Great deals on great meals - every day!

Quick & Easy Mid-Week Meals

The following recipe ideas have been submitted by MealSavers.co.uk readers for some of their best ideas for quick and easy mid-week family meals.

Lasagne

Tinned spinach

Boursin cheese

Mushrooms

Pasta

Make sauce with Boursin cheese, milk and cheese.
Mix spinach with mixed herbs.
Layer spinach and cheese sauce, finish with parmesan cheese.

Cook in oven at 180˚ for 30-40 mins.

-With thanks to Marilyn.

Gnocchi with spinach, mushrooms and mascapone cheese

Fry up mushrooms, add tin of tomatoes when boiling add spinach.
Meanwhile cook the gnocchi.
Put together in oven-proof dish, add Mascarpone put under hot grill until bubbling.

-With thanks to Sarah.

My Gran’s Lancashire hotpot

Tin corned beef

4 potatoes

2 onions

Slice and layer all ingedients.
Add water, cover and shove in oven (medium) for approx 2 hours-covered.
Uncover for last 30 mins, season to taste and serve with any veg.
- probably circa 1941

-With thanks to Margaret

Cheesy Bacon Pasta Bake

450g Penne Pasta

2 Large Leeks, washed and sliced

5-6 Medium Mushrooms, sliced

6 Rashers Bacon

1 500g tub Cheese Sauce

50g Cheese, grated

Preheat oven to 190C.
Cook pasta, add sliced leeks to pan 2 mins before end of cooking time.
Fry bacon and mushrooms until golden and set aside.
Drain pasta and leeks then return to saucepan.
Add cheese sauce, bacon and mushrooms.
Season with salt and pepper, stir and spoon into ovenproof baking dish.
Sprinkle with grated cheese and bake for 20 mins until golden and bubbling.

-With thanks to Gemma

Corned Beef, Hash and Beans

Potatoes

1/2lb corned beef

1/4 lb grated cheese

1 tin baked beans

Boil and mash the potatoes and as mashing add corned beef. Put into large dish top with grated cheese and either put under grill for a few minutes or into a hot oven.

-With thanks to Barry

Tuna Pasta

2 x 185g tins tuna drained

Any kind of pasta

White sauce (homemade or packet)

Cheese

Frozen green beans

Basil and Oregano

Cook pasta according to instructions, drain and place in large oven-proof dish.
Make up the white sauce and pour over.
Mix in the herbs and tuna. Sprinkle grated cheese on top and bake for 30 mins at 180 degrees.
We often have homemade garlic bread with it.

-With thanks to Jacqueline

Cowboy Hash & Mash

1 bag of Quorn Mince

1 Onion

1 tin of Lentil Soup

Small tin Sweet-corn

1 tin Baked Beans

Fry onion, add soup & Quorn, bring to the boil, simmer for 20 minutes.
Add tin of sweet-corn + beans, heat through.
Serve with mash and a vegetable if liked.

-With thanks to Julie

Corned Beef Hash yumm!!

Corned beef 2x tins

Peas

2 tins of beans

Whatever you have left over… mushrooms, onions

Throw all in a pan and cook for 10 mins.
Meanwhile boil potatoes, mash.
Put hash into oven-proof dish, mash potatoes on top, sprinkle some cheese or bread crumbs.
Into oven for 10 mins.
Easy!!

-With thanks to Katy

Spaghetti Bolognese

2 tbsp vegetable oil

3 medium onions, finely chopped

200 g (7 oz) pack smoked back bacon, diced

3 cloves garlic, crushed

1 kg (4 1/2 cups) 35 oz frozen beef mince

250 g (2 cups) 9 oz button mushrooms, sliced

400 ml (14 fl oz ) red wine

750 g (1 3/4 lb) jar of passatta (alternatively use 2 x 400 g (14 oz) can chopped tomatoes)

250 ml (9 fl oz) beef stock (either fresh or made up from a stock cube)

1 tbsp thyme, finely chopped

4 tbsp tomato puree

salt and freshly ground black pepper

10 g (1/4 oz) finely chopped basil

10 g (1/4 oz) finely chopped parsley

1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan and gently fry the onions, bacon and garlic for 5 minutes.
2. Add the mince and cook until brown, this will take about 5 minutes.
3. Add the mushrooms, red wine, chopped tomatoes, passatta, stock, thyme and tomato puree. Bring to the boil. Season, reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes.
4. Add the basil and parsley. Serve with parmesan cheese and cooked spaghetti

-With thanks to Gayle

Quorn Bolognese

1x pkt of Quorn mince

1x tin chopped tomatoes

Tomato puree

Jar of Italian herbs

Chopped onion

Crushed garlic

Chopped button mushrooms (4oz)

Frylight olive oil spray

Spray a large pan with frylight spray and add onion and garlic and fry until clear and cooked.
Add quorn mince and fry for 2 minutes, then add mushrooms, cook for a further 2 minutes.
Add tinned tomatoes, 1 tbn tomato puree and 1 teaspoon of herbs and bring to the boil,
Turn down to a simmer and leave to bubble up to a nice thick sauce for 20 minutes.
Meanwhile measure out required amount of dried spaghetti and cook for time required.
Serve sauce on top of spaghetti with either grated strong cheddar on top or parmesan.
This is a really cheap, filling and low fat family favourite!

