Five dinners for one person, all vegetarian, with an estimated grocery total of $26.49 (range $20.26–$35.13), about $5.30 per serving.
Estimated grocery total
$5.30 per serving · 5 servings
Range $20.26–$35.13
$26.49
✓ Likely under the $40 budget
Likely under means our estimate gives this week at least an 80% chance of staying under $40. The dinners use about $7.05 of the $26.49; the rest is left in opened packs.
Price ranges set using Open Prices data (Open Food Facts, ODbL).
This week's dinners
Price per dinner is the ingredients it uses, per serving.
Counting only the ingredients each dinner uses, the cheapest night is Thursday's Cabbage Okonomiyaki-Style Pancakes, at about $0.74 per serving; the most expensive is Friday's Charred Pepper and Black Bean Tacos with Avocado, at about $2.01. The five dinners use about $7.05 of what you buy; the rest is left in opened packs, the biggest being mayonnaise, rice noodles and peas. Cilantro, lime and carrots go into more than one dinner, along with 9 more items on the list, so you buy them once. The quickest are Esquites-Style Black Beans and Charred Corn with Warm Tortillas and Cabbage and Red Lentil Poriyal-Style Stir-Fry with Peas, ready in about 20 minutes. Fresh food you should still have at the end of the week includes about ¾ of a head of green cabbage, about ¾ of a bag of carrots, 8 large eggs and about ¾ of a pack of corn.
The recipes
Amounts are scaled for one person.
Monday · 20 min · about $1.89 per serving in ingredients used
Esquites-Style Black Beans and Charred Corn with Warm Tortillas
Pan-charred sweetcorn and black beans with garlic, mild chili and lime mayo, spooned into warm soft tortillas.
Prep 8 min · Cook 12 min · Serves 1 · Amounts are scaled for your household.
VegetarianGluten-free (check labels)Dairy-freeKid-friendly
Ingredients
- ¾ cup frozen corn
- 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
- ¼ bunch green onions, thinly sliced, white and green parts kept apart
- ½ (15 oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed
- ½ lime
- ½ oz mayonnaise
- ¼ avocado
- 3 corn tortillas
- ¼ bunch cilantro, chopped
- 1½ tsp vegetable oil
- ¼ tsp chili powder (mild blend)
- salt, to taste
Contains: egg, mustard. Check the label: wheat (gluten). Always read the labels if you cook for someone with an allergy.
Method
- Heat the vegetable oil in a large frying pan on high heat. Add the corn and cook without stirring for 3 minutes, then stir and cook for 3–4 minutes more, until charred in places and steaming hot.
- Add the garlic, the white parts of the green onions and the chili powder and stir for 30 seconds, then add the black beans and 2½ teaspoons of water and cook for 2 minutes until hot. Season with salt and take off the heat.
- Meanwhile, mix the mayonnaise with the juice of 1 lime and cut the other lime into wedges. Halve, stone and slice the avocado.
- Wrap the corn tortillas in a damp tea towel and microwave for 1 minute. Stir the lime mayo through the beans and serve in the warm tortillas with the avocado, the sliced green tops, the cilantro and lime wedges.
Tip: Leave the pan alone for the first few minutes; that is what gives the kernels their charred, smoky edges.
Leftovers: The bean mixture without the mayo keeps in the fridge for 2 days; reheat until piping hot.
Tuesday · 33 min · about $1.36 per serving in ingredients used
Kai Jeow-Style Thai Omelettes with Garlic Rice Noodles
Puffy, crisp-edged Thai omelettes on garlicky rice noodles, with a sweet-sour cucumber and carrot salad.
Prep 8 min · Cook 25 min · Serves 1 · Amounts are scaled for your household.
VegetarianGluten-free (check labels)Dairy-freeKid-friendly
Ingredients
- 2 oz flat rice noodles
- ¼ cucumber, sliced
- 1 oz carrots, cut into thin matchsticks
- ¼ lime
- 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
- ¼ bunch green onions, finely sliced
- 2 large eggs
- ¼ bunch cilantro, to serve
- ¼ tsp sugar
- 2½ tbsp vegetable oil
- 1½ tsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp ketchup, to serve
- salt, to taste
Contains: egg, soy. Check the label: wheat (gluten), celery. Always read the labels if you cook for someone with an allergy.
Method
- Soak the rice noodles in a large bowl of just-boiled water for 6–8 minutes until tender. Meanwhile, toss the cucumber and carrots with the juice of the lime, the sugar and a pinch of salt.
- Heat 1 teaspoon of the vegetable oil in a frying pan on medium heat and cook the garlic for 30 seconds. Drain the noodles, add them to the pan with ¾ teaspoon of the soy sauce and half the green onions and toss for 1–2 minutes until hot. Cover and keep warm off the heat.
- Beat the eggs with the rest of the soy sauce, the rest of the green onions and ¾ teaspoon of water until frothy.
- Heat 1½ teaspoons of oil in a small wok or frying pan on medium-high heat until shimmering. Pour in a quarter of the egg; it will puff up. Cook for 1 minute until golden underneath, flip and cook for 30–60 seconds more until set all the way through. Repeat with the rest of the oil and egg to make 4 omelettes.
- Serve each omelette on a pile of garlic noodles with the cucumber salad, the cilantro and the ketchup for dipping, as Thai families often do.
Tip: The oil must be properly hot before the egg goes in; that is what makes the omelette puff up and crisp at the edges.
Leftovers: Best eaten straight away; the omelettes go soft on standing.
Wednesday · 20 min · about $1.04 per serving in ingredients used
Cabbage and Red Lentil Poriyal-Style Stir-Fry with Peas
A South Indian-style dry stir-fry of cabbage, carrot and peas with turmeric, ginger and tender red lentils.
