7 cheap meal ideas for a week

Soup with chicken noodles

Starting with chicken noodle soup as our first cheap meal idea for the week. I have created 7 easy and cheap meal ideas that everyone will love. With chicken noodle soup, the key to success is broth. The most comforting comfort food to eat when you’re feeling low or sick is chicken noodle soup.  

Ingredients

• 60 mils extra virgin olive oil
• 1 x onion
• 3 x sliced carrots
• 4 x celery stalks chopped
• pinch of salt and petter
• 3 x sliced garlic cloves
• Two litres of chicken stock
• 1 x packet of egg noodles
• 500 grammes of chicken breast cut up
• 10 grammes of parsley

Directions

Olive oil should be heated to shimmering over medium heat. Add 1 teaspoon each of salt and pepper to the onions, carrots, and celery. Stir the vegetables regularly for about 15 minutes, or until they are soft.

Include the garlic in the pan cook it until its begins to smell aromatic, and let it boil for about a minute. As soon as the heat is switched on, the stock will start to boil.

Add the noodles and let it simmer for 6 minutes and cook the chicken for an additional 2 minutes

Bacon Pasta Bake

Second, on the list for our 7 easy and cheap meal ideas, is bacon pasta bake. Pasta recipes and pasta bakes are two of my favourite things to make at home, and after making this recipe it will be your family’s favourite too.

Ingredients

• 600g Pasta
• 3 cups of grated cheese
• 485 mils milk
• 2 tbsp plain flour
• 3 tbsp butter
• 5 pieces of diced bacon
• 1 cup of canned corn

Directions

Pasta ought to be poured into a pot of boiling water and cooked as usual (usually takes 10 to 15 minutes).
Put the bacon in a separate, greased frying pan and heat the butter in a second pot while the pasta is boiling. In addition, start heating the microwave or a fourth pan to cook the corn.

The flour should be added and mixed once the butter has melted. Continue stirring after you’ve gradually added the milk until a yellow sauce forms. Whisk out any lumps in the sauce and then heat the pan to medium-high, constantly swirling the sauce until it starts to boil and turn white. Then, after letting the sauce simmer and thicken, add three to four handfuls of cheese.

Turn on the grill to low heat. Now add corn and bacon to the sauce. Reduce the gas and stir the mixture until smooth and then turn off the stove. The sauce should be thick and creamy.  But it shouldn’t be lumpy.

Drain the pasta after it has done cooking, then add the sauce to the pasta and stir. On top of the pasta, add cheese. Serve.

Bombay Potato Pie

Number 3 on the list for easy and cheap meal ideas is Bombay Potato Pie. The family will love this vegetarian cheap meal recipe, which features Indian-spiced veggies covered with filo pastry.

Ingredients

• 4 potatoes, peeled, cut into cubes
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 brown onion, diced
• 1/4 bunch coriander, chopped
• 1/2 pkg frozen peas, corn & carrot
• 1/4 cup Indian curry powder
• 5g vegetable stock cube, crumbled
• 12 sheets of filo pastry
• 5ml olive oil cooking spray
• 1/4 cup mango chutney

Directions

Set the oven to 200 °C. In a pot with cold water, add the potatoes. High heat is used to bring the water to a pustule and cook the potatoes until they’re tender. Also, drain the potatoes.

Heat oil in a frying visage over medium heat. After stirring the oil for three minutes with the onion and coriander, add the stock, curry powder, and vegetables to the mixture. The time for the frozen vegetables to cook is five minutes with mixing constantly. Now you should add the potatoes.

In a baking pan, pour the potato mixture. To stop it from drying out, cover the pastry with a fresh, damp tea towel. 1 pastry sheet should be placed on a flat surface. Give it a light oil spray, scrunch it up, and then put it on top of the filling. until the mixture is coated, repeat with the remaining pastry sheets and oil. Using oil spray, season the pastry top. A 40-minute bake should yield golden results. serve with mango chutney and a sprinkle of coriander.

Easy and cheap baked bean cottage pie

Baked beans are a great meal idea for a budget-conscious person. They are cheap, easy to make and taste great. One of the best ways to make baked beans is by using the slow cooker method. This means that you can put all of the ingredients in at once and not have to worry about cooking them separately before adding them together.

Baked beans are a great meal idea for a budget-conscious person. Baked beans are cheap, easy to make and taste great, so why not make them into a pie?