-With thanks to Elisabeth

Mushroom Stroganoff

500g Basmati rice

500g mixed mushrooms

1 chopped onion

2 sliced gherkins

10g paprika

250g double cream

Seasoning

Cook rice
Sweat off onions
Add mushrooms
Stir in paprika
Add gherkins
Add cream and reduce
Season and serve

-With thanks to Karen

Penne Arrabiatta

2 cloves of Garlic (crushed)

One Large Onion (roughly chopped)

Three to Four Bell Peppers (chopped as per onion)

Mushrooms 4 or 5 closed cup (sliced fairly thickly)

500g Mince (We use Turkey for less points and cost but you can use Beef)

Tin of Sweetcorn (small if you are weight watching)

Passata

Basil Oregano (fresh is best)

Dried Chilli Flakes (or Paprika or Cayenne Pepper, Stock Cube (optional)

Low Fat Garlic Bread Baguette

1. Use medium heat and fry Onions and Garlic with a little One Cal Spray into pan only soften a little.
2. Add meat and stock cube if desired and a pinch of chilli flakes to let flavour infuse in the meat brown meat lightly. keep stirring to avoid burning
3. Add Peppers and Mushrooms to soften a little. Again keep stirring maybe add a little more oil if neccesary (one Cal)
4. Now add Passata you could use Tin Tomatoes.
5. Once sauce starts to bubble put on low heat/simmer add another pinch of Chilli (taste to suit) and add Basil and Oregano and put lid on .
6. After 15 mins add sweetcorn and cook Pasta. Put in Garlic Bread to pre-heated oven (Taste sauce to test heat from chilli add more if neccesary).
7. Once Pasta cooked transfer both Pasta and Meat to bowls for Family to serve itself at the table.

-With thanks to Gavin

Simply Sweet Jackets

For two people;

Two sweet potatoes

250g Philidelphia soft cheese

2 tbs sweetcorn

1 red pepper, diced

4oz button muchrooms, fried till soft and brown

Bake potatoes in their jackets, until soft to yield to a knife. Slice open, fill with mushrooms, top with soft cheese and sprinkle on sweetcorn and chopped pepper.

A healthy lunch or teatime snack

-With thanks to Sara

Speedy Salmon and Leek One Pot.

2 leeks sliced

3 tbs Olive Oil

2 tbs Wholegrain Mustard

2 tbs Clear Honey

Juice 1/2 lemon

250 pack cherry Tomatoes

4 skinless Salmon Fillets

1. Put leeks in large microwavable dish and sprinkle over 2 tbs water cover with cling film and pierce twice with a fork and cook at 850w for 3 mins. Leave to stand for 1 min.
2. Whisk oil, mustard, honey and lemon together and season with salt and pepper to make a dressing. Scatter tomatoes on top of leeks and spoon over 1/2 the dressing.
3. Lay salmon fillets side by side on the vegs and spoon the remaining dressing over the top. Replace cling film and cook 9 mins again. Leave to stand for 2 mins and serve.

-With thanks to Gwen

Lazy Man’s Cabbage Rolls

Ingredients:

1 medium head cabbage

1 cup instant rice

1-2 lb. ground beef (turkey or chicken)

1 large onion

Salt and pepper to taste

6 ounce can tomato sauce

Directions:
Core the cabbage, and remove outer leaves, Separate the leaves and boil the cabbage until partially transparent. Drain, set aside
Cook the rice according to the package directions.
Brown meat and onions and season to taste with salt and pepper. Add cooked rice and mix to combine.
Layer in a casserole: starting with a layer of cabbage, top with meat mixture. Then top meat mixture with remaining cabbage. Pour the tomato sauce over entire casserole. Bake at 350 degrees for 1/2 hour
serves 4-6

-With thanks to Francisca

Spicy Meatballs

Mould mince into balls put in fry-pan, add chopped onion cook till brown.
Add tin tomatoes – chopped, teaspoon of mixed herbs, a squirt of tomato puree, a grated carrot and a red pepper and a yellow one if you like.
Simmer until cooked – about 30 mins.
After 20 mins, cook some pasta – when cooked, drain & serve on plates.
Spoon sauce on.
Serves 4

-With thanks to Samantha

Quorn stir fry

Create a very easy, healthy and quick vegetarian stir fry using Quorn.
Fry some Chicken Style pieces in a wok with olive oil.
Chop fresh veg of your choice (I love onions, carrots, red peppers and sweencorn)and throw them in!
Add soy sauce and a little honey to taste.
Serve with boiled rice.

