently given up. I was contemplating ordering some from Ethiopian which looks good, but now I want to hear about yours. Which spices did you end up adding to your mix?
Well first, just a disclaimer, I’m a white dude from the Midwest so this absolutely should not be taken as gospel. But basically, I start with this recipe but I’m pretty flexible with it. If I’m missing a spice or two I don’t sweat it, and sometimes I’ll add in other spices I have on hand. The ratios in that recipe are a good place to start though. I toast the whole spices before grinding them and I usually double or triple the recipe so I end up with a small jar’s worth.
It turns out really good in my opinion. I’ve since bought some berbere from the local ethiopian place and it’s very good, but different. The homemade stuff is comparable imo.
Thank you for the recipe I just made the blend! I can't wait to make some misir wat and try it out!
Glad to hear it! The misir wat recipe on that same site is also great, it is in my rotation and I make it pretty frequently. I skip the nitter kibbeh and substitute with either butter or ghee, along with around a table spoon of the homemade berbere. That's in addition to the berbere that the recipe calls for. I honestly usually eyeball that too. It's hard to go wrong when the base flavors are already so strong and tasty.
We have a few "go-to" meals for when we want simple, low cost food.
Speed rice bowl with a fried egg. We will break up a box of salted seaweed and mix it into a bowl of rice, then fry an egg in sesame oil with a bit of soy sauce, and pour it on top of the rice. It's quite salty, but I'm a big fan.
Refried beans. These are quite versatile, use them in a burrito, taco, bowl, whatever. I use Samin Nosrat's recipe.
Sweet potato and bean quesadilla. This one is a bit of a wildcard and best for when I want something warm and filling but not very involved to cook. I toss a sweet potato in the microwave, rinse a can of black beans, spread out the cooked sweet potato onto a tortilla, press in the beans, add some cheese, then cook in a skillet. It's not terribly fast, but I quite like the flavor.
Classic beans and greens stew. I use Mark Bittman's recipe.
Pasta Alla Norma (tomato and eggplant based sauce), again Mark Bittman's recipe.
I peruse BudgetByes regularly for tasty cheap meals.
A couple I make frequently-
https://www.budgetbytes.com/cajun-sausage-and-rice-skillet/ -I sub field roast sausage
https://www.budgetbytes.com/spinach-tortellini-soup/ - cashew cream and vegan tortellini
https://www.budgetbytes.com/sheet-pan-chicken-sausage-dinner/ - I sub field roast sausage
The budgetbytes vegan split pea soup recipe is extremely easy and tasty. I like adding fried spam or bacon as a garnish. Soy bacon bits do the trick too. Really good with some crusty toasted bread to dunk and scoop.
I also enjoy their vegetarian lentil chili but I would skip the slow cooker and just do 45 minutes on the stove. Might require a bit of tuning to really pop. I add re-hydrated shiitake mushrooms, peanut butter(mouthfeel), cocoa(acidity), pepper brine(acidity), and indian curry powder(reduces tomatoey taste) to mine. Generally served on rice.
I haven't made them in a long time, especially since I've gone mostly plant-based this year, but chicken kotleti: ground chicken, onions, bread, milk, egg. Mix it all together, and you have a meat patty you can pan fry. They're delicious, easy, and cheap if you shop at aldi or grocery outlet, or bulk buy. It's a Ukranian/Eastern European food I grew up with that's always filling and makes a lot, so you can use the leftovers in a breakfast fry with eggs and potatoes the next morning.
My current plant-based cheap meal is rice and beans. Rice is cheap, beans are cheap, and we buy them dry, so they're even cheaper. I mix it all together and throw in a bay leaf to my rice cooker, and it comes out perfectly mixed and delicious. Some hot sauce or salsa on it, and it's a perfect, low effort, cheap meal.
Slow cooked Shoyu Chicken
Make Sauce
Stir it up. Add sauce to slow cooker. Cook 5ish hrs on low. Your time might vary. I don't think it matters that much tbh. I usually set it and eat it when I feel like it.
Thicken sauce
Mix 2 tbsp cornstarch, 2 tbsp water.
Take 1/2 cup of sauce out, add corn starch mixture, stir, put it back in the slow cooker. Let cook for ~30 minutes longer.
Make rice on the side using a rice cooker. Optionally steam some broccoli if you want a green. Throw it all in a bowl. Dead easy and delicious.
Chicken drumsticks or Chicken thighs are some of the cheaper meats I’ve seen.
Potatoes and/or Rice
Premade salads tend to run around 5 dollars where I’m at. If not you can get something like a bag of green beans or asparagus.
That usually lasts me most of the week, with it including both lunch and dinner.
Rice with pretty much anything.
My wife and I have a rice cooker that runs almost 24/7 (it makes rice and then keeps it warm for the next few days until we make a new batch).
Throw in some eggs and you’ve got eggy rice. Throw in some veggies and you’ve got veggie rice. Throw in some cheese and you have cheesy rice. Add any meat and you basically have a full meal. Or mix em all up in whatever combination you desire.
If you want to get healthier with it just make it brown rice instead, equally delicious.
Meat with whatever is in the fridge. Beans (Brazilian style), rice, farofa.