How to make your meat and fish go further

Thea Everett

Deputy editor (audiences) Thea loves to be in the kitchen and has a particular interest in cooking on a budget and deep frying. She thinks Sri Lankan and Indian food is the food of the gods. Discover her recipes and tune in to our Instagram feed, which she runs on a daily basis.

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Eating on a budget shouldn’t have to mean forgoing protein altogether. A little of the good stuff, be it steak, lamb, or fish, goes a long way. See how a small amount of meat or fish can be stretched into a feast with these five new weeknight dinners, none of which compromise on flavour.

Check out all of our budget recipe ideas here too.

How to make your meat and fish go further

How to make meat and fish go further

Don’t do without a food group in order to stay on budget. Protein is expensive, but if you pair it with pulses like beans and lentils and carbs like rice, potatoes and pasta, you can make a small amount of meat or fish stretch to feed more mouths.

Here we’ve taken flavour-packed meat and fish like smoked haddock, chorizo and lamb mince which will impart their flavour throughout a dish even when there is less of it to go around. So without further ado…

Meal 1: Curried fish and Bombay potato pie

This make-ahead fish pie takes fish pie mix, madras curry paste, coconut milk and tops it all with a spicy mashed potato mix for a more exciting take on the fish pie. All the cooking juices are soaked into the mash, creating brilliant depth of flavour, and the mash goes lovely and crispy at the edges too.

Find the recipe here

Meal 2: Lamb and bulgar wheat meatballs with carrot houmous and feta

Use thrifty lamb meat in these meatballs which are served on a moreish bed of carrot houmous with flatbreads to mop everything up. They’re also great with beef mince or any other mince you like, or use plant-based meatballs or falafels to make it vegetarian.

Find the recipe here

Meal 3: Fishcake tacos

Smoked haddock and mashed potato are made into smokey fishcakes and served with a zingy mango salsa and lime mayonnaise in this easy, texturally pleasing taco recipe. These are perfect for a Friday night in.

Find the recipe here

Meal 4: Steak and lentil salad with rocket salsa verde

Take one steak and have it feed four people with this filling lentil salad recipe. Fresh salsa verde livens things up and offsets the richness of the steak, while balancing brilliantly with the earthy lentils.

Find the recipe here

Meal 5: Chorizo with beans, pasta and pangrattato

Cooking chorizo packs in the flavour at little cost. Make sure you make the most of it with our new chorizo and bean pasta topped with pangrattato. The beans helps to add protein and keep this dish filling. Plus who doesn’t love a chorizo pasta?

Find the recipe here

And finally…

Don’t neglect the carcass – gently simmer it in water for 1-2 hours with salt, some chunks of veg (onion, carrot, celery or any veg peelings) and aromatics (peppercorns, bay leaves, rosemary, garlic). Then strain into a jug for a chicken stock that beats any you could get at a shop. Freeze in portions.