What's your cheapest hot family meal?

[Missnearlyvintage]

As in the title, I'm trying to bring our grocery budget down if possible and was hoping that you all might be able to help? Thanks!

Baked potatoes with cheese and beans

Eggs, chips and beans a favourite here (about once a month as a treat!)

Toad in the hole and whatever veg is on special, in the freezer, needs using up.

Baked potato, beans and cheese

Curried turkey, lentil and spinach soup

Ooooh, just remember - pasta, pesto, bacon bits, onion and mushrooms.

Soup and pudding. Cheap, enjoyable and rib lining. Puddings include fruit crumbles, baked apples, pancakes.

Check out: cookingonabootstrap.com for delicious, affordable food. I made the pasta parmagiana today, it’s lovely!

Only on mumsnet does it need clarifying that eggs, chips and beans is a once a month treat!

Probably pasta and sauce. Although for something a bit more “exciting” we find the Tesco frozen paella is quite good. Serves two for about £2, and has prawns, chicken, chorizo etc in so is filling too. Or jacket potatoes with fillings like lentils (curried lentils are nice) or coleslaw. Might serve with frozen green beers.

Omelettes. Serve with beans and chips
Lentil and veg curry, rice.
Pasta bake - either veggie or with bacon.
Soups with bread and cheese.
Baked potatoes - middle scooped out, mixed with cheese, onion, baked again in oven.
Quiche is very cheap to make.

Something along those lines?

Pasta with pesto.
Baked spuds with beans and sliced hotdogs.
A cottage/ Shepard's pie can be quite cheap if you buy either frozen mince or keep an eye out for offers. (You could do mince and dumplings with mash too)
Hunter's chicken can also be done quite cheaply. Buy a bag of frozen chicken, jar of sauce and have it with loads of rice.

With meat probably chilli - mince, peppers, kidney beans, onions, tinned tomatoes and chilli powder. We eat half then freeze half for another night, or freeze portions to have with jacket potatoes.

Egg fried rice also good - get packets of microwave rice when on offer and cook one in a wok or non stick pan, bit of sesame oil and soy sauce, crack an egg on the side and wait for a min until it has set then chop up with wooden spoon in pan stir together, add frozen peas or whatever else veg you have lying around.

Do like they used to and serve Yorkshire pudding with gravy before each meal!

Pasta bake
Corned beef hash
Scrambled egg on toast with bacon
Rice pudding
Flapjack

Not only cheap but quick and tasty. Co-op meatballs fry until brown, add tin chopped tomato, mixed herbs salt and pepper. Transfer to oven proof dish with diced mixed peppers. Cook at 200, gas mark 6 for half hour. Accompany with pasta twists.

Tomato pasta.
Carrots, leeks, two tomato purées, water, stock cube, dsp sugar, splash of red wine vinegar, tsp marmite. Cook and blend until smooth. Pasta and grated cheese, and economy garlic bread.

RE: chilli as per theavergaewife 'We eat half then freeze half for another night'

A good meal is to put warmed chilli inside a tortilla, fold it over, top with cheese and then bake under the grill till the cheese bubbles. An alternative to chilli and rice, chilli jackets etc.

Either tatty ash or back of the fridge frittata

Don't buy microwave rice... You can get six portions of frozen rice for a couple of quid and it's perfect every time.

Fish fingers, chips and beans is another good one. (especially when served with lots of white bread and butter and ketchup)

Basically have a wander around the freezer section (or visit Iceland/Farm Foods) and have a look.

My absolute cheapest is "Red Pasta" which is just value tinned tomatos, reduced down with a splash of olice oil and poured over value pasta.

Its inspired more by my kids extreme fussiness than cost though. I keep attempting to introduce further ingredients and keep resisting my efforts.

My cheapest meal thats actually enjoyable is a sort of mash up of Jack Monroe's Best Ever Chili and Jack Monroe's goulash.
Its just onions, tinned tomatos, paprika, cumin, chilli powder, kidney beans and rinsed baked beans.

"A good meal is to put warmed chilli inside a tortilla, fold it over, top with cheese and then bake under the grill till the cheese bubbles. An alternative to chilli and rice, chilli jackets etc."

For really filthy comfort food: I like left over chilli, poured over value tortilla chrisps, covered in cheese

Homemade lentil soup.
Serves 4
1 onion
3 carrots
3 celery sticks
2 small pitatoes
Cup and a half of yellow split peas
vegetable stock

Cook split peas in stock.

Chop veg into smallish pieces and cook in another pan with stock.
Rinse split peas and add to veg. Season to taste.

Chunky and delicious. Costs about 60p for the whole thing. Can be easily stretched to another day with more of the veg.

Spinach and ricotta cannelloni- cheap as chips and even my children will touch it with a barge pole.
Cauliflower and macaroni cheese hybrid.
Cheese and ham quesadillas.

potatoes Grr!

Lentils and veg curry/stew. You can do different variations depending on what spices and seasoning you already have and red split lentils cook quickly with no soaking.
Made a nice one the other day involving caramelized onions, carrots, potatoes (boiled and lightly fried), generous garlic, masala curry powder, lentils, kidney beans, tomatoes, and tinned kidney beans. We had it with aldi own brand naan bread, but would also be nice with rice or even just regular bread.

Baked spuds with baked beans & cheese
Pasta with pesto and bacons bits
Omelette and homemade potato (or sweet potato) wedges
Cheesy pasta (make own cheese sauce) & add bacon bits and / or mushrooms
Homemade veg soup with bread rolls

unlimiteddilutingjuice

It's not even after the water shed!!!!