Chicken or Turkey pie

This is a really hearty recipe using cheap ingredients and is always a success here!

Another very cheap and cheerful recipe that easily made four massive portions but would have happily fed 6 very well. I used condensed chicken soup for this but you could also easily make a roux using a little butter, flour, milk and some white pepper, mustard and a little stock for pennies.

I love making the most out of food, but like everyone else, I can get complacent and when really busy my budget can get way off track.

I have a really good store cupboard I’ve added to over the years and replenish with deals and offers. I’m lucky to have a big freezer and double chest freezer too, and as I work strange and long hours sometimes I get a few really good deals on reduced to clear items that are still well in date and have freezer space to accommodate them.

I decided to do a freezer amnesty today though to try and be more effective with the shopping budget, but also to make life easier by getting back to batch cooking so we have lots of meals ready to go and are less likely to do a chippy run🙄.

This is a dinner that cost next to nothing and could easily have stretched to accommodate two pies, with either 6 or 4 servings each with some minor tweaks and the addition of a couple of very cheap ingredients. I’ve enjoyed my day in the kitchen today and meal planning. Hope this helps with ideas.

Turkey and vegetable pie, roast potatoes and veg

I used loads of the turkey and in hindsight should have made two pies, and could have doubled the veg, made a little roux and used extra seasoning as I had extra packs of pastry from my freezer stash. It just shows how far you can stretch leftovers. This pie served 4 with very generous filings, but would easily have done 6 or stretched to two pies by being clever with ingredients.

Ingredients

Turkey – cost from a prior meal and leftover so no cost today. Turkey is quite cheap though and goes really well in a pie and stretches well.
2 large carrots rtc bag – 3p
2 potatoes – 5p
Block of Pastry – rtc – 10p or use https://www.patsfood.org/easy-peasy-pastry/
Stock cube – 4p
1/8th onion finely sliced – negligible
Large tsp mustard – 2p
Dash milk – negligible
Tinned Campbell’s condensed chicken soup – 45p
Half tin sweetcorn – 25p
Salt/pepper/sage/thyme/garlic granules/parsley – negligible from stores

Method

The veg was cut into small chunks. parboiled, turkey chopped, placed into a Pyrex dish and added seasoning, a sprinkle of garlic, sage, thyme, parsley, a large tsp of mustard. Mixed in the tin of soup, and used the can to make up
2/3 can again of hot water, a veg stock cube and a good dash of milk. Mix well, then add a pastry lid and a milk or egg glaze. Bake for around 35-40 mins (200/fan 180/gas 5).
Third bag frozen brocolli – 30p
Bag new potatoes roasted – 59p – parboiled then sprayed with a little oil and sprinkled with salt, pepper and herbs
Gravy granules – 20p
Cost – £2.02 – fed four adults but could have fed 6 and with an extra block of pastry, an extra couple of carrots and potatoes could have easily done two pies for negligible extra cost for the freezer.

https://www.patsfood.org/easy-peasy-pastry/ Pastry recipe here if you have none ready to use.