Meals that are cheap but healthy, when trying to cut down food spend!

[Lia756]

We are trying to cut down food spend, we live month to month so trying to save money! What cheap meals can also be healthy? Thanks

I love a delicious egg fried rice Chinese style.
We find scrambled egg can get a bit lost in it so we do a runny fried egg on top. A family hit!

Asian and Indian supermarkets for herbs, spices, pulses, rice and noodles. Even the 'ethnic' aisles of the supermarket can have cheaper products, eg coconut milk for 50p instead of £2.

Picking your supermarket carefully if possible - Aldi and Lidl are always cheaper than Tesco.

If you do end up in a Tesco look really carefully at brands, there is almost always a cheaper alternative.

Apart from that, it's about eating veggie as much as possible, choosing cheaper cuts of meat and slow cooking them, being ruthless about waste and using any freezer space you have as well as you can - buying offers, using frozen veg where it doesn't make a difference and double-cooking - which is my version of batch cooking. It's no fun spending all Sunday cooking up massive batches to freeze, but I do make double of anything freezable like chilli, pasta sauces, etc.

What's your starting point , stockcupboard wise.
I always have cumin, parsley, turmeric, chili garlic,soy sauce honey , basmati rice and pasta , lemons ( or lemon juice) olive oil and salt. With those basic ingredients or cheap to make risottos, stir frys, curries and pasta dishes with minimum ingredients (even if you have t got these in they are not expensive to buy.

I usually have frozen mixed veg in. It quickly makes soup, goes into casseroles or some stir fries.
Tonight I fried onions up added a little brown sugar and simmered for 20 mins. Added some cumin, chili flakes, salt ,turmeric, fried that added a can of lentils ( 48p) and stirred in some basmati rice. Served with flat bread I made with yogurt and flour.

Sweet potato and black bean chili is very simple and cheap to make ( the one by cookie and Kate is my favourite by a long way)

I'm quite God with leftovers for example any left over mash gets made into a fritter!

Make sure you eat seasonally.

Make your own curry paste and pasta sauces. It couldn't be easier and it's cheap.

How you present your food can make a huge difference to how you feel about it ( in my opinion). I try to make it look upgraded., drizzle of balsamic glaze on my cheese on toast, rocket and tomato garnish with my garlic mushrooms on toast that kind of thing.

NowWhatUserNameShallIHave.
That's how I make my mushroom soup but have you tried it with a little squeeze of lemon . I find it gives it a little lift. My friend alaways adds Z'atar to hers!

You've got me craving mushroom soup now!

Where do you shop OP? If you're not shopping at Aldi / Lidl then try that and see if your money goes further.

My lightbulb moment quite a few years ago was moving away for 1 chicken breast / gammon steak / salmon fillet etc per person. I'd always automatically done that, never questioned it. Now if I'm making a chicken meal for 5, I might use 3 chicken breast etc.

Agree with pp.
-Use mainly veggie meals

• Make your ingredients double up so say bacon in a carbonara and then the rest of the packet in a quiche etc
• Freeze any leftovers, even if it's a small portion (it will feed the children one night if you and DH fancy a pizza once the kids are in bed etc).
• Apart from occasional adult pizza night etc, only ever cook one meal (don't buy/cook separate meals for the children - just doubles the expense)
• Cook from scratch where you can
• Buy seasonal

So here, one night is always a soup and crusty bread night. One night is always a cheapie pasta night (with just a tomato sauce and garlic bread).

Then cheap recipes
Broad bean and lemon risotto (bag of frozen beans/ rice / lemon / cheese / stock)
Jambalaya (bit of chicken if you have any / piece of chorizo / veggies / rice)
Mixed bean chilli - tinned mixed means / tomatoes
Dhal (as pls have said)
Couscous with roasted veg (Buy the big packets of couscous)
Chinese fried rice (bit of chicken / veggies)
Homemade quiche with whatever you have (veggies or bacon or mushrooms etc) with salad
Lentil hash (lentils/ roast potatoes/spinach / poached egg on top)
Spicy bean burgers (tin of kidney beans / carrots and whatever veg you have with an egg to bind, all mashed/ pulsed in food processor)

Have a look too at A Girl Called Jack / Cooking on a Bootstrap for inspiration

Chicken with noodles - i tend to use soft noodles as less hassle and quick , aprox 80p for pack of 2 at aldi .
A scrape of fresh garlic and fresh ginger , handful of frozen peas , left over cooked chicken - i much prefer adding cooked rather than stir frying raw , just my preference.
A good slosh of soy sauce , could add any other spare veg .
Mega quick to cook , tasty ,filling and fairly healthy .

