25 Cheap British Rice Dinners for Seniors Living Alone That Cost Pennies

Presenter / Channel

Not stated in the subtitles. Video title suggests a channel making budget meal lists: “25 Cheap British Rice Dinners for Seniors Living Alone That Cost Pennies.”

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Core Ingredient (Theme)

• Rice: Mentions “a bag of rice” and “mug of rice” as a loose measure (exact type/amount varies by recipe).
• Cost-saving cupboard basics repeatedly referenced in subtitles:
  • Onion
  • Butter / oil
  • Stock powder / cubes
  • Tinned items (e.g., tomatoes, beans, fish)

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Step-by-step Cooking Methods (By Recipe)

25) Buttered Onion Rice

Ingredients (approx. quantities)

• 1 onion
• Butter (a knob)
• 1 mug rice
• Boiling water: twice the volume of the rice
• Black pepper (crack of pepper)

Method

1. Soften onion in a knob of butter until soft and golden.
2. Stir in rice; pour over twice-as-much boiling water.
3. Lid on; turn heat right down; cook 12 minutes.
4. Serve with pepper on top.

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24) Egg Fried Rice (Day-After Fried Rice)

Ingredients

• Cold cooked rice (leftover)
• Oil (splash)
• 1 egg
• Frozen peas (handful)
• Soy (shake) or salt

Method

1. Heat oil; push rice about so it sizzles (emphasis: use cold rice).
2. Crack in 1 egg and stir quickly so egg coats grains.
3. Add peas early so they cook through.
4. Season with soy or salt.

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23) Tinned Tomato Rice (When the Fridge Is Empty)

Ingredients

• Onion (little onion)
• Tinned tomatoes (about half a tin)
• Water: half a tin
• Rice: 1 mug
• Sugar (pinch)
• Optional: cheese (for reheating)

Method

1. Fry a little onion.
2. Tip in tomatoes and add half a tin of water plus mug of rice.
3. Bubble gently until rice drinks it all up and turns soft/rosy.
4. Add a pinch of sugar to cut sharpness.
5. Eat half; refrigerate rest—reheats well with cheese melted through.

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22) Curried Sultana Rice

Ingredients

• Onion (soften)
• Curry powder (spoonful)
• Rice (plus “your water”)
• Sultanas (handful)
• Water

Method

1. Soften onion.
2. Stir in curry powder until fragrant.
3. Add rice, sultanas, and water; cook until ready (sultanas plump as it cooks).

Serving / Variations

• Serve on its own or with a single sausage or a boiled egg.
• Leftovers are even better cold the next day.

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21) Cheese and Rice

Ingredients

• Cooked rice (as normal)
• Grated cheese (handful; “perhaps 20p worth”)
• Butter (knob)
• Optional: mustard powder (for kick)

Method

1. While rice is still steaming, stir in grated cheese and butter.
2. Mix until cheese/butter turn it into a soft, clinging texture (compared to risotto).

Serving

• Spoon-and-chair comfort food; mustard powder adds a gentle kick.

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20) Rice and Baked Beans (Fast, Filling)

Ingredients

• Tin of baked beans
• Hot rice (bowl of hot rice)
• Optional: grated cheese

Method

1. Warm beans through.
2. Spoon beans over a bowl of hot rice.
3. For one person: half a tin tonight; refrigerate remaining half.
4. Add grated cheese on top if available.

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19) Mushroom Rice

Ingredients

• Mushrooms (a few, including reduced “bruised ones”)
• Butter
• Rice
• Water
• Optional: milk (splash at the end)

Method

1. Slice mushrooms; fry in butter until they release dark, earthy juices.
2. Stir in rice and water; cook until combined.
3. Add a splash of milk at the end for a creamier finish.

Serving

• Designed for “two meals”; reduced mushrooms are a budget highlight.

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18) Kedgeree (Smoked Fish + Egg)

Ingredients

• Smoked fish (flake into cooked rice) or tin of mackerel
• Hard-boiled egg (chopped)
• Cooked rice
• Curry powder (pinch)
• Lemon (squeeze at end)

Method

1. Flake smoked fish (or add tin mackerel) through cooked rice.
2. Add chopped hard-boiled egg.
3. Add a pinch of curry powder.
4. Finish with a squeeze of lemon.

