£50 food shop

[Foodonashoestring]

Changed name as have family and friends on here. Money is really tight this month to say the least. I have £50 for this weeks food shop excluding delivery costs. What low cost yet healthy meals could I buy for two adults and a teenager?

If you’ve spices and can cook then -

1. Bulk buy a cheap protein (frozen chicken large bag for eg)
2. Cheap carbs (cheap rice and spaghetti)
3. Kilos of frozen veg bags

and that makes numerous kinds of meals surely? Above could make a chicken curry and rice one day, a chicken biriyani one day, chicken and veg spaghetti one day, etc etc

mix it up with large bag spuds and cheap beans for jackets couple nights and you’re grand.

cheap boxes cereals. Apples bananas. Milk.

Pasta/pesto/peas
jacket potato with baked beans and cheese
Roasted carrot and cauliflower curry
minestrone soup with soda bread
eggs, potato wedges and peas

Buy a big bag of cheap potatoes. Jacket potatoes cheese and beans (cheap supermarket brand beans), sausages mash and peas. Make a big load of bolognese with some mince and bulk it out with lentils and lots of cheap veg like carrots peas and mushrooms. That would make a couple of meals worth, could have over jacket potatoes on a second day.

I'm vegan but if i was just veggie

brown rice (or white, but brown is more nutritious)
pack of dried lentils
tins of tomatoes
onions
pack of dried green lentils
spaghetti
cheapest cheese
cheapest potatoes
veg oil
budget lasagna sheets
milk
frozen mixed veg
frozen peas
stock cubes
cheap sausages

that makes dhal (red lentils), veggie spag bol with cheese, veggie lasagna and shepherds pie green lentils), sausages mash peas onion gravy

for breakfast big bag of oats for porridge, lunches wraps or make a big batch of vegetable soup and have with rolls.
snacks could be pittas with cream cheese or crumpets and peanut butter.

At Sainsbury's potatoes are 15p per kilo this week I think. Ditto with carrots. Get a whole chicken and do a roast and a stew.

Not sure if you need breakfast and lunches but for dinners I’d suggest…

A big veggie chilli with rice (should last for two meals)
Jacket potatoes with beans, cheese and some salad
Use any leftover salad and cheese to do fajita wraps - chicken, fajita mix, peppers, onions and wraps
Pasta and sauce - use tinned tomatoes, onions and garlic to make a simple sauce. If you have any leftover veg throw it in.
Stir fried rice. Cook and cool rice (or buy a couple of packets of Tilda cooked rice at £1 a packet). Stir fry with thai curry paste, chicken, any vegetables. If you have eggs then scramble them first and then add to rest of stir fry.
Vegetable curry and rice.

Beans on toast, egg on toast, cheese toasties could all make decent lunches if needed. I’d probably also buy some cheap veg to make soup or even buy tins of soup.

Aldi and lidl 15p veg starts Tuesday so it’s easy

@RomainingCalm sorry should have said its for all meals.

Lots of fab ideas. My cupboards have the usual herbs, spices, pasta, rice, lentils etc.

What’ve you got in already?

Spices/herbs, tins. Will double check sure there is pasta, rice, lentils etc.

Veg is really cheap from midweek so load up on those. Buy a shoulder of pork £8 or so and it can last 4 days easily with lots of veg, with a can of tomatoes and black beans in wraps including salad, make a risotto with pork and mushrooms,

make coconut dal and rice served with garlic okra , costs pennies a portion. Cereal, milk, bread, butter. Tuna, pasta and chopped tomatoes, onion and a pepper (serve with the other half of the salad bag). Sausages with more of the cheap veg. Make a big batch homemade soup. Make bread from scratch if you have time (a 1.5 kg bag of flour is £1.10 in Lidl and makes 3 loaves, 60p for 8 sachets of yeast, I assume you have salt, sugar and oil.)

The Olio app is a good place to look, as a large quantity of bread is often offered. You can also, if you're lucky, get some nice fruits and vegetables.

You can also download olio - shops often list bread and veg / salad daily for collection and it’s free. You can select shops within walking distance.

Assuming a stock of spices, oil, stock cubes etc I’d do a dhal - red lentils, coconut milk, spinach, curry powder and serve with rice and/or naan
pasta with tomato sauce and cheese
eggs, beans and wedges
savoury veg slice, wedges and salad.
Kitchri.. tomatoey lentils (or chick peas) and rice with fried onions in too.
Cheese and whatever bread and butter pudding.
Can you make a crumble that lasts a couple of days? Cheap custard with it.

just my thoughts.

For the end of stuff I do a pasta bake to use bits up
any leftover veg, meat, cheese, or a tin of tuna, just add some tinned tomatoes and herbs
I often do it at the end of the week with an onion, pepper, bits of ham, cheddar, cherry tomatoes, everything goes in!

