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Make Marcus Samuelsson's comfort meals for under $20

After a long, cold day, nothing's better than a warm plate of comfort food. Here to help is Marcus Samuelsson. The celebrity chef has shared his top three tips for saving money on food without sacrificing the quality of your meals — plus three economical recipes: meatballs with gravy, mashed root veggies and pickled cucumbers.TIPS1. Keep a well stocked pantry with ingredients you can use again

After a long, cold day, nothing's better than a warm plate of comfort food. 

Here to help is Marcus Samuelsson. The celebrity chef has shared his top three tips for saving money on food without sacrificing the quality of your meals — plus three economical recipes: meatballs with gravy, mashed root veggies and pickled cucumbers.

TODAY Show: Marcus Samuelsson cooks up delicious Swedish meatball on the TODAY Show on January 15, 2015.
Samantha Okazaki / Today

TIPS
1. Keep a well stocked pantry with ingredients you can use again and again to create delicious meals at home with only a few market ingredients. 

2. Shop for seasonal produce. When there is a bounty of a certain fresh ingredient, it tends to be more readily available and more affordable.

3. Keep a few tips up your sleeve: Save your root vegetable tops to saute in garlic, shave your broccoli stems into a fresh raw salad, and use a chicken or turkey carcass to make delicious and flavorful stock. It's a resourceful way to cook at home!

RECIPES

Meatballs with gravy
4-6 servings

Meatballs with gravy
Samantha Okazaki / Today

Ingredients for the meatballs

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 medium red onion, finely chopped
  • 1/2 cup dry bread crumbs
  • 1/4 cup heavy cream
  • 1/2 pound ground chuck or sirloin
  • 1/2 pound ground veal
  • 1/2 pound ground pork
  • 2 tablespoons honey
  • 1 large egg
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Ingredients for the sauce

  • 1 cup chicken broth
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 1/4 cup lingonberry preserves
  • 2 tablespoons juice from pickled cucumbers (see below)
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the meatballs
1. Heat the olive oil in a small skillet over medium heat. When it shimmers, add the onion and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool.

2. Combine the bread crumbs and heavy cream in a large bowl, stirring with a fork until all the crumbs are moistened.

TODAY Show: Marcus Samuelsson cooks up delicious Swedish meatball on the TODAY Show on January 15, 2015.
Samantha Okazaki / Today

3. Add the sautéed onion, beef, veal, pork, honey, egg, and salt and pepper to the bread crumbs and mix well. Wet your hands (it keeps the meatballs from sticking) and shape the mixture into meatballs the size of golf balls, placing them on a plate lightly moistened with water. You should end up with about 24 meatballs.

4. Heat a grill pan over medium-high heat. Grill the meatballs, in batches if necessary, until browned all over and cooked through, about 9 minutes.

For the gravy
1. Bring the broth, cream, preserves, and pickle juice to a simmer in a large saucepan over medium-high heat.

2. Add the meatballs to the gravy, reduce the heat to medium, and simmer until the gravy thickens slightly and the meatballs are heated through, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Keep warm

TODAY Show: Marcus Samuelsson cooks up delicious Swedish meatball on the TODAY Show on January 15, 2015.
Samantha Okazaki / Today

Pickled cucumbers
Yield: 4-6 servings (1 1/2 cups)

Ingredients

  • 1 English cucumber (see Note)
  • 1 tablespoon kosher salt
  • 1 1/2 cups water
  • 1/2 cup white wine vinegar
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 2 allspice berries

1. Slice the cucumber as thinly as possible — ideally using a mandoline or Japanese V-slicer. Put the cucumber in a colander set over a plate or in the sink, toss with the salt, and let stand for about 30 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, combine the water, vinegar, sugar, bay leaf, and allspice in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat and let cool.

3. Rinse the salt off the cucumber, turn it out onto a kitchen towel, and squeeze out as much liquid as possible. Put the cucumber in a 1-quart Mason jar and pour in the pickling solution. Push the cucumber down to make sure it’s completely covered, then put the lid on the jar. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours before serving. The pickled cucumber will keep in the refrigerator for at least 2 weeks.

Note: English cucumbers are the very long ones. They don’t have a lot of seeds and in supermarkets they usually come sealed in plastic.

Chunky mashed vegetables
Yield: 4-6 servings

Ingredients

  • 3 large Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and quartered
  • 2 large carrots, peeled and chopped
  • 1 medium Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored, and sliced
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 red onion, thinly sliced
  • 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
  • 2 medium shallots, thinly sliced
  • 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon honey
  • 1/2 cup buttermilk
  • 1/2 teaspoon horseradish, preferably freshly grated
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Put the potatoes into a large saucepan, cover with salted cold water by at least an inch, and cook until tender, about 20 minutes. Put the carrots and apples in another saucepan, cover with salted cold water by at least an inch, and cook until tender, about 15 minutes.

2. While the potatoes, apples, and carrots cook, heat the olive oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. When it shimmers, add the onion, garlic, shallots, vinegar, and honey. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook, stirring often, until the onion and shallots are tender, about 10 minutes.

3. Drain the potatoes and the carrots and apples and return them to one of the cooking pots. Mash coarsely with a fork or potato masher. Stir in the buttermilk, horseradish, and onion mixture. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

4. To serve, spoon the carrot-apple mashed potatoes onto dinner plates and top with the meatballs and gravy.