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17) Tuna Rice

Ingredients

• 1 tin tuna
• Sweetcorn (spoonful)
• Mayonnaise or butter (to bind)
• Hot rice

Method

1. Drain tuna and flake through hot rice.
2. Add sweetcorn.
3. Add mayonnaise or butter to bind.

Serving / Temperature

• Can be eaten hot or cold from the fridge.

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16) £1 Sausage Rice

Ingredients

• 1 sausage (value pack mentioned)
• Onion
• Rice
• Water

Method

1. Slice sausage into coins; brown until fat runs.
2. Add onion, rice, and water; cook together so rice absorbs sausage flavor.

Handling Note

• Leftovers can be frozen.

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15) Leek and Rice (Gentle, Silky)

Ingredients

• Leek (1)
• Butter
• Rice
• Water
• Optional: crumbled cheese

Method

1. Slice leek; soften slowly in butter until it almost melts.
2. Stir in rice and water; cook through.
3. Optional cheese on top.

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14) Corned Beef Rice (Blue Tin)

Ingredients

• Corned beef (dice; “blue tin”)
• Onion
• Rice
• Brown sauce (dash)

Method

1. Dice corned beef and fry with a little onion until edges catch and crisp.
2. Fold through hot rice with a dash of brown sauce.
3. Emphasis: crisp well for best flavor; tin can stretch across multiple meals.

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13) Vegetable Pilaf (Use Fridge Odds/Ends)

Ingredients (examples)

• A carrot
• Half an onion
• Frozen peas (handful)
• Celery (stick)
• “Whatever is going soft”
• Oil
• Rice
• Stock powder (pinch)
• Water
• Optional: half a stock cube mentioned for minimal seasoning

Method

1. Fry mixed leftover vegetables in a little oil.
2. Stir in rice and a pinch of stock powder.
3. Add water and cook until fragrant and colorful.

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12) Bacon Fried Rice

Ingredients

• Bacon (“two rashes” / end of packet)
• Cold cooked rice
• Egg (beaten)
• Peas (handful)

Method

1. Snip bacon into pieces; fry until crisp, letting fat render out.
2. Tip in cold cooked rice and beaten egg; stir through in bacon fat.
3. Add peas for color and goodness.

Planning

• Cook enough for one; remaining bacon freezes.

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11) Lentil and Rice (Cheap Protein)

Ingredients

• Red lentils
• Rice
• Plenty of water
• Turmeric (pinch) and salt
• Curry spice (mentioned as “little curry spice”)

Method

1. Simmer equal parts lentils and rice in plenty of water.
2. Add turmeric, salt, and curry spice.
3. Simmer until both become soft and comforting.

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10) Chicken and Rice One Pot (Slow, Tender)

Ingredients

• Chicken thighs (1 on offer)
• Onion
• Rice
• Stock (a little)

Method

1. Brown a single thigh in the pan.
2. Cook slowly with rice, onion, and a little stock.
3. Meat becomes soft and tender; rice is rich from cooking juices.

Optional Thrift

• Bones can be used afterward to make thrifty stock.

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9) Simple Risotto (Slow Creamy Method)

Ingredients

• Rice (mug)
• Butter (knob)
• Hot stock (ladles at a time)
• Stock cube
• Optional: cheese (handful at end)

Method

1. Stir rice in butter.
2. Add hot stock a ladle at a time, stirring as each ladle is absorbed.
3. Continue until rice turns soft and silky/creamy.
4. Stir in cheese at the end for luxury.

Technique Cue

• Slow stirring is treated as soothing; key is ladle-at-a-time absorption.

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8) Kipper Rice

Ingredients

• Kipper (smoked herring), cooked
• Hot rice
• Butter
• Lemon (squeeze)

Method

1. Flake cooked kipper through hot rice.
2. Add butter and lemon.

Variation

• Strong fish flavor: half a kipper can be enough.