My budget is often this to £70 max, for a family of 5 including 3 boys 11, 14 & 16. Admittedly my mum feeds them once a week.

Favourites here:

• Ham, egg & chips
• Chicken drumsticks, wedges & salad
• Tinned sardines/mackerel, scrambled egg, toast & salad
• HM quiche, jacket, veg using half pack bacon
• Cheesey peasy bacon pasta using either half pack. Dollop of mustard to bring out flavour
• HM chicken & veg curry- use value natural yoghurt, chicken drum fillets, curry powder. With rice & pitta bread (cheaper than naan)
• Tomato & blended veg pasta (including spinach)
• Sausages/toad in the hole, mash, veg
• Fishfingers, jacket, peas/baked beans
• Spag bol with extra carrot, mushroom, lentils, tomatoes

Always offer pudding

• Fresh Fruit (apples, bananas, anything reduced - today was mango, raspberries, watermelon all 75% off). Freeze any on the turn
• Tinned pineapple
• Rice pudding with jam or pureed frozen fruit
• Value frontage frais x 2
• Hm crumble & custard
• Cheap loaf cake & custard

I always scour the shelves for reduced items, so this list is not exhaustive. My 3 will eat absolutely anything so I'm lucky in that regard. Shop mainly at Aldi.

It is very doable, but I guess more so if you are used to it.

I have baking bits so can make a sponge cake and crumble. It needs to be tesco as trying to save desil to make it stretch until end of month.

Look up Grace Mortimer on Instagram. My first meals.

she did a stint a while back of feeding a family of four for £10 a week
she made some really easy batch meals for very low budget and I made a few- were decent enough. I imagine adding anything she did with lunches and breakfasts could be managed.

Nothing to add to the recipe ideas here, but would recommend you get the too good to go ap and see what's going before you spend on shopping. If there's any bargains (co-op can be great. A friend got 3 cooked chickens for about £5 once, and there's often bakery stuff and pizzas going) you could base meals around whatever you got.

I came to say dhal because it's amazing, cheap, easy to make and full of protein and I just love it, but I can see I've been beaten several times.

Homemade veg soup with added butter beans for some protein. You can't really taste them and add a bit of creaminess if you blend the soup.

Cottage pie made with lentils, or a lasagne with lentils and veg.

I know that is a lot of lentils, but they are versatile, cheap and a good source of protein.

I can't help with any meat based dishes, and wouldn't even know how much meat cost now. DH does eat fish but that could be pricey for a family of 3 whilst budgeting.

Lunches could be made up of jacket potatoes or sandwiches, and a bag of oats for breakfast. Again, you can jazz up porridge anyway you like.

Buy from Aldi or your cheapest supermarket:
Mince
Cheddar
Bread
Tortilla wraps
Milk
Big potatoes
Frozen soffrito mix
Veg good for curry e.g. cauliflower/sweet potato. Frozen is fine if cheaper
Cucumber/cheap salad
Oats

Make a ragu with the mince, loads of veggies/lentils so you have a huge pot of sauce.
Have with pasta one night - stir some of the sauce through the pasta so it goes further. Top with a small amount of sauce and some of the Cheddar.
Another night add Mexican spices and a tin of kidney beans (or other beans if you already have them) to have with rice/cheddar/salad
If you have any leftovers use in a wrap for lunch

Make a veg curry and/or dahl for dinner, leftovers for lunch.

If you have any peas in the freezer whiz them up with some stock and chilli flakes and/or mint (fresh or dried) for a tasty soup

Jacket potatoes with tinned goods e.g. tuna/Sweetcorn, or leftover curry or mince

Store cupboard pasta e.g. puttanesca, aglio e olio, tuna

If it’s Tesco go online book a click and collect for the day of your shopping and it will show your deals, then plan your meals based on this.
I would check frozen stuff. Mixed frozen vegetables could be added to stews or to a pasta salad for lunch box or you could do soups.
Mixed beans in a tin go nicely with sausages or drumsticks in a stew. Last time we were in Tesco I saw a big pack of chicken drumsticks, like 2 kg or even bigger.

day 1
Leek and potato soup and a ham roll for lunch
Large pack of sausages, mash brocolli and gravy for dinner
day 2
cauliflower flask soup
Chicken and mushroom crumble (buy biggest pack of chicken breast to use on day 7)
day 3
Multiganwy soup (buy largest pack of mince to use other half in lasagne on day 6)
tuna mayonaise and sweetcorn jacket potatoes
day 4
Vegetable quiche (using things like root veg)
Coconut fish curry (using white fish)
day 5
Egg salad pita breads
Haggis mash brocolli and gravy
day 6
Minestrone soup
lasagne using mince and green/brown tinned lentils
day 7
chickpea curry
Chicken mash and brocolli with gravy