Me & my boyfriend eat nothing but chicken while we're at college. How can we spice up our dinners, & be cheap?

Question

We usually find ourselves trying these god-awful pre-made sauces that never work out well. On a regular day, we do chicken parm, breaded cutlets, salads, or quesdillas. It's driving us mad, we need some more variety!.....Cheap variety, that is.

Answer 1

Garlic Chicken Fried Chicken
INGREDIENTS:
2 teaspoons garlic powder, or to taste
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 cup seasoned bread crumbs
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup milk
1 egg
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - pounded thin
1 cup oil for frying, or as needed
DIRECTIONS:
In a shallow dish, mix together the garlic powder, pepper, salt, paprika, bread crumbs and flour. In a separate dish, whisk together the milk and egg.
Heat the oil in an electric skillet set to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Dip the chicken into the egg and milk, then dredge in the dry ingredients until evenly coated.
Fry chicken in the hot oil for about 5 minutes per side, or until the chicken is cooked through and juices run clear. Remove from the oil with a slotted spatula, and serve.

Chicken Marinade
INGREDIENTS:
1 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon cooking sherry
3 tablespoons brown sugar
3 cloves garlic, crushed
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves

DIRECTIONS:
In a medium bowl, mix soy sauce, vegetable oil, sherry, brown sugar, and garlic. Pour into a large resealable bag. Place chicken in the bag, and shake to coat. Marinate in the refrigerator at least 4 hours.
Preheat an outdoor grill for high heat, and lightly oil grate.
Place chicken on the prepared grill. Cook 6 to 8 minutes on each side, or until no longer pink and juices run clear. Discard remaining marinade.

CHICKEN PICATTA
INGREDIENTS:
4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1 egg
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon paprika
1/4 cup butter
2 teaspoons chicken bouillon powder
1/2 cup boiling water

DIRECTIONS:
In a small bowl, beat the egg together with 1 tablespoon of the lemon juice. Set aside.
In a shallow bowl or dish mix together the flour, garlic powder and paprika. Dip the chicken in the egg/lemon mixture, then in the seasoned flour.
In a large skillet, melt butter/margarine and brown the coated chicken pieces.
Dissolve the bouillon in the boiling water, then add the remaining 2 tablespoons of lemon juice. Pour liquid into skillet. Cover and let simmer for 20 minutes, turning chicken pieces after 10 minutes, until chicken is tender. Garnish as desired and serve.

CHICKEN SUPREME
INGREDIENTS:
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast half - cut into cubes
1 onion, chopped
3/4 cup butter, melted
1 1/3 cups water
6 ounces dry bread stuffing mix
1/4 cup water
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

DIRECTIONS:
In a non-stick skillet over medium heat, cook and stir the chicken and onion until the chicken is no longer pink and juices run clear.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 2 quart casserole dish.
In a medium bowl, blend the melted butter, 1 1/3 cups water, and dry stuffing mix. Place 1/2 the chicken and onion mixture in the prepared dish, and cover with the stuffing mixture. Cover with the remaining chicken mixture. In a small bowl, mix the 1/4 cup water and cream of chicken soup, and pour into the dish. Top with the Cheddar cheese.
Bake 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until bubbly and lightly browned.

Answer 2

1

Answer 3

Just gave this recipe to someone 2 second ago
I love it
Chicken thighs 4 or more
Skinned or not
Marinate in
4 or more garlic cloves(whole,crushed.chopped or grated which I like)
2 to 4 Lemons or Limes or both (juice of) or get the squeeze
bottles from the store
Slice up 4 or more any kind of potatoes
Throw it in a baking dish
let it stand no more than 8 hours
Preheat oven to 350 and cook for 45Min's to an hour
covered with foil after an hour the chicken will fall of the bone

You can get fancy and make a gravy with the juices from the pan after its done (with corn startch and cold water mixed) add to pan over high heat stirring until thick You can add some sliced mushrooms 5 Min's before chicken is done also
Hope you try this!
Be careful Be Good But Have Fun

Answer 4

If you have some way to refrigerate/freeze small amounts, buy ground beef, form into patties and freeze into individual servings. Most grocery stores have a store brand that is much cheaper than name brand canned goods. Buy their brand of fruits and a can will last 2-3 servings for you. Large bags of fruit is cheaper from a curb side or farmers market-and it keeps pretty well. The only thing about the processed foods that most suggested, is it's high in salt and really not healthy. Bake some potatoes, you can do a lot with them also

Answer 5

Try the sites below. There is a book called Chef on a Shoestring that has very budget friendly recipes and many great saving tips. Here are a few more books:
College Cooking 101, by Kenrick Cheong.\

You're Not in Mom's Kitchen Anymore!: College Cooking for the Dorming Gourmet by Garry Pastore. /

The Healthy College Cookbook : Quick. Cheap. Easy. by Alexandra Nimetz, Jason Stanley, Emeline Starr (I had this one in college and still use it today)

P.S. All can be found at amazon.com

Answer 6

Get some rice and beans!!!! And to make red sauces all it take to start is a can of tomatoes and you can add your own flavor. Screw buying the canned stuff. Add what you want. Beans are easier than people think these days. Just ask your grandma or someone who grew up in the depression. Hamburger is worth buying too if you need a change. Get the cheap stuff, all that fat adds flavor and you can cook it out if you don't like all the grease.
Make a big pot of chili (w/dried beans) and you can put that on hot dogs hamburgers or eat it plain. Learn your spices girl!

