Jamie cooks up some £1 Wonders

Jamie Oliver used to spend his time making tasty meals, but these days, he seems more focused on making a difference to people’s lives.

Back in 1999, the Essex-born chef become a household name overnight thanks to his The Naked Chef TV shows.

And while he has sold a few million cookery books off the back of it (he is the second best-selling British author, behind JK Rowling), Jamie has admirably used his fame to tackle some of society’s most pressing problems, particularly those relating to food and nutrition.

In 2002, he established the Fifteen restaurant, where he trained disadvantaged young people to work in the hospitality industry.

He then became the scourge of the Turkey Twizzler through his programme Jamie’s School Dinners, before joined several other celebrity chefs on The Big Fish Fight to raise awareness about the discarding saltwater fish.

He joined forces with charity Sustain to start the Sugar Smart campaign, and became a supporter for of Fresh Thinking for Forgotten Food, tackling waste.

In April this year, Jamie co-organised a charity dinner in London to raise money for Ukrainians who suffered from the Russian invasion.

In his recent book and TV series, Jamie’s One-Pan Wonders, the chef has been providing us with helpful with advice on how to prepare delicious home-cooked food while just using one pan, pot or dish.

But although the title of tonight’s special one-off programme sounds very similar to that, Jamie has more than just washing-up on his mind.

Inflation is at the 10% mark and, apart from energy, the biggest driver of price rises has been food and drink.

The escalating cost of living means households are having to make their money stretch even further – especially at the supermarket – so Jamie has come up with a few solutions to help out.

He will show us a handful of tasty, family-friendly dishes that can each be made for less than £1 a portion (based on the cost of the ingredients used, according to prices at the time of filming in October 2022).

He kicks off with a deliciously juicy meatloaf that elevates one of the cheapest cuts of meat to the level of a Sunday roast, before celebrating the most cost-efficient way to cook by creating a cheeky vegetarian curry.

He also goes half-veg with his batch-cooked Bolognese to make our meat – and money – stretch further.

To save time and cash, Jamie makes the most of the oven whenever it’s on by cooking two dishes at the same time.

He makes a super-simple Cajun chicken traybake – cooking the chicken, veg and rice in one dish so you don’t need to boil a separate pan – alongside a cleverly streamlined lasagne made from frozen veg and store cupboard staples.

And lastly, being on a budget doesn’t mean you can’t have tasty treat for afters.

Jamie’s super-speedy sponge pudding, cooked in three minutes, is a traditional delight, and shows that Jamie still has an excitement for great food, as well as an unwavering passion for what food can do.