My friends and I are terribly busy people. So much so that when this dinner idea was first conceived it was around the time of the Global Financial Crisis last year. And whilst we love dinner parties, the fact was one friend was mid renovation, another mid toddler and we were mid moving so our GFC themed dinner ended up happening a little after what we had initially anticipated, almost a year later in fact, but we thought that the idea had merit and most importantly, the potential to have fun and be creative. After all when you dine out you can pay quite a pretty sum doing so, so we wanted to explore whether it was possible to eat a delicious three course meal for a mere $5 a person. And usually every time we entertain, it usually involves buying the best quality items and not really paying attention to cost as it’s all about spoiling your friends so we wondered whether putting together a dinner party this way would change the dynamics of a dinner party.
My main: Chicken & Pea Pithivier
With six people our dinner would have to cost $30 or less and Gina, Teena and I were each allocated a course of roughly $10 each although more would understandably go towards the main. Gina would do dessert, Teena the entree and I would do a main as we would be hosting. We thought about the menu carefully – we could have made it vegetarian which would have certainly helped with the budgeting but the boys (avowed meat lovers, especially Hot Dog) weren’t supposed to notice that it was a cut price dinner and he certainly would have if we had served up all vegetarian fare. To draw the line somewhere, we didn’t include items such as oil, salt and pepper as they are items that one would commonly have in their pantry and it would have been impossible to do it otherwise. Wine was drunk and it was wine already in the cellar so that did help of course and the budget did not include mineral water.
My French Onion dip with Cheese Straws
We discussed what we were going to make and came to the conclusion that pasta, breads and pastry would be good stomach fillers. I thought of some options and figured that an interesting idea for a main would be a pithivier which is just a fancy name and look for a pie filled with chicken and vegetables. Gina had a banana pudding idea for a dessert and Teena made not only a pasta entree but also a side salad to accompany my main. The supermarket shop was an interesting one. There was chicken on sale but I resisted as I wanted the menu to be one anyone could replicate and not everyone would be able to find chicken at 66% off.
Teena’s Broccoli Pasta
I then went a hunting for some vegetables to put into the pithivier. I had originally wanted to do chicken and mushrooms but as mushrooms were at $7 a kilo I had to regroup and focus. What could I use in place of mushrooms that wouldn’t cost the earth? Aha! Frozen peas would work!
The dip was a last minute decision when I was at the supermarket and realised that we didn’t have any nibblies and it was only a few hours before guests would arrive. A home made hommous would have been another idea but this was quicker and didn’t require any heavy equipment. Instead of crackers or toasted Lebanese bread I decided to use scraps from the pithivier pastry and roll up some cheese straws to dip into the dip.
Gina’s dessert: Banana Custard Pudding
We broke down prices and most items were bought at the usual supermarkets like Coles, Woolworths, Franklins and Aldi but there were also purchases made at small green grocers or whereever a bargain was to be had.
We took the step a little further as we are fans of dressup and only either wore:
a) clothing that was given to us for free
b) clothing that was $5 per head
Which resulted in Gina and Hot Dog coming up dressed in some fabulously retro outfits, Teena coming in her free Qantas pyjamas, Phillipe dressed in free corporate tshirt and shorts, Mr NQN in free sailing gear and me in a dress borrowed from my mum! I’ll spare you the photos of our outfits. OK maybe I’ll sneak a pic of Hot Dog in his spiffy suit…
Expensive man, cheap suit
And what of the food? Reactions were mostly positive. All of us remarked that the food was tasty and it was indeed possible to put on a dinner party for six people for less than $30. Even Hot Dog who had a bit of a kvetch at the beginning saw the benefits to it. Teena remarked that eating frugally forces you to eat healthier and incorporate more vegetables into your diet. It’s true that eating more vegetables as well as beans and other items that are very good for you fill you up with fribre whilst being low in fat.
