7 budget lunch ideas: recipes for delicious and inexpensive meals for every day

Hostesses more than once faced in the kitchen with a tricky question: “How to feed the family deliciously and inexpensively?”. But even with a modest set of budget products, you can come up with something original. We offer seven unusual recipes.

Chicken acorns in creamy-garlic sauce

Subproducts can boast a low cost and great benefit. They are high in iron and fat-soluble vitamins A, D and E. When you’re looking for something to serve for lunch that will be delicious and inexpensive, take a closer look at this recipe with chicken hearts.

Garlic should definitely be sweated in water. This way it will lose its unpleasant sharpness, but will retain its characteristic flavor. Instead of sour cream and water, you can use cream with a fat content of at least 20%.

Ingredients:

Basic:

• chicken hearts – 500 g
• onion – 1 pc.
• vegetable oil – 1 tbsp.
• paprika – 0.5 tsp.
• salt – pinch
• ground black pepper – a pinch

For the sauce:

• sour cream – 100 g
• garlic – 15 cloves
• salt – 30 g

Method of preparation:

1. At each garlic clove remove the sprout inside. To do this, divide the clove into two parts and take out the core.
2. Transfer the garlic halves into a saucepan, pour in 1 liter of water and add all the salt for the sauce. Turn on high heat and bring to a boil.
3. Take the garlic out immediately after boiling and lay it out on a paper towel. Fill 1 cup with garlic water and set aside, pour off the rest.
4. Turn the blanched garlic into a puree using a blender. You can add 1-2 tbsp of garlic water for a more uniform texture. Mix the puree with the sour cream.
5. Rinse and dry the chicken hearts. Subproducts need to be freed from films and blood clots.
6. Chop onions and fry until transparent in vegetable oil.
7. Add the hearts, salt and stew all together on high heat for 10 minutes. The hearts should change color completely.
8. Season the roast with sour cream and garlic and pour in the reserved water. The amount of liquid depends on your taste. This way you adjust the thickness of the sauce.
9. Add paprika and ground black pepper, reduce the heat to low, cover with a lid and braise the hearts for 25-30 minutes.

Serve when ready with or without garnish.

Baked flounder with spicy carrots

You can have a fish day without a big burden on your wallet. Take a closer look at flounder. It is rich in B vitamins, phosphorus and amino acids. Plus proteins in its composition are easily digested by the body, and a small amount of fat allows you to include the product even in a strict diet.

Ingredients:

Basic:

• flounder – 800 g
• carrots – 2 pcs.

For the marinade:

• oranges – 1 pc.
• vegetable oil – 2 tbsp.
• garlic – 2 cloves
• salt – 1 tsp.
• ground ginger – 1 tsp.
• ground chili – pinch

Cooking method:

1. Rinse the flounder with cold water and blot with a paper towel. Make a few incisions on the back.
2. Peel and grate carrots on a coarse grater.
3. For the marinade, mix the juice and zest of the orange with the minced garlic, vegetable oil, salt, ground ginger and chili.
4. Add half of the marinade to the carrots and mix well. You can even knead the preparation with your hands to let the carrots release their juice.
5. Place the spicy vegetable mixture in the bottom of a heatproof mold.
6. Cover the carrot billet with the flounder so that the notches look up.
7. Pour the remaining marinade over the fish.
8. Make a foil cover for the mold and send everything to the oven, heated to 180 ° C.
9. After 20 minutes, remove the foil and bake the plaice for another 10-15 minutes.

Place the fish along with the carrots on a plate and serve.

Zucchini and carrots casserole

What to cook cheaply and quickly? A dish from seasonal products. Young zucchini and carrots are just such ingredients. In summer, they are found almost in every store near the house. You can buy vegetables with a reserve. Prepare some of them at once, and the rest chop and freeze. They will be useful not only for casseroles, but also for roasting in soups and stews.

Ingredients:

• zucchini – 2 pcs.
• carrots – 1 pc.
• kefir – 200 ml
• chicken eggs – 2 pcs.
• flour – 80 g
• dill – 5 stalks
• salt – 1 tsp.
• baking soda – 0.5 tsp.

Method of preparation:

1. Grate zucchini and carrots on a coarse grater, season with 0.5 tsp. salt and put aside.
2. In a clean deep bowl, beat the eggs with the remaining salt. Pour in the kefir and sift in the flour and baking soda. Mix until smooth.
3. Squeeze the vegetable preparation from the juice and add to the rest of the ingredients.
4. Finish the mixture with chopped dill and transfer it to a heatproof mold greased with vegetable oil.
5. Cook the casserole in an oven heated to 180 ° C, at least 40-45 minutes.

To serve, you can prepare a zadziki sauce based on Greek yogurt.

Kichdi made of millet and lentils

Cereals are another option for an inexpensive lunch. Play them up with spices, as they do in India. Kichdi is something between a porridge and a stew. In our homeland, it is most often made with mash. In our country, these peas are harder to find. Replace it with lentils. You can combine beans not only with millet, but also with rice.

Ingredients:

• millet – 200 g
• onions – 1 pc.
• tomatoes – 1 pc.
• bell pepper – 1 pc.
• lentils – 50 g
• vegetable oil – 1 tbsp.
• butter – 10 g
• garlic – 1 clove
• turmeric – 1 tsp.
• ground ginger – 1 tsp.
• salt – 1 tsp.
• zira – 0.5 tsp.
• ground chili pepper – a pinch

Method of preparation:

1. Soak the lentils in 100 ml of water.
2. Rinse millet twice. Then pour 400 ml of water again and leave for 15-20 minutes.
3. Combine the soaked beans and groats in a saucepan. The water in which the ingredients were infused will not be needed.
4. Pour 500 ml of clean water into the pot, add 0.5 tsp of turmeric and salt each and cook for 20-25 minutes or until all the liquid has evaporated.
5. Chop the onion, tomato, bell pepper and garlic equally.
6. In a high-sided skillet, heat the vegetable oil, add the zira and simmer for 5-7 seconds until fragrant.
7. Fry the onion and garlic in the spicy oil until golden.
8. Add the tomato and pepper and stew until the vegetables are soft. This will take about 5-10 minutes.
9. Season the stir-fry with the remaining salt and turmeric, add the ground ginger and chili pepper, and stir.
10. Transfer the cooked millet and lentils to the pan, pour in another 200 ml of water and stew for about 5-7 minutes under a lid.

