What to Make First from Pinch of Nom: Budget

It’s still blowing our minds that our first-ever paperback cookbook, Pinch of Nom: Budget, has hit the shop shelves! From the looks of our PON Gallery and our Facebook group, you’re already loving the budget-friendly dinners and desserts in this one. 

We’re addicted to scrolling through all of your photos and comments – nothing makes us happier than seeing Budget’s extra-affordable one-pots, pasta dishes, curries, pies, fakeways and puddings going down a storm!

Not got your copy of Pinch of Nom: Budget yet? Don’t worry – you can order yours here!

If you’re not sure what to make first, you’re in the right place. We’ve saved you a flick-through and gathered up Budget recipes you might like to start with, inspired by the dishes our amazing Pinch of Nom community has cooked up so far.

PLEASE keep sharing your latest Budget-based creations in our PON Gallery, Facebook group or over on Instagram. As long as you tag us (@pinchofnom), we’ll see them all! You might even get to take some PON SWAG home… 

I want to start with a Budget dinner

With 50 brand-new dinners and desserts inside ‘Budget’, it won’t be long before you spot something to whet your appetite. Take our Chicken and Chips Pie (pages 94-97) as a mouth-watering example.

A twist on classic pub grub, we’ve said goodbye to pastry and used thick-cut, garlicky chips as our crispy topping instead. A hearty, warming treat, you won’t believe you can tuck into this creamy chicken and mushroom filled pie for just 320 calories per portion!

Have a gander at how delicious Judith Dornan’s plateful looks! This one’s filling all on its own, but a side of steamed veggies is a cracking idea if you’re feeling extra hungry.

When we started Budget, we focused on collecting recipes you’ll turn to time and time again. Cooking up tasty dinners and desserts doesn’t have to break the bank, and you’ll find that we’ve called upon multipurpose ingredients, store-cupboard staples and trusty spice-rack essentials where we can, to help you watch your pennies.

To make the flavour-rich sauce for our Gingered Pork (pages 98-101), you’ll make the most of tinned tomatoes, chopped vegetables, herbs and spices – including punchy ground ginger. 

Combine your ingredients in a pan or slow cooker until your pork is fall-off-the-fork tender. Gem Gem’s portion looks incredible, especially on a bed of veg and fluffy rice!

We know how much our incredible community loves holding their top website recipes in their hands, so we’ve included 25 fan-favourite dishes amongst Budget’s pages too. Our Chilli Meatball Orzo was a hit from the moment we pressed ‘publish’ and it’s cheap and cheerful to make, so including it on pages 44-47 was a no-brainer.

You can expect all the classic mildly-spiced chilli con carne flavours, with the satisfying silkiness of rice-shaped orzo pasta. 

If you’ve officially got a hankering for pasta tonight, look no further than our showstopping Sausage-Stuffed Pasta Shells (pages 86-87). It takes a little bit of effort to spoon the herby sausage mixture into each shell, but once they’re baked in our homemade tomatoey sauce, the payoff is so worth it!

Vicky Harman’s scrumptious-looking serving is proof that you can make yours look every bit as tasty as Budget’s book cover!

Let’s start with a Budget Fakeaway

We all love a takeaway from time to time, but they’re not the most affordable option when it comes to getting a fix of your favourite cuisines. With easy, fusion-inspired wonders like our Chicken Tikka Nachos (pages 78-79) at your fingertips, you’ll be able to keep the whole family happy without putting a strain on your bank account.

Once your nachos are perfectly crisp and oh-so-cheesy, don’t forget to add the mint and coriander yoghurt drizzle to complement your tikka-spiced chicken pieces – just like Kara from our Gallery has!

It’s no secret that we love creating one single recipe from the best parts of two (or more!) delicious dishes, and the proof is in the oven dish with our Mac and Cheese Lasagne (pages 88-89).

Just look at the golden topping on Kirsty’s lasagne! As soon as we spotted it in our Facebook group, we knew what we were cooking for dinner.

When you want a fakeaway without a fuss, a traybake that’s layered up with your favourite flavours is tough to beat. Our Bombay-style Potato and Chicken Traybake (pages 70-71) nestles aromatic, succulent chicken thighs into a bed of fragrant spiced potatoes, chunky veggies and chickpeas.

Even with our indulgent-tasting, Indian-inspired yoghurt marinade, you can serve up a plate that looks as delicious as Sue P’s creation (from our Gallery) for less than 500 calories.

Here at Pinch of Nom, we love transforming luxuriously creamy recipes into lower-calorie crowd-pleasers, and our Mushroom and Spinach Curry (pages 36-37) ticks all of those boxes. To keep our sauce silky and slimming friendly, we’ve combined almond milk with ground almonds for an explosion of nutty goodness.

This veggie-friendly curry is so scrummy and filling, there’s no way your dinner guests will miss the meat – especially if yours tastes as good as Kayley’s looks!

Let’s start with the best bit…Budget sweet treats!

If you’re in the mood to satisfy your sweet tooth, you’ll want to flip straight to Budget’s ‘Desserts’ chapter (it starts on page 150). There’s a good chance our Biscoff Banana Bread (pages 152-153) will catch your eye while you’re flicking through.

Made with a short list of simple ingredients, this easy-peasy chocolate chip topped loaf will give sorry-looking bananas from your fruit bowl a new lease of life.

It’s a fact that you can never have too much Biscoff, so we’ve topped our caramelised biscuit flavoured sponge with a drizzle of melted Biscoff spread right before serving. Just imagine a slice of Lorna’s Biscoff loaf with a cuppa!

From a glance at Claire’s stunning batch of Raspberry Cookie Brownies (pages 180-181), you’d never guess they come in at less than 130 calories each. 

A chocolate brownie inspired delight, we’ve sprinkled milk chocolate chunks, crumbled biscuits and raspberry pieces on top before baking them to squidgy perfection.

If you fancy tasting a blast from the past, our Sprinkle Sponge (pages 196-197) is the recipe to start with. Inspired by puddings from school dinner days, we’ve topped airy sponge squares with a nostalgic drizzle of icing and hundreds and thousands.

To keep things slimming friendly without spoiling the fun, we’ve replaced half of the sugar in our recipe with sweetener. You’d never know it looking at Laura’s bright and colourful sponge in our Gallery!

A combination of two winning flavours, you really can’t go wrong with our Peanut Butter and Chocolate Mousse (pages 190-193). Even if you’re feeling full after dinner, something tells us you’ll always be able to find room for this silky, nutty, chocolatey mousse.

You might notice that these decadent little mousse pots are highlighted with a ‘Super Saver’ sticker – if you spot this in Budget, that means the recipe you’re looking at is one of the best-value dishes in the whole book. Need we say more?

Are you ready to cook the Nom you love, for less?

When you cook up your first recipe from Pinch of Nom: Budget, please share it in our Facebook group (and don’t forget to tag us!). We never get bored of seeing your posts and there’ll be almost 1 million other lovely members waiting to support you on your slimming journey.

If you want to see what everyone else is cooking first from Budget, you can also take a scroll through our glorious Gallery. You’ll need to sign up to a free website account to upload and share your photos (it’s super easy, we’ve got a step-by-step guide you can follow here!).

And, if you liked this article, you’ll love exploring our blog. Browse for recipe ideas, kitchen equipment recommendations, money-saving tips and LOADS more.