Meal ideas

[Glitterballofdreams]

The cost of feeding my family is out of control! I think I need to try and make more basic dishes to keep the costs down.

Can anyone suggest their cheaper go-to family meals?

Vegetarian food is cheaper. Favourites here include red lentil bolognese or lasagna , white bean casserole, courgette & ricotta risotto. Soups are good made with frozen veg and lentils or potatoes. Curry made with halloumi, chickpeas and cauliflower also popular. Halloumi is not so cheap but cheaper than meat. I buy meat and fish when it’s reduced and put it in the freezer - eat it quite infrequently but that doesn’t bother us as we’re not huge meat eaters anyway.
be thrifty in the shops - bread and bagels are often reduced to next to nothing towards the end of the day and can be frozen, take out when need.

I put a teaspoon of olive oil into a flat pan and cook up shallots, pepper, leek, celery and sweetheart cabbage then add some cooked noodles or pasta, seasoning and stir some grated cheese through. It's really quick too. I buy everything from Lidl.

Less meat, in season veg and fruit.
Bulk out with lentils or oats as well.

Lots of stews, homemade soups.

I make flatbreads, 2 cups of flour plus a cup of natural yogurt makes 4. To buy 4 is about £2.50 I reckon mine cost about 50p. Few meatballs, I make mine from mince, breadcrumbs, egg, herbs and spices or a little shredded meat with tin of chickpeas, chilli sauce added plus some salad and roasted root veg. I crumble a little feta on top with honey instead of chickpeas sometimes, it’s DS fave dinner.

Snacks are expensive. when I was young it was a slice of bread between dinner if allowed.

Agree with the PP meat is so expensive and good idea to try to go to supermarkets at end of day for yellow sticker items. I've cut back on the meat I serve for DH and I and make it go twice as far as I used to. Fill up dishes with extra chopped veg or vegetable rice.
Taco bowls - beef or other meat mince with mix of beans etc and serve with rice or nachos.
Spag bol with lots of hidden veg can be super cheap.
Toad in the hole with lots of mash - I make potato and carrot mixed mash which goes down well.
Homemade soup and a toasted cheese sandwich is another favourite of ours and cheap - soup can last a few days.
Slow cookers are great for casseroles or to cook joints. I find a joint cooks so well in slow cooker and you can shred it finely which makes it go further. Use meat for roast dinner then use in curry with lentils and chickpeas or wraps with lots of salad or fajita style with veg.
Taming Twins has some great ideas for budget meal planning so a good place for ideas too.

@Glitterballofdreams
If you can list what meals you currently eat we can offer suggestions to cut costs.

Bulk out with extra veg, beans, lentils, freeze. Having a chest freezer is a game changer, especially for those yellow sticker items. Xxx

I think every few days adding in a low cost easy meal helps keep our costs down.
some of our favourites are:
jacket potatoes,
bacon sandwiches,
scrambled eggs on toast,
baked beans on toast,
soup and bread,
omelette,
pesto pasta,
tuna mayo and sweetcorn pasta,
egg and chips

I've switched to Turkey for our mince and alternative to chicken.
Tofu ans Tempah is really good and high in fibre and protien also far less expensive, lentils, beans are good to use to bulk up stews and ragu.

I aim for 3 adults - £5 for dinner - or their about

But I buy yellow sticker and stock up when meat ( we are big meat eaters ) is on offer

EG in Tesco on Sunday, they had whole legs of lamb reduced by £10 , still too rich for my pocket coming in at £24, cos I know in December they will be half price, so I dont buy lamb right now , but December I will buy as many that I can fit in my freezer - butchering a few ourselves

I also look at what's on offer - the 3 for £9 deals in lidl, the 3 for £12 deals in Tesco and even the meal deals from M&S and I reporpose and reimagine , loin pork chops - pork chop dinner one day, Chinese for two days ( pork and spring onions, pork in sweat and sour sauce) - Chinese cooking uses very little meat

Steak , I can easily feed the three with just two - no one goes hungry

Gammon can do three main meals - roast gammon dinner, ham eggs and chips and a quiche

But I do understand I am lucky that a - I can cook, and b - I have time to cook.