-With thanks to Lucy

Pigs in Blankets

Take as many sausages as needed to feed your family.
Use a rolling pin and roll flat a slice of bread for each sausage, having cut off the crusts. Butter it and roll it around the sausage, butter side out.
Bake in the oven until golden brown and serve with lashings of sauce.
Save the crusts for toasting tommorrow with soup.

-With thanks to Ellen

Bacon and pasta

Fry one chopped onion and three cloves garlic until golden. Add several rashers of finely chopped bacon (smoked or not doesn’t matter). Fry until bacon fat begins to crisp slightly. Add one tin of tomatoes, fresh or dried herbs to taste (basil is the best to bring out the tomatoes flavour. A handful of fresh leaves chopped or a small teaspoon of dried basil does it for me) turn heat to low and simmer until sauce begins to thicken.

Tip sauce over cooked spaghetti or fettuccine and serve with baguette and salad.

-With thanks to Esther

Chicken Tarragon

Fry some onions in a big pot. Cover slices of chicken in flour.
Add to the pan whilst adding water and white wine until chicken is covered then when it starts to go thick, add Tarragon, Basil, Italian seasoning and peppers.
Mix, then add Dijon mustard and mix. Then add double cream until thick. Leave to simmer for five minutes and serve.

-With thanks to Lynnette

Chicken, Vegetable and Lemongrass Thai Style with rice

4 chicken quarters

2 large bunches of brocolli

2 large Onion

6 cloves of garlic

3 teasp. ginger

Sweet chilli sauce

3 tablespoons lemongrass

Place the chicken and garlic in tin foil and place 4 of the garlic cloves under the skin of the chicken and cut chop the onions. Roast at 375 for 45 minutes.

Take the broccoli and chop into small bunches. Sprinkle with lemon grass, add the rest of the garlic and a sprinkle of ginger, and cook in microwave until crispy to taste.

Serve with boiled rice, or egg fried rice with onions, sweet chilli dip and a side salad.

-With thanks to Catherine

Quick pasta pot

Boil some pasta till just done – we like Conchiglie (shells) but any will do.
Fry an onion (chopped), a red pepper (chopped), a pack of mushrooms (chopped), and a smoked sausage (yup, chopped).
Add a can of chopped tomatoes with garlic, a good squirt of tomato puree and a touch of chilli powder if liked – simmer until pasta is cooked then mix all together.
Serve sprinkled with grated cheese and garlic bread or nice crusty bread and butter.

-With thanks to Michelle

Bubble and Squeak

Cold mashed potato left over from previous days meal
Cold cooked cabbage left over from previous days meal

Combine the mixture in a glass bowl adding one raw egg mix thoroughly then transfer to a well oiled frying pan heat gently until it is warmed through once the underside is brown flip the mixture over and brown the other side.
Serve with dollops of tomato sauce for a quick, nutritious and very cheap mid week meal.

-With thanks to Helen

Mushroom Stroganoff

Chop up an onion and lightly fry in butter. Slice a punnet of mushrooms and add, again frying lightly. To this add a little paprika, one Oxo cube, dissolved in half a pint of water and 2 tablespoons of brandy (adjust to taste).
After a couple of minutes, add creme fraiche, normal or light, then thicken with cornflour, made up with water.
Serve with Tagliatelle.

-With thanks to Nan

Sausage Casserole

Fresh diced/chopped veg, carrots, swede, onions

New potatoes

Sausages

Boil veg and potatoes. Cook the sausages then slice them up.
Add them all to a casserole dish, add some gravy and mix together.
Serve with Yorkshire puddings.

Quick, cheap & easy recipe that feeds the whole family (5 in ours!)

-With thanks to Christine

Crispy Tortilenchilada’s!

2 breasts of chicken, (cut into strips) – bake at 180 c for 10mins.
1 tin of tomatoes, a splash of chilli sauce, 2 spring onions (sliced) 1 garlic clove (grated) boil in a pan for 5mins, add brown sugar – boil for 2 further mins.
4 tortilla wraps, layer your chicken and tomato sauce (save some) over the wrap and er…wrap into a cigar shape, add a little tomato sauce over the wraps, crush a handful of tortillas, then grate some cheese over the top, serve with salad, creme fraiche and avocado. Good protein in chicken, calcium in creme fraiche, healthy tomatoes and onion and garlic, good fat from avocado and protein from cheese, a bit of carbs and there you have a great meal that kids love to make.

-With thanks to Cameron

Meatball Burgers Spaghetti

4 Beefburgers cut into 4, roll each quarter into ball (kids love to do this).
Fry with a little oil, add tin fresh tomatoes, garlic, onions and mushrooms. Cook approx 20 mins while pasta is cooking and serve both together. Accompanied with garlic bread.
Lovely and quick and cheap meal.

-With thanks to Chris