Eating healthy and on a budget doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice the quality of your meals. We had the pleasure of testing out two recipes from $10 Meals with Chelsea: a one-stop guide to weekly meal plans for cooks at all skill levels. Each recipe feeds at least four people for an average of $10 per dish without sacrificing flavour or convenience.
With the cost of living crisis leaving millions of Australians feeling the pinch from the rising cost of groceries, these recipes are budget-friendly and taste irresistibly boujee.
Creamy Tomato Rigatoni
Serves 4-5
Ingredients
- 3 cloves garlic, crushed
- ¼ cup (20 g) finely grated parmesan
- 500 g rigatoni
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 350 ml passata
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 cup (250 ml) thickened cream
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon dried chilli flakes
TO SERVE
- ¼ cup basil leaves, thinly sliced
- finely grated parmesan
Cook
- Cook rigatoni in the boiling water until almost al dente.
- Melt the butter in a large frying pan over low heat. Add the garlic and stir for a minute.
- Stir in the passata, tomato paste, cream, oregano, chilli flakes and half the parmesan. Gently simmer on low for 5 minutes.
- 4. Season the sauce with salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste, and add additional oregano, chilli flakes or parmesan if you wish.
- 5. When pasta is about a minute away from perfection, scoop out ½ cup of pasta water and drain the pasta in a colander.
- 6. Add the pasta to the pan with the sauce and stir through. If the sauce is a bit thick add in some pasta water to help distribute it.
- 7. Divide among bowls and top with parmesan and basil, with extra pepper if you like.
Thai Green Fish Curry
Serves 4-5
Ingredients
- 3 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1 tablespoon finely grated ginger
- 1 zucchini sliced
- 200 g green beans, trimmed
- 1 tablespoon chopped coriander
- 500 g white fish fillets
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 3 tablespoons of green curry paste
- 3 × 400 ml tins coconut cream
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
TO SERVE
- steamed jasmine rice
- coriander leaves
- lime wedges
Cook
- Heat the oil in a large pot over medium-high heat then add the curry paste, garlic and ginger. Cook, stirring, for 2 minutes.
- 2. Add ½ tin coconut cream to the paste mixture and cook, stirring, for about 2 minutes or until the liquid has reduced by about a third.
- 3. Pour in the remaining 2 ½ tins
of coconut cream add the fish sauce, lime juice, sugar and chopped coriander and bring to a gentle boil. - 4. Add the fish, zucchini and beans and cook for another 7–8 minutes or until the vegetables are cooked and the fish is opaque. Taste to check spice level and flavours. Add a little more lime juice, sugar or fish sauce to balance flavour if required.
- 5. Divide among bowls with steamed rice. Top with coriander leaves and serve with lime wedges.
Learn more about Chelsea and her book $10 Meals with Chelsea below.
Read more of our Health and Wellness articles here.
