Make cheap nights in even cheaper – and more delicious – with these tinned food recipes

In a world filled with screens and streaming, the allure of a cosy night in has never been stronger. But the era of dull microwave meals is well and truly over.

That’s why I’ve come up with five recipes that utilise the canned food in your cupboards to transform your evenings from mundane to mouthwatering.

Picture this: succulent salmon fishcakes, golden and crispy, or perhaps fiery quesadillas oozing with melted and spicy chilli con carne. Feeling adventurous? Whip up a fakeaway pot noodle that puts its shop-bought counterpart to shame, or indulge in a sloppy joe traybake that’s as messy as it is magnificent. Or how about Moroccan chickpea flatbreads bursting with exotic flavours and vibrant colours?

These recipes mean even the most novice cooks can conjure culinary magic in minutes.

So ditch the delivery apps and bid farewell to bland convenience foods. With a can-do attitude and a kitchen stocked full of possibilities, you’re posied to became the master of your own kitchen domain.

open image in gallery

Ingredients:

300g mashed potato

1 can Princes Salmon

Pinch of salt

5g chives

1½g cill

10g breadcrumbs

60g panko breadcrumbs

125ml milk

100g flour

2 eggs

Method:

In a bowl mix together the mash potato, salmon, salt, chives, dill and breadcrumbs.

Stir together until the fish has broken down and all ingredients are well mixed together – make sure that the fresh salmon has broken down into pieces that are as small as the canned salmon.

Form the mix into fish cakes by hand, approximately 50g in size. Place on a tray and chill in the fridge to firm up ahead of coating.

Place flour in a bowl. Place egg and milk in a bowl. Place panko breadcrumbs in a bowl.

Dip each fish cake in the flour, then the eggwash and the panko breadcrumbs to coat the fish cake. Place back into the chiller to firm up ahead of frying.

Deep fry the fish cake in neutral vegetable oil until golden and piping hot in the centre.

open image in gallery

Serves: 4

Prep time: 5 minutes | Cooking time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

1 can chilli con carne

50g grated extra mature cheddar or grated chilli cheese

2 soft white tortilla wraps

2 tsp oil

Method:

Lay out the tortilla wraps, split the chilli between the two.

Spread chilli evenly over half of the tortilla wrap.

Split the cheese evenly between the three wraps and sprinkle evenly.

Fold the wraps over and gently press down.

Heat a large non stick pan over a medium heat and put in a teaspoon of oil.

Fry each tortilla until browned and then flip over and fry until browned.

Once filling is piping hot and the cheese has melted, remove from pan and cut in half.

For an exciting addition, add other fillings like jalapeno, red peppers, avocado etc.

open image in gallery

Ingredients:

50g dried rice noodles

1 chicken stock pot

1 tsp sesame oil

1 tsp soy sauce

½ tsp miso paste

½ tsp garlic puree

1 tsp honey

1 tsp ginger puree

30g canned sweetcorn

50g diced canned ham

2g coriander leaves

10g sliced spring onions

300ml boiling water

Red chilli slices (optional)

Method:

Mix the stock pot, sesame oil, soy sacue, miso paste, garlic puree, honey and ginger puree until mixed together into a liquid with minimal lumps.

Place the mix at the bottom of your container.

Place noodles on top of flavour mix.

Place ham, corn and spring onions on top of the noodles.

Top with coriander leaves and chilli slices if using them.

Poor boiling water over the top and stir well so that all the flavour mix is dissolved.

Cover with lid or cling film and leave to stand for 2-3 minutes.

Remove cover and enjoy.

open image in gallery

Ingredients:

1 x 392g cans Princes Hot chilli con carne

1 x 400g can Napolina red kidney beans drained

50ml BBQ sauce

8 processed cheese slices

12 slider/snack rolls

50g salted butter

3 cloves garlic crushed

1 tbsp fresh coriander finely chopped (optional)

Method:

Warm the canned chilli con carne, kidney beans and BBQ sauce together in a pan.

Pop the butter and garlic into a small pan and heat gently once melted stir through the coriander.

Without separating the rolls, slice horizontally and place the lower half into a baking tray or ovenproof dish lined with greaseproof paper, spoon the chilli mixture over then lay on the cheese slices, top with the other half of the rolls then brush with the garlic butter. Place into a pre-heated oven set at 180c / gas mark 4 for 8-10 minutes or until cheese has melted. Use the paper to lift the slider bake from the tray and bring to the dinner table to enjoy.

open image in gallery

Ingredients:

For the hummus:

1 x 400g tin chickpeas drained but reserve the chickpea water

1 tsp rose harissa

2 cloves garlic crushed

Juice ½ lemon

50ml olive oil

½ tsp cumin

For the spiced chickpeas:

1 x 400g tin chickpeas drained

1 tbsp tomato puree

1 tbsp Rose harissa paste

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp sugar

To serve:

2 Middle Eastern style flatbreads

Salad to serve

Natural yoghurt to serve

Method:

Place all of the hummus ingredients into a food processor and blitz until a fine paste. Add some of the chickpea water until you have a smooth consistency. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

To make the spiced chickpeas, pop the chickpeas, tomato puree, harissa paste, oil and sugar into a medium sized microwave safe bowl, along with a pinch of salt and pepper and mix well. Cover and cook on full power for three minutes, stirring halfway through.

Warm the flatbreads in the microwave for 20 seconds then top with the spicy chickpeas. Dollop on some of the creamy riata and some kachumber salad, see my recipe suggestion below.