Welcome to my new $20 DINNERS! 🙌
Every week I’m going to make an easy family dinner for $20 or less — keeping things budget-friendly and, most importantly, EASY.
The goal is simple: feed our family of four for $20. No complicated ingredients, no spending three hours in the kitchen and definitely no pretending I made everything from scratch when the supermarket can do some of the work for me.
First up… a kinda bogan Pork Belly Banh Mi. 😂
And I’m sorry to my Vietnamese friends, you might want to look away now because there’s no pâté, there’s no coriander… but I can promise there is dinner for $19.55.
And it was GOOD.
What you’ll need
I shopped at Coles and grabbed:
- Marinated pork belly — $9
- Coleslaw — $2.20
- 6 banh mi rolls — $3.55
- Vietnamese chilli mayo — $4.80
TOTAL: $19.55
Prices are what I paid at Coles when I made this recipe, so they may change over time or vary between stores.
How to make easy Pork Belly Banh Mi
Cut the pork belly into bite-sized pieces and pop it into the air fryer at 200ºC for around 20–23 minutes, giving it a shake halfway through to wake it up and get all the sides nice and crispy.
Once the pork is cooked, chuck the rolls into the air fryer at 170ºC for about 3 minutes.
You want them crunchy.
The kind that fills your bra as you eat it. You know what I mean. 😝
I buttered mine because bread always needs lashings of butter, then added the coleslaw, crispy pork belly and chilli mayo.
That’s it. Dinner done.
Want to add a little extra?
If you’ve got a few extra dollars to play with, add coriander and fresh chilli.
You could also quick-pickle your coleslaw with a little vinegar, sugar and water to give it a bit more tang.
And if you’ve got big eaters, buy another pack of pork belly for $9, or grab some frozen fries for around $4 and cook those in the air fryer to serve alongside.
The verdict
For $19.55 and about 25 minutes from start to finish, I’m happy!
It fed our family of four, was super easy to throw together and everyone got a decent feed.
I’m giving our first $20 Dinner an 8/10. 🙌
COST: $19.55
SERVES: 4
TIME: Around 25 minutes
RATING: 8/10
I’ll be back next week with another easy family dinner for $20 or less!
