I've had this recipe for so long that I can't actually remember where it came from. It was a firm family favourite in our house when we were growing up and one that featured regularly on our dinner table. I now make it at least once a fortnight as it's quick, easy, uses only a handful of ingredients and is fairly economical if you shop savvy! Although chicken can be quite expensive nowadays the thighs used in this recipe are usually cheaper than buying breasts, although if all I have in my freezer at the time is chicken breasts then that's what I use.

My local independent supermarket does a meat deal where you can buy either 3 packs for £10 (which is common in most supermarkets now) or 5 packs for £15, which means that a pack of chicken breasts costs me just £3 each. Once you've bought your chicken most of the other ingredients are store cupboard ones and so it really does work out to be a good value meal if you're a family of four, or an evening meal with enough leftovers for lunch the next day if there's just the two of you. I often bulk it up a bit by adding more rice and peas and it then gives us enough leftovers for two days worth of lunch - bargain!

Ingredients (for 4 people):
4 x chicken thighs, cut into thin strips
1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1/2 tsp chilli powder (adjust to your tastes in spicyness!)
350g long grain rice
1 pint chicken stock
295g can condensed mushroom soup
100g frozen peas

Method:
Heat oil in a large pan (I usually use my wok) and fry the chick for 3-4 minutes until lightly brownd. Add the onion and fry for another 5 minutes or so until the onion is softened.
Add the chilli powder and rice and cook for 1 minute, stirring continuously.
Combine the chicken stock with the soup and pour into the pan, stirring well.
Simmer uncovered for 25-30 minutes until rice is tender, stirring occasionally.
Add frozen peas after 20 minutes and season with salt and black pepper to taste.

And that's it...as easy as that! It really is a meal in itself, but if I'm making it when we have guests I'll do a side salad and possibly some garlic bread too, just to posh it up a bit, but if it's just the two of us we just have a nice big bowl of steaming risotto. Obviously if you add more rice to bulk it up then you also need to add more stock to ensure the rice cooks properly.

The cost breakdown for the above to feed 4 people as I buy the ingredients is:

4 x chicken breasts £3.00
1 onion 19p
350g long grain rice 63p
2 x stock cubes 19p
Can condensed soup 50p (I always stock up when on 3 for £1.50)
100g frozen peas 14p

Total cost = £4.65
(I didn't include the oil or chilli powder as I think that's something every kitchen will have and the amounts used of both are minimal).

So there you have one of our favourite mid-week meals. Quick, easy, tasty and at only £1.16 per person fairly cost-effective too. I'd love to hear your thoughts if you try it out :)