Frozen spinach makes my life very easy, and it's very cheap. I add it to all sorts of things to make basic meals more nutritious - curries/dahls, tomatoey pasta sauces, macaroni cheese, omelette...

The slow cooker really is the best way for me to make good value and very easy, filling meals. I love cooking once and getting two meals from it, so big pots of stews etc make me very happy.

We used to have porridge with half a banana for breakfast. Basics cheese, egg or tuna sandwiches or home made soup for lunch, and maybe lentil cottage pie, lentil lasagne, bean chilli or spinach and chickpea curry for dinner. All veggie.

Like a PP said, some things are much cheaper than others.

Carrots are really cheap. They can be sticks with a sandwich, grated as a salad or as a veg with cottage pie. You can make carrot soup with a bag of wonky carrots, an onion, a potato and a stock cube. Frozen peas and green beans are good. IMO frozen carrots and broccoli are not.

Bananas are also cheap - about 10p each even in Sainsburys, and they are filling too. So are apples and easy peelers.

Things like basics tinned tomatoes and kidney beans cost so little and are fine for recipes.

As a treat I also made home made trays of flapjack and brownies. A little goes a long way.

Some great ideas on here!
Something I make most weeks is layers of courgette and aubergine, with whatever else veg I've got to hand, tin of tomatoes (Lidl and Aldi have tinned cherry tomatoes which are nice( drizzle with olive oil, few dabs of garlic paste.
Cook in the oven for about 39 mins.
Meanwhile fry up a packet of gnocchi, spread them on top of the veg, cover in cheese and brown off.
Buy a roll of chilled pastry, spread on a baking tray, blind bake for 10 mins, cover with whatever you like, I spread passata, pesto, garlic, mushrooms and cheese.
If we're having baked spuds I bung several in, what isn't eaten that night is used for mashed potatoes which can be frozen, plus loaded potato skins.
If you eat meat, coddle is simple, brown some sausages and bacon, put in casserole dish with sliced onions, potatoes and an apple, cover in cheap cider and cook on low for about an hour.

@SnowWhitesSM

I do a slow cooker dhal once a week. Red lentils, frozen sweet potato, frozen spinach, half a jar of curry paste, onions, garlic, coconut milk. The curry paste is the most expensive item but I use half one week and half the next.

Chicken thighs and crusty rolls with salad isn't expensive.

My dc eat hot food at school so I usually only have pittas and houmous, jacket potatoes, omelette ect on offer for tea/dinner/supper.

If I make a roast I always do bubble and squeak with fried eggs the next day. I love bubble and squeak!

stupid question, but do you use raw lentils or cooked ones?

@Lia756

Thanks everyone, so there are 2 adults, a 3 year old and 5 month old, currently spending about 100-120 each week, including formula and nappies.

I am wanting us as adults to eat healthier, and trying to get my 3 year old to eat better too, as she is currently going through a nugget and chip phase!

You're very similar to some family members of mine.

Will read all of the thread and return - all the good ideas have probably already been said!

Stuff on toast
Jacket spuds
Slow cooked chilli, stew, casserole, curry
Soup and bread

We keep a load of frozen veg, onions, peppers, mushrooms and mash in as well as a heap of tinned veg, tomatoes, potatoes and soups and dried pasta, cous cous and rice for when we're low on cash (even lower than normal!)

Home made fish pie can be economical and delicious.

Apple crumble.

Have a look at the website Frugal Feeding.

Red lentils cook really easily so you can put them raw into things. I find them easiest to digest of all the lentils.

I'm not sure about green lentils.

Lentils are ridiculously filling and a good source of protein.

Overnight oats are a nice change from porridge. Lots of recipes out there
Also breakfast cookies: Mix one banana,one egg, 75 grams oats, 30 grams peanut butter, one tablespoon honey and one teaspoon cinnamon. Shape into 4 cookies and bake at 180 for 20 minutes. They last a couple of days. Pop them in the oven when you’re making something else

Macaroni cheese is very cheap
I make chicken stock from the bones of roast chicken and use it to make leek pea and lemon risotto. In covid when I couldn’t get Arborio rice I started using normal rice and it worked fine.
Also snacks in individual portions kill your budget. When my kids were in primary school I served up a plate of chopped veges for afternoon and they get home baking for lunch snacks. Plain Popcorn if you pop it yourself is also an incredibly cheap and pretty healthy snack.

