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Need to reduce food bill - tips, recipes, ideas please

82 replies

popsickle555 · 18/03/2025 10:46

I think we are spending around £200 a week on food! This is for DH, me and two DCs aged 13 and 10 (who eat quite a lot), DH also eats a lot. We rarely eat out, both DH and i are 100% WFH so that does include lunches every day for us. But I need to get our spend down and need advice and ideas. All my family are slim and if anything a bit underweight so I can't not feed them this amount.

I can't shop at Lidl or Aldi at the moment, I can only shop online because I am recovering from major surgery and can't drive for 3 months. We usually shop at Sainsburys, Asda or occasionally Waitrose (expensive I know).

We eat mainly gluten free as one of us is intolerant. DH wants meat every day (but will eat veggie a couple of times a week if I make him). Kids eat most things except anything too spicy.

Can anyone share any cheap (and easy) recipes please? Also snack ideas for the kids? At the moment the snack cupboard is all unhealthy and I want to change that. Their other meals are always quite healthy except on Saturday night when we tend to have a treat (pizza, burger etc), but not take out.

At the moment my go to cheap meals are Jacket potato, Mac and cheese and that's about it.

I need help 😂

OP posts:
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BodenCardiganNot · 18/03/2025 10:48

I can't shop at Lidl or Aldi at the moment, I can only shop online because I am recovering from major surgery and can't drive for 3 months.

Does your husband drive?

Ineedthesun80 · 18/03/2025 10:54

No advice I’m afraid as we are in the same boat,we shop at aldi and spend £200-£230 a week now,it was £130!yes we eat o lot of meat/fruit/ veg but we don’t want to live on processed foods.

caramac04 · 18/03/2025 11:00

Watch Batch from Scratch or get the book The Batch Lady free on Kindle (Unlimited I think).
You probably won’t like all the recipes but will find quite a few cheap and nutritious meals.
You don’t have to buy from Lidl. Slow cooker meals are great with cheaper cuts of meat.

Jeezitneverends · 18/03/2025 11:04

Knowing where you can cut down is entirely dependent on what you spend that money on.I’m an Aldi shopper for 5 adults just now, and I’m not frugal, loads of meat etc, but “only” spend about £150 a week. I’m a “home cook” amd always have been, I was cooking from scratch since the days when it was just cooking, no convenience meals etc…what’s your biggest expense ?

Seeline · 18/03/2025 11:04

When you say you are all eating GF do you mean all eating GF bread, pasta, pizzas, cereal, snacks etc? Because those are ridiculously expensive.
Is the person concerned actually coeliac or only intolerant? If not actually coeliac, I would switch the rest of the family to non-GF food.
I would also look at upping naturally GF foods in cooking - rice, potatoes, lentils etc
Even buying GF flour and making your own bread etc would be cheaper - have a look online for Becky Excell. She does brilliant cheap GF food recipes and ideas.

Sunat45degrees · 18/03/2025 11:10

I sympathise. We can't seem to keep th eshopping down below this either - similar sort of family make up and the need to do three meals a day for everyone basically.

Have you tried Amazon Fresh? It has a lot of Morrisons/Booths/Iceland products and I do find that it can be cheaper sometimes.

We do quite a few meals with meat, but where the meat is quite stingy. Pasta sauces are great for this - eg I'll had half or maybe 2/3 of a chorizo ring to a tomato and vegetable based sauce for flavour and to satisfy the carnivores. Or I can turn a pack of sausages into a meal for all of us by takjing the sausages out of their skin and sort of roughly chopping then turning into a creamy sauce. Ditto chicken or bacon. These sort of things work well with Gnocchi too.

Another thing I do quite often is a pork mince sort of stir fry. So one pack of mince and then massive portions of veggies that I stir fry in batches until it's all done, with th emince, flavoured with soy and lime juice (plus garlic, chilli, ginger) and then serve with noodles. Works well when DS has friends over unexpectedly as i can just up the veggies and/or noodles without requiring additional mince.

I can't manage the MN single roast chicken to feed everyone for a week! But I do find it works well with enough leftovers usually to do a chicken salad with garlic bread or a risotto topped with chicken, and often then also to make some chicken sandwiches for lunch. So again, things that need less meat. Risotto generally is a good option and a good cheap version which, if you want to add meat, can be done in smaller amounts. I haven't done it for a while but I used to do a lemon risotto and then top with a little crispy bacon or even some parma ham (when it didn't break the bank for parma ham!). I might revisit that one soon for variety.