I also use a lot of dried lentils, pad out mince really well, make dahl , add to curry. Frozen veg and fruit

Thanks. The usual list is
-Slow cooker beef stew (using shin) or chicken casserole using legs
-jacket potato with cheese or beans
-cottage pie (using half meat half lentils)
-spaghetti bolognese
-cod or salmon with potatoes & veg
-mushroom stir-fry
-homemade curry
-sausage & mash
-corned beef hash
-mushroom carbonara
-omelette
-roast dinner
-pizza
-soup & bread
-pasta bake
-butter pasta & broccoli

Have you looked at thi smumcooks on Facebook. She does meals for 4- 5 meals £25 and shows different supermarkets each week. And publishes her recipes..... May give you ideas with costings

Cottage cheese crustless quiche. Sauté your random chopped bits of lingering fridge veg like broccoli, onion, peppers. Put a tub of cottage cheese in a bowl/blender and add the same volume of eggs. Blend it. Season it well . Put everything in an oven proof dish and add in any random sandwich meat or meat balls or cheese. Cook on 160 till firm in the middle. Is amazing warm and keeps mega well in the fridge or you can cook it in silicone cupcake things for packed lunches too. Great for protein and for using up random bits and bobs.

we also love baked spuds with beans and cheese, chili and cheese, tune and sweetcorn mayo with cheese.

home made soup with a toastie.

carbonara made with cooking bacon and grana padano.

I think this is a good value type of list, but how are you buying the produce, frozen is often cheaper although some caveats apply, tins are sometimes cheaper again some caveats apply

Dried pulses are the cheapest but require pre planning and long cooking for some, you might not want that

Big packs of eggs can be good value and something like a savoury bread and butter pudding with small bits of bacon, cheese, eggs, veg, baked in the oven

Are you trying to put things in the oven all together so that you save heating costs? Or use the airfryer as much as you can which is a bit cheaper to run.

How are you doing the soup, are you cooking down the bones for stock, really wholesome, good flavour, good nutrition and cheaper and healthier than buying soups, particularly fresh soups which can work out pricey. But you need freezer space. Also the cost of cooking them down

Smoked haddock instead of the cod and salmon? Big flavour and a bit cheaper if you buy 'bits' in Aldi or Lidl, one of them

Tinned fish like pilchards and sild, on toast, with cheese on top, gorgeous and cheap and very healthy.

Cabbages are very cheap, dont get hooked in by the cavalo nero, basic good cabbage, you can shred it, put it in chicken stock in a baking dish/enamel dish, with herbs, onions, perhaps white wine if you have it and bake it down, crispy on top and creamy and unctuous underneath. Cabbages are powerhouses of nutrition.

You're already doing everything right! The only obvious suggestion is to swap the cod & salmon for nameless "white fish", you get about three times as much for the same price.

I struggle to get enough protein and wonder about the typical modern English diet for this - mind you, I can't eat pulses! Soya products are great as it's a 'complete' protein. Most work out almost the same price as inexpensive meat, however tofu does add an extra dimension to things like stir fries. TVP (soya mince) is a really useful standby and very cheap. There's also seitan, which is made from wheat gluten - also very cheap, takes 10 minutes to prepare - and you should add some beans/pulses to make it 'complete'.

Otherwise, I second the turkey fan above! I'm also very grateful for the pigs & chicken who endured unexciting lives for my affordable protein. I bought all organic, free range when I could afford to. Now I'm happy the cheaper options are available.

Oh, and don't forget eggs! Tinned fish is often a good buy, too.

Do you buy potatoes in bulk? Small bags cost more!
Salmon and cod ....lidl mis shaped simply salmon pieces are a great buy.
Lidl cooking bacon is a bargain and can be used for all sorts....it's very random, if there are thick chunks I boil it.
Turkey mince is great value, makes a great chilli!
Diced turkey thigh (asda) is good for any slow cooked stew or curry.
Bulk out with lentils.
Some chopped up bacon (cooking bacon) fried with leek, and made into a sauce by adding milk and thickening with cornflour (or roux method) is great with pasta...add cheese too

Your meals look like what I would cook, cheap and cheerful , tasty and wholesome . So when you are in that mind set its hard to find where to cut the costs any further

A Sharp knife. Slice meat - meat is a good protein, you dont actually need a pile on the plate. I tend to serve up as we did in the 60's and 70's - very small meat portions , piling the plate with veg

I also dont throw anything away or over cook. Example - 6 better quality sausages, Ill only eat one, dh will eat 2 , mum - 1 - so I cook just 4 and freeze 2 . Last night I over did it on the boiled potatoes , I saved them, they were sliced and fried in the pan with bacon and eggs, or if I had veg left over, bubble and squeak

Small portions of left over boiled rice - frozen. When there's enough I will do a mixed fried rice and curry sauce

I turn stale bread into breadcrumbs or bread pudding

I use pasty off cuts to make a few jam tarts

Seriously I try my best to not waste food but food costs are rising and it is a battle

Your meal list looks fine. You could have more of the cheaper meals and less of the expensive ones. Bulk out meals with cheap garlic bread, baguette and butter, lots of cheap veg like carrots, homemade Yorkshire puddings or own brand stuffing.