Some great ideas on here thank you

@Annonnimoouse42 I either use tinned green lentils or I use dried red dried lentils. When I use dried red lentils I soak them in boiling water for the 5 minutes that I'm putting all the ingredients in to the slow cooker and then rinse them off under the tap to get the scum off. I think red lentils are the only dried lentils you can just cook.

[quote SnowWhitesSM]@Annonnimoouse42 I either use tinned green lentils or I use dried red dried lentils. When I use dried red lentils I soak them in boiling water for the 5 minutes that I'm putting all the ingredients in to the slow cooker and then rinse them off under the tap to get the scum off. I think red lentils are the only dried lentils you can just cook.[/quote]
@SnowWhitesSM thank you so much. I seem to have a mental block making dahl

I had veggie burgers last night OP and thought of this thread:

It uses two cans of beans, whatever you have, I usually use black-eyed beans and cannelleni (sp?) but obvs kidney beans, butter beans, black beans would be fine too. Not chickpeas though, you want the creamier texture.

So

Blitz two drained cans of beans with 150g sweet corn (I use frozen), a good handful of jalapeños and coriander, seasoning. I usually add some fajita spice mix too. Needs a good 1.5 teaspoons of salt. In a bowl, mix with a beaten egg and 75g breadcrumbs. Shape into patties and fry. (If you have time, letting the mix cool down in the freezer before shaping makes things a lot easier).

If DCs don't like spice, make the mix without the jalapeños and take some out, then stir in chopped jalapeños to what's left.

These are vaguely Mexican flavoured but you can add whatever you like really. Feeds six for a couple of quid and some store cupboard things.

@EdmontinaDancesWithOphelia

I’m trying to weigh up which would be both cheaper and more beneficial health-wise -

Sittingonabench‘s and others’ tinned beans / lentils, surely more expensive per unit but pre-cooked, so saving on fuel costs.

Or

Buying several kilos of the same, dried, uncooked. Much cheaper if you find the right supplier, enough stores for weeks or months so saving on journeys / deliveries, effortless overnight soaking, but considerably longer cooking times, so fuel …

Has anyone ever worked this out properly? (It wouldn’t make a difference to what I buy, I’m just curious.)

I use a lot of pulses both glass jars and dried. The dry pulses I soak overnight and pressure cook sometimes electric pressure cooker others with a classic pressure cooker on the gas hob. Chick peas and beans I sometimes cook double and freeze then add frozen to recipe

If I do a tomato sauce for pasta, I use a couple of onions, grate in four or five carrots and a couple of courgettes into a couple of tins of tomatoes, water and a stock cube. Any other veg that needs eating goes in there. Then either red lentils or red lentils plus a bit of mince. The veg really bulks out the sauce and it will do two or three meals for the two of us in our house. I also do baked bean chilli with own brand beans and a splodge of tomato sauce, peppers, onions, chopped tomatoes and whatever warm spices I have in the cupboard. With jackets or rice.

Pearl barley is great. I use it to make risotto,stews, casseroles, soups salads and desserts. It costs about 60p in Asda and you can do so much.
Cous cous is another versatile ingredient that is relatively cheap. It makes a change from potatoes and rice and again I use it in salads, and desserts.

Thank you everyone, I have never tried lentils so will try them in something next week!

@Lia756 where are you shopping? We use Aldi now but over lockdown were using Tesco for deliveries.

2 adults, 5 year old and 16 month old and spend £70 a week, including milk and nappies.

General week looks like this -
Breakfast - weetabix/porridge for kids I have eggs every day.
Lunch - for me and DH usually soups or sandwich, kids are at school and nursery now.
Dinners this week - Yesterday all day breakfost for DH and I. 5 YO wanted sausages with scrambked egg and beans so kids had that.
Today - cheeseburger pasta
Wednesday - (DH on Uni day so not home until late) Kids and I will hvae omelettes chips and peas.
Thursday - Mexican food day (chicken fajhitas for us and baby, ds1 doesn't like chicken atm so fish finger wraps for him.
Friday - homemade pizza, mushrooms, pineapple, olives for toppings
Saturday a Slow cooked curry.
Sunday a Roast

@lia756 as a first-timer I would start with tinned pulses, and dried red lentils which cook down pretty quickly anyway. Other dried pulses do take a while to cook, and you don't want to put the whole family off with crunchy chickpeas! Tins are only 55p-ish, an easy way to try it without much of a commitment in time or cash. A lot of it is what you do with them anyway - my kids will eat anything when it's fried up with fajita spice mix and served in a wrap!