Top 9 Recipes of 2025 - Video Recipes

As year-end recipe lists go, my Top 9 Recipes of 2024 is one you can really sink your incisors into. And all of my top picks are deliciously cheap to make. Just click on any recipe name to see the original 2024 blog post for tasty photos and my money-saving tips, and be sure to play any embedded videos below. The ranking order is random and not by delectability, so go ahead and dig in! 

1. Black-eyed Peas with Collard Greens, Cherry Tomatoes, and Okra.

My recipe is loaded - with veggies, that is. I used dried Black-eyed Peas, but you can use fresh. This is food for the soul.

2. Bagel, Cream Cheese, Onion & Tomato

I've learned there are many types of Bagels since I met my wife, Linda, as I've accompanied her many times to New York City, where there are Jewish Delis and Bagel shops in every neighborhood. Use any type for my simply delicious Bagel, Cream Cheese, Onion & Tomato recipe. 

3. Pizza with Anchovies & Capers

Nothing is fresh in this recipe. And I add Anchovies to a frozen Pizza, so this recipe may not be for everybody. If you can follow frozen Pizza directions, then my Pizza with Anchovies & Capers may be for you!

4. Chilaquiles & Eggs - Tortilla Chips, Salsa, Cheese, and Eggs

I like Tortilla Chips with Salsa. Now add this to your breakfast Fried Eggs with cheese, and you have a spicy start to your day. I use a small can of green Salsa Verde, but you can use any favorite Salsa, fresh or from the jar, for my Chilaquiles & Eggs recipe.

5. Bagel Spread - Cream Cheese & Chopped Boiled Egg 

It is a quick and easy recipe to make. All you do is set out a block or container of Cream Cheese on the kitchen counter to soften while you boil an Egg. Mix the chopped boiled egg into the Cream Cheese and spread it on a hot, toasted Bagel. I make this Bagel Spread more than any other.

6. Turkey Salad

I always have leftover Turkey after Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday meals. I like to add chopped celery, onion, pickle relish, with mayo and mustard to my Turkey Salad. How about you?

7. Grilled Hatch Chile Sausages

When I see packages of Sausages on sale at my local grocery store, I'll give them a try, especially during the summer grilling season. Charred Grilled Hatch Chile Sausages only need a smear of mustard. 

8. Whole Roasted Chicken from Ralphs Grocers

If you have a grocer who sets out packages of Whole Roasted Chicken, then I have a slew of recipes for it. The hard part of cooking a Whole Chicken is taken care of. Check out my Panda Express ripoff recipe of Black Pepper Chicken below, and go right to the stir-frying part.

9. Grilled Eggplant

I like grilled veggies, and Eggplant is the latest tasty subject. I slice a whole Eggplant thickly as a steak and grill it until fork-tender. Grilled Eggplant is my latest favorite recipe. 

It has been a fruitfully abundant year of recipes here at the Cheap$kate Chateau. I did the heavy lifting for you, so now all you have to do is pick a recipe link and save yourself some hard-earned cash by trying out any of the above. And if you have a favorite recipe of mine, then leave a comment to share.

And make sure to keep checking in here from time to time. I create yummy-looking blog posts with a dollop of humor, and while my tastes are cheap, my recipe flavors are top-shelf !!

Whole Roasted Chicken from Ralphs Grocers - Recipes

I don't know how long this Deal of the Day will last, but I'm taking advantage every Thursday by buying a Whole Roasted Chicken from Ralphs Grocery Store.

Ralphs is a chain of supermarkets, and I have one within walking distance. This is where I get discounted meats, seafood, bread, and cheap beer.

One of the best deals is the Whole Roasted Chicken, which is $6 on Thursdays only. There are under the heating lamps in a couple of open-air kiosks in the store. Just walk by and grab a bag. They restock several times a day, as the chickens are scooped up.

Sometimes the Roasted Chicken is large and sometimes not, but it's still a steal. 

I'm sure you have a local grocer that has Whole Roasted Chickens. I can get 3 or 4 meals out of one bird. I usually munch the wings right away - they are my favorite tasty morsels. 

Ralphs Whole Roasted Chicken is well seasoned and moist, cooked just about right. I've yet to get a dried-out bird.

My go-to meal is a leg quarter, or half a breast, with a microwaved cooked potato. If I am reheating a Roasted Chicken leg quarter, then I will microwave the potato, slice it open, place the cold chicken piece on the cooked potato, and bake it all at 325 degrees for about 15 to 20 minutes, or until the chicken is warm again. The Roast Chicken juices will flavor the cooked and baked potato, too.

