25 cheap dinners we grew up with that still make sense
Before cost-of-living hacks, meal prep and supermarket apps, Australian families already knew how to make the grocery money stretch.
A packet of mince fed a family. Sunday’s roast chicken became Monday’s sandwiches and sometimes Tuesday’s soup. Leftover vegetables went into bubble and squeak, stale bread was rarely wasted and a few eggs could rescue whatever was lurking in the fridge.
Nobody called it meal planning or reducing food waste. Plain and simple, it was dinner.
For those of us watching the supermarket bill climb, some of those old habits are starting to look pretty sensible again.
Food and non-alcoholic beverage prices rose 3.0 per cent in the year to August, according to the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics figures. Meanwhile, CHOICE says 82 per cent of Australians surveyed in June regarded food and grocery costs as a major pressure on household budgets.
Its latest supermarket comparison also found the cost of a basic eight-item basket had risen at Aldi, Woolworths, Coles and IGA since its previous survey.
So perhaps it’s time to raid the old recipe book.
Here are 25 cheap, filling dinners many of us grew up with that still deserve a place at the table.
1. Shepherd’s pie
Mince, vegetables, gravy and a generous layer of mashed potato. Few family dinners are better designed for making a modest amount of meat go further.
Stretch it: Add lentils, peas or grated carrot to the filling.
2. Tuna mornay
A tin of tuna, pasta or rice and a basic white sauce could once feed a tableful.
Peas, corn or leftover vegetables make it go even further.
Stretch it: Stock up on tuna when it’s discounted.
3. Curried sausages
Sausages, onions, carrots, peas, gravy and curry powder. Plenty of us grew up mopping up that sauce with mashed potato.
Stretch it: Slice the sausages and bulk up the sauce with vegetables.
4. Corned beef with white sauce
Once a fixture on Australian dinner tables, corned beef has another advantage: the leftovers.
Think sandwiches, hash, fritters or cold slices with pickles.
Stretch it: Cook enough vegetables alongside it to help cover another meal.
5. Spaghetti bolognese
The weeknight workhorse.
A relatively small amount of mince can produce a big pot of sauce with a little help.
Stretch it: Add grated carrot, zucchini or lentils and freeze any leftovers.
6. Bubble and squeak
Possibly the ultimate leftover dinner.
Cooked potato, cabbage, carrots, peas and other vegetables go into the frying pan and emerge crisp and golden. Add an egg and dinner is done.
Stretch it: Don’t shop for it. Use what’s already there.
7. Chicken and vegetable soup
That roast chicken isn’t necessarily finished when the plates are cleared.
Strip off the remaining meat, use the carcass for stock and add vegetables, noodles, barley or pasta.
Stretch it: Freeze the carcass until you’re ready to make stock.
8. Pea and ham soup
Split peas have been filling hungry stomachs economically for generations.
Add a ham bone, carrots, celery and onion and you’ve got a pot capable of feeding plenty.
Stretch it: Freeze individual portions for another day.
9. Zucchini slice
Eggs, zucchini, cheese, onion and a little flour, with bacon if you have it.
It’s just as useful cold the next day.
Stretch it: Add vegetables already sitting in the crisper.
10. Savoury mince on toast
Before smashed avocado, there was mince on toast.
Mince, onion, vegetables and gravy spooned over toast remains a simple way of turning a little meat into a filling dinner.
Stretch it: Be generous with the vegetables rather than the mince.
11. Potato and onion frittata
Potatoes, onions and eggs don’t sound particularly exciting on their own. Together, they make a filling and inexpensive dinner.
Stretch it: Add leftover cooked vegetables.
12. Sausage casserole
A few sausages, potatoes, carrots and onions can become a substantial family casserole with very little fuss.
Stretch it: Add beans or lentils.
13. Tuna pasta bake
Pasta, canned tuna, sauce and cheese.
There’s a reason this one survived decades of changing food fashions.
Stretch it: Frozen peas, spinach, corn or broccoli add bulk without another serve of meat.
14. Fried rice
Yesterday’s rice doesn’t need to go in the bin.
Add egg, peas, carrot, onion and a small amount of leftover meat or chicken and it becomes another dinner.
Stretch it: Let the rice, egg and vegetables do most of the work.
15. Homemade rissoles and mash
Every family seemed to have its own rissole recipe.
Breadcrumbs, onion, herbs, egg and sometimes grated vegetables helped stretch the mince.
Stretch it: Make extras. Cold rissoles make excellent sandwiches the next day.
16. Lentil soup
Cheap, filling and uncomplicated.
Lentils need little more than stock, onion, carrots and seasoning to become dinner.
Stretch it: Serve with toast and freeze the rest.
17. Macaroni cheese
Pasta, milk, flour, butter and cheese. Add tomato, peas, cauliflower or leftover ham if you have them.
Stretch it: A stronger-flavoured cheese means you can often use less.
18. Chicken drumsticks and roast vegetables
The cheaper cuts of chicken are worth another look.
Put drumsticks, potatoes, pumpkin, carrots and onions on a tray and let the oven do the work.
Stretch it: Buy larger packs when they’re discounted and freeze meal-sized portions.
19. Cottage pie
The beef cousin of shepherd’s pie follows the same economical formula: mince, vegetables and gravy under a thick potato topping.
Stretch it: Make the potato layer generous and load vegetables into the filling.
20. Vegetable fritters
Corn, zucchini, carrot, peas or leftover potato can all become fritters with egg and flour.
Stretch it: Check the crisper before buying anything.
21. Egg and bacon pie
Eggs, a little bacon, onion and pastry make a dinner that’s also pretty handy cold the following day.
Stretch it: You don’t need much bacon to provide plenty of flavour.
22. Loaded baked potatoes
The humble spud can carry almost anything.
Try leftover bolognese, baked beans, tuna, cheese, coleslaw or last night’s roast vegetables.
Stretch it: Build the topping around leftovers rather than buying something especially for it.
23. Pumpkin soup and toast
Pumpkin, onion, stock and seasoning. Cream is optional.
A decent pot can cover more than one meal.
Stretch it: Freeze portions and turn older bread into toast or croutons.
24. Impossible pie
Remember this one?
Eggs, milk, flour and whatever savoury additions are available make it a useful fridge-clearing dinner.
Stretch it: Leftover ham, chicken, cheese or cooked vegetables can all go in.
25. Leftover roast toasties
Perhaps the simplest lesson of all: tonight’s dinner doesn’t always need to start with new ingredients.
Leftover roast meat, chicken or vegetables, some bread and a little cheese can become tomorrow’s toasted sandwich.
Sometimes the second meal is better than the first.
Does the $10 dinner still exist?
It’s certainly harder to pull off.
CHOICE’s latest comparison priced a 17-item basket at 104 supermarkets across 27 Australian locations in June.
Without specials, the basket averaged $68.89 at Aldi, $74.47 at Woolworths, $76.79 at Coles and $92.69 at IGA.
That doesn’t mean one supermarket will always be cheapest for every household, and prices vary by product and location. But it illustrates how much difference shopping choices can make.
The more interesting lesson may be one our parents and grandparents understood instinctively: don’t waste what you’ve already paid for.
Half a roast chicken is still food. Slightly tired vegetables still have a purpose. Leftovers aren’t rubbish.
Today we call it meal planning, batch cooking and reducing food waste.
Mum might have just called it Tuesday night dinner.
What was the cheap family dinner you grew up with that you still make today?
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Good advice Excellent examples of economical & nutritious dishes
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