A gastropub chef has revealed his top tips for cooking restaurant quality meals for as little as £1.25 a portion. Alistair Lyddon has cooked with Rosette chefs across the UK, but he is now helping families cook for less.
He wants to help those struggling with nutritious meals on a budget. Alistair has now teamed up with MuscleFood.com to create tasty dishes, good enough for a restaurant, that can be cooked at home.
The 31-year-old from Weston-Super-Mare works 50 hours a week in the kitchen. He also prepares meals for his wife Danielle and their three children.
His love of cooking started as a child, learning with his mum who’s also a chef and now he wants to pass on his tips to help families struggling with the rising cost of living. Alistair was challenged to come up with quality meals on a budget.
His challenge saw him come up with dishes costing as little as £1.25 a portion. This included beef tacos with an apple salad, chicken hotpot with roasted root vegetables and rosemary and garlic roasted sausages with a tomato bean stew and crushed new potatoes.
He says the secret to building every meal is starting with your protein, adding your starch and letting that determine the type of cuisine you’re serving up. Alistair, who works at the Captain's Cabin Bar and Restaurant in Weston-Super-Mare, used a Muscle Food hamper to make his dishes.
He said: “I’ve been planning meals since I was a teenager and love nothing more than getting in the kitchen with a pile of ingredients and coming up with new dishes. The MuscleFood hamper made it very easy for me. I started by looking at all the protein available - so the meat - and picked what I was going to cook with.
“Then I select a starch - so either rice, pasta or potatoes. If I pick pasta, then my dish is likely to be Italian or Mediterranean inspired, if rice then Asian or from South America. If I pick potatoes then it’s more likely to be a traditional British dish with a twist. This is really easy for someone to replicate at home. And it can be done by just checking what you have available in your cupboards, fridge or freezer to keep the cost down.”
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Alastair also revealed his kitchen must haves to help create exciting dishes. He said: “As a chef, I’m lucky to have a huge range of herbs and spices to use but as a home cook, that’s completely unrealistic.
“I have five herbs and spices that are my go to - if you have paprika, cumin, cajun spice, garlic powder and chinese five spice then you can cook up lots of flavoursome dishes. If you don't have these available, then you can always create flavour with salt, pepper and sugar. A bag of potatoes can be livened up with black pepper and turned into black pepper wedges.”
Alistair continued: “With the MuscleFood hamper, my standard spices and some locally bought produce, I was able to cook up lots of restaurant quality meals for pennies. Among them, chicken hot pot with roasted root vegetables which came in at £1.25 per portion, and Tandoori chicken thighs in a mango glaze with spiced cauliflower and vegetable rice at £1.67 per person.
“For those who enjoy beef, tasty beef tacos with an apple salad which works out at £1.39 a portion and beef meatball linguine with arrabiata sauce at £1.59 per person. Other tasty favourites include pork, gammon, butternut squash and apple pie in a cider sauce with spring onion and cheddar mash at £1.44 per person and rosemary and garlic roasted sausages, tomato bean stew and crushed new potatoes costing £1.46 per portion.”
Alistair's top tips for cooking on a budget:
- If you have an airfryer, use it. They require less energy than an oven so you’ll be making savings straight away.
- Shop around - don’t restrict yourself to shopping in just one supermarket. Shop around and take advantage of deals and offers.
- Don’t be afraid to tweak a recipe idea when you’re shopping for ingredients. If you can replace one item with something similar but cheaper, then do it. Those savings will soon add up.
- Speak to local butchers and growers for the affordable cuts and in season fruit and veg. They want your business so don't be afraid to ask for a bit of a deal as well.
- Use your leftovers including meat remains and vegetable peelings. These can all be used to make a stock. Once you have a stock you can use that as a base for soups and stews.
Ashleigh Tosh from MuscleFood.com said: “We love to see the tasty meals customers cook up with our hampers. Alistair has come up with some delicious, restaurant quality suggestions at affordable prices. It’s always worth keeping Alistair’s advice in mind too on how to make savings on food. Making just one small change will help you save money on your food shop.”
