Your DC's favourite, cheapest meals?

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We can't absorb the food price rises and unexpected bills like idiot DH buying a new bike so I need to cut the food budget for the next couple of months. What are the cheapest, balanced, nutritious meals your DC like?

Nothing mushy texture or with mushrooms or nuts. I haven't mastered lentils (tips?), they always go mushy or if I cook them less, give someone stomach ache. I have a teenage boy to feed and a pre-teen girl going through a growth spurt. Random, unorthodox combinations acceptable; we are not vegetarian but are trying to eat less meat.

My little one had shredded ham on toast for tea last night 🤷‍♀️😂

Omelettes, especially when I keep aside bits of cold meat and cheese to go in them.

Spag bol with a mix of mince and quinoa (much cheaper than meat and doesn't go mushy like lentils).

When we were really hard up, I did "tacos" once a week which involved all leftovers (two fish fingers, three chicken goujons, any spare spoonfuls of meat from the week, set aside for this purpose, random salad veg) with wraps.

Massive potatoes with a tiny amount of tuna each....

I have a lot of cheap veggie Asian meals, but they may not suit your palate. However, they are unorthodox. Indian food is very, very cheap. And nutritious. It's not just lentils.

Fried rice.....you can use any meat and any veg you have in....stir fry, add garlic/ginger/chilli if you have them otherwise no matter. Add cold cooked rice and stir fry a bit more. Add some soy sauce. Top with a fried egg if you want. Its a great way of using up what you have in the fridge.

Carbonara....bacon, pasta, egg, cheese. Serve with garlic bread.

Pasta bake...tuna or just veg.

Toad in the hole...sausages and make a batter with eggs, flour and milk. Serve with veg and gravy

Things on toast - beans, scrambled eggs or just melted cheese, with a big salad or cucumber and carrot sticks. A home made crumble or tin of cheap rice pudding for after to make it more filling.

Cheesy pasta-just cooked pasta heated with cream and grated cheese-you can lightly fry some cherry toms and throw in to make it a bit more nutritious.

Pasta with bacon, crème fraiche, a chicken stock cube and a bit of water then any green veg you have (I use up manky spinach, brocolli, handful of frozen peas) is actually delicious

8YO DS could quite happily survive on a diet of Quorn nuggets, Prawn Cocktail crisps and fresh air but I don't think those are the kind of tips your looking for.

My kids love quiche for tea - with new potatoes and salad or veg.

Cheap tin of tuna in oil, heat through in frying pan (with/without garlic added) add some finely chopped broccoli (as in not into florets) and then some cooked rice. Fry it all up, all mine love it.

I currently base meals on a rota of filling carbs, so rice one night, pasta the next, baked potatoes (or chips) the next and so on.

Then whatever salad/veg they'll eat with it, as much as they'll eat of it (somehow presenting their favourites for them to choose from means they eat more than I'd put on the plate?!), and then more expensive protein - cheese and bacon/ham etc sprinkled on the top rather than as a filling. Then fruit or yoghurt for pudding - their favourites again.

It's not the most exciting but it's getting us through, and crucially it means I can budget and stick to it without hours working out costs and/or cooking.

I agree with @Enzymeme I have a hollow legged ds (14). A three egg omelette containing some grated cheese, halved cherry tomatoes and black pepper, plus some oven chips. About 90p, 10 mins prep maximum

My teenage dd's favourite ever dinner is Tuna pasta. Make up Tuna Mayo with Sweetcorn, stir into pasta then grate cheese on top. I always think it looks pretty gross but eat the leftovers anyway and it isn't actually bad.

We eat quite a lot of vegetable curries, they are so cheap to make. I make chapattis to go with them which is easy and the kids love.

@Makkapakkasstones 😂😂at the thought of Ds surviving on fresh air! He most definitely has hollow legs!

@AnotherVice I think mine might like that, thanks, will put that on the list for next week.

and more eggs. @Enzymeme do you cook the quinoa separately and add it at the end (this is the only way I can make the lentil bolo palatable) or cook it in with the bolo?

Fried rice as pp said goes with basically anything you have in. I use the microwave rice packs from Aldi- can get plain or flavoured and they're about 40p? Don't microwave first, just straight from pack to pan and heat thoroughly with whatever veg you have. Frozen cooked chicken surprisingly economical.
Jacket potatoes in the micro- a big sack of potatoes keeps well if you have storage. Beans/cheap cream cheese/tuna or chilli etc if you've got leftovers.
DD's favourite cheap meal is those packs of cheap noodles- like supernoodles- and I do half of one of those with a big handful of frozen mixed veg from the freezer. A bit of ham or chicken if I have it, I like it with a friend egg on top.
The frozen veg bags are so cheap and handy for adding variety.
I embrace tins when I'm skint. Mixed bean chilli, chickpea curry etc. Always goes down well. And eggs too- omlettes and a few chips or tinned new potatoes roasted in the oven is a filling tea.

We had diced boiled potatoes last night, fried with a smattering of chopped bacon, with a fried egg on top, green beans in the side.

Super noodle frittata - cook the noodles, mix with leftover veg, pour over some beaten eggs and a very small amount of grated cheese on top. Grill, serve with salad

Shakshuska - tinned tomatoes, 1 pepper and 1 onion, simmer then crack eggs in and cook though. Add some spinach if you fancy. Serve with bread

Quesadillas - mine will eat most things served between tortillas with a little sprinkle of cheese

Soup is incredibly cheap. I blend lentils or butter beans to add volume without being identifiable

Fish cakes - potatoes and tinned tuna, an egg, frozen or tinned peas and corn as well if you want

Broccoli pasta with green pesto, chopped cherry/plum tomatoes and grated cheese on top. Add in some chicken or bacon if you like

Pasta with homemade sauce. I'd fish out whatever veg we had and cook it down with passatta/garlic/onions then liquidise it.

My DC like macaroni pasta mixed with tinned chopped tomatoes, a tin of sweetcorn, a sprinkle of Italian herbs if you have them in the cupboard with some grated cheese on top.

Spanish omelette https://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/eggs-recipes/spanish-tortilla/

and one-pot tomato orzo https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/one-pot-tomato-orzo

We are in a "soup and sandwich" phase at the minute - dipping the sandwich in the soup 👌🏼

Have a look at the Feed Your Family for around £20 a week site or Facebook page

They have some mega cheap meal plans with ingredients priced out that are really handy for a couple of weeks of really cheap eating.

Pasta with pesto and grated cheese
Cheesy beans on toast

Woolton pie.

Mine are older now but our favourite go-to meal was pasta pesto with sweetcorn and broccoli and fish fingers (or slight variations thereof).
Made me feel nostalgic just writing that.