Budget helper: Extend your dishes by adding grains, legumes or pasta
We all love a chicken curry, a spaghetti Bolognese, or a hearty slow-cooked beef stew. They’re all such satisfying dishes, but if you’re feeding a family, you do have to spend quite a bit on meat.
There is a way to save money when cooking these types of dishes.
Pasta, rice and legumes are cheap, satisfying and nutritious. Next time you’re cooking a family meal, think about:
- adding a can of chickpeas, beans or lentils to a curry or stew to extend it, and/or substituting 50% of the meat with your favourite legume
- making a big pasta bake
- adding a can of corn and a can of beans to your taco mince
- substituting half of your mince in your Bolognese for cooked brown lentils
- making a comforting vegetable risotto.
All these ideas can really extend your meal and feed many more mouths – without having to buy a large amount of meat. And using dried legumes is even more economical – you just have to have the time to soak and cook them.
Check out these recipes for inspiration:
