A mum bought fresh ingredients from Aldi to make a hearty meal for her family of four, and people were gobsmacked at how much she spent while in the supermarket
It can be hard to stick to a budget and also make hearty meals for your family every single day.
You may assume you can’t make anything decent for a low price – but one woman is proving this isn’t the case at all. Jenine Hepworth headed to Aldi to see what she could make for a family of four.
The savvy shopper wanted to spend a fiver in a store – and many couldn’t believe you could make something hearty and tasty for that price. But with a little imagination and a few spices from her cupboard, she made something that looked truly delicious.
In an informative TikTok video, Jenine said: “Let’s go and get the most expensive thing first – and that’s the meat.” She opted for some chicken wings, which set her back just £2.19.
Then, it was time to pick up the additional ingredient. She purchased sweetcorn for £1.29, baby potatoes for 85p and a Cajun chicken shake and bake seasoning for 59p.
Jenine was then ready to go to the till to see how much it had set her back. Impressively, she managed to get all the ingredients for just £4.92.
The frugal foodie returned home, explaining that she was making a Cajun chicken tray bake. Her recipe is suitable for a family of four, working out at around £1.23 per person. So here’s how to do it:
Jenine’s Cajun chicken tray bake recipe
First off, Jenine quartered her corn to make the portions seem bigger. Then, she cut the potatoes, saying: “For the bigger ones, I’m going to cut them in quarters, and with the smaller ones, I’m going to cut those in half”.
Jenine boiled the potatoes until they were “just tender”. Then, she started cutting up the chicken wings, urging people not to throw anything away. Instead of binning the bones, you can “use them for chicken stock”.
Her potatoes were then done. She allowed them to cool and dry, before popping some olive oil and half of the seasoning rub over the chicken wings.
She gave it all a “good mix” and put the potatoes into roasting dishes. Next, Jenine coated the corn in oil and popped it into the oven to roast.
The home cook then added the rest of the seasoning over the ingredients that weren’t chicken, giving everything another good mix to coat the veggies evenly.
Jenine put the chicken in the oven and added some additional seasoning to amp up the flavour. She had some paprika and Old Bay in the cupboard that work really well, but these are optional add-ons.
She also recommends adding a few nobs of butter to really make the chicken sing. These add a “little bit of a sauce as well”, which keeps the meat wonderfully moist.
Jenine then put everything in the oven for 30 to 40 minutes at 180 degrees. You can give everything “a good mix” half way through for best results. Then when everything is cooked through, serve it up.
Final results
After giving the dish a taste test, Jenine rated it a “10 out of 10”. And judging by the comments section, people were equally as impressed.
In the comments, someone wrote: “People creating content that will help people, someone’s eating a nice warm meal tonight due to your help. Bravo”.
Meanwhile, another said: “Looks good. Fed up of seeing budget meals that are all pasta based. This recipe I will definitely try.”