Did it change the dynamics of the dinner party? Not at all. It is after all the company that counts and if you’re with friends, it doesn’t matter if you’ve bought the grass fed aged eye fillet or the cannellini bean salad, good company is good company is good company. People paid attention to the food and marvelled at how we managed to come in at under $30. The grand total you may ask? $29.93! A whole 7 cents under budget 
So tell me Dear Reader, do you enjoy throwing dinner parties? Do you have any secrets to a great dinner party?
French Onion Dip & Cheese Straws
Serves 6
- 300g/ 10.6 oz. tub of light sour cream $1.29 from Aldi
- 40g/1.4 oz. sachet of French Onion soup mix $0.95 from Coles
- sprinkle of paprika from pantry
- leftover puff pastry from pithivier
- 1/2 cup grated cheese $1 from Aldi
1. Mix the French Onion mix with the light sour cream and place in a bowl and sprinkle paprika over the top.
2. Take the scraps from the puff pastry below. Preheat oven to 200C/400F and line a baking tray with parchment. Roll out the puff pastry and score the pastry into long strips. sprinkle cheese over and then cut out the pastry into long strips and roll into straws. Bake in oven until golden brown (about 20 minutes).
Total cost: $3.24
Teena’s Broccoli Pasta with Garlic Bread
Serves 6
- 500g/1 pound bag of dried spiral/penne pasta $1 Coles
- 2 x cloves of garlic, diced $0.42c Coles
- (2-3 anchovies – I did not add due to budget, but can be added to enhance flavour)
- 2 x tablespoons olive oil from pantry
- 2 heads of broccoli, cut into florets $2.64 Coles
- 1/2 cup breadcrumbs from pantry
- Smart Buy Garlic bread for $1.95
- Salt/Pepper to taste from pantry
- Parmesan cheese (optional, to taste)
1. Bring water to boil and cook broccoli for approximately 3-4min. Drain, but retain boiled water for pasta.
2. Fry garlic in frypan on medium heat with olive oil until golden, add broccoli and cook for another 10 min, breaking up the broccoli with the back of a mixing spoon. In the meantime, re-boil water and add salt to cook pasta, drain when al dente. Once pasta is cooked, pour into frypan and mix in with broccoli, adding breadcrumbs to thicken texture.
3. Add salt, pepper, olive oil and parmesan cheese to taste. Heat up garlic bread according to directions and serve with pasta.
Total cost: $6.01
Lorraine’s Chicken and Pea Pithiviers
Serves 6
- 1 lot of home made puff pastry recipe for puff pastry here (or you can use 3 sheets of bought) $3.00
- oil for frying from pantry
- 1 onion, finely chopped $0.60c
- 1 clove garlic, finely chopped $0.20
- 300grams/10.6 oz chicken breast or thigh fillet, chopped into small pieces $4.00
- 75g cream cheese $1 from Aldi
- 1/2 cup milk $0.13c from Aldi
- 1 cup frozen peas from Coles $0.75
- 1 egg mixed with 1 tablespoon milk $0.50c
- Baby spinach $1.99 from Aldi
- Olive oil and balsamic vinegarand salt and pepper to dress spinach from pantry
You will also need a rolling pin and 2 round cutters, one slightly larger than the other.
1. In a medium saucepan, heat oil and sweat off onion nad garlic. Add chicken and simmer until cooked. Add cream cheese and lightly fry it until it is melted and then add milk and stir until it becomes a creamy sauce. Simmer gently for about 20 minutes until the chicken is soft and then add peas and cook until done. Cool.
2. Line a baking tray with parchment. Roll out puff pastry and cut out 6 large circles and place them on the baking tray. Place a small mound of the cooled chicken and pea mix to the centre. Cut out 6 smaller circles and fit them to the top sealing the edges. Lightly score patterns on the top of the pastry. Place in fridge for 30 minutes. Take out of fridge and brush with egg yolk mixture. Preheat oven to 200C/400F and bake for about 30 minutes until golden brown. Remove from oven and serve with baby spinach leaves with dressing and the cannellini bean and celery salad below.