Answer 7

You guys can try pork (chops, loin, shoulder, etc). It's very inexpensive and tasts VERY GOOD with the right spices -- for instance, I like pork loin with hot cinnamon and rootbeer spiced apples. There are also a lot of things you can do with ground beef. Have you tried stuffed hamburgers? Take ground beef and spread it in a thin round sheet (like a big flat hamburger patty) and place some good (tillamook or land-o-lakes) shredded cheese in the middle. Then, work the raw beef from the outside in, folding each quarter toward the center until you make a hamburger patty with the cheese incased inside (but not MIXED throughout -- all in one place). Then, grill the patties and eat some awesome stuffed burgers! This recipe is good with a chopped bacon/cheese combo too. Don't forget to season lightly with salt & pepper. Enjoy! :)

Answer 8

Make chicken Alfredo!
Cut up chicken breasts into cubes.
Season with salt, pepper and lots of garlic!
Boil noodles. Drain.
When chicken is done add to pan with the drained
noodles. Add 1 stick butter or margarine.
1/2 cup milk. And 1 cup of par meson cheese.
Leave on stove top on med-low for about 10-20 minutes.
Stir frequently! Season again with salt, pepper and lots of garlic
For more flavor! Use shrimp in place of chicken if desired!
I add a salad and garlic bread with this meal!
You can buy day old garlic bread at a deli for 1$.


Some more e-z idea's
Make a grilled chicken breast sandwich!
Add cheese or BBQ sauce.
Maybe Tomato & mayo?
Make a chef salad w/ strips of chicken
Add a large can of cream of mushroom soup
to the top of your chicken in a baking pan,
add veggies if you want (carrots,mushrooms,onions,potato's)
Salt and pepper .
Cover bake at 350 for 45-60 minutes! Really good meal!

Answer 9

I am a professional Chef, and I think that I can help you out. This very easy recipe for chicken ,that I believe you both will love is, CHICKEN ENCHILILADA, the ingredients that you will need are..... 4 chicken breast, 1 package of floured tortillia's, 2 jars of mild or if you prefer hot salsa, 1 package of shredded mexican 3 cheeses, first cut your chicken breast into strips, season with salt and pepper, turn your oven on and place your temperature at 350 degrees. Place skillet on stove on a medium high heat with about 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, and let get hot. place your chicken strips in the oil, and cook on both sides till done . You do not want to over-cook the chicken. TURN DOWN THE STOVE IF NECESSARY. Get a casserole dish and lightly spray the bottom of the dish and sit aside. once your chicken is done pour both jars of salsa in with the chicken and cook for about 10 minutes on a medium low heat. turn off your skillet, spoon some of the salsa sauce on the bottom of the casserole dish, just enough to thinly coat the dish. First make sure that you only use half of this chicken mixture, because you are going to pour the other half on top of your tortillia's once you have placed them in the bottom of your dish. Take 1 flour tortillia hold it in the palm of your hand and put about 2 1/2 tablespoons of the chicken mixture in the middle of the tortillia, and roll like a cigar, but not real tight, you want to make a continuous roll of these, then place in the casserole dish and continue to do this until you have placed enough to cover the bottom of the dish. Then pour the remaining half of your chicken and salsa mixture over the top of your tortillia's covering completely. Pour the bag of shedded cheese over the top of your tortillia's evenly . Take a piece of aluminum foil and spray with cooking oil,wrap the dish tightly. the side which will face your dish so that the cheese will slide off easily, when you are finished cooking Cook this dish for 30 to 35 minutes till the cheese is completely melted, your can serve a salad with this dish and a nice wine like a chardonay, I hope you enjoy this easy dish and use it often, please e-mail me and let me know how things went.

Answer 10

perhap u can try spagetti? it cheap and nice. all u need is one packet of spagetti, onion, mushroom, beef and spagetti sauce S$10.00 (only use 30mins). easy and nice.

1. boil the spag for 20 mins rem to put cooking oil and some salt.
2. then use butter to fried some onion and mushroom.
3. pour the spag sauce and put the beef inside. every is done.
4. when the spag is done, pls pour out all the water but keep the spag in the pot. wash with cold water, and transfer the spag to bowl and out some ice.
5. when serve u have to boil 3 mins with hot water.

u also can keep the spag for 3 day in ur frigzer.