This works especially well with dark meat. Breast meat may dry out a bit, though.

The next recipe I make with the Ralphs Whole Roasted Chicken is a Chicken Salad. White meat is ideal for the recipe, although mixing in some dark meat is fine. 

I just slice off some Roasted Chicken (no skin) and cube or shred it. Mix in mayo, chopped onion, and celery, plus pickle relish. I season it with black pepper. Since the Roasted Chicken is well seasoned, I leave out the salt. Mix well and refrigerate until ready to eat. I make Chicken Salad Sandwiches with mine.

My third go-to recipe is a Mexican Stew called Chicken Tinga. I use a small can of Chipotle Peppers in Adobo Sauce, chopped onion and garlic, a can of tomatoes, and cumin powder. I find canned Mexican-style peppers, but you can substitute them with easy-to-get Enchilada Sauce, or any cans or jars of chilies.

Heat up the veggies and canned tomatoes and chiles for 15 to 20 minutes, then finish with shredded Roasted Chicken. Heat through. I make Chicken Tinga Tacos. Also good with rice or a favorite cooked grain.

Click on any of the following recipes that work well with Roasted Chicken. If a recipe calls for cooking chicken, obviously skip that stage and add the chicken towards the end of the recipe, heating it through before serving.

Recipes (click on any name to see the original blog post recipe:

Chicken Fried Rice, Trader Joe's Curried White Chicken Deli Salad Recipe, Chicken Stroganoff, Black Pepper Chicken - Panda Express Recipe, Chicken & Lemon Cream with Pasta, Chicken & Basil Stir Fry, Chicken Carrot & Cabbage Stir Fry, Chicken Soup, Leftover Turkey Gumbo, Jambalaya, Leftover Pot Pie.

Black Pepper Chicken - Panda Express Recipe

This is the kind of cheap$kate recipe I excel at. All the ingredients are affordable for any budget. I ripped off this stir-fry recipe from Panda Express and undercut them in price, too. For the price of one order, you get about 2 to 4 servings from my recipe (depending on how cheap chicken is in your neck of the woods.)

Just to let you know, I like Panda Express and am grateful they have tasty stir-frys at a reasonable price. Not everyone has one in their town or city, so this tasty recipe is especially for you.

My Black Pepper Chicken recipe is made with cheap dark chicken meat and the veggies are priced the lowest in any grocery produce section.

I use half a bunch of celery, and I can get a whole bunch of crunchy celery for a dollar or less.

And onions are so cheap that I used the most expensive type, red onion, which costs way less than a dollar per pound at my local Latin grocery store. It's okay to substitute with budget yellow or white onion.

Click on any photo to see larger.

I also use coarse ground black pepper that I get from my local 99c only Store and Dollar Tree. They also sell whole peppercorns, that can be crushed, so you get bites loaded with spicy pepper. Of course, you can use regular ground pepper. Use as much or as little as you can handle.

The stir-fry ingredients amounts can be adjusted. You like a lot of crunchy veggies? Then add an extra stalk or two of celery. I always have extra celery in the bottom of my refrigerator, so this recipe is perfect for using it all up. And notice how I slice the celery at a diagonal, so the pieces are larger.

This recipe makes three to four servings. If you want more protein then add another chicken thigh or leg. This recipe is so cheap that you can use breast meat.

I was feeling lazy, so I purchased boneless and skinless leg quarters at my local Latin market. for 88 cents per pound (I've noticed you have to sometimes remove a small white hard cartilage piece in the middle of a mechanically separated leg quarter meat.)

With a little bit of work you can remove the chicken skin and bone. Breast meat is the easiest to fillet. You can also just saute leg and/or thigh meat and remove the bone after it's cooked, while you saute the veggies.

I like stir-fry recipes because they are quick and easy to do. Most use soy sauce and a little garlic. I like to add a teaspoon of sugar to cut the saltiness of soy sauce. If you have some ginger and vinegar then use that too, but you can leave them out for this recipe.

Try out my latest cheap$kate recipe, Black Pepper Chicken and make enough to bring to lunch, instead of blowing your hard earned dollars at Panda Express.

Black Pepper Chicken - Video

Play it here. video runs 3 minutes 49 seconds.

My YouTube video link for viewing or embedding, just click here.

