$10 dinners that taste amazing

Trying to cook a nutritious meal that everyone will love for $10 sounds impossible, right? Wrong. We’ve got a whole heap of recipes that will save you money, and keep the family happy at the same time. Don’t believe us? Read on.

Chicken Stroganoff

It's almost impossible to go wrong with chicken. It’s cheaper than beef, and significantly kinder on the waistline too. Pair it with pasta and a creamy sauce and just watch those plates get cleaned up.

Spaghetti and mussels

The best Italian food is often the simplest. Throwing some mussels in with the spaghetti bulks it out and imparts tonnes of oceanic flavour. They’re cheap as chips and you don’t need many to make a beautiful dish for four.

Stir-fried mussels and rice

Alternatively, pair those mussels with rice and give them an Asian twist for that midweek meal.

Veggie curry

Rather than make a meat-heavy curry that costs the earth, try doing a veggie night once a week. It will save you money and keep the family healthy too. This one, packed with pumpkin, cauliflower and chickpeas, has so much flavour you won’t even notice there’s no meat.

Lamb and date tagine

Try using cheaper cuts when you want to eat meat, and you’ll rake in the savings. The lamb forequarter chops in this tagine are a fraction of the price of cutlets, and once you cook them for hours with aromatic spices and fudgy dates, the flavour is significantly better too, not to mention that melting texture you only get from richer cuts like this.

Coconut poached fish

If you think you can’t eat seafood on a budget, think again. The trick is using less fish and adding a flavour-packed sauce to soak into the carb element, making a base of rice a showstopper in itself.

Sesame beef noodles

Step away from the take-away. Most of the stuff you order you can make at home for not only a fraction of the price, but in a fraction of the time it takes to be delivered to you too. These sesame beef noodles are cheap, tasty, and sport hidden veggies to boot.

Middle Eastern pasties

If dinner is more of a grab-and-go sort of scenario, these spicy lamb pasties make perfect fodder. Or pair them with a salad and they work for a sit-down affair as well; the choice is yours.

Mexican enchiladas

Mexican food is often thought of as unhealthy, but it doesn’t need to be that way. Pack your enchiladas with veggies and you’re getting a 2-4-1: a cheaper dinner that’s healthier too.

Smoky paprika steak salad

Buying skirt steak over more expensive cuts like fillet will save you money, and as long as you cook it super-fast on a high heat, and slice it thinly, no one will be able to tell the difference anyway. This steak salad is a brilliant one for summer, the zesty marinade keeping the dish fresh and light.

Budget-friendly doesn’t have to mean boring. From deliciously affordable dinners to simple, effective saving habits, MyBudget is Australia's personal budgeting specialist that can help keep your spending on track.