Chicken thighs are also good - often very reasonably priced and I slow cook them in the oven (marinade with a bit of oil, lemon juice, fennel, garlic, cumin and cinnamon, salt well then cook at 150 fan for 45 minutes, baste, then back in the oven for about 25 minutes). I serve this usually with new potatoes or mash and steamed veg. I usually make extra and use as I would leftover roast chicken.

I'm trying to do breakfast for dinner once a week or so - something a bit more simple and cheap. Shakshuksa for example. Or scrambled egg, with avocado on bread or whatever.

Snacks are a never-ending source of frustration here too. DS loves home cooked food but for snacks - he just wants convenience. Drives me mad. So we land up with fancy Kind bars when I can make snack bars at a much more reasonable price, but that's not hwat he likes. I do make an effort often to make a nice sandwich at lunch and then he has that as a snack when he comes in - toasted. If I'm organised enough I might do something similar with a wrap which he then puts in the airfryer (next step is to get him to do this himself). When he was younger I'd sometimes do him a jacket potato in the microwave and air fryer so that it was substantial and he could have it before going out again for sport. he does also often cook himself eggs or I'll boil eggs and leave them for him. We eat a lot of popcorn too!

He also does things like fish fingers or crumbed chicken breasts in the airfryer on bread/roll (Waitrose does good "frozen chicken steaks" which I think are about £2.30 for 4 and they're quite good quality and I don't mind him having one of those coming home from school).

Oh, and breakfast is mostly weetabix or shred dies, or scrambled eggs on toast or waffles/pancakes which are very cheap and much better quality than shop bought. I buy an 85p bag of flour about once a week, plus eggs and some milk and that's DD's breakfast everyday plus some days for DH and also something I put in her lunchbox.

TheWayTheLightFalls · 18/03/2025 11:16

I'd aim to sub out a few meals at a time so it's not overwhelming.

Breakfast: not sure what you have, but porridge + milk+ frozen fruit or peanut butter/jam is cheap and filling.

One meal a week of an omelette with bacon bits in, side of chips. Or Spanish omelette with potatoes.

One meal a week of a pasta and sauce also with a limited quantity of meat through if need be.

PoppyBaxter · 18/03/2025 11:19

We probably spend £200 on the two of us. Every minor top up seems to cost £30!

'Special' egg fried rice is a good one. Egg, shredded stir fry veg, a bag of prawns and brown rice - cooked in garlic, soy sauce and sesame oil.

Jacket potatoes.

Chilli con carne, padded out with loads of tinned beans.

Pasta, homemade tomato sauce, tuna, cheese.

If I HAD to save money though, I certainly wouldn't pander to my husband's meat requirements. He'd eat veggie every night and would have to lump it.

popsickle555 · 18/03/2025 11:19

Yes he does, but currently he is doing everything because of my limitations so for a few more weeks we can't do the shop in store. He does usually do the shopping for us but due to more driving than usual and him working 45 hours a week I can't add that to his plate atm. But in 4 weeks or so the super market trip will start again so can go to Aldi then instead.

OP posts:
Divebar2021 · 18/03/2025 11:20

I think it might be helpful to know what kinds of things you currently cook / eat so we can make suggestions. If you’re cooking with mince for example ( eg shepherds
pie) you can bulk the meat out with lentils and chopped veg. What jars and sauces do you use? Are you buying expensive fruits like strawberries?

Sidewinderer · 18/03/2025 11:21

When you’re doing the online shop search basic or essential in the search bar and start from there.

Don’t buy gluten free but buy things that naturally are so rice, potatoes etc.

But the protein and work around that so mixed beef, minced lamb, whole chicken. Shepherds pie, Keema curry, cut the breasts off the whole chicken and roast it, use the breasts for sweet and sour. That’s four dinners already.

popsickle555 · 18/03/2025 11:23

Seeline · 18/03/2025 11:04

When you say you are all eating GF do you mean all eating GF bread, pasta, pizzas, cereal, snacks etc? Because those are ridiculously expensive.
Is the person concerned actually coeliac or only intolerant? If not actually coeliac, I would switch the rest of the family to non-GF food.
I would also look at upping naturally GF foods in cooking - rice, potatoes, lentils etc
Even buying GF flour and making your own bread etc would be cheaper - have a look online for Becky Excell. She does brilliant cheap GF food recipes and ideas.

Yes this is a good point. I think I spend a lot on 'snacks' for the kids. DH and I tend to snack on a piece of toast but they can't take that to school really...

I tend to geet them Nain's biscuits/crackers (GF and less unhealthy), crisps, brunch bars, popcorn, flapjack. Not great i know and not cheap either.

