£8 budget

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So I want your best ideas for cheap meals that aren’t miserable. £8 budget for 6 days worth of food (just for me). I have been slowly building up more seasonings and spices over the past few months adding one on each food shop so I should be ok there. I would rather have a better meal at tea time than have to factor in lunch. So skip breakfast and lunch!

This cold weather means comfort food suggestions only, I should be able to do 2 meals and split each across 3 days easily enough. So roughly £4 each meal, please share your ideas!

Chilli con carne and baked potato

Beans on toast

Big pot of lentil soup.
look for reduced food at end of day in supermarkets.
Baked potato with supermarket beans

I specified not miserable!😂

Spaghetti bolognese and homemade soup. If you're cooking for yourself only, then you'll get a good few tubs to freeze, and you can use them throughout the month

Chickpea curry and rice.

Tomato and lentil soup

What basics do you already have in apart form spices? Do you have anything like tins of stuff or rice/ pasta or frozen veg etc?

It depends what food you already have in. Do you have any food in your cupboards? Pasta or rice or tinned beans or tomatoes?

Pasta with homemade tomato sauce & cheap cooking bacon. Add any veggies leftover in the fridge that need eating.

Beans on toast with a handful of cheese is so underrated!

If you can dismember a chicken one whole chicken could do 6 days (two legs, two breasts, wings and a hearty soup from the carcass) and there are any number of recipes, Chinese style, curry, stew, hearty soup. Root veg, rice, pasta, greens, other veg.

Passata, lasagne, veg that’s reduced. Make freezer portions veggie lasagne with lentils in and nicely seasoned?

If you can get mince and potatoes we often make freezer portions of cottage pie which go down well on an evening and is inexpensive (especially if I get the mince yellow sticker)

Agreed! This IS comfort food for me, love it.

Beans and pulses are your friend.

Lentil soup... just red lentils, veg or chicken stock, celery (optional), and carrot (preferred). Add some spices. Lovely! Tou can make a big batch of this and have it for lunch several days.

Shepherds Beany Pie. Make a shepherd's pie, but instead of meat, use a mixture of lentils and a tin of canellini/mixed beans. Grate some cheese on top, if you have some.

Porridge.

I absolutely love chilli con carne, it’s my favourite meal! But it was last weeks and I got 4 days out of the pot I made so I fear it’s too soon to make again and I don’t want to get sick of it as it’s my favourite.

Jacket potatoes are a good suggestion! A pack of 4 is only around 70p in my local supermarket which would actually give me a bit of wiggle room to get a nicer topping than own brand beans

Eggs

Chicken curry with rice
Aldi micro rice is 49p a bag

Tray of pasta bake - tin of tomatoes, packet of cheese, penne, various spices you already have, an onion, garlic. Add a chicken thigh featured in below recipe if any left over.

Simple chicken casserole - chicken thighs, bag of mixed veg, onion, chicken stock, herbs and spices, garlic.

I dis hame made kebabs with yogurt and chicken seasoning. Any plain yogurt, and seasoning you think might work mixed in the jogurt. Add and coat the chicken. Grill. Serve with salad and or pitta but I would work with any veg.

If you have a air fryer it that might work. I also do chicken wings in my air fryer. 1kg is under £3. Coat them I oil, seasoning. Simple and the kids love them.

A cheap meal for us is cooking bacon 500g is £1 in tesco) carbonara. Your can freeze the rest of the bacon.

Mum always made Shakshuka when on a budget

https://downshiftology.com/recipes/shakshuka/

Scrambled eggs on toast.

Eggs, cooking bacon & hash browns.

Jacket potato.

Stuffed peppers.

Mushroom omelette

Tuna rice

£8 to cover six days?

I would do homemade bread and soup for two days, pasta sauce and pasta for two days, veg curry and rice for two days.

Everything vegetarian.

yesterday I invented cheese and onion porridge!😀(soup)
a bag of onions garlic sweated down with a knob of butter, added half a veg stock cub and some stinky cheese rinds I had been saving in the freezer. Added water and a handful of oats to thicken then blended it. I have a bit of single cream to add later.

Big pack of mince
bag of pasta
bag of spuds
pack of wraps
Micro rice

Can make Spag Bol/Chilli/Stew/Tacos

Wow thank you for so many suggestions already! I was having a bit of a mind block and needed inspiration and things always sound tastier when someone else suggests them.

Shepard’s/cottage pie (I can’t remember which is minced beef) is a great suggestion. I think I have a handful of frozen peas in the freezer so that could definitely work and I have some gravy left over from Christmas. So that’s definitely going to be one of my meals