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 brown onion, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 500g beef mince
• 555g can baked beans in tomato sauce
• 1 cup frozen peas, corn and carrot
• 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tbsp tomato sauce
• 2/3 cup grated tasty cheese
• 1/2 x 1kg bag potato jewels
• Parsley leaves
• Directions

The oven should be preheated to 200°C. Heat the oil over medium heat in a saucepan. Stir the onion for 5 minutes while cooking. Continue to cook the mixture after adding the garlic. Mix the mince in. Break up the mince with a spoon and simmer for another 8 minutes, until the mince is browned. Baked beans, sauces, and vegetables should be added. Stir together and combine. Allow the mixture to simmer for a while. To taste, add salt and pepper.

Pour the mixture into a baking dish with a capacity of 8 cups. Add cheese. Add potato jewels on top. Add the remaining cheese on top. 30 minutes of baking. Add some parsley leaves. Serve.

Gnocolli and mushrooms

Gnocolli and mushrooms are a cheap meal idea for a family.

This is a recipe that my family loves. It’s easy to make and it’s cheap too!

Ingredients

• 125 MLS of white wine
• 375 gms of mushroom sliced
• 2 tbsp virgin olive oil
• 2 x cloves of garlic
• pinch of  salt
• pinch of pepper
• 300 MLS of cream
• 25 grams of Parmesan cheese
• 1 packet of potato gnocchi
• 125 grams of baby spinach

Directions

Unsalted butter and olive oil are heated in a pan at medium heat. When the mushrooms are ready, add them and continue cooking. White wine will now be added, so wait for it to cook. The cream and crushed garlic need to be added.
Then, combine the spinach, and Parmesan cheese, and stir with a spoon until the spinach wilts.
Add the cooked gnocchi last, then season with salt and pepper.

Chickpea Ceaser Salad

Chickpea Ceaser salad is another on the list for this week’s cheap meal ideas that everyone will love. It is healthy, easy to make and does not cost much.

A lot of people are looking for cheap meal ideas for a family. This is one of the best ideas because it is healthy, easy to make and it can be done on a budget.

Ingredients

• 1 cos lettuce
• 1 bunch kale
• 1 cucumber
• 1 punnet cherry tomatoes

Chickpeas

• 400g tin chickpeas, liquid reserved
• 1 ½ tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon basil
• 1 teaspoon dried parsley
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• Pinch of salt
• Pinch of pepper 

Caesar Dressing

• ½ cup natural cashews
• 1 ½ tablespoons liquid from a tin of chickpeas
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 ½ teaspoons soy sauce
• 1-2 cloves garlic, peeled
• 2 teaspoons dijon mustard
• 2 teaspoons capers
• Pinch of salt
• Pinch of black pepper
• 3 tablespoons olive oil

Directions

It’s very easy to make this chickpea salad.

155°C for preheating the oven.

Save all the liquid from the chickpea can after straining it for the salad dressing. To create a dish using chickpeas, add olive oil, lemon juice, herbs, and seasonings. To accomplish even cooking, bake toasted chickpeas for 25 minutes while sometimes flipping them. Take it out of the oven.

Mix lettuce, kale, tomatoes, and cucumber slices in a salad bowl.

Combine every component of the dressing except the olive oil. Mix with 85ml of water before incorporating the olive oil. Blend for roughly one minute.

Toss the salad with the dressing to coat the vegetables completely.

Chicken fajitas

Ingredients

• 65 ml lime juice
• 65 ml orange juice
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• 1 tsp salsa
• Pinch of black pepper

Fajitas

• 2 large chicken breasts chopped up
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 3 capsicums 
• 1 large onion
• 12 small tortillas
• 1 avocado
• Sour cream,
• Fresh limes

Directions

Mix the marinade ingredients in a large basin. Add the chicken and coat thoroughly. marinate for one to twenty-four hours 

If you can, cook the chicken and veggies in two separate frying pans.

Vegetables

In a frypan, heat oil over high heat until sizzling. Vegetables should be added   Spread out and cook until charred.

Add salt and pepper to your liking. Leave for 45 seconds and put into a dish.

Chicken

On medium heat, add oil to a frypan. Cook the chicken until it is caramelised. Cook for four minutes on the other side after flipping.

Put ingredients once cooked on a plate, and rest.

Heat tortillas

Place capsicum, onions, and tortilla on a plate. Add chicken, sour cream and lime juice.

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