Cheap recipe ideas for my hungry family!

[MrsBobDylan]

I need to reduce the amount we spend on food shopping. We are a family of five (3 kids, one is disabled and eats different food which pushes the food bill up around £20-£30 p.w).

I cook meals from scratch and we all enjoy one pot dishes, mince beef dishes, pies. We are quite generous with snacks, pudding and pastries.

When we did a big weekly food shop we wasted loads so now I do a daily shop and my budget has been £28 per day which includes dog food for 3 dogs, cleaning products, bin bags, loo roll etc. I want to drop it to £20 per day.

My sister has suggested I buy the non consumables from a bulk buy store which is a great idea and I could do the same for the dry/tinned foods.

I'm now looking for cheap recipe suggestions, we love rice dishes, veg stewing steak, sausages, chicken but need to avoid creamy dishes as dh doesn't like them.

Are there good cuts of meat which are tasty but cheap? The kids are your typical boy beanpoles who eat huge portions so even when I cook double there is very little left over to freeze for another meal.

I wondered about frozen mince but am not sure if it tastes ok? Also egg fried rice/noodle recipes pls and ideas for cheap home cooked snacks.
Thanks!

Some cheap cuts of meat that go along way that we use are Beef Cheeks & Ham Hock.
This is a lovely recipe for the beef cheeks:
charinthekitchen.com/2018/07/29/gordon-ramsays-slow-braised-beef-cheeks-with-pappardelle/
I use the ham hock in Hoppin' John from this recipe (though I use tinned black eyed peas rather than dry, & add in some Cajun spices).
Sausage Fried Rice or Bacon Fried Rice are quick, easy & cheap. One pack of 6 sausages is enough for our family of 4. Just squeeze the sausage meat out the cases & make into balls. We use long grain white rice & either fresh or frozen Stirfry veg & 5-6 eggs. We'd use about 6-8 rashers of back bacon (usually smoked) for the bacon fried rice - same rice, veg & eggs as above.
We also love Jambalaya & Chicken Jollof (one-pot rice dishes).

That's really helpful @APurpleSquirrel thanks!

The hoppin' John recipe is right up our street and there's some great ideas for rice dishes.

I would love to try beef cheeks - I'm assuming I would need to try the butchers to buy them?

I love slow cooker dishes because I work from home so I can put them together while the kids are at school without all the mithering, which usually results in something burning or forgotten

I actually got the beef cheeks from the butchers counter at Sainsbury's but that was pre-Covid, but yes a proper butchers should have them.

A whole chicken is the cheapest meat per kilogram. Then it’s pork sausages, then roasting pork.
Ideas using leftovers:
Roast chicken:
Risotto www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/easy_chicken_and_pea_31687
Fried rice www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/chicken-sweetcorn-egg-fried-rice
Pasta bake www.hellmanns.com/za/recipes/leftover-roast-chicken-pasta-bake.html

Pork:
Stew recipes.sainsburys.co.uk/recipes/main-courses/spiced-pork-stew
Stir fry www.goodtoknow.co.uk/recipes/leftover-roast-stir-fry
Pasta bake: realfood.tesco.com/recipes/leftover-pork-rigatoni-pasta-bake.html

I bulk out meat meals with pulses:
Beef and lentil cottage pie www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/beef-lentil-cottage-pie-cauliflower-potato-topping

Other cheap meals:
Cowboy pie realfood.tesco.com/recipes/cowboy-pie.html
Sausage ragu www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/sausage-ragu
Tuna burgers www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/tuna-sweetcorn-burgers
Cheese, leek and potato tortilla www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/cheese-leek-potato-tortilla
Falafel burgers www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/falafel-burgers-0
Lentil curry www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/easy-peasy-lentil-curry
Cheese and tomato bread pudding recipes.sainsburys.co.uk/recipes/leftovers/cheese-and-tomato-bread-and-butter-pudding
Tuna pasta bake made with tomato soup www.campbellsoup.co.uk/recipes/crunchy-tuna-pasta-bake

Pilchard pasta

Sauteed onions, celery, mushrooms, capsicums if you like them; add a tin of pilchards in tomato sauce and heat, stirring to break them up (unless you've already taken them apart to remove the bones and squidgy bit, which I do). Serve on a bed of pasta shapes.

