• K_Simpz on January 14, 2022

  When I was a skint student this book was my bible. The recipes are easy as well, so it would be a great gift for a young person moving away from home for the first time.

• Skardebourg on July 23, 2017

  This book is such a lifeline when times get financially tricky. Healthy, simple, filling food with recommendations for how to get the most out of your ingredients.

Notes about Recipes in this book

• Tomato and haricot bean soup

  • sharifah on April 20, 2014

    This was nice - relatively quick and easy to make with ingredients that you would normally have to hand. I used beef stock cube for the beef stock.

• Soda bread

  • et12 on May 17, 2023

    I should have read the previous comment before baking as I too felt this lacked salt. Otherwise an alright recipe for sofa bread.

  • Ro_ on January 24, 2021

    Gave a nice texture, but this was sorely lacking salt meaning it tasted bland.

• Smoky red lentil burgers

  • et12 on September 06, 2023

    I thought these were just ok. They didn’t hold very well for me and the recipe doesn’t include seasoning which is needed. Definitely recommend serving with a sauce.

  • Ro_ on January 28, 2021

    I was quite impressed with these, particularly the texture. I sprinkled with a little flour before frying, and they came out with a lovely golden crispy exterior, and held together very well - much better than I had anticipated. The taste was also good, though they were a little too "smoky" for my taste - I think I'd add a bit less paprika next time, and don't forget a good whack of salt.

• Earthy red wine and mushroom risotto

  • et12 on July 22, 2023

    Was easy to use up left over veg from the fridge. Added extra depth with Henderson’s relish and seasoned with lemon juice.overall a good dish

• Mushroom chasseur

  • Ro_ on June 09, 2020

    I didn't have quite enough mushrooms, so I added some bacon lardons and carrot that needed using up. This made a tasty dish, and was very handy for a mostly storecupboard meal that could incorporate lots of bits of veg that you might have hanging around. I served with a baked potato and some grated cheese.

• Garlic, herb and lemon bread

  • Ro_ on February 02, 2020

    This was a failure on all fronts. I thought when kneading that it was a very dry mix, so added some more water. It proved/inflated well enough and looked good when it came out of the oven. But in terms of taste and texture it really wasn't good. Very dry and close textured. And tasted overwhelmingly acidic, I couldn't have even pegged it as lemony, just acidic. The garlic and parsley were totally lost, and it was crying out for some salt (none indicated in the recipe). Will definitely not make again.

• Penny pizzas

  • Ro_ on December 26, 2020

    I had pesto, mozarella and cherry tomatoes to use up, so wanted to make some kind of snacky thing to have with drinks on Christmas Eve, and I came across this simple pizza dough recipe so decided to give it a go. It was pretty simple to do, though I have to say my dough was not of rolling consistency so I just used my hands to shape the dough into rounds and press it down onto a foiled baking sheet. I was a bit worried that it would be very soggy or not cook through with all the toppings, but actually it came out pretty well - it was soft but definitely cooked and aerated, and it held together fine. This is a really handy dough recipe to have on hand to make mini pizzas to finish up leftover scraps in the fridge, and I'll use it again.

• Carrot, cumin and kidney bean burgers

  • Ro_ on December 03, 2020

    A very nice veggie burger recipe, and very simple to do. I followed the quantities in the recipe but made two larger burgers rather than four small ones. Added some cheese and ketchup to serve. Only issue is that while I got the patties quite nice and crispy on the outside, the inside was still quite mushy so as you bite into the burger it tends to ooze out at the sides a bit, but only a minor complaint. I think these would be nice with a kick of something spicy too, I might add some chopped chilli if I did these again.

• Gigantes plaki

  • Ro_ on September 17, 2020

    I liked the cinnamon in this, it gave it an interesting edge. However I think maybe I'm just not a huge fan of butter beans compared to other types of bean, so I probably wouldn't make this again.

• Diet-Coke chicken

  • Ro_ on February 02, 2021

    I actually used less diet coke than the recipe said (since I only had a slightly smaller can) and six chicken thighs instead of 4. For some reason, this still came out incredibly liquidy, much more so than I would have guessed from the book photo. I ended up taking the chicken off the bone and serving with bread rolls for a kind of pulled chicken sandwich. Ironically I am a total diet coke addict, but I didn't really love this dish - it was too sweet for my taste.

• Mushroom and spinach pasta

  • Ro_ on December 22, 2020

    I followed the recipe but added a bit of lemon zest. This was a nice dish in terms of flavours, but it was missing something...I think maybe some creme fraiche or possibly cream cheese to kind of make it a bit silky and give it all a lift?

• Car-Brie-nara

  • Ro_ on December 12, 2020

    A nice alternative to a traditional carbonara. I think it needs more brie though, I found that the flavour of the brie didn't come through enough. Next time I'd add less cream/yoghurt and more cheese I think.

• Creamy salmon pasta with a chilli lemon kick

  • Ro_ on September 15, 2020

    I thought this was a nice, simple pasta dish but my partner complained that the chilli drowned out some of the salmon's delicate flavour, and I suppose he might be right. If I made it again I'd probably use less chilli and maybe add some capers.

• The Telegraph

  Most will be familiar to anyone whose parents grew up during the war – leftovers prevail – but there are surprises such as Spanish chicken, baba ghanoush, chickpea falafels and ‘not meatballs’...

  Full review

• Great British Chefs

  ...some will take solace – and hope - from its ballsy, “make do and mend” attitude to being hard-up, while others will simply rip out a few of the accessible recipes to keep for their scrapbook.

  Full review