Edited as duplicate

I make my own cheap pasta sauce:
Fry up some bacon with onion and garlic, add other veg you’ve got in the fridge - peppers, tomatoes, chilli pepper - and pour over a carton of passata (65p in Tesco). Add a ladle or two of the pasta water and it goes a long way. You can easily tart this up with dried herbs, chilli powder etc. I put sliced olives in if I’ve got any. Serve with grated cheese.
As other have said, baguettes are good value - reduced to 24p each this afternoon. My kids love them - great for sandwiches or bulking up another meal.

Your list is already economic which makes it harder to make savings.

I use chickpeas and sweet potato to make a curry, usually enough to freeze half so 6 good portions with home made flat bread (Greek yoghurt and flour).

Where possible don’t buy ingredients for one meal only, which avoids waste.

This weeks meals are

Spaghetti bolognaise - big batch with 2/3 frozen for meals later in the month.

Veggie curry made last week and frozen

Wraps made from the flat bread mix filled with chicken fajita mix (with lots of stir fry veg) cheese and sour cream

Left over fajita mix for loaded tortilla chips nacho style

Home made pizza base with toppings of peppers, onions and mushrooms which were left over from the fajita mix, and cold meats which were also used for packed lunches

The carrots and sweet potatoes and onions left over from the spag Bol and curry went into a soup for lunches this week, with part baked baguettes (8 for £2.50 at Costco).

Breakfast is porridge or Greek yoghurt with frozen fruit compote and mixed nuts and seeds.

Saturday is a baked ham and I’ll use some of the leftover ham for a carbonara for Sunday.

The more you can double up on ingredients, vary them for different meals and freeze the better. We usually have some cheaper meals in there eg things on toast but I’m trying to work through my cupboards ahead of my kitchen being refitted.

Chicken gnocchi. It's very filling and kids love it. For family of 4.
2 large chicken breasts chopped and dry fried.
Place into large oven dish with 2 bags of gnocchi, a pot of red pesto, 2 peppers chopped (red and yellow), a mozerella ball chopped, a pint of chicken Oxo, a tablespoon of tomato puree, 1/2 a small pot of cream. Mix it all together and in oven for 40 minutes. Takes 15 minutes to make and 40 in oven at 180. 4 very large portions or 5 average portions. It reheats well in microwave next day too. You could stretch it to feed 6 if you served it with green beans or peas especially if a few childrens portions.

A vegetable stew is cheap and very filling. You could make dumplings to go in it. I add a vegetable stock cubes, sliced potatoes, sliced carrots, a chopped up swede, a chopped up parsnip, 2 large onions, a couple of handfuls of pearl barley. I occasionally add half a tin of plum tomatoes if I have half a tin to use up. You can serve with part baked rolls. Cheap and delicious.

Another meal I make every week is tagliatelle in blue cheese sauce with bacon bits. I buy the bacon lardons and fry up, drain liquid, add a pot of creme fresh, simmer very low heat and add a couple of knobs of gorganzola when melted pour over tagliatelle. It's such a quick meal. It only takes about 12 minutes to cook and delicious. Cheap and filling.

I've been asking ChatGpt to suggest meals for a week that cost less than a fiver for a family of 4, you can tell it what ingredients to exclude if anyone has preferences, and tweak them for slow cookers etc, it's fantastic and my food bill has gone down at least £30 a week!

Get your biggest pan/stock pot. Gently fry two or three chicken legs with seasoning. Add onions, carrots and stock. Simmer for half hour. Take legs out, Strip chicken into a small pieces. Return to pan with tin of tomatoes, and handfuls of small pasta shapes. Simmer again until pasta cooked. Makes dinner for four, plus two leftover lunches. It can be frozen and reheated

It also cures colds 😍