Six healthy meals you can make for $10 or less
A few years ago, there were certainly a number of dinner options you could make for less than $10.
Now, with the constantly rising food prices it is a lot trickier.
But there are a handful of meals you can make that serve more than one for just $10 – if you are savvy with a few core ingredients.
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Dietitian Susie Burrell says it's still possible to make a meal for less than $10. Supplied/ Gabrielle Oehlmann
Tuna bake
Not only is it a quick and easy meal option but the simple combination of tinned tuna, tomato pasta or your favourite creamy pasta sauce and a bag of frozen vegetables will create a protein- and nutrient-rich meal that is also relatively low in carbohydrates.
With a large tin of tuna costing less than $5, passata just $2 and a bag of frozen vegetables for $2-3 per 500g, you will have a meal that serves at least two for just $10.
Pasta
Whether you opt for a pasta bake with turkey or chicken mince or tinned fish or a vegetarian version with tinned kidney beans or lentils, with plain pasta costing just $1-2 for a large bag that will offer at least two serves, it is one of the cheapest meals you can eat.
Add your own sauce, frozen vegetables and a little cheese and you have a nutritionally balanced meal for as little as $10 and one that will serve up to four people.
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Susie Burrell says pasta is a great affordable option. Getty
Chow mein
Whether you combine noodles or a mixed stir fry bag of vegetables with lean turkey or chicken mince, or enjoy it with egg, you have a protein and vegetable rich-meal that can be seasoned with your favourite Asian sauce and be ready in just a few minutes.
Another high protein and vegetable rich option, the key is to seek out pre-cut vegetable stir fry mixes that you can find for $4-5 per serve.
Soup
It may come as a surprise to hear soup is not always the cheapest meal you can make at home, with good-quality stocks not overly cheap and the number of ingredients you need easily bumping up the price to over $20.
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On the other hand, if you utilise lentils or legumes as your base and use precut soup vegetable kits, you may be able to make a homemade soup for roughly $10 and one that will give you at least four to six meals.
Omelette or frittata
While eggs have increased significantly in price, they still remain one of the cheapest good quality proteins you can use in cooking even if you are paying upwards of 70 to 80 cents per egg.
When time is short, an omelette is one of the most nutritious, quick and easy meals you can make. All you need to do is add some vegetables such as tomatoes or zucchini and a little cheese and you have a protein rich meal ready in minutes, and one that costs just $5-6 per serve.
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An omelette is a quick and affordable meal option. Getty
Fried rice
It's not a meal we always think of when we need something quick and more budget-friendly than takeaway.
Whether you combine lean chicken mince with quick cook brown rice in a pan with some peas and corn and a little soy sauce or opt for a vegetarian version with egg, homemade fried rice is a delicious and cost-effective one-pan meal.
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