Budget lunch ideas anyone?

[Lottie4]

Does anyone have any budget lunch ideas they can share?

I haven't worried about lunch costs previously having jacket potato&filling, slice quiche and salad, but like everyone else trying to save a few pennies.

DH cooked too many veggies on Sunday (which I wouldn't normally do), so I saved them and made a mini frittata. Today I'm having a cheese and cucumber sandwich - guess I could cut cucumber and Lidl cheese spread would be cheaper.

Eggs are cheap and filling - omelette, scrambled egg, fried egg sandwich, poached egg on toast

I tend to have cereal if I already have milk in the fridge, not coco pops but bran or weetabix as it fills me up enough without spending anything extra

awful how I have to often decide on if I’m going to eat breakfast or lunch today 😔

mass baked pasta is a must of course! I am also one of those horrendous people who doesn’t care about taste so I eat pasta and beans very often!! (I await the flaming!!) but I don’t care, it fills me up and doesn’t empty my purse

feelingglowandblue I asked for ideas, and all are welcome. Actually you reminded me my DH used to eat leftover pasta (fusilli warmed up with baked beans) when I first met him - I know what to give him now😅

Ahhhh that’s brilliant! Glad to have reminded you!

It is hard😔 I usually make a sandwich or salad for the first few days of the week, I tend to buy a small chicken and Cook it and pull it off the bone it does work out cheaper the sliced deli meats for us (we have allergies so find suitable food can at times be expensive) I flavour it with herbs and spices and dressings or mayo.
Crust less quiche or frittata work well as they are filling. I make clean out the fridge soup with home made soda bread or American style biscuits. I serve bread, rolls or American biscuits with most evening meals
Beans on toast or just beans and an egg are also quick and easy. The DC sometimes take a food flask to school with beans or pasta hoops and crackers.
I hate having to account for every scrap of food and still wonder should I eat it or save it ,
One huge help for me is preparing fruit and veggies into Kilner jars and storing in the fridge the food lasts so much longer esp soft fruits and salads

I think batching lunches for a week can often be the cheapest option. Soup is a good one as you can chuck in whatever left over veggies etc you have. I tend to eat soup with some toast or naan/bagel, whatever is cheapest/preferred.

or buying a load of bread and then one choice of filling for the week to make use of all fresh ingredients.

tinned ravioli is not the most avant garde but is filling and cheap.

super noodles can be a good way to add in leftovers to make them more filling - i often add left over veg/meat.

I have brunch every day rather than breakfast and lunch, and it's usually a bowl of dal made with red lentils. One (US) cup of uncooked lentils makes enough for two days' meals. I add various herbs, spices and vegetables - but it's up to you to decide what you'd like. 1kg of lentils is 99c in Tesco Ireland, and that would make eight brunches. Possibly cheaper than chips :)

Soup with pulses in is very filling and cheap. Can flavour with anything really. Lentils are good in a daal - again quite cheap to make and will fill you up

Depends how cheap you want to go. I currently eat Morrison's calorie counted microwave meals for lunch, and these come in at £1-£1.25 each, which I don't think is too bad.

Home made soup is great for a lunch. Veg of choice and switch between adding potatoes/lentils/rice/pasta/pearl barley. Change up the stock cube too.
Cheesy pasta and peas.
I distinctly remember eating a lot of spaghetti and butter when I first left home.

Tinned sardines are a cheap protein if you can manage fish.
Home made muesli for breakfast will keep you full until lunch.

Shops own brand baked beans on toast. We used to have a can between us, but realised we can managed with a third each on two slices of bread - it's filling and keeps us going. Also, means another portion for someone another day. We often have a couple of cherry tomatoes on the side, but that's obviously optional.

My lunch today will be a tin of lentil and veg soup from Aldi. It costs about 40p and is filling enough to not need anything else. It's also delicious!

Anything on toast, sardines, cheese on toast, eggs, caponata, tapenade, tuna mayonnaise.
Home made soup, add things like beans or lentils or soup pasta or home made croutons to make a simple soup more filling.
In the summer, cous-cous makes a quick lunch, add chopped up left over vegetables or any salad vegetables tomatoes radish green beans, grated cheese or hard boiled egg.

I grow my own mushrooms and often have mushrooms fried in cream with thyme, delicious piled on toast or mixed with pasta. I also dehydrate finely chopped surplus/whoopsies veg like carrots, onions Avas mushrooms and add them to cup a soups etc.

Pickles/chutney always make basic meals much more interesting, and a jar of pickled cabbage/gherkins/onions is great value because they last for months. A portion of pickled vegetables is often cheaper than buying fresh salad ingredients, and there's no waste.

I used to take 2 slices bread, 1/2 tin tomatoes or beans and 2 eggs to work and have scrambled egg, beans/tomatoes on toast for lunch as it was filling and nutritious as well as cheap and quick. Also, pasta with a knob of butter, grated cheese and balsamic glaze for supper. Tuna, tinned sweetcorn, chopped onion and salad cream on toast (can also be added to cooked pasta or rice or a baked potato)