Ingredients (3-4 servings)

• 3-4 pieces of chicken - about a pound of skinless and boneless. 3 to 4 dark meat pieces or a whole chicken breast. You can remove bone and skin from chicken before or after cooking it.
• 4 stalks of celery - sliced. About 2 cups. Okay to add more if you like.
• 1 whole onion - sliced. I used red, but you can use any cheaper white or yellow onion.
• 1 teaspoon chopped garlic - fresh or from jar.
• 1 teaspoon chopped ginger - optional. Dried, fresh or from jar. Okay to use a teaspoon of powdered ginger.
• 2 tablespoons of soy sauce - I used lite or low sodium. No salt is necessary for recipe as I find soy sauce has plenty, but you can add some if you like.
• 2 tablespoons coarse ground black pepper - Okay to add more or less, to suit your taste. Course ground pepper is best, but you can use regular ground black pepper.
• 1 tablespoon of cornstarch - optional. This will give you a thick sauce.
• 1 tablespoon of vinegar - any type, optional. I used apple cider vinegar.
• 1 teaspoon of sugar - optional. Okay to use your favorite sweetener.
• 1 tablespoon oil - for frying chicken. Add more depending how much chicken is used.

Directions
Remove skin and bone from chicken. I got boneless and skinless dark meat at my local Latin market for less than a dollar per pound. You can cook dark meat with the bone in, then remove chicken meat while you saute veggies. White meat is easiest to remove from bone.

Coat chicken with cornstarch, optional. Cornstarch will make a thick gravy.

In a large frying pan or a wok, add 2 tablespoons of oil to a medium/hot pan. Add chicken and cook until done, about 3-5 minutes if the chicken is cubed. For whole chicken pieces it will take longer, about 7-10 minutes. Chicken is done when there is no pink color in thickest part of chicken.

While chicken cooks you can slice the celery and onion. Slice celery at a diagonal so you get longer and larger celery chunks. Discard a 1/4 inch of tough white celery end at the root.

Slice one onion. I like larger pieces for the onion, too. You can chop it smaller if you like.

Dark meat has a lot of moisture so you will get a flavorful gravy. For white meat you may need to add a 1/4 cup of water. If chicken dries out when sauteing, then add some water if you like sauce.

After chicken is done add the sliced celery and onion. (Okay to remove chicken if your pan is too small.) Saute and stir veggies for just a minute or two. You want some crunch, so best not to overcook veggies.

Next, make a clear area in center of frying pan and add the chopped garlic and ginger. Stir for a minute.

Add soy sauce and vinegar. Add a teaspoon of sugar or favorite sweetener, optional.

Finally, add 2 tablespoons of crushed black pepper. You can add one tablespoon and taste, then add more until desired flavor. Okay to use ground pepper. Crushed peppercorns are the most intense way to go.

If you like more sauce, then pour in a 1/4 cup of water or broth, and stir-fry another minute.

Serve over rice, favorite grain or noodles. It's good on its own, too.

Hindsight
If you like more veggies in your stir-fry, then add more celery. Same goes for chicken.

You don't want to overcook the veggies, so just saute for a couple of minutes, at the most.

Using a pepper grinder makes the most intense flavor, with black peppery bites.

Make your life easier and use store bought bottled Chinese Stir-Fry Sauce, if you like.

You can make this stir fry with any cheap seasonal veggie you like, including carrots, spinach, broccoli, and squash.

Use any cut of chicken you like. Keep it lighter with lean white meat. For this recipe I used cheaper dark meat -- it's all good.

Top 9 Recipes of 2015

As far as year end lists go, this is one you can really sink your teeth into. And all of my top picks are deliciously cheap to make. Just click on any recipe name to see the original 2015 blogpost, or play any embedded video below. The ranking order is random and not by delectability, so go ahead and dig in!

First up is an oldie but goody, creamy Fettuccine Alfredo. While I first published this recipe in 2010, it has proved to be one of my most popular. So in 2015 I brought it back as a stop motion animated video. Enjoy.



I changed how I make omelets this year. 99 thank to local French born celebrity chef Ludo Lefebvre. You may now him from the NBC cooking show The Taste. My second Top 9 Recipe is for a Cheese Omelette made in the French manner.

 American-style is to brown the outside and cook the eggs until solid all the way through, while Ludo's way is more slow and gentle, finishing with a moist interior. Basically a slow scramble until you gently roll the eggs into an omelet shape like this:

Here's my arty animated version of Chef Ludo's French-style Cheese Omelette.



I've never got why recipes call for pounding meat into a thin wafer that's fried, baked or sauteed into dry shoe leather. I guess it's tradition at work. Well, for my third Top 9 Recipe I turn the tables and toss out that tainted technique. Here's how I do Chicken Parmesan in Marinara Sauce.