Total cost: $12.17
Teena’s Cannellini Bean & Celery salad
Serves 6 as a side
- 1 onion, finely chopped $0.40
- 1 clove garlic, finely chopped $0.20
- 1 x can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed $1.37 Coles
- 1/2 head of celery, washed and chopped into 0.5cm pieces $1.99 Coles
- Lemon $0.74 Coles
Toss all ingredients together and add olive oil, white wine vinegar, lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste
Total cost: $4.70
Gina’s Banana Custard Pudding Recipe
Serves 6
- 1 cup sugar $0.24c
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch from pantry
- 1/4 teaspoon salt from pantry
- 3 cups milk $0.81c from Aldi
- 6 egg yolks, beaten from local green grocer $0.75c
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract from pantry
- 2 medium firm banana, sliced from local green grocer $0.33c
- 300ml thickened cream from Franklins no name brand on sale $1.69
Directions
1. In a saucepan, combine sugar, cornstarch and salt. Gradually add milk; cook and stir over medium heat until mixture comes to a boil.
2. Cook and stir 2 minutes longer. Stir a small amount into the egg yolks; return all to pan Cook and stir until thickened.
Remove from the heat; stir in vanilla. Chill for 1 hour. Just before serving, fold in banana. Garnish with mint if desired.
Total cost: $3.81
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57 Comments | Add your own
Oh, the images aren’t working for me. I love this. So much fun. x
That suit is positively kermit like. The chicken pies look yummy although I haven’t been able to view any of the other photos for some reason.
We have a very popular budgeting website in the UK called Moneysavingexpert.com and their forum ran a competion for 3 course menus that that could be created for under £5 per head. The dessert that won was simply budget range tinned custard and budget range lemon curd mixed together and churned in the ice cream maker. I just had to try it and it was AMAZING – although admittedly I chucked some amaretto in with it!!
I can’t not say this: Hot Dog looks fan-bloody-tastic. I honestly don’t know any men who could pull off a jacket that colour, but he does it with aplomb. Can’t help wishing we could see all the outfits…
I feel determined that once I get home and start doing dinner parties, dressing up shall be mandatory. And so shall dishes with names that are fun to say. Pithivier. Pithivier.
VEry impressive! Did you really make your own puff pastry! I am doubly impressed!
So the men agreed to be fed only a mere 50 g of meat for the party? Very self-sacrificing of them!
Great post
Amen to the good conversation. Even take-out pizza is good with good friends. Also, enough wine. My dad reportedly said it’s not a party until there’s an argument! I’m a bit more of pacifist. I’ll settle for good conversation.
darn, for some reason the photo’s didnt load but all the food sounds lovely
i really love having people over for dinner i like the preparing cooking serving and have people complimenting u!
on saturday i had friends over and made mushroom leek voleuvants, mushroom and spinach dip in a big bread, and mini choc dulce de leche cupcakes everyone loved it all and those were just the entrees and dessert the main was some vietnamese buttered beef and chilli prawns my bf made for the rice noodles and fresh rolled spring rolls mm :O)
congratulations on a yummy cheap meal. when i cook at home i try and budget for $5 each too. it’s quite achievable but you really have to think about what you buy and get things on special or in season sometimes
What a wonderful idea! I am terrible at blowing my food budget in one shop if I’m having people over but you’re right – good company is the most important thing. I certainly would not turn my nose up at this meal
Oh, this is a great idea! I love that the $5 theme went to through to the outfits as well! Hehe
What a great idea for a party. I know how expensive it could be. This would be a great challenge for anyone too.
What a cool event! The cheap and economical Asian in me is loving this! The food sounds lovely and so creative too…but for some reason, I can’t view it! T___T
LOL, love that suit!
