Budget meals from around the world: Great Britain and Ireland
British and Irish working-class cooking brings us a wide range of excellent meals that can be prepared on a small budget. They are built from the cheapest possible ingredients, and some of them are among the most satisfying low-cost meals.
The Facts
- Many British recipes originated from stark poverty
- The meals are resourceful, filling, and built around a handful of cheap ingredients
- Well-known British dishes are not glamorous, but satisfying and of extraordinarily good value
The industrial cities of England, the mining valleys of Wales, and the crofting communities of Scotland and Ireland survived on Pease pudding, bubble and squeak, Welsh rarebit, Scotch broth, beans on toast, and colcannon. All are built from the cheapest possible ingredients.
Potatoes did a lot of heavy lifting. Combined with small amounts of bacon drippings or butter, they supplied the vital nutrients that kept working families alive under severe economic constraints. As a main source of Vitamin C, they kept scurvy at bay. With meat in short supply, grains and pulses were the main protein sources.
British dishes worth trying:
- Beans on Toast: Ready in minutes this is one of the most nutritionally complete hot meals. Baked beans on a slice of wholegrain toast provide protein and fibre for very little money.
- Bubble and Squeak: A satisfying and tasty no-waste, no-cost meal, made from leftover boiled potatoes and cabbage, pan- fried until crisp on the outside and soft within.
- Scotch Broth: A thick soup of pearl barley, split peas, root vegetables, and cheap lamb
- Welsh Rarebit: A mustardy cheese sauce grilled over toast that transforms stale bread and cheap cheese into something genuinely delicious
- Pease Pudding: A thick purée of split yellow peas cooked with ham
- Cullen Skink: Smoked haddock and potato soup, made from two of the cheapest ingredients in the Scottish kitchen
- Stovies: A Scottish one-pot dish of potatoes slow-cooked with onions and leftover meat drippings
- Colcannon: Potatoes, kale, and green onions are mashed with butter into a creamy potato cloud
Sources for inspiration:
- Beans on Toast by pathculture
- Bubble and Squeak by Taming Twins
- Scotch Broth by Daring Gourmet
- Welsh Rarebit by The Rare Welsh Bit
- Pease Pudding by CULINARY GINGER
- Cullen Skink by the spruce Eats
- Stovies by Scottish SCRAN
- Colcannon by CULINARY GINGER