Heres all the recipes that have kept me alive as a student for minimal cost and maximum happiness.
Most of these make more portions than 1, but scale everything appropriately. Soup makes about 3, curry and chicken is for 1-2, and paella is for 2-3
Chinese chicken soup :
bring pan to boil, then add 1 teaspoon of chinese 5 spice, and 1 chicken stock cube. Dissolve the spices.
add 1 chicken breast, then simmer on low for 25 minutes remove chicken onto plate, then shred with forks
add chicken back into pan, then add frozen peas, spinach, green (spring) onions, and mushrooms.
add soy sauce to taste.
Curry :
dice (ie chop into very small bits) an onion
get frying pan with some oil, then gently fry onions for 5-10 minutes until the whiteness is turned into translucence
dice (make into cubes about the size of a dice) 1 chicken breast, and add to frying pan
add 1-2 tablespoon of ready-mixed curry powder. If you want to do this yourself the spice mix I use is 1 tsp of each - cumin, turmeric, fennel, coriander, chilli powder, and 1/2 tsp cinnamon and a large pinch of salt
once chicken is browned and maybe cooked through, add 1 tin of chopped tomatoes, then simmer for at least 20 minutes. adding lime is good.
If you can't be fucked cooking rice you can add 1 diced sweet potato and cook for at least 35 minutes.
taste, if it is bland add more spices, if it is unspicy add more chilli powder, if it needs more salt add some. You can go pretty wild with the vegetables in this, adding things like celery or mushrooms at the same time as the onions, or peas at the end, is all extra flavor and nutrition. If you want it to be more creamy, add some icelandic yogurt or just normal natural yogurt
Lazy paella:
put 1-3 chicken thigh in oven, cover with oil, then cook at 180 degrees c for 35 mins. take out, cool, then pull the meat off
boil water in pan, add tumeric, add rice.
when rice has 2 minutes left add frozen peas and frozen fish or shrimp, fish can be crazy cheap. Smoked sausage is also an easy 2 minute ingredient that makes this better.
add chicken thigh, and salt and pepper to taste
Carbonara-ish
I make a carbonara using eggs, milk, with a tiny bit of chorizo with rosmary and a kick of chili, and it is amazing, and the eggs replace the cheesyness I crave. I base it off this recipe but half the chorizo, very little cheese if any, and no salad
sweet potato wedges
sweet potato wedges are a very low calorie replacement that hits the same spot as fries. Just wedge em, spray with some of that 1 calorie spray, add herbs/spices depending on what flavour you're going for.
Broccoli and cauliflower soup, possibly the lowest calorie thing I make super regularly, and it is super tasty.
Fry 1 small onion in about 1/2 a teaspoon of oil, low and slow, this adds great sweetness. Add 2 head of broccoli and 1 head of cauliflower, then 1 chicken stock cube and enough water to fill up the pan. Add a big amount of pepper (bit by bit then taste) while boiling. cook for about 10 mins then blend.
roughly 100 kcal
chicken chilli wrap.
boil a chicken breast in water with a bit of salt and chili for about 25 mins, remove and shred. reduce water down to not much, then add chicken in again with 1/8 can cannolini beans, chopped tomatos, chopped fresh chili, tonnes of mushrooms, then reduce down again till not much water left. Without a wrap it sits at about 220 kcal
Japenese Udon Noodles - Fuck me this will rock your world
boil 1 chicken breast in water, with 1 heaped tsp of chinese 5 spice and 2tbs of soy sauce. Cook for 20 mins then remove and shred. add 1 clove of garlic, chicken stock cube, tonnes of mushrooms, and some udon noodles. Finish with 1 tbsp of Worcester sauce and some spring onions (scallions). sits at 475 calories, but normally does 2 big bowls.
tuna mayo pasta
Probably the simplest meal you can make.
Boil 250g pasta for 10 mins, (this makes 2 huge servings)
When pasta has 2 minutes left, stir in some frozen peas and sweetcorn
Open a can of cheap tuna and drain the oil/brine/water
Drain pasta, then stir in tuna, a little olive oil, and a good amount of mayonnaise
Add a good amount of pepper, a wee bit of salt, some (dried) basil, and some garlic powder. Some chili flakes are never a bad move either.
Pork Wellington
This one is for showing off, as it looks amazing, but it is also suprisingly easy and, when you get pork tenderloin on the cheap, can actually be reasonably cheap.
Fry a finely diced onion and some finely diced mushrooms.
Roll out about half a block of frozen pastry so it is about 20cm up and as wide as your tenderloin is long
place bacon on the pastry, covering as much of the surface as you can afford
once mushrooms and onions have softened, spread over bacon/pastry
place tenderloin on top, then roll up into a cylinder and seal the ends.