Even though I don’t throw dinner parties very often, when I do I go all out. I like to theme them and dress up accordingly,eg. Indian Dinner party would involve everything from the curries , dressing up ( ourselves and dinner table) , music etc to the incense. It’s a process but fun-filled and everyone gets into the spirit. I love for everyone to enjoy the food and ambience. No secrets really but I never allow my guests to clean up as I abhor the idea of breaking up the flow of an evening with the clang of dishes coming from the kitchen.
I have to say that I absolutely love this idea! I know that I have been trying to stay in and entertain at home more, to save money, although oftentimes it can get pretty costly for the host and what a great way to minimize the financial burden. I have already sent this out to several friends, including one who has done the Eat on $30 a Week at least twice. I can’t wait to see how it goes!
Fantastic idea! It is so true that its the company that counts. I’m hungry now looking at all those great pictures.
Well done to all of you! Fantastic food for such a reasonable price!
It looks and sounds fantastic. Just think how much better it could have been if you’d spent the other 7 cents.
Stuart
A great idea Lorraine. And a fun night too.
Well done!
When I visted Sydney in January (I’m from New York), I walked through a number of supermarkets and found the cost of most things to be higher than NY. I’m definitely impressed!
great post though I was sad not to see the qantas pjs – I love the frugality of this – and how money doesn’t really matter for having a great dinner party
the leftover pastry being made into cheese straws is great – I have a little bit of leftover puff pastry so maybe I can use it this way.
fantastic idea! Loved how you all took it a step further with the clothes! Brilliant!
We love having dinner parties – although they are ususally fairly casual! The best secret i can share is preparation! Have as much ready as possible before your guests arrive – so that you actually get to have fun and hang out with everyone.
Things that are fun to do – cheese plates, dip platters etc – do those with your friends because they are interactive and make your friends feel like they’ve “helped” and not just showed up for dinner!
loving this post! yesterday i fed four people for less than $10. i spent $2.50 on chicken drumsticks (1 kilo = 8 drumsticks) which i marinated in honey soy and baked (YUM). Then i made a delicious potato salad using homemade mustard mayonnaise and herbs from my garden. i even managed to put bacon in it!
What a marvelous idea. I love entertaining as well but unfortunately don’t get to do it often as I’m still living at home. I really need a place of my own!
Haha, Hot Dog looks hot!
I think it’s hard to deliberately eat on the cheap, with the pre-planning and shopping. Makes you think!
What I love about you is your unpredictability. You can make slumming look exciting, although this is surely not slumming. But, you can make even recession cooking appear energetic and exciting. At the end of the day, it’s all about outlook isn’t it. One day, you’re eating lobster, another day meat pie, and it doesn’t seem different.
What fun idea and I don’t think I’ve never seen a better-looking Hot Dog!
what a great idea!!
INCREDIBLE , you are so creative NQN.
I can’t wait to see the look on my Dh & teen’s face when I say we are having Pithivier for dinner lol.
It has given me some fab ideas with my friends.
That’s an impressive spread for $29.93! Great theme and sounds like you a delicious meal.
great idea lorriane
I’m a sucker for anything with chicken and puff pastry!
I LOVE this idea – looks so glam and it was done on the budget. just goes to show that good food is also about ingenuity and presentation, not $$$. thanks Lorraine.
This is such a cool idea!! I will have to give this a go- GFC eat your heart out!
I’m definitely trying your French onion dip. Those cheese straws look pretty spiffy, too.
As for stress-free dinner party planning, our tried-and-tested trick is to prepare everything at least a couple days before and thaw everything out on the day itself.
