This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Nottingham chapter.

As the end of term draws nearer and the bank balance dwindles, food shopping becomes even more treacherous. We start to argue with ourselves about the smallest sums: is it really worth that extra 50p to get Heinz ketchup instead of own brand? You try to convince yourself that it’s not and that you need the 50p for another tin of processed meat…but the idea of being hungover and eating own brand ketchup is too nauseating and you end up with the Heinz. Always.

Today we will be looking at recipes to try and make the cheapest tinned meals palatable. For about 50-70p per tin, they are seriously cheap. However, lasting a whole week on these can get quite depressing. Luckily, I’ve managed to come up with a few recipes based around such tinned food, hopefully making them a little bit more bearable without costing too much.

Chicken in white sauce

This chicken in white sauce isn’t actually too bad as far as tinned meals go, but there are some things that can be done to improve it. On the plus side, the meat itself is fairly decent: it is actually recognizable as chicken! The main thing to be improved is the sauce itself.

Ingredients:

1 x Chicken in white sauce tin

Milk

1 x tsp mixed herbs & seasoning

Spinach/mixed vegetables

Pasta

Cheese

Method:

1. Boil some water and add the pasta

2. Add the contents of the tin to a saucepan and heat up.

3. Add the milk to the pan and stir in well. Keep adding milk until you achieve the desired consistency. I like to add milk to this meal as I find that the sauce is very gloopy and doesn’t coat the pasta well. It also helps to improve the taste.

4. Add the mixed herbs and seasoning to the saucepan to taste, as the sauce itself is quite bland. Then turn the heat down to a simmer. The white sauce is quite bland on its own and the seasoning add a bit of taste. The herbs make it feel a little more Mediterranean than just a plain white sauce.

5. If desired, add frozen spinach or mixed vegetables to the pasta and allow to cook. Bulking up the meal with vegetables can help to make it last for more than one portion.

6. When the pasta and vegetables are cooked, drain and add to the sauce. Stir well and add cheese to taste.

Minced beef and onion

This minced beef and onion tin tastes fairly good considering it costs just 56p. The only problem is the appearance as the brown sludge oozes from the saucepan onto your plate. For this recipe, I will be adding ingredients not only to improve the taste but also to make it look more appealing.

Ingredients:

1 x minced beef and onion tin

Rice

1 x onion

Kidney beans

Peppers (optional)

Mushrooms (optional)

2 x tsp mild/medium curry powder

1 x tsp garam masala

1 x tsp cumin powder

Cheese (optional)

Method:

1. Boil some water and start to cook the rice

2. Slice and dice the onion and add it to a separate saucepan. Fry for 1 minute.

3. Just before the onions are cooked, add the spices to the pan and stir around. These are my chosen spices but if you prefer others or don’t have these in the cupboard feel free to choose other ones. This recipe works for me but people have different tastes and tolerances for spices, so play around with the recipe and make it your own.

4. Chop the peppers and mushrooms and add them to the onions. This step can be skipped if you don’t have or don’t like peppers/mushrooms. They just add a bit more flavour to the meal and can make it look more appetising.

5. Pour the tin into the saucepan with the onions and stir. Then add the kidney beans and stir. Kidney beans are always necessary for a good chilli; they aren’t expensive and again can bulk up the meal, making it last for two portions.

6. Drain the rice and arrange on a plate with a small well in the centre. Pour the mixed beef chilli mixture in the middle and serve. A further optional step is to grate some cheese on top at the end for extra flavour and cheesy goodness.

Pork and bacon meatballs

This tin is one of the saddest tinned meals I’ve ever come across. The tomato sauce doesn’t seem to have ever met a real tomato and is weaker than my patience during exam season. If the meat was decent, the meal could be salvaged but unfortunately, we are left with the most processed meat imaginable. The meatballs look appetising but when you start biting into them, you do begin to question the meat percentage of this tin.

Ingredients:

1 x tin of pork and bacon meatballs

A dash of sadness

A pinch of angry muttering from an Italian grandma

A huge dollop of despair

Method:

1. Pray

2. Curse like you’re Gordon Ramsay.

3. Order from justeat.com.

Nothing I have tried with this tin has worked. If you have a stronger stomach than I do I urge you to try and salvage this abomination. If you can think of a way to make this tin less horrifying, please send in your recipes suggestions to us (nottingham@hercampus.com): we always love to hear about miracles.

Edited by Tia Ralhan

Image sources:

http://www.mysupermarket.co.uk/sainsburys-price-comparison/Tinned_Meat_A…

http://www.mysupermarket.co.uk/sainsburys-price-comparison/tinned_meat_a…

https://groceries.morrisons.com/webshop/product/Morrisons-Minced-Beef–O…

http://www.riverdaleschool.com/page.cfm?p=2687&monthyear=12*2012&categor…