Cheap Recipes That Can Feed Up to 4 People for Under $20

Times are tough, money is tight, and grocery prices are through the roof. Now is the time to make our dollars stretch further with our food, and luckily, we have some cheap recipes that will help you do just that.

These recipes come by way of Philips Ambassador, Elle Vernon, who has created two meals that will feed four – or, alternatively, give you four meal prep portions – for under $20.

Using her Philips All-in-One Cooker, Vernon has created cheap recipes for Lasagne Stew and Thai Red Curry Risotto that will cost you only $5 a serve.

Cheap recipes that will feed 4 people for just $20

One Pot Lasagne Stew recipe

What you’ll need:

• 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 500g Bolognese mince (beef and pork combo)
• 1 brown onion, finely diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 800g can diced tomatoes
• 1/3 cup tomato paste
• 2 Tbsp dried oregano
• 1L (4 cups) liquid beef stock
• ½ x 250g packet dried lasagne sheets, roughly broken
• 1 cup smooth ricotta
• Good pinch of ground nutmeg
• Salt and pepper, to season
• Basil leaves, to garnish (optional)

Cost per recipe: $16.60

How to make one pot Lasagne Stew recipe

1. Insert non-stick inner pot into the Philips 3000 series All-In-One Cooker and turn on at the power point.
2. Select ‘Saute’ > Default time of 10 minutes will appear on the screen > Select ‘Start.’
3. After a few minutes, once hot, add oil, mince, onion and garlic. Using a wooden or non-stick spoon break up mince, stirring to combine with the onion and garlic. Leaving the cooker lid open, cook for 8 minutes stirring occasionally, until mince is no longer pink. Add tomatoes, paste, oregano and stock. Stir to combine.
4. Close the lid. Set the lid handle to the ‘lock’ position.
5. Select ‘Pressure cook kPa’ > Manual function > increase time to 15 minutes > increase pressure to 45 kPa > Select start. It will take approximately 10 minutes for the pressure to build before cooking time begins.
6. After 10 minutes of cooking, select ‘Add ingredient’ function. You will see the kPa down arrow icon flashing whilst the pressure is being released. When safe to open, you will hear a beeping sound to prompt you to open the lid. Add lasagne sheets, stir to separate the sheets, then close the lid and lock it. The kPa up icon will flash until pressure has been increased again, then the timer will continue to count down.
7. Meanwhile, combine ricotta and nutmeg in a bowl, then season and set aside.
8. Once cooking time is complete, it will take approximately 3 minutes for the pressure to automatically release, before automatically switching to keep warm mode.
9. When safe to open, set the lid handle to ‘unlock’ position, then open the lid. Season.
10. Spoon into serving bowls, dollop with ricotta and gently swirl it through. Garnish with basil, if using.

Note: If you prefer to slow cook, you can cook on high for 4 hours or slow cook on low for 8 hours, and simply add your lasagne sheets to the mince mixture 30 minutes before the end of cooking time.

Thai Red Curry Risotto

What you’ll need:

• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 250g chicken mince
• 1 brown onion, finely diced
• 2 cloves garlic, finely grated
• 2-4 Tbsp Thai red curry paste
• 6 kaffir lime leaves
• 2cm piece of fresh ginger, sliced into matchsticks (about 1 Tbsp of matchsticks)
• 3 cups Arborio rice or risotto style rice (1 cup rice = 1.5 cups stock or water)
• 1L (4 cups) liquid chicken stock, salt reduced, at room temperature
• 125ml (½ cup) warm water
• 400ml can coconut cream
• 150g green beans, trimmed, cut into 3-4 cm lengths
• 3 tsp fish sauce
• 2 tsp brown sugar
• Coriander leaves, to garnish (optional)

Cost per recipe – $13.80

How to make Thai Red Curry Risotto recipe

1. Insert non-stick inner pot into the Philips 3000 series All-In-One Cooker and turn on at the power point.
2. Select ‘Saute’ > increase time to 13 minutes > Select ‘Start.’ After a couple of minutes, when hot, add oil, mince, onion and garlic. Using a wooden or non-stick spoon break up mince, stirring to combine with the onion and garlic. Leaving the cooker lid open, cook for 6 minutes stirring occasionally, until chicken is no longer pink.
3. Add paste, leaves and ginger, cook stirring occasionally for 3 minutes until very fragrant. Stir in rice, cook stirring for 2 minutes. Pour in stock and water, stir.
4. Close the lid. Set the lid handle to the ‘lock’ position.
5. Select ‘Special recipe’> ‘Rice’ > Default time of 14 will come up on screen > select ‘Start’. It will take approximately 12 minutes for the pressure to build before cooking time begins.
6. Once cooking time is complete, the pressure will automatically release, before automatically switching to keep warm mode. It will take approximately 3 minutes for pressure to release.
7. When safe to open, set the lid handle to ‘unlock’ position, then open the lid. Stir in the coconut cream, beans, fish sauce and sugar. Close the lid and allow to stand on keep warm for 5 minutes.
8. Spoon risotto into serving bowls, garnish with coriander.

If you’re after more cheap recipes, may we direct you to our round-up of $10 meals from TikTok’s food challenge?