Budget Meals from around the World: Belgium and the Netherlands
The Low Countries have a quietly excellent tradition of budget cooking. Stamppot, erwtensoep, waterzooi, and stoofvlees are all built from cheap, filling ingredients — potatoes, dried peas, root vegetables, and tough cuts of meat — and they are some of the most comforting dishes in northern Europe.
Key points
- Stamppot — mashed potatoes combined with vegetables — is one of the cheapest complete meals in European cooking
- Erwtensoep, Dutch split pea soup, is thick enough to stand a spoon in and costs almost nothing to make
- Belgian stoofvlees uses cheap braising cuts that become tender and rich after long, slow cooking
- Root vegetables, dried pulses, and potatoes form the backbone of both cuisines
- These are cold-weather dishes designed to be filling, warming, and made from whatever is in the larder
Belgium and the Netherlands do not have the culinary reputation of France or Italy, but their traditional cooking is quietly excellent — and exceptionally good value. Both countries developed their food cultures in a cold, wet climate where the priority was warmth, sustenance, and making the most of what was available. Potatoes, dried peas and beans, root vegetables, and cheap cuts of meat are the building blocks. The dishes are not showy, but they are deeply satisfying in the way that only genuinely cold-weather food can be.
The Dutch stamppot is perhaps the purest expression of Low Countries budget cooking: potatoes mashed together with a vegetable — kale, sauerkraut, endive, or carrot and onion — and served with a smoked sausage or a few strips of bacon. It costs almost nothing, takes less than half an hour, and is one of the most filling meals in European cooking. Erwtensoep, the Dutch split pea soup, is similarly economical: dried split peas simmered with pork and root vegetables until the soup is so thick it sets solid when cold. It is traditionally eaten the day after it is made, when the flavour has deepened.
Belgium adds its own contributions, most notably stoofvlees — a beef and onion stew braised in dark beer that is one of the great cheap braises of Europe. The cut of beef used is deliberately tough and inexpensive; the long, slow cooking in beer and aromatics transforms it into something rich and complex. Served with bread or frites, it is a complete meal for very little money. Here are seven Low Countries budget dishes worth making:
- Stamppot Boerenkool — mashed potato and kale with smoked sausage; the most classic Dutch stamppot and one of the cheapest filling meals in northern Europe
- Erwtensoep — Dutch split pea soup with pork and root vegetables; thick, warming, and better the day after it is made
- Stoofvlees — Belgian beef and onion stew braised in dark beer; a cheap braise that rewards patience with extraordinary depth of flavour
- Hutspot — a Dutch mash of potato, carrot, and onion; simpler than stamppot and made from three of the cheapest vegetables available
- Waterzooi — a Ghent broth-based stew traditionally made with chicken or fish, vegetables, and cream; the budget version uses chicken thighs and skips the cream
- Snert — another name for erwtensoep; a thick pea soup that is a staple of Dutch winter cooking and costs almost nothing per serving
- Zuurkoolstamppot — mashed potato with sauerkraut and bacon; a sharp, hearty stamppot variant that keeps well and reheats beautifully