Just put on some Dean Martin tunes, grab a bottle of Chiante, and give this Italian crunchy-coated classic a spin:



We are in the shivering days of winter and for my forth Top 9 Recipe you will want to rustle up a bowl of bubbling Green Split Pea Soup with Ham. My version is comfort food for the soul. So put on a slow-cooking pot of it to get your kitchen toasty and aromatic.

I don't know about you, but I'm starting some today.

For years end it's a party! My fifth Top 9 Recipe will get the ball rolling for any gathering: Bacon Wrapped Brussels Sprouts.

It really is my cutest video recipe for the year. To make this appealing appetizer a little more light, I show you a turkey bacon version, too. Roasted porcine wrapped mini-cabbages are a flavor-bomb powerful enough to wage war on the most embedded taste buds.



I seldom cook with beef because it's just too darn expensive. But I made an exception with my sixth Top 9 Recipe of Pasta alla Genovese. This cut of cow is the right price for about $2 per pound, called beef shank - not too bad. It's one tough cut of beef that I wrestle into tenderness by slow braising it for hours in white wine with a pot full of sliced onion.

While you need patience waiting for this Italian classic, your reward is a deeply beef flavored pasta sauce any Italian grandmother would approve of.



I make the seventh Top 9 Recipe more often than any other: Mexican Chicken Tinga.

This recipe is a 2fer. You can scoop it onto a plate of rice or just stuff it into a taco or burrito. Plus it's so cheap and easy to make, with very few ingredients to deal with, just a couple of canned items, onion, garlic and chicken. It's crock pot cuisine that freezes well -- I pack it into a container for office lunches. When you try it, I think it will be a favorite for you too.



Loco Moco, a Hawaiian bred entree, is my eighth Top 9 Recipe. If you are a calorie counter then scroll on, but if you break your fast from time to time then cheat with this decedent breakfast of sticky rice, a fat ground beef patty, gravy, and it's all topped with fried eggs - now that's a mouthful.

This recipe came about after a vacation trip last summer to the tropical island of Ohau, Hawaii. I spied locals, shirtless and in swimming trunks (possibly surfers on a late breakfast carb-loading break,) carrying piled plates to their tables. It looked like too much, but I eventually gave it a go and boy was it good. Substitute a low-fat ground chicken or turkey patty if it makes you feel better.



Finally my ninth Top 9 Recipe is my cheapest yet, a Black Pepper Stir Fry with chicken and celery. One of the least expensive veggies is a head of celery. I always end up throwing away a few stalks, so I decided to make a recipe before that happens next time, and this is the result of my fugalness.

Although I never eat at Panda Express, that doesn't mean I can't ripoff a recipe from there. I usually get mine from cheaper restaurant takeout stations in Chinatown for a lot less than what Panda Express charges. Just click here to see how fast and easy you can make it.

It has been a fruitfully abundant year of recipes here at the Cheap$kate Chateau. I did the heavy lifting for you, so now all you have to do is pick a recipe link and save yourself some hard earned cash by trying out any of the above.

And make sure to keep checking in here from time to time, while my tastes are cheap, my recipe flavors are top shelf!

Black Pepper Chicken - Panda Express Recipe

This is the kind of cheap$kate recipe I excel at. All the ingredients are affordable for any budget. I ripped off this stir-fry recipe from Panda Express and undercut them in price, too. For the price of one order, you get about 2 to 4 servings from my recipe (depending on how cheap chicken is in your neck of the woods.)

Just to let you know, I like Panda Express and am grateful they have tasty stir-fries at a reasonable price. Not everyone has one in their town or city, so this tasty recipe is especially for you.

My Black Pepper Chicken recipe is made with cheap dark chicken meat and the veggies are priced the lowest in any grocery produce section.

I use half a bunch of celery, and I can get a whole bunch of crunchy celery for a dollar or less.

And onions are so cheap that I used the most expensive type, red onion, which costs way less than a dollar per pound at my local Latin grocery store. It's okay to substitute with budget yellow or white onion.

Click on any photo to see larger.

I also use coarse ground black pepper that I get from my local 99c only Store and Dollar Tree. They also sell whole peppercorns, that can be crushed, so you get bites loaded with spicy pepper. Of course, you can use regular ground pepper. Use as much or as little as you can handle.

The stir-fry ingredients amounts can be adjusted. Do you like a lot of crunchy veggies? Then add an extra stalk or two of celery. I always have extra celery in the bottom of my refrigerator, so this recipe is perfect for using it all up. And notice how I slice the celery at a diagonal, so the pieces are larger.