Well done for making it happen… Love this idea too, and French Onion dip.. oh my, have not had that in AGES. The B-pudding looks equally fabulous…
What a great idea for a party. I bet it was just as much fun as a party where you spent heaps. I think you should have cooked another dish with the left over 7 cents
Great message behind this. I always baulk at the price of groceries, but with a little creativity it’s possible to make a fantastic and healthy meal. Well done! Love the outfit too
what an interesting way to challenge yourselves! i think i would’ve taken exactly the same approach, although i doubt my food would’ve been as enticing and elegant.
speaking of elegant, let’s talk about that suit…
This is pretty cool. There are times when I have to cook on a budget, especially when we are going out for a big (and expensive) dinner the same weekend hence why staying in and eating on a budget =D. I agree with being “healthier” on a budget because you actually don’t end up splurging on too much food hence not overeating. I love throwing dinner parties too but havn’t had the chance to throw many. One year the boyfriend and I threw a gourmet/seafood bbq for 50 of our friends in his backyard – it was tough! I just love it when people enjoy my food =) Don’t think I’ve had enough to figure out “secrets” to success yet.
always the company that makes a dinner…but for an under $30 dinner for 6 that makes it twice as grand! well done Lorraine!n fabulous looking food!. I must try this one day everyday…ill prob save tons of $ a very good idea indeed.
I am hoping that the GFC is finally over but if it aint then at least I know I can steal some gorgeous recipes from this post! Sounds like a fun party.
Wow! Superb idea and i cant believe you made it under 30!! Chicken must be real cheap there. Very impressed with this especially the free sailing suit!!
Well done on this! I think it is a cop out when people say they can’t afford to eat healthy food and you’ve proven this pretty nicely.
I love that suit!
I guess my only tip is to have as much prep or even cooking done as you can beforehand so you have time to relax and socialise. I think I need more tips myself.
I was hoping you were inviting us all to a $5 dinner party, but I guess I will just have to host my own
This could prove difficult, as two of my friends are celiacs!
The pithiviers look great, and the pudding too. Great idea!
Great idea and love that outfit! Very impressed with all the dishes and how you managed to do it in the budget provided.
This sounds like a fun party and a great concept! I definitely agree that at a dinner party it’s the guests that matter most. My main goal when entertaining is to have as much done in advance as possible.
You’ve given me some lovely ideas here (and the banana custard took me right back to being about 8
lovely stuff).
I’ve never heard of pithiviers before but they look very tasty and not at all cheap-tasting – and that’s half the battle with frugal eating.
I’m totaslly inspired! Now I need a group of people to have a party wtih. How can it be right? I have a theme and NO GUESTS!?
I love the fact that you remmebered that not everyone for 66% off chicken. Or that we’d want to wait around til 8pm for that to happen. 
An excellent challenge and sometimes it’s good to stop and think about what we’re spending on food. Funny you should write this post – I was thinking of doing a dinner party from our $50 Dinner Party Cookbook to see if it was possible. Now I see it would be, minus wine and mineral water, of course…
You know what, a $5 per head dinner is no easy feat, and I think you guys did fantastically well. I do agree that it’s usually the company that makes the meal.
Love how you used the leftovers to make cheese straws! Brilliant.
This is such a great idea! We always over spent on dinner parties and maybe this should be the next theme for our dinner
I love that you added the clothing element! Fabulous idea!
This is a FABULOUS idea. I am constantly hosting but have to put the brakes on slightly as I am trying to pay off some loans and save to go O.S- maybe if I try the $5 per head idea, I won’t have to stop!!
Love the photo of that Hot Dog!
Looking for budget dinner party ideas, I have come across this entry of yours Ms NQN and think it is fabulous. I particularly love the fact that the egg yolks for the dessert were ‘beaten from local greengrocer’ – poor man!! Got to love the nuance of the English language
Although I have not been commenting much at all this year due to other commitments in life, I have still thoroughly enjoyed your blog seven days a week all year long. To me, you are still the world’s best food blogger.
Hi Ck! LOL, oh those commas are so important aren’t they? I’m very tempted to leave it as it is because it gave me a laugh too! The poor green grocer
Aww thank you so much! You are such divine encouragement, your words always so sweet 
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