Dinner for 4 for $25: This 3-course Chicken and Biscuits Meal Will Fly With the Whole Family

This budget dinner for four includes roasted carrots, homemade chicken and biscuits, and scratch vanilla wafers for dessert. Gretchen McKay/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette/TNS

By Gretchen McKay From Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Nothing offers a taste of nostalgia like cooking a favorite childhood meal for your own family.

Take chicken and biscuits. Many of us grew up with this classic comfort food that allowed budget-minded cooks to stretch yet another dinner out of a roast chicken, or this time of year, turkey.

You don’t need much meat to give some heft to the creamy sauce made with milk, flour, and a bit of cream; just a couple of cups will do. And the vegetables are pretty standard issue, too—peas, carrots, and a handful of sliced mushrooms, if you want to get a little fancy and the kids aren’t adverse.

In this budget meal for four, the dish is served with honey-roasted carrots and another favorite childhood treat: homemade vanilla wafers.

Total cost: $21.15 or only about $5.25 per person for a three-course meal. That’s much cheaper than an unhealthy, fat-saturated fast food meal!

The biggest expense was a supermarket rotisserie chicken ($6.99) which, believe it or not, was almost half the cost of whole roaster chicken. And it required none of the work, other than about 5 minutes to pick the meat off the bone and into a bowl.

The biggest surprise besides the high price of butter was how much regular carrots—carrots!—cost these days. A 2-pound bag that was split between the side dish and biscuit dish was not that much cheaper than the chicken ($3.99).

As always, to stay on budget, make sure you compare price-per-ounce when grocery shopping and don’t be afraid to choose a store brand over a name brand. Also, check your fridge and pantry before you head out the door to see what you’ve already got on hand. Lastly, always shop from a list to prevent impulse purchases.

The cookie recipe makes more than two dozen sweet, aromatic little wafers, so there will be plenty left over for midnight snacking.

This budget dinner for four includes roasted carrots, homemade chicken and biscuits, and scratch vanilla wafers for dessert. Gretchen McKay/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette/TNS

Honey-Glazed Carrots

PG tested

Serves 4.

Hot honey gives these roasted carrots just the tiniest bit of heat on the tongue.

• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 3 tablespoons hot or regular honey
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• Pinch of ground nutmeg
• Pinch red pepper flakes
• 2 pounds carrots, peeled and trimmed
• Chopped chives, for garnish, optional

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Stir together butter, honey salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and pepper. Halve or quarter carrots, depending on thickness.

Reserve 2 tablespoons, then pour remaining butter mixture over carrots; toss to combine. Spread in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes, or until carrots are tender.

Toss roasted carrots with reserved 2 tablespoons butter mixture and transfer to a serving dish. Sprinkle with chives, if desired, for extra color.

Recipe by Gretchen McKay, Post-Gazette

Chicken and Biscuits

PG tested

I used a rotisserie chicken for this recipe, but if you have leftover turkey from Thanksgiving, that’s even better. If you’ve got some shredded cheddar or Parmesan in the fridge, stir that into the sauce just before serving to add a cheesy finish.

Leftover biscuits can be served at breakfast with honey or jam.

For chicken

• 6 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 4 ounces of baby portobello mushrooms, sliced
• 1 or 2 carrots, diced
• 2 cups milk
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup water
• 1 chicken bouillon cube
• 3 cups cubed or shredded cooked chicken or turkey
• 1 cup baby peas
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan or 1/2 cup finely shredded cheddar cheese, optional

For biscuits

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 7 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled in freezer and cut into thin slices
• 3/4 cup cold buttermilk, plus 2 tablespoons for brushing

Prepare biscuits: Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.

Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl. Add cold butter slices and cut into the flour with a pastry blender until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

Make a well in the center of the mixture. Pour cold buttermilk into the well and stir gently until just combined.

Turn dough onto a floured work surface and pat it together into a rectangle. Fold the rectangle in thirds.

Turn dough a half turn, gather any crumbs, and flatten back into a rectangle. Repeat twice more, folding and pressing the dough a total of three times.

Roll dough on a floured surface to about 1/2 inch thick. Use a 2 1/2 -inch round biscuit cutter to cut biscuits. Reroll any scraps to cut more biscuits; you should get 12 total.

Transfer biscuits to the prepared baking sheet. Press an indent into the top of each biscuit with your thumb. Brush buttermilk over the tops.

Bake in the preheated oven until biscuits are flaky and golden brown, about 15 minutes.

While biscuits are baking, prepare chicken. Melt butter over medium heat in large saucepan. Stir in flour, a generous pinch of salt and a couple big grinds of black pepper.

Whisk until smooth. Allow to bubble for at least 1 minute while mixing.

Stir in mushrooms and carrots and saute for 1 or 2 minutes. Add milk, cream, water, and bouillon cube all at once.

Cook, stirring often, until bouillon cube is dissolved and sauce is thick and bubbly.

Season to taste with more salt and pepper, and stir in chicken or turkey and peas. If sauce is too thick, add a little more milk, cream or water. Now is the time to add Parmesan or cheddar, if desired.

Continue cooking creamed chicken or turkey over medium heat until it’s warmed through.

Serve over split buttermilk biscuits.

Recipe adapted from allrecipes.com

Homemade Vanilla Wafers

PG tested

Makes around 80 cookies.

This copycat recipe for Nabisco Nilla Wafers is about as easy as they come; if you can stir and portion, you can make them.

Make sure the melted butter has cooled before adding it to the flour and be careful about portioning the dough on the cookie sheet; the batter will spread.

They are delicious plain, but I imagine they'd be even better sandwiched with Nutella.

• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 1 large egg, room temperature
• 2 tablespoons vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

Sift flour, sugar, salt, and baking soda together in medium bowl and set aside.

Whisk melted butter, egg, and vanilla in large bowl until smooth. Add flour mixture to butter mixture and gently whisk until smooth, scraping any loose flour mixture from the sides of bowl. Do not overwhisk! Dough will thicken as it sits.

Using a 1-teaspoon measuring spoon, portion dough onto sheets in 5 staggered rows of six, about 1 1/2 inches apart. (I used one super-big cookie sheet.)

Bake until edges and bottoms of wafers are golden brown and tops are dry and light golden, 16-19 minutes, switching and rotating sheets halfway through baking.

Let wafers cool on sheets for 3 minutes then transfer wafer to a wire rack.

Wafers can be stored in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

Recipe from Cook’s Country, August/September 2024

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