Cook in the oven for about 40 minutes at around 170C
serve with lots of brocolli/other greens
makes about 4 portions
burgers
Get some beef mince, put in a bowl large enough to mix it, then add an egg, chives, salt, pepper, and maybe basil.
Gradually add breadcrumbs until it becomes solid enough to form into safe patties.
Grill, or fry, then eat
sausage pasta
chop a couple sausages into bite-size chunks, then put into a lightly oiled baking dish. Add a bunch of quartered mushrooms, then add salt and pepper, and shove in the oven. They need about 15 minutes at around 180C (fan) or 200C
Boil about 300g pasta for 10 minutes in salted water. After 5 minutes add a shit-tonne of broccoli
Once pasta is done, drain, add frozen peas and sweetcorn, and let that defrost for 30 seconds or so.
stir in passata (crushed tomatoes), enough to make it look saucy, then some Worcester sauce (only a wee bit), lots of basil, lots of garlic powder, and salt and pepper.
Get the sausage/mushrooms out the oven when they are cooked, then pour the pasta into the baking dish and stir round. top with cheese and but back in for about 15 minutes
Makes about 5 servings
pasta pesto
This one often isn't cheap, as fucking pine nuts cost crazy money recently.
Boil pasta for 10 mins, adding frozen sweetcorn at the 8 minute mark.
In a blender, add about two plants of basil, 50g of pine nuts, some oil, and a garlic clove or three, and blend into a paste.
add to pasta
Gumbo-ish
Get 7 boneless chicken thighs (or 3-4 breasts), cover in oil and cajun spice mix, and put in the oven at 180 C for 35 minutes in a large cast iron skillet
Chop up 4 stalks of celery, 1/2 an onion, a good amount of mushrooms, 1-2 red bell pepper, a pack of okra a few cloves of garlic, and a good bit of chorizo (with the skin removed)
Get a deep pot, and put in a good few tablespoons of butter, then melt, then add an equal number of heaped tablespoons of flour, and fry the roux very gently so it it begins to colour
When the chicken thighs are done, take them out the skillet and rest on a plate, then put the skillet on the hob and gently fry all the vegetables and chorizo (I normally start with the onion and celery, then add chorizo for a couple minutes, then add everything else,
Chop up the chicken into bite size pieces.
once the veg is done, gradually add a couple liters of water and a chicken stock cube to the roux, and stir until there are no lumps. Add the veg into the pan and the chicken, and make sure the water level fills most the pan. Add a shit-tonne more cajun spice mix, salt, pepper, and some chili powder, and keep tasting and adding what it feels like it needs until it tastes how you want
Add a couple handfuls of white rice
Cook for 10 minutes, stirring regularly, as the rice will stick to the bottom
mushroom pasta
get pasta boiling
Finely dice loads of mushroom
fry mushroom in a tiny bit of olive oil, and add a bit of salt
once they have cooked through, and when pasta has about 2 minutes left, add in a smallish nob of butter
stir through 1 very heaped tablespoon of flour
once everything is combined, add milk bit by bit until a thick creamy sauce is formed. Chuck some sweetcorn into the pasta pot
add salt, pepper, garlic powder, and some basil (dried works well, but very finely sliced fresh would be awesome)
combine with pasta and serve.
marsetti
get about 500g of pasta boiling in salted water
finely dice an onion, and get it frying
once onion is translucent, add in 500g of mince
cook through
once everything is cooked, mix the frying pan with the pasta, then stir in 1 can of condensed mushroom soup and 1 can of condensed tomato soup, then add salt, pepper, garlic, and MSG.
move to an oven dish and cover with cheese mixed with breadcrumbs, then bake until everything is golden and crispy
Lazy mushroom risotto
Chop up 3-4 mushrooms and 1/2 a small onion per person finely diced.
In a saucepan, fry onions in olive oil for about 5 minutes
add all the mushrooms and cook for a couple minutes, until they are browned and soft.
Add some butter then add 75-100g of risotto rice per person.
cook rice in the butter for about 3 minutes, stirring constantly, then add 1/3 of a chicken stock cube per person
add a good covering of water. You are about to cook it for 20 minutes so don't put too little in
cover and cook on low for 10 minutes, stir, then cook for another 10 minute
If there is still too much water left cook uncovered for a few minutes whilst stirring.
Add in s,p, garlic powder, a good bit of basil, some msg, and taste. Fix if it is missing anything
sushi
An awesomely healthy but not so cheap show off dish. Surprisingly easy
Boild sushi rice for pack instructions, adding sushi vinegar and sugar when it has boiled, then let sit until it is sushi rice
But a small chunk of tuna in the freezer for like 5 minutes, then slice super fine. Sometimes I seal it around the edges in sesame oild and sesame seeds
finely slice an avocado.
Lay a sheet of sushi nori on a rolling board, spread rice about a cm deep, lay on toppings, then roll.
Serve
get laid for your superior cooking skills
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