Cooking advice every home chef needs to know

Cheap meals can be both delicious and nutritious. With this expert advice, you could get the best value for your money, and how to make the most of everything at hand.

Buying everyday ingredients in larger quantities and preparing your own dishes at home is always less expensive than prepackaged smaller portions. Here's some simple recipes that can save you money.

• Salad dressings: Make a basic vinaigrette with three parts olive oil to one part wine vinegar. Then add your own flavours, like mustard, honey, balsamic vinegar, or chopped herbs. Cut the cost by replacing half the olive oil with a cheaper oil, such as canola.
• Granola: Buy large bags of oats and wheat flakes from bulk food or health food shops and add a selection of nuts and dried fruits.
• Rice: Avoid instant boxes with added flavourings, which can cost much more than plain rice, and add your own extras.
• Spice or marinate: Avoid buying meat, chicken or pork that has already been spiced or marinated. It's easy to do this yourself and you'll pay far less.

Make expensive meat and fish go further by mixing them with cheaper ingredients, such as:

• Full of beans: Try replacing half the quantity of ground beef in a shepherd's pie with canned beans.
• Veggie-value: Increase the quantity of vegetables and cut back on the chicken or shrimp in a stir-fry, or make a vegetable-only version.
• Sensible substitution: Tofu is high in protein and much cheaper than meat and poultry. It absorbs the flavours of the food it is cooked with, so make a hearty casserole or stir-fry using cubed tofu.
• New stew: Replace half the beef in your favourite recipe for stew with more diced vegetables such as cauliflower, carrots and sweet or ordinary potatoes.
• Satisfying soups: Inexpensive green and brown lentils keep their shape when cooked. Simmer them in a well-flavoured stock with chunks of carrot and baby onions. If some of the vegetables in the refrigerator crisper are a little less than firm, they are ideal ingredients for a hearty soup.

• Sardines and mackerel make tasty protein-packed breakfast or lunches. Tuna is a favourite for casseroles and cans cost less than a dollar.
• At around a dollar per can, lentils, peas and beans are an inexpensive mainstay for vegetarian dishes.
• Dried legumes work out even cheaper, but the required long cooking time adds to their cost and makes them less convenient.

• Salt shaker: Were you too heavy-handed with the salt when boiling vegetables or making soup or a casserole? Add a couple of peeled, raw potatoes or drain off half the liquid and replace with fresh water or stock.
• Too hot to handle: Is your curry making your eyes water? Stir in some plain yogurt to cool it down and serve as soon as it's ready.
• Longer cooking encourages spicy flavours to develop.

Making delicious meals doesn't have to be expensive. By following this expert advice, you can make tasty and healthy meals your family and wallet will love.