Cheaper nutritious meal ideas

[Britneyfan]

Like everyone else I am horrified by what the grocery shop is costing me these days. It’s just me and my teenage son who isn’t super fussy about food and will eat most things, not a huge fan of veg but happy to pick them out etc. (but he is a bottomless pit!). Any ideas on cutting the cost of groceries are welcome. The main thing though that I think I need help with is some ideas for cheap nutritious and tasty meals (that ideally don’t require hours and hours in the kitchen, I actually enjoy cooking but have a stressful job with long hours and a bad back).

Chicken thighs, rice, onion, stock cube and any herbs & spices you already have.
In an oven dish, cheap and easy.

https://www.recipetineats.com/oven-baked-chicken-and-rice/

There’s a woman I keep seeing on TikTok who buys £20 worth of grocery’s and makes 5 evening meals out of it. I will go and find her to link.

She’s on holiday at the moment so posting holiday stuff so you may have to scroll back but 7p flat breads recipe, £2.50 meals, lots of recipes and tips.

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZGJKCbj9F/

I do pulled pork and pulled chicken in slow cooker, bulk out with beans, peppers, onions - it gives a big portion as the meat is pulled apart a little goes a long way, you can have with wraps or rice. I use lots of spices and some BBQ or hot sauce in the bottom. You don't need a lot of liquiod, that's key. Long and slow in cooker

Some warming winter meal ideas...
Tinned haricot beans, onions plus any root vegetables available, tomatoes, and sausages for a quick sausage casserole.
Toad in the hole, cauliflower cheese with bacon or ham or sausages, liver & onion gravy with mash.
Other ideas...add dumplings or cobbler topping to casseroles or stews to fill up hungry teens. Add lentils or beans to meat dishes to make them go a bit further .

Thanks guys, these are all great suggestions, keep them coming!

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/spinach-sweet-potato-lentil-dhal

https://feelgoodfoodie.net/recipe/mujadara/

https://juliegoodwin.com.au/frittata/

the above are all good.

Soups are very filling, cheap and use up veges. Add a handful of red lentils to stews and bolognaise to bulk them out The lentils dissolve in after 20 mins and you don’t notice them

Look for overnight oats and baked oats recipes for breakfast.

One thing my teen likes is 3 eggs whisked and poured onto a med hot large pancake pan, quickly put a tortilla wrap flat on it, then put ham and grated cheese, seasoning and fold it over, cook, fold again into a quarter and serve with spicy BBQ sauce..

Slow cooker dump bags, pick vegan or vegetarian recipes as that halves the cost. Chickpea and lentils, split peas are incredible nutritious are great price, add some Indian spice and it’s very tasty. Add in sweet potato, cauliflower and carrots.

follow the batch lady, taming twins and if you find a vegan or vegetarian let me know

Thanks guys, these all sound great!

Chicken and Veg stew in the slow cooker.

Big pack of chicken thighs
Carrots
Celery
Onion
Potato
Couple of chicken stock
Salt, Pepper
Slow cooker for 4 hours on high or 8 on low
If the consistency towards the end is a bit thin then I throw in a couple of handfuls of rice or lentils

Taming twins on insta/TikTok is brilliant, as are her books. If your DS will eat a curry then he should like her lentil dahl...

www.tamingtwins.com/slow-cooker-dahl/

Look up Healthy Living James
He has a great Sweet potato and Black bean stew. I keep costs even less by using a bag of frozen cubed sweet potato and instead of kale ( which I don't eat) I use frozen spinach. All from Tesco
Can make it as spicy or mild as you like and very often I will use up any odd bits of frozen veg I have
Serve in wraps, on rice or just a bowl with naan or pitta bread.

I make a meal a week based on pulses.

A couple of my regulars are Tarka Dal from the Jamie Oliver site, red lentil bolognese (just boil some red lentils till soft and then add to a tomato sauce and simmer for 15 minutes. I add a beef stock cube for flavour) and chickpea curry (I use any curry paste and add a can of chickpeas).