Budget Recipe Reviews
There are many budget-friendly recipes out there that say they are easy on your wallet but not bland on your palette. I decided to put three of these recipes to the test for someone who is short on; cash, time, utensils and cooking skills.
Cost: $17.70 could make 8 mini pizzas
Kitchen utensils/equipment required: An oven, two baking trays, a butter knife, a cutting board and a cup or bowl to crack the eggs (optional).
Difficulty: The recipe was very straightforward and easy to follow because there weren’t any complicated cooking techniques required.
Taste: The pizzas tasted amazing. The delicious salty bacon is balanced well with the freshness and crunch of the spinach. The the melted cheese and cracked egg are welcomed additions to the already fantastic combination of flavours.
Rating: 10/10
Cost: $15.75 (I already had the tablespoon of canola oil, mixed herbs and plain flour) makes 12 rissoles.
Kitchen utensils/equipment required: Large bowl, knife, mixing spoon, baking tray, baking paper, plates and a frying pan.
Difficulty: This recipe took a lot of preparation and it was very time consuming for a budget friendly recipe. The process involves chopping onions, capsicum and tomatoes. I really felt for the My Kitchen Rules contestants as I watched the rissoles crumble in the pan.
The patties started to fall apart as they cooked and the outside seemed to burn no matter the heat of the stove.
Taste: I’m not a big fan of onion or capsicum but the flavour of these rissoles was actually delicious. But, I also think the rissoles could be improved with a little salt to season them during the mixing process, as the lean mince was slightly lacking in flavour.
While the rissoles were annoying to prepare and very frustrating to cook, they ended up being very tasty for a healthy recipe
Rating: 6/10
Cost: $18.74 makes enough for 6 people
Kitchen utensils/equipment required: A saucepan, colander, spoons, frying pan, slotted spoon, bowls, whisk and tongs or a spoon to serve the pasta.
Difficulty: The recipe has a lot of little components such as setting aside some of the pasta water and fat from the bacon pan. These steps are pretty frustrating if you are in a rush and it seems really unnecessary.
Taste: After the fidgety preparation process, the pasta tasted pretty bland and you could tell that it needed some other flavours to make the taste a little more interesting.
After all the preparation involved with this recipe, it’s disappointing to have such a lacklustre end result. However, the smoky bacon is a fantastic addition to the dish and it adds a new element to an otherwise traditional take on a carbonara. Considering the finicky prep work that goes into this recipe and the bland result that follows.
Rating: 3.5/10
Overall:
The Heart Foundation rissoles were really tasty and a bonus point is you don’t feel as guilty eating them while watching The Biggest Loser as you do with take-out.
While I really enjoyed the smoky bacon component to the carbonara, the recipe was lacking in flavour and desperately needed some herbs like basil or chilli to give it an extra kick. But I will definitely use smoky bacon instead of regular bacon, when I make carbonara in the future.
My favourite recipe by far was the bacon and egg pizzas because not only was the recipe extremely easy to make, it was also really tasty. For any university students out there wanting to take a night off from your Maggi’s 2 minute noodles, I highly recommend the bacon and egg pizzas.
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