Budget meals from around the world: Belgium and the Netherlands
Belgium and the Netherlands have a long tradition of comfort meals based on cheap and filling ingredients that are common in northern European cooking.
The Facts
- The Low Countries offer comfort food in a fairly cold and wet climate
- Potatoes, dried peas and beans, root vegetables, and cheap cuts of meat carry the load
- Long slow cooking transforms simple ingredients into complex dishes
Belgium and the Netherlands, sometimes referred to as the Low Countries are not known for ‘haute cuisine’, but they excel at cold-weather dishes that are designed to be filling, warming, and made from whatever is in the larder.
Some of their favourite meals are various ‘stamppots’ (mashed pots), a term that refers to comfort food made by mashing boiled potatoes together with one or more vegetables. Soups are also favourites, especially those based on split peas or beans.
Budget cooks in Belgium and the Netherlands use the same methods as cooks everywhere when dealing with cheaper cuts of meat. They slow-cook them. While French cooks like to use wine as a cooking liquid, those in the Low Countries often prefer beer.
Affordable dishes worth making:
- Stamppot Boerenkool: Mashed potatoes and kale with smoked sausage
- Erwtensoep: Dutch split pea soup with pork and root vegetables, thick and warming
- Stoofvlees: Belgian beef and onion stew braised in dark beer
- Hutspot: Dutch mash of potatoes, carrots, and onions
- Waterzooi: Belgium broth-based stew traditionally made with chicken or fish, vegetables, and cream; the budget version uses chicken thighs and skips the cream
- Zuurkoolstamppot: Mashed potatoes with sauerkraut and bacon
Sources for inspiration:
- Stamppot Boerenkool by Ethnic Foods R Us
- Erwtensoep by Gav's Kitchen
- Stoofvlees by Andréa Janssen
- Hutspot by Mission Food Adventure
- Waterzooi by the spruce Eats
- Snert by allrecipes
- Zuurkoolstamppot by Andréa Janssen