Did I mention that this is just one meal? Yeah it is. And no, I’m not exaggerating, my claim has been tested and proven (much to my family’s dismay). One meal, that costs about $15 to buy all the ingredients, can feed a family of three for ten days, with them eating it for lunch AND dinner.
Full servings too. No skimping.
This recipe originally came from my mom who called it goulash. Except its a sort of bastardised American version of it, as opposed to the original Hungarian goulash. Don’t be put off by the name, it’s not like borscht where you’d have to convince your kids (if not yourself) that it’s good and good for you. It’s also an amazingly fast meal and very flexible. You can add whatever vegetables you want to it, even some left over rice (if you really want to carbo-load). My mom used to put it in a casserole dish, cover it with cheese and bake it for a while until the cheese was deliciously melted.
Three Ten Fifteen Goulash
Ingredients
- 2 lbs ground turkey (or whatever ground meat is your preference; we use turkey)
- 1/2 a medium onion, diced
- 2 lbs elbow macaroni
- 2-14.5 oz jars of your preferred spaghetti sauce
Method
- Cook your elbow macaroni according to package directions
- While macaroni is cooking, brown your ground meat; once it is about 60-70% cooked, add onions and finish cooking then drain and set aside
- Add spaghetti sauce to macaroni (once it is finished cooking and has been drained), then add meat; stir to mix and then serve.
Crazy easy right? Now, during all this if you want to add corn, peas, carrots, peppers, zucchini…pretty much whatever vegetables you want, feel free! Frozen ones usually get cooked with the macaroni just to save time and reduce how many pots I have to wash. Toss in some feta cheese if you like. I tend to add fennel seed, basil, oregano and garlic powder to my beef as it’s cooking just for extra taste, since ground turkey can be rather bland at times.
This recipe is as flexible and adaptable as you are. Want it spicy, make it spicy!
Naturally if you don’t want to make so much you can just halve everything and you’ll be alright. This is also great for those pesky potlucks.
I haven’t tried it with any meat substitutes, but I can’t see this being too bad. If anyone gives it a shot, let me know!
