5 Food Swaps For When Your Favourite Food Is Too Expensive

When payday feels like forever away, the first things we skip at the supermarket are those ingredients we think of as being pricey. These are, according to sod’s law, often the most tasty.

But substituting expensive ingredients for cheaper alternatives means we can still satisfy our favourite food cravings even when we are super skint (woo, steak!).

Here are 5 dead simple ingredient swaps you can make so you don’t loose out with 5 easy recipes using them.

SWAP ONE - Instead of chicken breasts, use chicken thighs

Chicken thighs are loads cheaper than chicken breasts but are basically way better anyway. They are juicier, way more forgiving to cook and have bags more flavour.

Use skinless boneless thighs as you would chicken breasts in curries, pasta sauces and other dishes. But to maximise the savings, buy those with the skin on and bone in. The bones and skin can be easily removed with a little knife trickery but they add loads of extra flavour to your dishes so try keeping them in.

Moroccan Chicken Thighs with Fennel and Lemon

Serves 2

4 chicken thighs

1 tablespoon of ras el hanout - a north african spice blend available

from Waitrose, keeps for ages in your cupboard

2 onions, sliced

1 bulb of fennel, cut into quarters

1 lemon, cut into quarters

4 cloves of garlic

Handful of chopped parsley

Bottle of white wine, 1 glass for cooking, rest for drinking

SWAP TWO - Instead of shelled prawns, choose jarred cockles

Prawns are expensive. De-shelled ready to eat prawns are super expensive. A cheap and tasty alternative is jarred cockles. I know this sounds a bit weird and gross, but they are actually a ridiculously cheap way of eating fish. The Portuguese love them. These jars keep for ages in your cupboard and can be kept on standby for a quick and easy replacement for pricey prawns.

Spaghetti kinda Vongole

Serves 2

2 portions of spaghetti. Only you can judge the correct amount for you. I use loads.

3 cloves of garlic, crushed using the flat side of a knife then finely chopped

Knob of butter

Glass of white wine

1 jar of cockles (find them by the tinned tuna)

½ lemon

Chilli flakes

Handful of chopped parsley

Note: Purists will probably shudder at the use of cockles in a Vongole but I don’t care. Just don’t cook this for an Italian pal.

**SWAP THREE - Instead of sirloin steak, choose sandwich or frying steak **

If you are having a straight up steak and chips meal, you should opt for the best cut of meat you can get, but this is obvs too pricey to do regularly. Cheaper steak cuts such as sandwich or frying steak can satisfy your meaty cravings (ew) at a fraction of the cost of a proper, solo steak.

These cuts can be used in loads of different ways and taste especially amazing when marinated, quickly fried in a very hot pan then left to rest. Plus, a little goes a long way. Buy a big pack, cut each steak into strips and put into separate sandwich bags with a splash of soy sauce, a pinch of five spice and a dollop of honey. Chuck the bags in the freezer to have on standby to add to noodle soups and stir-frys.

Easy Thai Beef Salad

Serves 2

2 slices of sandwich steak cut into strips

2 tablespoons of soy sauce

2 nests of rice noodles

Toasted seeds

For the dressing

1 clove of garlic, crushed using the flat side of a knife then finely chopped

1 tablespoon of fish sauce

1 teaspoon of sugar

Juice of 1 lime

1 tablespoon of sesame oil

Pinch of chilli flakes

For the salad

Half a cucumber cut up into matchsticks

1 carrot cut up into matchsticks

Handful of spinach leaves

Handful of cherry tomatoes, halved

3 spring onions cut into rounds

Handful of coriander chopped

**SWAP FOUR - Instead of fresh peppers, jarred peppers **

Just looking at a jar of marinated peppers you can see how many are crammed in there. They are way better value than buying fresh and are a ridiculously versatile ingredient. They can be added to pretty much anything fresh peppers can such as pasta sauces, salads and sandwiches. Plus, the marinating process gives them a punchy flavour that is srsly addictive.

Red Pepper and Mozzarella on Rye

Serves 1 -a really easy lunch to prepare in your work kitchen

1 red pepper from a jar, cut into strips

Half a ball of mozzarella, torn up

Handful of rocket

Slice of rye bread

**SWAP FIVE - Instead of salmon fillets….use smoked salmon trimmings **

Smoked salmon can be used for way more things than just topping bagels. Start using it in your cooking instead of expensive solo packaged salmon fillets. Opting for the trimmings is a great way to maximise savings. They don't look as pretty as the whole slices but are just as flavourful and are an easy, no cook way to add extra protein into your meals.

Creamy Salmon Courgetti

Serves 2

1 pack of salmon trimmings

2 courgettes

1 clove of garlic finely chopped

2 tablespoons of creme fraiche

Handful of cherry tomatoes

1 lemon

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Follow Izzy on Twitter @IsabelCollinson

This article originally appeared on The Debrief.