The GF person is not coeliac so the rest of us have gluten bread/cereal but we all eat GF pasta because it's nice enough. I do tend to buy GF snacks though because it's one of the DCs so it just seems unfair on her if my other DC gets 'nicer' snacks. We do eat mainly naturally GF stuff, lots of rice, potato etc, pasta once a week.

OP posts:
Badbadbunny · 18/03/2025 11:26

We save a small fortune by varying where we shop, i.e. rotate between Asda, Morrisons, Sainsbury and Tesco rather than always, say, getting a Sainsbury delivery. Over a month, we'll have had a weekly delivery from all of them in turn.

When you shop online, you can see the offers/discounts and buy what's on offer rather than things at full price when they're on offer somewhere else. Especially for long lasting things like tins & packets, crisps and soft drinks, toilet rolls, laundry/cleaning stuff, etc, where they're always on offer from at least one major supermarket.

We also do an Iceland home delivery sometimes to stock up on frozen basics, i.e. frozen veg, jacket/roast potatoes, Greggs sausage rolls and slices, fish fingers, frozen chips, frozen burgers, sausages, etc - far cheaper than the major supermarkets, even for branded names.

This week I've just done a Tesco home delivery and bought a lot that had club card discounts - things that are a pound or two cheaper than if we'd bought them from Asda. For things that are never on offer, if there's no price difference, we'll buy from Sainsbury to gather Nectar points or Tesco to get club card points.

We never buy anything from convenience stores due to the "punishment" cost for convenience and forgetting things! We tend to do a small interim shop at one of the main supermarkets between deliveries to pick up milk, bread, fresh fruit & veg, fresh meat, etc. - usually on the way home from work.

HAF1119 · 18/03/2025 11:32

Get a pack of GF pasta and try below recipe, it would be a cold dinner but should do some lunch next day too and it works out cheap

250g pasta
4tbsp mayo
3tbsp lemon juice
2 peppers (whatever type)
1 cucumber
1 red onion
20 olives
2 teaspoons capers
2 tins tuna

mix the mayo and lemon, chop the salad items small and mix in, then mix in tuna, add the pasta once drained and cooled

you can substitute the salad bits for whatever you have - I’ve done it with tomato instead, or sweetcorn instead. You can also use leftover chicken instead of tuna but I do find tuna better.

popsickle555 · 18/03/2025 11:33

PoppyBaxter · 18/03/2025 11:19

We probably spend £200 on the two of us. Every minor top up seems to cost £30!

'Special' egg fried rice is a good one. Egg, shredded stir fry veg, a bag of prawns and brown rice - cooked in garlic, soy sauce and sesame oil.

Jacket potatoes.

Chilli con carne, padded out with loads of tinned beans.

Pasta, homemade tomato sauce, tuna, cheese.

If I HAD to save money though, I certainly wouldn't pander to my husband's meat requirements. He'd eat veggie every night and would have to lump it.

Feeling a bit better about our spend now...DH says he doesn't see how we are that bad but my parents came over yesterday and were outraged by our spend. Having said that I realise my mum has no idea. My dad does all the cooking and shopping! He totally understood why it's £200...I guess she's probably quite out of touch with costs.

But there are good ideas here...

What do I normally cook...here's the main things we eat during winter/colder weather:

Shepherds pie
Prawn, feta, tomato dish with rice
Chilli and rice
Homemade pizza (i buy the bases)
Sausage tray bake
Chicken thigh tray bake
Baked potato with tuna, cheese etc
Fajitas (GF wraps)
Spag bol
Fish and chips (bought from supermarket)
Burgers and wedges (buy burgers, make wedges)
Chicken tikka (slow cook)
Steak, chips & salad
Chicken and cashew nut stir fry
Meatballs and rice / pasta
Sausage and apple tray bake
Chicken, leek, bacon pie (GF bought pastry, sometimes make with mash on top)
Chicken breast, veg and potato
Roast chicken
Beef stew type thing (i don't like this much but DH cooks it quite nicely!)
Baked potato, ratatouille, houmous

OP posts:
popsickle555 · 18/03/2025 11:33

HAF1119 · 18/03/2025 11:32

Get a pack of GF pasta and try below recipe, it would be a cold dinner but should do some lunch next day too and it works out cheap

250g pasta
4tbsp mayo
3tbsp lemon juice
2 peppers (whatever type)
1 cucumber
1 red onion
20 olives
2 teaspoons capers
2 tins tuna

mix the mayo and lemon, chop the salad items small and mix in, then mix in tuna, add the pasta once drained and cooled

you can substitute the salad bits for whatever you have - I’ve done it with tomato instead, or sweetcorn instead. You can also use leftover chicken instead of tuna but I do find tuna better.