Prep 10 min · Cook 10 min · Serves 1 · Amounts are scaled for your household.
VegetarianGluten-free (check labels)Dairy-freeKid-friendly
Ingredients
- ¼ cup dried red lentils
- ¼ yellow onion, finely chopped
- 2 tsp fresh ginger, finely grated
- 4 oz green cabbage, finely shredded
- 1 oz carrots, coarsely grated
- ¼ cup frozen peas
- ¼ lime
- ¼ bunch cilantro, chopped
- 2½ tsp vegetable oil
- ¼ tsp ground cumin
- ¼ tsp ground turmeric
- ¼ tsp curry powder (mild)
- salt, to taste
Check the label: wheat (gluten), mustard. Always read the labels if you cook for someone with an allergy.
Method
- Put the kettle on. Rinse the lentils, tip into a saucepan, cover with plenty of just-boiled water and simmer for 7–8 minutes until just tender but still holding their shape. Drain well.
- Meanwhile, heat the vegetable oil in a wok or large frying pan on medium heat and cook the yellow onion for 4 minutes until softening. Add the fresh ginger, ground cumin, turmeric and curry powder and stir for 30 seconds.
- Turn the heat up, add the green cabbage and carrots with a good pinch of salt and stir-fry for 5 minutes until the cabbage is tender with a little bite, adding the peas for the last 2 minutes and cooking until steaming hot.
- Gently fold in the lentils and cook for 1–2 minutes until hot. Squeeze over the juice of half the lime, scatter with the cilantro and serve with the rest of the lime in wedges.
Tip: Drain the lentils as soon as they are tender; a minute too long and they turn to mush instead of staying as soft grains.
Leftovers: Fridge for 3 days; reheat in a pan with a splash of water until piping hot.
Thursday · 27 min · about $0.74 per serving in ingredients used
Cabbage Okonomiyaki-Style Pancakes
Small Japanese-style cabbage and carrot pancakes, pan-fried golden, with a sweet-savoury sauce and mayonnaise.
Prep 13 min · Cook 14 min · Serves 1 · Amounts are scaled for your household.
VegetarianDairy-freeKid-friendly
Ingredients
- 4 oz green cabbage, very finely shredded
- 1 oz carrots, coarsely grated
- ¼ bunch green onions, thinly sliced
- 1 large egg
- ½ oz mayonnaise
- 4 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1½ tsp vegetable oil
- 2½ tsp ketchup
- ¾ tsp soy sauce
- ½ tsp honey
- ¼ tsp sesame seeds, to serve (optional)
- salt, to taste
Contains: wheat (gluten), egg, soy, mustard. Check the label: celery. Optional extras contain sesame. Always read the labels if you cook for someone with an allergy.
Method
- For the sauce, stir together the ketchup, soy sauce and honey.
- Whisk the all-purpose flour, the eggs, 2 tbsp (25 ml) of water and a pinch of salt into a smooth, thick batter. Fold in the green cabbage, carrots and most of the green onions until everything is coated.
- Heat 1 teaspoon of the vegetable oil in a large non-stick frying pan on medium heat. Spoon in half the mixture as 4 mounds and flatten each to about the thickness of your little finger. Cook for 3 minutes a side until golden and set in the middle, with no wet batter when pressed. Keep warm while you cook the rest in the remaining oil.
- Serve two pancakes each, drizzled with the sauce and the mayonnaise, scattered with the rest of the green onions and the sesame seeds if using.
Tip: Shred the cabbage as finely as you can; fine shreds bind into the batter and cook through in the time.
Leftovers: Keeps in the fridge for 2 days; reheat in a frying pan until piping hot.
Friday · 31 min · about $2.01 per serving in ingredients used
Charred Pepper and Black Bean Tacos with Avocado
Blistered peppers, onion and jalapeño with cumin black beans in warm corn tortillas, with avocado.
Prep 10 min · Cook 21 min · Serves 1 · Amounts are scaled for your household.
VegetarianGluten-free (check labels)Dairy-free
Ingredients
- ½ (15 oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed
- ½ bell pepper, red or green, cut into strips
- ¼ yellow onion, thinly sliced
- ¼ jalapeño, thinly sliced
- 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
- 3 corn tortillas
- ½ avocado, sliced, to serve (optional)
- ½ lime
- ¼ bunch cilantro, to serve (optional)
- 1½ tsp vegetable oil
- ¼ tsp ground cumin
- ¼ tsp dried oregano
- ¼ tsp smoked paprika
- salt, to taste
Check the label: wheat (gluten). Always read the labels if you cook for someone with an allergy.
Method
- Heat 1 teaspoon of the vegetable oil in a large frying pan on high heat. Add the bell peppers and yellow onion and cook for 6–7 minutes, stirring only now and then, until soft and blistered in places. Add the jalapeño for the last minute, then tip everything onto a plate and season with salt.
- Lower the heat to medium, add the rest of the oil with the garlic, ground cumin, dried oregano and smoked paprika and stir for 30 seconds. Add the black beans and 1 tablespoon of water and cook for 3–4 minutes, crushing about a third of the beans with the back of a spoon, until thick. Season with salt and a squeeze of lime juice.
- Warm the corn tortillas in a dry frying pan for 30 seconds each side, or wrapped in a clean damp cloth in the microwave for 1 minute, and keep them wrapped.
- Slice the avocado, if using, and squeeze over a little more lime juice.
- Fill the tortillas with the beans, the charred peppers and onion and the avocado, with cilantro if using, and serve with the rest of the lime in wedges.
Tip: Leave the peppers alone in the hot pan for a minute at a time: the charred edges carry the smoky flavour.
Leftovers: The beans and peppers keep in the fridge for 2 days; reheat until piping hot and assemble fresh.
