Sooooo going out for valentine’s day can actually be really expensive, most places do a set menu so you can’t even get the cheap stuff and use student discount!! You end up paying £50 for a set meal, and the glass of prosecco isn’t even all that. So I have created some fancy but cheap, stay at home valentine’s day recipes all for under £5. For the fellow students and everyone else in the world like me who would rather spend their money on city breaks and holidays! On the topic of holidays don’t forget to check out the newest section on the blog, Marbleous food leaves the kitchen!! But anyway back to the budget food…all of these prices are per portion!
In all these recipes I’m assuming everyone has salt, pepper and oil.
Duck
Fancy something different? This duck is the perfect way to go this valentine. I always though duck was reallyyy expensive, and don’t get me wrong it’s a lot more than the £1 meals I create. But for a nice meal for something different it isn’t too bad.
© Duck Breast (Asda- £2 each)
© Root Veg Mash (Asda -42p)
© Leek (Asda-15p)
© Broccoli (Asda- 50p)
This is such a quick meal to cook, I did have to watch a video because I had no idea how to cook the duck, but it worked and tasted amazing. I cooked the duck in a hot pan for 6 minutes skin side down. So the skin really browns up, reminded me of crackling. The video I watched said to tip the fat out but I kept it in there to cook the leeks in. After cooking the skin of the duck I seared the rest of the breast, holding it down for 30 seconds each side. Doing this twice to cook the outside of the meat. I found this the perfect way to cook it just medium! When almost done I threw in the leeks, boiled the broccoli and put the mash in the microwave for 3 minutes! I also made some onion gravy, but again this is optional.
Price Per Portion: £3.07
Linguine
This is my all-time favorite fancy budget meal, all year round not just on valentine’s day. With only 2 ingredients’ you can’t really go wrong with this one!
© Deluxe Linguini (Lidl-89p)
© Frozen Seafood Packs (Iceland-£3.50)
Flavours are: Mussel, Squid and Clams in Tomato and Herb, Clams in Mediterranean Tomato, Zuppa Di Pesce Fish & Seafood Casserole with Squid, Hake, Mussels, Clams & Shrimp.
Tomato and Herb Clams are my favourite by far. All you have to do is cook the seafood in a big frying pan and boil the pasta, season and mix together! Sometimes I add extra chopped tomatoes or other herbs but this is optional. This meal can easily serve 4 but I’m pretty sure me and my boyfriend have demolished it between the 2 of us before, treat yourself its valentine’s day.
Price Per Portion: £1.10 (or if you’re feeling hungry £2.20)
Pizza
Not only is this a meal that tastes good but something that is really cute to make together, and saves moaning about who’s going to cook. It’s also really good because you can make a pizza each so don’t have to eat the exact same thing.
For the base:
© Plain Flour 300g (Lidl- 9p) -I sometimes use whole meal to jazz it up a bit.
© Yeast 1 tsp (Lidl- 7p)
© Water
© Oil
Topping:
I’ve chosen some of my favorite toppings but obviously you can use different toppings. I always try to re-create my favorite pizza, Pizza Express’ Padana. So simple but so good.
© Passata (Lidl-35p)- got this tip from @onepundchef, as its loads cheaper than using tomato puree. You can also jazz it up by getting BBQ sauce and creating a BBQ base
© 1 Ball of Mozzarella (Lidl-45p) Cheese is 100% the best part, so you can use as much as you want, different types, more than 1 type. I love mozzarella but it’s also really affordable.
© 1 Red Onion (Lidl-10p)
© Handful of Spinach (Lidl- 15p)
© Cherry Tomatoes (Lidl- 40p)
Price Per Portion/Pizza: £1.45
Steak and Chips
The valentine’s day classic. Instead of paying £26 for a set menu at Miller and Carter this year I have found the latest and best budget super market steaks. If your fancying something different, lamb and pork steaks can also be a cheaper/ more unique.
© Aldi- Rump (£2.99), Fillet (£5.19), Medallion (£1.54),
© Asda- Rump (£3.67), Sirloin (£3.70), Ribeye (£3.70), Medallion (£1.85)
© Morrisons- Rump (£3.67), Fillet (£4.50)
© Tesco- Sirloin (£2.82), Ribeye (£2.82), Rump (£2.98), Medallion (£1.62)
And we can’t forget about the best bit, the sidesssss! There are soooo many options: mash, steak chips, sweet potato fries. And its not just about the potatoes but the veg possibilities are endless: asparagus, sweetcorn, broccoli. Here are my favourite sides.
© Sweet potato (Lidl-79p)-for homemade sweet potato fries.
© Asparagus Tips (Sainsbury’s-70p)
Have to admit I’m not the biggest steak person so would deffo go for seafood on this occasion. But when I do get a steak there are so many sauce options!! Had to give these sauce options a bit of research. But here are the best (and cheapest) sounding ones…
© Peppercorn (Tesco-55p)
© Diane Sauce (Tesco-55p)
Price Per Portion: £3.59 (at least)
Tag me in your valentine’s day meals!! Look out for next week’s blog post..Friday 12pm!! My best smoothie recipes!
Marbleous Food
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