One of the best parts of autumn is the flavor of the season. Nothing’s better than a beautiful day spent enjoying the crisp weather and admiring the fall colors, only to come home and have a delicious comforting autumn meal.
But isn’t that expensive? It doesn’t have to be. Isn’t that time-consuming? It doesn’t have to be time-consuming, either.
[See: 10 Ways to Shop Smarter at the Grocery Store.]
Here are four simple and delicious autumn recipes that are light on the wallet but big on flavor.
Corn chowder is a simple fall meal that tastes delicious and costs little.
You’ll need an onion, a bag of frozen corn kernels (about six cups), a couple of chicken bullion cubes and a few common household spices — rosemary, thyme and black pepper. You’ll also need a blender.
Finely chop the onion and cook it in a hot skillet with a little bit of butter for five minutes. While that’s cooking, use the bullion cubes to prepare four cups of chicken broth according to the instructions (usually, you just mix it with water). Add two cups of the broth and four cups of corn kernels to the skillet, cook it for a couple of minutes more, then pour the contents of the skillet into a blender and puree it. Put the puree back into the skillet to cook over low-medium heat, then add the remaining broth, corn kernels and half a teaspoon each of dried rosemary, thyme and black pepper. Bring it to a simmer for just a few minutes and you’re ready to eat. You can serve the chowder with crackers or any kind of bread roll.
[See: 12 Ways to Save Money on Food.]
Slow cooker pot roast with vegetables is another amazing meal for autumn that you can start cooking before you leave for work. When you arrive home, you’ll have a tasty meal that’s ready to eat.
You can buy any pot roast at the store — inexpensive meat actually works wonderfully for this because the slow cooking tenderizes it so well. Buy a small pot roast that will fit easily in your slow cooker and a few root vegetables to go with it — for example, a couple of potatoes, a couple of carrots and an onion — and a few beef bullion cubes.
In the morning, grab a skillet and sear the outside of the pot roast for just a minute on each side over high heat. Just get the skillet hot, toss the roast in there for a minute on each side until it’s brown, and then remove it from the heat. Chop the vegetables and put them on the bottom of the slow cooker. Take three cups of water and add a half teaspoon of salt, a half teaspoon of ground black pepper and three bullion cubes to the water — crush up the bullion cubes. Pour the liquid on top of the vegetables, then add a little more water, so that they’re covered with at least an inch of liquid. Place the roast on top. Set it to cook on low all day, and you’ll come home to an amazing meal.
Pan-roasted chicken and vegetables takes advantage of the humble chicken and some flavorful fall root vegetables, such as onions or shallots, to make a great meal that’s surprisingly quick.
All you need are a few of your preferred chicken parts (or a whole chicken if you’re comfortable with cutting one up) along with four shallots cut into quarters or half an onion cut into eight slices, half a tablespoon of butter per chicken piece, half a teaspoon of dried rosemary per chicken piece and a quarter of a cup of chicken broth per chicken piece, plus some salt and ground black pepper.
Preheat your oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Put some salt and black pepper on the outside of the chicken pieces, then take out a sturdy skillet or pot that can work on the burner or oven and melt half of the butter in the pot over medium high heat, then add the chicken skin side down to the skillet. Add the onions or shallots to the pot, let them cook for two or three minutes, then flip the chicken and veggies over and let them cook for another two or three minutes. Pour in the broth, then add the whole skillet or pot to the oven for 12 minutes. Pull it out, then transfer the chicken and vegetables to a serving dish. Take the remaining liquid over to the burner, add the remaining butter, and cook down the liquid until it’s thick. Pour that sauce over the chicken and serve it. It’s so delicious.
[See: 12 Ways to Be a More Mindful Spender.]
Pumpkin soup is perhaps the easiest recipe in this article, since all you need to prepare it are a couple cans of pumpkin puree (aim for four cups of puree), two cups of whole milk, two cups of vegetable broth, half of a minced onion, a teaspoon of garlic powder and a half teaspoon each of salt, black pepper, cinnamon and nutmeg.
Cook the minced onion in a hot skillet for about five minutes, then add the vegetable broth to the skillet to remove the delicious onion bits from the bottom of the pan. Add all of the ingredients to a blender and puree it for a little bit. Put the blender contents back into the skillet (or a pot) and heat it until it’s almost boiling, then serve it.
Autumn flavors really are simple to incorporate into your kitchen and don’t cost much money, especially since many of the key ingredients are on sale at this time of the year. Enjoy.
More from U.S. News
10 Fun, Frugal Ways to Spend Your Free Time
10 Frugal Ways to Save This Fall
4 Inexpensive, Simple and Delicious Fall Comfort Food Recipes originally appeared on usnews.com
