Cheap, tasty family dinners

[Sweetbabycheezits]

I've had a job change recently, so for the moment, we're trying to pare down on some extra costs that we don't really need. We're a family of 4 who love our food lol, so I know that I spend way too much per month.

I've been an Aldi shopper for years, anyway, but one problem is that we eat a lot of meat, so if I had some ideas for some delicious, simple veg dishes, it would cut down a lot on the price of the weekly shop.

All 4 of us pretty much eat anything (DS has a nut allergy, so that's the only restriction) , and we do like a cooked evening meal. I just can't seem to get beyond jacket potatoes and beans!
Any good suggestions from you MN foodies? Thank you!

Not veggie so may not be a help. I recently brought 'feed your family for £20 a week' book. It's for families of 4. Gives you an 8 week meal plan with a shopping list and all the recipes. I've tried a few things from there and they're lovely so far!

I’ve just made a lentil bolognese from scratch, quick and easy and the kids didn’t even notice that it was different and had no meat in.

I will look into thay book, thank you!
I am interested in the lentil bolognaise...i love lentils, but don't have a lot of experience cooking them!

You could start by adding pulses into any meat casseroles you decided to making. Red lentils go to a mush and thicken a sauce, brown or green lentils take longer to cook and keep their shape and add texture.

You could add in a tin of chickpeas or beans.

Imo pulses need a lot more flavourings to stop them seeming bland so add in plenty more herbs and spices.

We prefer lentil bolognese to meat! Dead easy, fry off onion/carrot/celery, add lentils/tomatoes/seasoning and simmer for 20/30 mins til soft.

I use dried red lentils but tinned would work too.

Excellent ideas, thank you. We do love beans, so would really help to bulk things out that way. The lentil bolognaise sounds really nice!

Lentil Bolognese/shepherds pie
Spanakopita is cheap esp if you buy frozen spinach
Chickpea curry and rice
Dahl
If you have a blender you can make your own falafel/hummous very easily and SO cheaply
Chilli with lentils/beans and veg
Bean burgers

Pasta arabiata is cheap but delicious
Fritata
Falafel in pitas mixed bean chilli

Cheese, leek and potato pie www.asdagoodliving.co.uk/food/recipes/cheese-leek-and-potato-pie
Egg fried rice www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/egg-fried_rice_85655
Cauliflower mac and cheese www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/macaroni_cauliflower_53315

For the die hard meat eaters, stews and casseroles bulked out with beans/lentils and other veg are a good way to make the meat much cheaper (although, in my experience, good stewing meat can't be bought at Aldi/Lidl. I tend to buy mine, usually on sale, at the meat counter at waitrose or Sainsbury's).

We are trying to each more vegetarian generally, or with lower meat, and here are things I've done recently:

Risotto - we like roasted butternut risotto but also do pea. Sometimes I fry sliced chicken breast just to up the protein but on that basis, 250g is enough for 4 of us.

Pasta with veggie sauces. Our favourite is just roasted tomatoes with feta cheese and avocado but I also do a tomato sauce with whatever veg are lying around (sometimes add bacon or leftover chicken/sausages if I have them in).

Butternut squash thai red curry made with lots of green beans/mange tout. This goes down particularly well and I've started adding pineapple. Some people add Tofu but I haven't bothered.

Stuffed peppers - I stuff them with tomatoes, halloumi, pine nuts and couscous (roast the tomatoes with the peppers initially to get extra flavour). Any variation of the above works well and I've done them with rice/raisens to give a sweet version sometimes in the past.

For a way to use less meat but still flavoursome is to use sausages cut in chunks (removed from the skins) and then use as a base for a sauce. You need a much smaller number of sausages for the whole family. Chicken breasts would work too although might require additional seasoning. We do sausages, fennel, handful of tomatoes, spinach then creme fraiche and wine. A packet of six sausages can easily feed six people on this basis.

Omelettes can work as a quick and easy option.

This lentil and sweet potato curry is a big hit in ours at the mo... I leave out the beans as we don't like them and it's delish and very cheap - having leftovers of it tonight!

www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/lentil-sweet-potato-curry

Oh, and personally I'venever cracked stir fries, probably because I don't have a wok but our nanny swears by veg stir fries with a pre-made sauce. She also does a lot of fajita type dishes with just veggies or small amounts of chicken. DD wouldn't eat this so I haven't bothered but will do at some point when I can easily make her something else.

Not a veggie recipe at all but cheap, Jamie Oliver’s Chicken Liver Bolognese is lovely. I was a bit sceptical but we were going through a skint phase and I was experimenting with veggie dishes but dp really missed meat. I skip the bacon sometimes and haven’t noticed much difference. Chicken livers are only around 60p a pack, it has lentils and mushrooms in too so makes a good cheap filling dinner.

As others have said meat is the problem when you are trying to budget.

I can make a rice or noodle dish go a long way withe very little meat, one or two chicken breasts will feed 5 people. Finely shred, and stir fry with a lot of veg and rice or noodles for a one pan meal- easy too.
Or some version of a cassoulet, small amount of meat, bbut padded out with beans.
I make curries with lots of chickpeas, potatoes, and again just a small amount ot meat.
It is easy to cut down on meat consumption.

These are fantastic ideas, everyone, thank you! I've written down all of your lovely recipes...they're helpful because I'm trying to use up the random meat I've got left in the freezer, so there are some great ideas here.

This is an excellent dhal recipe www.jamieoliver.com/features/lentils-and-basic-tarka-dhal-recipe/
It freezes well so good for batch cooking. I serve it with rice and roast cauliflower, but is fab just on its own too.