Slow-cooked lamb hearts - stuff (thyme and parsley for preference, though I have to make it myself nowadays) and cover with red wine, serve sliced with mash and gravy (I use bisto and the cooking liquor) and veg of choice.

Beef cheeks are lovely, if you don't attempt to eat the gelatinous bit, but they shrink like nothing else.

Definitely bulk out your Bolognese etc with lentils and mushrooms. If you chop the mushrooms finely you barely even notice them (in case you aren't mushroom eaters). Same with making a chilli, add lots of beans. Make sure you're using a good soffrito base (celery, carrot and onion) as this will stretch a meat Ragu out much further plus helps with the flavour.

Beef shin is great for slow cooking.

Can you make your own bread? I buy Sainsbury's own pre-mixed packs. About 75p off the top of my head for a loaf or 6 rolls. Just mix with water and follow the instructions, then cook. Very easy, very tasty and cheap.

Do you like potato soup? Filling and very tasty, especially for a winter evening!

I get heaps of veg and do big batches of soup - butternut squash soup is my go to at the moment !

If you can avoid meat even for some meals you will spend less! I just made a big batch of daal with yellow lentils and a Saag paneer

You can bulk up bolognaise and soups with lentils too !

Some great recipes/ideas on here thanks! I really like the idea of pilchard pasta and starting to use lentils, mushrooms and beans to bulk out mince.

Also going to try and bake my own bread with the help of a packet - it's great because it means I will always have access to fresh bread. And soup - we can eat that with the freshly baked bread as a cheap dinner.

Lots of recipes to try, the hungry family will be happy!

Soup is definitely a good plan I made an enormous pot of minestrone today which will make lunches all week with varieties of bread, crumpets, cheese on toast etc.

Flapjacks are an easy bake for sweet treats.

My tip is to serve up then put leftovers in the freezer straight away so no one can come and get seconds. If they are still hungry they can have toast later.

Our local waitrose still has its meat counter and I always take a look because there are often specials and it's a great place to pick up even better priced meat for slow cooking.

Lamb shoulder is cheap and can be stretched out very easily in a slow cooker or casserole with beans/chickpeas/lentils and lots of carrots/butternut/sweet potatoes/turnips/parsnips etc.

I cook chicken thighs in slow cooker with onions, leeks and carrots, white wine, stock, fennel seeds, cinnamon and star anise. Add cannelloni beans towards the end. Remove and shred chicken and put back into the casserole. Chicken goes much further than if you serve a few pieces of chicken per hungry person.

Another cheap meal we make occassionally is baked bean and chorizo "stew". Total cheat meal but it's easy, quick and as we always have chorizo, storecupboard for us - fry chopped onion (and other base veggies if you like - I usually can't be bothered). Add chopped chorizo (for three of us half a ring is more than enough - you could do a full ring for your family) and fry. Add baked beans - for me, DH and DS I'd do 2 tins and probably have a bit left over. For family of 5, including teenage boys, probably at least 3 tins! :) . Add a little water, a generous splash of balsamic vinegar and simmer for about 10 minutes. Serve with rice and cheese on top. (you can also use half baked beans and half cannellini beans but then might want to add some stock).

Ooh another favourite of mine (and great for store cupboards) is broad bean and pancetta risotto. I use bacon lardons instead of panceta but you could use butchers cut bacon for even cheaper meat and just chop it up yourself. The lardons I keep in the freezer and fry from frozen. Same with broad beans - big bags frozen broad beans. Then it's just vegetable stock an onion and risotto rice (you can use normal too). Goes a really long way!

Soup and baked spuds is a good way to fill everyone up too. We buy 10kg sacks of spuds.
More veggie meals should save you money too. My carnivores are quite happy with quorn mince dishes (esp chilli con quorne).
Dried beans soaked then cooked in a slow cooker will also give good extra stock.
Seasonal fruit for puddings.

We always had a bowl of veg soup before our main meal to help 'fill up' the bean pole boys!

Boiling bacon
Colcannon - use cheap cooking bacon in it, make more than you need for one meal then sprinkle cheese over the top and oven bake the next day for a quick cheese and potato pie variation