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7) Tomato and Bacon Rice

Ingredients

• Bacon (rasher or two)
• Tinned tomatoes
• Rice (mug)
• Optional finishing: cheese

Method

1. Fry bacon until crisp.
2. Add tinned tomatoes and rice.
3. Simmer together until rich, smoky, red-gold.

Serving / Portion

• Enough for two sittings; half kept for tomorrow.

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6) Leftover Roast and Rice

Ingredients

• Leftover roast meat (chopped small)
• Onion (fried)
• Frozen peas (handful)
• Optional: leftover gravy (dash)

Method

1. Chop leftover meat small.
2. Fold meat through fried rice with onion and peas.
3. Stir in a dash of leftover gravy to bring it together.
4. Bones go into stock.

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5) Pea and Mint Rice

Ingredients

• Rice (cooked)
• Frozen peas (generous handful)
• Dried mint (pinch)
• Butter (knob)
• Optional: grated cheese

Method

1. Cook rice.
2. Stir in frozen peas and dried mint with a knob of butter.
3. Peas cook in residual heat; mint lifts flavor.

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4) Curried Leftover Vegetable Rice

Ingredients

• Assorted “bottom of drawer” vegetables (e.g., half onion, lonely carrot; whatever is going soft)
• Curry powder (spoonful)
• Rice
• Water
• Optional: sultanas (handful) or spoon of chutney

Method

1. Fry vegetables with curry powder.
2. Stir in rice and water; cook into a spiced bowl (not tasting like leftovers).
3. Round off with sultanas or chutney.

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3) Savory Rice (Homemade Packet-Packet Rival)

Ingredients

• Onion
• Chopped pepper
• Stock powder (little)
• Turmeric (pinch)
• Frozen peas
• Sweet corn
• Rice
• Water

Method

1. Fry onion and chopped pepper.
2. Stir in stock powder + pinch of turmeric.
3. Add peas and sweet corn.
4. Add rice and water; cook until bright golden and flavorful.

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2) Kitchari (Comfort Bowl: Rice + Lentils)

Ingredients

• Rice: “half a mug each”
• Red lentils: “half a mug each”
• Plenty of water
• Turmeric (pinch)
• Salt
• Butter (knob)

Method

1. Simmer rice and lentils slowly in plenty of water with turmeric, salt, and butter.
2. Cook until thick and creamy—like savory rice pudding.

Serving

• Optional: fried onion on top.

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1) Rice Pudding (Baked)

Ingredients

• Pudding rice (handful)
• Milk (pint)
• Sugar (spoon)
• Butter (knob)
• Optional: jam (spoon stirred through middle)

Method

1. Combine pudding rice with milk, sugar, and butter.
2. Bake slowly in a low oven until:
   • top turns golden
   • a soft skin forms over creamy rice beneath
3. Eat warm; also keeps well cold next day.

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Equipment Referenced

• Basic stovetop pot/pan for simmering and frying
• Lid (explicitly for buttered onion rice)
• Oven (explicitly “low oven” for rice pudding)
• General tools: stirring spoon, knife (chopping/dicing), and container for reheating (implied by “reheats tomorrow”)

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Tips & Technique Cues (As Stated)

• Use cold rice for fried rice (egg fried rice wants cold, not hot).
• For risotto: add hot stock a ladle at a time and stir as it absorbs.
• Onion rice: onion melts into grains when cooked down with water.
• Crisping: crisp the corned beef well for best flavor.
• Budget sourcing: use markdown reduced mushrooms and “end of packet” bacon.
• Leftovers strategy: many recipes emphasize reheating and freezing.
• Flavor boosters mentioned: pepper, soy, sugar pinch, cheese, lemon, mustard powder, brown sauce, curry powder.

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Plating / Serving Suggestions Mentioned

• Simple toppings: pepper, cheese, lemon, fried onion, mustard powder
• Pairings: serve alongside sausage/boiled egg or add cheese on top
• Portion strategy: many recipes are designed for half tonight, half tomorrow

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Referenced Sources

No external sources are cited in the subtitles (only general references like “chip shop” technique, “your mother would have done,” and mentions of traditional “coronation recipes”).