This recipe makes three to four servings. If you want more protein then add another chicken thigh or leg. This recipe is so cheap that you can use breast meat.

I was feeling lazy, so I purchased boneless and skinless leg quarters at my local Latin market. for 88 cents per pound (I've noticed you have to sometimes remove a small white hard cartilage piece in the middle of a mechanically separated leg quarter meat.)

With a little bit of work, you can remove the chicken skin and bone. Breast meat is the easiest to fillet. You can also just saute leg and/or thigh meat and remove the bone after it's cooked, while you saute the veggies.

I like stir-fry recipes because they are quick and easy to do. Most use soy sauce and a little garlic. I like to add a teaspoon of sugar to cut the saltiness of soy sauce. If you have some ginger and vinegar then use that too, but you can leave them out for this recipe.

Try out my latest cheap$kate recipe, Black Pepper Chicken, and make enough to bring to lunch, instead of blowing your hard-earned dollars at Panda Express.

Black Pepper Chicken - Video

Play it here. video runs 3 minutes, 49 seconds.

My YouTube video link for viewing or embedding, just click here.

Ingredients (3-4 servings)

• 3-4 pieces of chicken - about a pound of skinless and boneless. 3 to 4 dark meat pieces or a whole chicken breast. You can remove bone and skin from chicken before or after cooking it.
• 4 stalks of celery - sliced. About 2 cups. Okay to add more if you like.
• 1 whole onion - sliced. I used red, but you can use any cheaper white or yellow onion.
• 1 teaspoon chopped garlic - fresh or from the jar.
• 1 teaspoon chopped ginger - optional. Dried, fresh or from the jar. Okay to use a teaspoon of powdered ginger.
• 2 tablespoons of soy sauce - I used lite or low sodium. No salt is necessary for the recipe as I find soy sauce has plenty, but you can add some if you like.
• 2 tablespoons coarse ground black pepper - Okay to add more or less, to suit your taste. Course ground pepper is best, but you can use regular ground black pepper.
• 1 tablespoon of cornstarch - optional. This will give you a thick sauce.
• 1 tablespoon of vinegar - any type, optional. I used apple cider vinegar.
• 1 teaspoon of sugar - optional. Okay to use your favorite sweetener.
• 1 tablespoon oil - for frying chicken. Add more depending on how much chicken is used.

Directions
Remove skin and bone from chicken. I got boneless and skinless dark meat at my local Latin market for less than a dollar per pound. You can cook dark meat with the bone in, then remove chicken meat while you saute veggies. White meat is easiest to remove from bone.

Coat chicken with cornstarch, optional. Cornstarch will make a thick gravy.

In a large frying pan or a wok, add 2 tablespoons of oil to a medium/hot pan. Add chicken and cook until done, about 3-5 minutes if the chicken is cubed. For whole chicken pieces, it will take longer, about 7-10 minutes. Chicken is done when there is no pink color in the thickest part of the chicken.

While chicken cooks you can slice the celery and onion. Slice celery at a diagonal so you get longer and larger celery chunks. Discard a 1/4 inch of tough white celery end at the root.

Slice one onion. I like larger pieces for the onion, too. You can chop it smaller if you like.

Dark meat has a lot of moisture so you will get a flavorful gravy. For white meat, you may need to add a 1/4 cup of water for some gravy.

After the chicken is done add the sliced celery and onion. (Okay to remove chicken if your pan is too small.) Saute and stir veggies for just a minute or two. You want some crunch, so best not to overcook veggies.

Next, make a clear area in the center of the frying pan and add the chopped garlic and ginger. Stir for a minute.

Add soy sauce and vinegar. Add a teaspoon of sugar or your favorite sweetener, optional.

Finally, add 2 tablespoons of crushed black pepper. You can add one tablespoon and taste, then add more until the desired flavor. Okay to use ground pepper. Crushed peppercorns are the most intense way to go.

If you like more sauce, then pour in a 1/4 cup of water or broth, and stir-fry for another minute.

Serve over rice, your favorite grain, or noodles. It's good on its own, too.

Hindsight
If you like more veggies in your stir-fry, then add more celery. The same goes for chicken.

You don't want to overcook the veggies, so just saute for a couple of minutes, at the most.

Using a pepper grinder makes the most intense flavor, with black peppery bites.

Make your life easier and use store-bought bottled Chinese Stir-Fry Sauce, if you like.

You can make this stir fry with any cheap seasonal veggie you like, including carrots, spinach, broccoli, and squash.

Use any cut of chicken you like. Keep it lighter with lean white meat. For this recipe I used cheaper dark meat -- it's all good.