Loaded potato wedges with chilli beans
Potato wedges taste great loaded up with spicy chilli beans. If you don’t already have any in your freezer, making your own doesn’t take long and you don’t need to use the oven. Tins of beans in chilli sauce are a versatile addition to you store cupboard, so it’s worth always keeping a couple of tins in stock.
This recipe is part of a budget meal plan for two. In September 2023, this recipe was costed at an average of £1.44 when checking prices at four UK supermarkets. It is designed to be made in conjunction with a low-cost store-cupboard.
Ingredients
- 2 large potatoes (400g/14oz in total), each cut into 8 wedges
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 400g tin beans in chilli sauce
- 20²µ/¾´Ç³ú cheddar, finely grated
- 2 spring onions, finely sliced
- salt and ground black pepper
Method
Put the potatoes in a medium saucepan and cover with enough water to rise just 1cm/½in over the potatoes. Cover and bring to the boil, reduce the heat slightly and simmer for 5 minutes, or until softened but still holding their shape. Drain well in a colander or sieve and leave to stand for 5 minutes to drive off the steam.
Heat the oil in a large non-stick frying pan. Fry the potatoes for 3–5 minutes on each side, or until lightly browned, adding more oil if they begin to stick. (You can leave out this step if you like but the crisped potatoes taste especially good.)
While the potatoes are cooking, tip the beans into a pan – you can use the same pan as you cooked the potatoes in to save washing up. Heat according to the can instructions until hot (or you can do this in a microwave oven).
Divide the potato wedges between a sharing platter, two plates or shallow bowls and season with a little salt and pepper. Top with the hot beans, sprinkle with cheese and spring onions to serve.
Recipe Tips
If you are particularly hungry, you can easily increase the number of potatoes, but you may need to cook in batches. Or bake in a hot oven for around 30 minutes.
You can add extra beans, or frozen or tinned sweetcorn, to the chilli beans if you like. Or top the potato wedges with leftover chilli con carne.
If following the budget meal plan you may have soured cream or crème fraîche leftover from the creamy mushroom recipe that can be served on top of the beans and cheese. You could also sprinkle with extra chilli or sriracha sauce if you like.