Bonus if it isn’t just mainly carbon-hydrates and if the ingredients don’t need to be used immediately (unless the meal itself when done can last for many days).
I’m getting tired of tuna masala spaghetti.
I have been making stews lately. Takes a while to cook, but most of that time is inactive. About 20 minutes to get it started and an additional 15 minutes as it cooks. Makes a lot of food. Ingredients are simple and can be adjusted to your preference and for what is available for you. I use beef for the meat. Toss it in flour and sear it olive oil to get a good char. Take the meat out add onion and use the water that sweats from the onion to loosen the chard on the bottom of the pan from the beef. Add Garlic then tomato paste, rosemary thyme and pepper. I use better than bullion for the broth. Return the meat to the pot and let that cook at a low simmer for an hour or two. Then I add potatoes, carrots, peas, and corn. Each vegetable has its own cook time so I add them in stages. Potatoes take 40 minutes so I add them first, wait 10 minutes then add carrrots (needs 30 mintes), wait 15 minutes then add the peas and corn. 15 more minutes and it is done. Add salt to taste but that will depend on how salty your broth is and how salty you like your food. I often do need to add any salt beyond what is in the better than bullion beef broth.
I use 1-1.5lb of beef, 1.5lb potato, 1lb carrots. 1 onion, 12oz corn 12oz peas so it makes a lot of food. The quantities are just based on package sizes that are readily available. Reheats in a microwave in 1-2 minutes depending on potion size.
The largest cost is the beef but that can be swapped for another meat or for vegetarian options try a lentil stew. The rest of the bulk comes from vegetables that are very cheap.
The recipe is based on an older version of the Chunky Beef Stew recipe from budget bytes. https://www.budgetbytes.com/slow-cooker-rosemary-garlic-beef-stew-slow-cooker/
I recommend Mealime to everybody now. Seriously check it out. Best way i can describe it is; it’s like HelloFresh but instead of getting stuff delivered you go grocery shopping. Haha sounds like regular cooking i know. But the way it organizes your grocery list and all the recipes, everything about it is great.
I started using it maybe 6 months ago and have been eating healthier, cheaper, and more varied meals.
If you feel like branching out to your own or other recipes try the app Paprika Recipe Manager.
You can meal plan for the week and then add the week to your grocery list. It even stacks identical ingredients (like if you have 1 red pepper in 3 recipes that week it says 3 red peppers). It also lets you scrape data from websites to build a recipe. Just paste the link in the in-app browser and hit save.
Simple pasta dishes like pesto or carbonara are my go-to when I’m in a hurry, cooking time is limited by how quickly you can bring the water to a boil and then 10 min for the pasta to cook.
As for pasta sauces, ragù is a bit time consuming (but most of the time you’re not actively cooking, just letting the pot simmer) but if you make a big batch you can put them in jars and freeze them and bam, free to use ragù anytime you want!
When I first started cooking I was a big fan of 2 chicken and rice dishes my mom would make me as a kid. Both use very few ingredients that all last a while:
Chicken Provincial 2 chicken breasts (I usually cut them lengthwise, parallel to the cutting board so they’re thinner and make 4 portions, you could also pound them, too thick and they dry out and don’t get the flavor of the sauce ) ¼ cup butter ¼ lb mushrooms 1 tbsp dried onion flakes 1 bay leaf 8 oz can tomato sauce 1 tsp thyme ⅓ cup orange juice 1 cup white rice salt pepper
Make white rice per package instructions (I use an instant pot with equal parts rice/water)
Brown the chicken on both sides in the butter, remove the chicken and cook mushrooms, onions, and thyme. Add orange juice and tomato sauce and stir until homogeneous. Add chicken and cook until 165 inside (if you don’t have a digital meat thermometer I highly recommend them, thermapen is best but there are plenty of cheaper ones on Amazon)
Plate the rice, add the chicken on top and pour the sauce over. I usually serve with an Israeli salad. Skip the mushrooms if you’re not into them.
Honey chicken ½ cup honey ¼ cup mu. stard (grey poupon) 1 tsp curry powder ¼ cup butter 2 chicken breasts cut lengthwise into 4 portions pinch salt 1 cup white rice
Cook rice per package
Melt butter in a large high-walled baking pan in the oven at 350° (I use a 13x9 glass baking dish)
Add honey, mustard, salt, and curry powder to the butter and stir to combine. Add chicken and spoon sauce over until totally covered.
Bake for 15-25 minutes depending upon chicken thickness
Serve over rice. Again goes well with Israeli salad or any cool vegetables.
I’ve been doing slow cooker chicken/pork, side beans, and coriander rice in my prep time on weekends and buying tortillas, corn chips to make nachos, tacos, burritos and enchiladas. Each night I’ll use some of the ingredients and substitute in different items to make it taste like a new meal. Creamy with sour cream one night, spicy with jalapeno the next, melted cheese sauce. I froze half the slow cooker meat to use at a later time. Similar dishes like Korean bimbimbap are handy as you can add different opinions each time; egg, grated carrot/zucchini, tofu, bean sprouts, kimchi, green veg over rice with a protein. Keeps me interested but without feeling like it’s the same meal over and over.
Huevos Rancheros comes to mind. Cook some chorizo, throw some diced onion in peppers in the hot chorizo fat, and when they’re done add some beaten eggs and mix it all together. Serve with rice or some tortillas and it will last a few days in the fridge.
Cheap, tasty, fast, easy, and fairly high in protein. You can also reduce the amount of leftover chorizo fat in the pan to lower the Kcal if that matters to you.