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Fried rice
Egg fried rice
Around $1 a portion, and it turns leftover rice into the best thing on the table. Cold cooked rice is the point here, not a shortcut: it fries into separate, toasty grains instead of mush. A few eggs, a bag of frozen vegetables, garlic and soy sauce make a skillet for four, and a spoon of chili crisp or a drizzle of sesame oil makes it taste like takeout. Cook a double batch of rice earlier in the week and dinner takes about ten minutes.
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Okonomiyaki
Usually under $1 a pancake, and most of it is cabbage. Shredded cabbage is bound with flour and egg, fried until golden, then finished with a sweet-savory sauce and a zigzag of mayonnaise, so it eats like street food rather than a vegetable side. Add scallions and a little bacon or leftover pork if you have them. One head of cabbage stretches across several dinners, and these pancakes are the most fun way to use it.
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Congee
Roughly 50 cents a bowl before toppings, because a single cup of rice simmered long and slow makes a big pot of silky porridge. Cook it with ginger and a couple of chicken drumsticks and you have a soothing, savory dinner. The toppings are what make it feel lavish: a soft-boiled egg, scallions, a drizzle of soy sauce and sesame oil, crispy shallots or chili oil. It is especially welcome on a cold night or when someone in the house is under the weather.
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Spanish omelette
About $1.20 a portion for a thick wedge of potatoes and onion slow-cooked in olive oil and set with eggs. It tastes far richer than its shopping list: golden outside, soft in the middle, and just as good cold the next day stuffed into a sandwich. The one real expense is the olive oil, and much of it can be strained off and used again. Serve it with a sharp green salad or some roasted peppers and nobody will guess what it cost.
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Shepherd's pie
Cottage pie, the ground beef version
Roughly $2 a portion when it serves six, a pound of ground beef stretched with vegetables and gravy under a thick lid of mashed potato. The browned, crusty top is the part everyone fights over, and the whole dish freezes well in portions, so one evening of cooking covers several dinners. Made with ground lamb instead, it becomes shepherd's pie in the strict sense.
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Carnitas
Pork carnitas tacos
Roughly $1 to $2 a portion of meat, because pork shoulder is a cheap cut that still eats like a celebration. Slow-cook it with orange, garlic and cumin until it falls apart, then crisp the shreds in a hot pan so every taco gets soft and crunchy bits. Warm corn tortillas, chopped onion, cilantro and lime are all it needs. One shoulder feeds a crowd, and the leftovers become burritos or rice bowls later in the week.
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Baked potato
Baked potatoes with proper fillings
Under $2 a portion with broccoli and sharp cheddar, and closer to $1 when the filling is leftovers that need using up. A big russet baked until the skin crackles is a blank canvas: leftover chili, garlicky sautéed greens, tuna with scallions, or sour cream and chives. Bake a whole tray at once and the oven does the work while you sort out the toppings. The secret is a long, hot oven and salted skin, not the microwave.
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Arroz con pollo
About $1.50 a portion, a one-pot dinner where bone-in chicken and rice cook together so the rice soaks up all the juices. Onion, bell pepper, garlic, tomato and cumin give it a sunny color and plenty of flavor, and a handful of frozen peas stirred in at the end finishes it. One pan feeds six, keeps well in the fridge and reheats without drying out, which makes it a strong choice for a busy week.
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Adobo (Filipino dish)
Chicken adobo
Roughly $1 to $1.50 a portion before rice, and one of the most rewarding things to do with cheap bone-in chicken. The meat simmers in soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, bay leaves and black pepper until it is tender and glossy, and the sharp, salty sauce soaks into a heap of plain rice. Thighs and drumsticks suit it best. It tastes even better reheated the next day, so cook once and eat twice.
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Shakshouka
Roughly $1.50 to $2.50 a portion: eggs poached right in a pan of spiced tomato and pepper sauce. One skillet, a can of tomatoes, a few eggs, cumin and paprika give you a dinner that looks like weekend brunch at a café. Crumble over a little feta if the budget stretches, and mop it all up with cheap bread, which is half the pleasure. It scales easily too: add one more egg for each extra person at the table.
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Bibimbap
Roughly $2 to $2.50 a portion, and the best way to turn rice, an egg and a few cheap vegetables into something that looks like a restaurant bowl. Each vegetable gets a quick seasoning on its own, then everything sits over warm rice with a fried egg and a spoonful of gochujang to stir through. Carrots, spinach, bean sprouts and zucchini all keep the cost down, and a little ground beef is optional. A tub of gochujang goes a long way, so the splurge is spread over many bowls.
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