Add butter to the finished dish, wait for it to dissolve and serve.

Soup with chicken, potatoes and buckwheat

When it comes to simple and hearty dishes, you can not do without buckwheat. Earlier we told you how to make a warm salad and even fritters from the groats. Now we suggest adding it to soup.

For a more rich broth, take a bird on the bone. And the base should be baked before cooking. Then the broth will turn out more transparent and will acquire light smoked notes in the flavor.

Ingredients:

• chicken on the bone – 400 g
• potatoes – 2 pcs.
• buckwheat – 100 g
• onion – 1 pc.
• carrots – 1 pc.
• garlic – 1 clove
• vegetable oil – 1 tbsp.
• tomato paste – 1 tsp.
• salt – 1 tsp.
• paprika – 0,5 tsp.
• black pepper – 3 peas

Cooking method:

1. Cover a baking tray with parchment, lay the chicken on it. Bake in an oven preheated to 200°C for about 30-40 minutes.
2. Transfer the baked bird to a saucepan. Pour in 2.5 liters of clean cold water, turn on low heat and simmer for 1 hour.
3. Take the chicken out of the broth, let it cool down and separate the meat from the bones. The latter will no longer be needed.
4. Rinse the buckwheat, cut the potatoes into medium-sized cubes. Send the groats and vegetable into the broth and cook until the cubes are soft. It will take 20-25 minutes.
5. Chop the onion and garlic, grate the carrots on a coarse grater.
6. Heat vegetable oil in a frying pan and fry onions and garlic in it. Then add carrots and stew for another 3-4 minutes.
7. Add tomato paste and a ladle of broth to the frying pan, season with salt and paprika.
8. Transfer the stewed vegetables to the pot, add the peppercorns and simmer for another 5-7 minutes.
9. Taste the soup, add more salt if necessary, cover the pot with a lid and leave for 10-15 minutes.

When serving, you can garnish the hot soup with chopped herbs.

Spaghetti with meat balls

A piece of meat will cost much more expensive than minced meat. While shopping, pay attention to the category of the product and composition. GOST divides meat semi-finished products into five categories: A, B, C, D, D. The main criterion is the amount of muscle tissue. Category A is characterized by the highest indicator – more than 80%. Further categories go in increments of 20%.

In the composition, it is better to focus on brevity. The simpler and clearer the components, the better.

Ingredients:

Basic:

• spaghetti – 150 g
• onions – 1 pc.
• tomato paste – 2 tbsp. l.
• vegetable oil – 2 tbsp.
• garlic – 2 cloves
• dried herbs – 1 tsp.
• salt – 0.5 tsp.

For meat balls:

• minced meat – 500 g
• breadcrumbs – 3 tbsp. l.
• cottage cheese – 2 tbsp. tbsp.
• chicken eggs – 1 pc.
• salt – 1 tsp.
• ground black pepper – 0,5 tsp.

Cooking method:

1. Combine minced meat with breadcrumbs, cottage cheese and chicken eggs. Knead until homogeneous.
2. Season the preparation and form balls with wet hands.
3. Heat 1 tbsp. of vegetable oil in a frying pan and fry the balls on it until half-cooked. Here it is important that they should bind and crust. If desired, instead of frying, you can send the billets to the oven for 25-30 minutes. Heat medium – 180 ° C.
4. Boil the spaghetti until al dente. Do not forget to salt the water after boiling. Save a ladleful of water after boiling. Dissolve the tomato paste in the liquid.
5. Chop the onion and garlic and fry in the remaining vegetable oil until transparent.
6. Season with dried herbs, salt and pepper.
7. Add pasta and meatballs to the pan, pour tomato water over everything and stew under a lid for another 2-3 minutes.

Before serving, you can sprinkle the spaghetti with grated cheese.

White cabbage stewed with mushrooms

Cabbage is with us practically all year round. In season it becomes even more accessible. Young cabbage can be recognized by its bright green color. To preserve it during stewing, refuse tomato paste. And if you get out to the nearest forest on the weekend, you can save money on mushrooms. After all, the quiet hunt has already begun.

Ingredients:

• white cabbage – 500 g
• mushrooms – 300 g
• onion – 1 pc.
• carrots – 1 pc.
• vegetable oil – 1 tbsp.
• curry – 1 tsp.
• salt – 1 tsp.

Cooking method:

1. Shred cabbage, finely chop onion, garlic and mushrooms, grate carrots.
2. In the hot vegetable oil fry mushrooms until the release of juice. It will take 5-7 minutes. Heat on medium.
3. Add onion, garlic and carrots. Saute for another 4-5 minutes. Onions should become transparent and carrots should become soft.
4. Mix the stir fry with the cabbage, season with curry and salt. Stir-fry everything together for 5-7 minutes.
5. Add 50 ml of water, cover and braise until soft, about 15-20 minutes. You can add a little more liquid if necessary.
6. It is better to serve cabbage with a generous portion of sour cream and a piece of black bread.

As you can see, even from simple and affordable products it is easy to come up with an appetizing treat.