Good Cheap Eats: Dinner in 30 Minutes or Less

by Jessica Fisher

In over 200 recipes, Jessica Fisher shows time-pressed cooks how they can eat remarkably well without breaking the bank. Good Cheap Eats serves up 65 two-course dinners, consisting of a main dish and a substantial side, salad, or soup, all of which take 30 minutes or less to prepare. And as a mother of six and a busy parent, she shows home cooks how to get dinner on the table quickly and inexpensively without relying on heavily processed shortcuts or artificial ingredients. Great for time-pressed couples, families with picky eaters, or singles that need a quick solution to dinner tonight, Jessica's two-course pairings are artfully conceived and perfectly complementary.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Nonfiction, Food

562 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 8, 2015

About the author

Jessica Fisher is the creator of two popular blogs, Life as Mom and Good Cheap Eats, which have established her as a go-to authority on cooking for a family cheaply, creatively, and nutritiously. She is the author of Good Cheap Eats: Everyday Dinners and Fantastic Feasts for $10 or Less as well as Not Your Mother’s Make-Ahead and Freeze Cookbook.

NOTE: the ketogenic books tagged with my name are not mine!

Reviews

[grimalkin]

Unfortunately nobody in my family wants to eat quiche or anything braised or anything imaginative.

[TammyJo Eckhart · Rating 4 out of 5]

To review this book, I tried a few of the recipes and looked through the entire book. For a great cookbook I want four things.

1) Clear instructions: These are relatively clear by that I mean that basic preparation steps are in the list of ingredients -- chopped this, drained that, peel and pit these. If you are beginner in the kitchen, that might be a bit confusing but Jessica Fisher isn't asking to do a lot of complicated things.

2) Lovely photos that make the meals seem possible. Not every recipe has a photo, that would make the book more expensive, but the ones that have them seem like plates I could make at home without a lot of stress.

3) Real recipes, not just basic ideas for food. There are real recipes here, made from scratch. Actually I don't mind if a recipe includes things like using a cake mix or a pre-chopped lettuce, time and money saving can be achieved with prepared or packaged ingredients. However, if the recipe is cut some apples and drizzle X over it or take slices of bread and layer these ingredients over it are these really recipes or just ideas?

4) The book does what it claims. In this case it is make dinner in 30 minutes or less but this is complicated by two factors.

First the blog this book is connected to "Good Cheap Eats" implies that the dinners will be cheap... I didn't find that to always be the case. I live in a decent sized college town with a lot of huge grocery stores as well as several organic and ethnic shops. Several of the ingredients are not what I would classify as "cheap" but your financial situation will determine that and since no price range is given, I won't say much more on that.

The second implication is that these will be dinner, full meals, not just a main course. Each "recipe" is really a two-recipe menu along with a preparation tip that could help out those with less experience in the kitchen. Are two items a full meal? Again that depends on your expectations. I think it would have been great to include 3 dish idea per menu myself given the nine different categories of recipes in this book, give us more an idea of what goes well together.

I really hoped there would be more dishes with chocolate but then I do run The Chocolate Cult and I was hoping to review this book there as well... only three "recipes" with chocolate so it will be a short review on the blog. The dessert section was actually pretty short but the other eight chapters were 20+ pages each.

[DK Simoneau · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the two course meals and the markings for gluten free dairy free etc. not enough pictures. Eh. Not awesome. Not awful either.

[Julie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not terrible, but I use her other cookbooks more.

[Jennifer Hoots · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love that each recipe has a side dish suggestion with recipe.

[Katy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Marked a lot of "to try" recipes in here. Made the confetti chili and it all came together very quickly. Great for a fast meal! Skip all of her drop biscuit recipes, they're tasteless. Otherwise, good and cheap!

[Angie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't usually buy cookbooks, preferring to check them out from the library, but I'm glad I took a chance on this one! The author's blog is my favorite for recipes; her balance between good and cheap is very similar to my own. We have enjoyed several meals from this book so far and plan to try more. My only caveat would be that some of them have taken me longer than 30 minutes to get on the table--however, I'm cooking for more than 4 and therefore have more chopping and other prep to do. It's still faster than driving to town to pick up pizza, to say nothing of cheaper, healthier, and tastier. . .

[Theresa Jehlik · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would actually consider buying this cookbook as the recipes don't include a multitude of ingredients and are things my husband would eat on his limited diet. Each recipe is an entrée and side with other suggestions to round out the meal. Fisher's introduction explains her philosophy to quick, cheap meals which includes the kitchen equipment needed for her recipes. She also liberally sprinkles her hard-earned tips for feeding a family on a budget.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are a lot of really good sounding recipes in here, and she gives separate recipes for spice mixes that she uses in many recipes. And she does have a website where a few (very few) of her recipes are listed. This really is a book that I'm considering buying. One day... Lots of healthy sounding recipes with a variety of ingredients, good stuff here. Even salad recipes that sound like something I would like to eat. Who knew?

[Martha · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked this thirty minutes or less cookbook, but gave a slightly lower rating, simply because while it was made with mostly fresh foods, there was a lot of convenience foods still used that I think could have still been fresher foods.

Still, it gave me a ton of great ideas for easy, quick meals that I did not think of, and I would love to own this book.

[C.G.Koens · Rating 5 out of 5]

Practical recipes, well laid out, good food without breaking the bank. Love that she includes side dish recommendations, and clearly tags each recipe for what makes it unique... meatless, gluten-free, make ahead, etc. In prepping for going from dinner for two to dinner for seven, this was a must read for me.

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some recipes I wouldn't touch, others I'd like to try. A lot of them made me think of family members or friends who'd be interested in trying them. The recipes are all for 4+ people and it's hard to get motivated to try them for 1 person.

[Monique · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an extraordinary cookbook meant for the working person. These quick and inexpensive meals should be in rotation in homes across America. 200 recipes that can be prepared any night if you have a well stocked pantry.

[Paula · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great, practical cookbook I need to buy. I have read Jessica's blog for years and so glad to see this great cookbook.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great, healthy, kid-friendly recipes. Little light on the variety, though. Lots of Mexican inspired meals, which we like, but some may not.

[Teri H Reads · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very yummy recipes.

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

My family has loved every recipe I've tried in this book! Great recipes with real food.

[Eleanor Isaac · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great cookbook. Gave one to my daughter and it really made a difference in her meal planning and cooking. Even her husband loved the recipes.