The Best Hints & Tips From the Pinch of Nom Gallery

Since we introduced the Pinch of Nom Gallery to the website, we’ve been obsessed with scrolling through the delicious-looking photos shared by our amazing community. Whether you’re a regular visitor to that corner of the site, or a gallery newbie (welcome!) flicking through the pics is a great way to see which recipes other people are loving right now. 

What you might not have realised is that, along with photos, it’s also a space for you to send in your recipe hints and tips. You lovely lot are so wise and creative, and we love hearing how you switch up our dishes to make them work for you. 

Not only do we hand out SWAG to our favourite submissions, we also feature the best tips on the recipe pages of our website, so keep an eye out when you’re scrolling. To give you a taste of the amazingly helpful hints from the community, we’ve rounded up just a few of them below…

Time-saving tips

We’re big fans of a quick and easy recipe, and it never fails to impress us when you make things even quicker and easier! For a tasty, faff-free lunch, you can’t go wrong with our Curried Creamy Carrot Soup – it’s hearty, low in calories and delicious served with a crusty wholemeal roll. 

Scottish Lynne has discovered a way to make the recipe even more effortless. They say:

“I used my soup maker, just diced up the veg, added it and rest of ingredients (apart from cream cheese) and within 20 minutes added cream cheese and we had a delicious soup.”

For a midweek meal, this Creamy Lemon Chicken always packs a flavour punch. It only takes 40 minutes to make from scratch, although Lynne Smith has figured out a way to make it in even less time! They say:

“I cut the chicken into strips which made it even quicker to make. I added some mixed herbs and served with mash and vegetables. Really tasty.”

We’ll definitely be giving this one a try!

When you fancy comfort food, it’s hard to beat a pie! There’s a lot to love about our take on Cheese, Onion and Potato Pie. As well as being budget-friendly and easy to rustle up, it works out at just 286 calories per serving. 

You’ll get 6 portions out of our recipe, which takes 50 minutes in the oven. If you’re planning to batch cook this recipe, why not follow Kate’s words of wisdom:

“Use a Yorkshire pudding pan to make individual pies. It makes it easier to portion out and gives you lunch or freezing options.”

Keep an eye on your pies if you try this method – they’ll cook more quickly than one big portion. 

If you’ve ever made our Chicken Kebab before, you might know it can be tricky to get the skewers to stand upright. If you haven’t got the knack, don’t stress; you can get all the flavour you’re wanting, even if things don’t go quite to plan.

Take it from Gillian Megary who says;

“I couldn’t get to stand so put it on sidewards on a baking tray: turned out the same. Very tasty and bonus clear plates all around.”

How’s that for hassle-free prep?!

Money-saving tips

Eating well shouldn’t have to cost the earth, so we’re always looking for new ways to save a few pennies in the kitchen. In fact, we’re so passionate about delicious, pocket-friendly food we made a whole book full of it! Pinch of Nom: Budget is out on June 22nd and you can pre-order it right here. 

We love it when we spot money-saving tips from the Pinch of Nom community, just like this handy hint about our Creamy Marmite Chicken. Using simple ingredients, including a few you probably already have in your store cupboard (say hello to that neglected jar of Marmite!), it’s already good for your bank balance. 

Christine M likes to make their version even more thrifty. They say:

“Chicken thigh fillets work very well and are a cheaper alternative to breasts.”

Not only are chicken thighs less expensive, you’ll also find they can be juicier and more flavourful too. It’s worth noting that they’re not as lean as chicken breasts, so you might need to adjust the nutrition information for this recipe, if you’re counting calories or following a diet plan like Weight Watchers. 

In many of our recipes you’ll find that we’re not fussy about what vegetables you add in. It’s the more the merrier when it comes to veggies, and we try to make it easy to adapt the dishes to suit your tastes. 

Using leftover vegetables that you already have in the fridge is a great way to cut costs in the kitchen, and you’ll reduce food waste while you’re at it! That’s a win-win in our books. 

Susan’s version of our Spicy Chicken Noodles doesn’t just use up spare veggies: they’ve also experimented with the seasoning to get it just right for their tastes. They say:

“Any stir fry friendly veg goes. I had some red and green peppers so they went in. I also increased the amount of curry powder, just because I love it!”

Making a fakeaway recipe instead of reaching for the delivery menu is an easy way to save some pennies, and cut out a few calories at the same time. When you need a crispy chicken fix, add our KFC Zinger Burger Fakeway onto your weekend menu. 

Even if you can’t get hold of all the ingredients you need, where there’s a craving, there’s a way! Rosie Evans says: 

“Really fancied a zinger burger for weeks. I went to 6 different shops and all the eggs were sold out! I just added a few extra sprays of low cal spray after the cornflour. Did the trick!”

Tasty tips

Whether it’s putting a spin on the flavour, ramping up the spice or catering for a variety of dietary requirements, our gallery is full of tasty tips! If you’re not sure how to make a particular recipe work for you and your family, why not scroll through and look at what other people have tried?

Breakfast recipes don’t come much more fuss-free than this Breakfast Traybake – and just because our version is a meat feast, it doesn’t mean yours has to be…Kate says: 

“Great with meat free sausages and no medallions for meat free Monday, served with giant baked beans.”

Sounds delicious! Who else is adding this veggie twist to their meal plans next week?

Everyone knows a fussy eater or two. If you’re cooking for someone who can be a little particular, sometimes you have to turn to sneaky tactics if you want clean plates all round. 

We hide all kinds of veggies in our Cajun-Style Dirty Rice recipe – there’s so much flavour going on, no one will even notice! 

Mandy has an extra trick up her sleeve when they make this for dinner. They say:

“Sneaky move.…..My son doesn’t like mushrooms so I grated them for this dish. He was non the wiser! Pssst. Don’t tell him.”

Fiery flavour or mild and mellow? Whichever end of the spice spectrum you prefer your food, it’s so simple to adjust the heat in our recipes to suit your tastes. 

Next time you fancy an Indian-inspired fakeaway night, make sure to put our Chicken Bhuna on the menu. It’s just 221 calories per serving, and on the table in just 40 minutes. More fragrant than fiery, feel free to ramp up the chilli powder if you can handle things spicier!

Stacy Rowe says: 

“We added half medium and half hot curry powder and extra hot chilli powder as we like some heat and it was amazing.”

Who else is feeling brave enough to give this a try?

Got a top tip to share?

We’d love to hear it! Sign up for a website account and start sharing your meals on the Pinch of Nom Gallery. Don’t forget you can also drop any hints into our Facebook group too – there are almost 1 million members in the group who love nothing more than hearing new ideas!

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.