I can make this today - thanks!

OP posts:
popsickle555 · 18/03/2025 11:35

Badbadbunny · 18/03/2025 11:26

We save a small fortune by varying where we shop, i.e. rotate between Asda, Morrisons, Sainsbury and Tesco rather than always, say, getting a Sainsbury delivery. Over a month, we'll have had a weekly delivery from all of them in turn.

When you shop online, you can see the offers/discounts and buy what's on offer rather than things at full price when they're on offer somewhere else. Especially for long lasting things like tins & packets, crisps and soft drinks, toilet rolls, laundry/cleaning stuff, etc, where they're always on offer from at least one major supermarket.

We also do an Iceland home delivery sometimes to stock up on frozen basics, i.e. frozen veg, jacket/roast potatoes, Greggs sausage rolls and slices, fish fingers, frozen chips, frozen burgers, sausages, etc - far cheaper than the major supermarkets, even for branded names.

This week I've just done a Tesco home delivery and bought a lot that had club card discounts - things that are a pound or two cheaper than if we'd bought them from Asda. For things that are never on offer, if there's no price difference, we'll buy from Sainsbury to gather Nectar points or Tesco to get club card points.

We never buy anything from convenience stores due to the "punishment" cost for convenience and forgetting things! We tend to do a small interim shop at one of the main supermarkets between deliveries to pick up milk, bread, fresh fruit & veg, fresh meat, etc. - usually on the way home from work.

This is a good tip. I think varying supermarket can help a lot.

OP posts:
Wildflowers99 · 18/03/2025 11:40

Here’s my favourite, creamy lentil curry. Healthy, my kids love it, really cheap and minimal ingredients.

1 tin coconut milk (any is fine)
4 cups red lentils
1 teaspoon red curry paste (you can buy this in single portion sachets if needed - I do as I never finish a jar)
1 pint water

Heat the curry paste, add the rest of the ingredients. Simmer on low heat for half an hour plus and its dine. I add cauliflower, sweet potato, onion, whatever needs using. It’s not spicy at all, my kids won’t eat spicy food but will eat this.

With rice it works out to about £4 a batch, and it’s all food cupboard stuff you can buy in bulk and keep for ages.

HoxtHun · 18/03/2025 11:45

In the long term you’d save considerably if you bought wholefoods in bulk from somewhere like

https://hodmedods.co.uk/

You could obviously source from local stores - but the beauty of Hodmedods is that every ingredient comes with recipes on the website. You’d all be less hungry between meals. And you could encourage your children to get involved - with soaking beans or making flapjacks …

Have a look:

Hodmedod's Wholefoods

Hodmedod works with farmers to provide pulses, grains, seed & more from fair and sustainable production, primarily British, organic where possible. We supply dried & canned beans & peas, quinoa, pulse & quinoa flour, fermented bean paste, roasted pulse...

https://hodmedods.co.uk/

HAF1119 · 18/03/2025 11:50

popsickle555 · 18/03/2025 11:33

I can make this today - thanks!

:) I like to put about 6 good size gherkins in too, but that’s personal taste 🤣

there’s only 2 of us in my house so I do half the amount of pasta and we have it on jacket potato one day, then I add in pasta the next day - which works out good value for 2 meals :) you could do that also by doubling up all ingredients except pasta and doing half on jacket potato one day then mix w pasta the next for a diff dinner

Jeezitneverends · 18/03/2025 11:52

popsickle555 · 18/03/2025 11:33

Feeling a bit better about our spend now...DH says he doesn't see how we are that bad but my parents came over yesterday and were outraged by our spend. Having said that I realise my mum has no idea. My dad does all the cooking and shopping! He totally understood why it's £200...I guess she's probably quite out of touch with costs.

But there are good ideas here...

What do I normally cook...here's the main things we eat during winter/colder weather:

Shepherds pie
Prawn, feta, tomato dish with rice
Chilli and rice
Homemade pizza (i buy the bases)
Sausage tray bake
Chicken thigh tray bake
Baked potato with tuna, cheese etc
Fajitas (GF wraps)
Spag bol
Fish and chips (bought from supermarket)
Burgers and wedges (buy burgers, make wedges)
Chicken tikka (slow cook)
Steak, chips & salad
Chicken and cashew nut stir fry
Meatballs and rice / pasta
Sausage and apple tray bake
Chicken, leek, bacon pie (GF bought pastry, sometimes make with mash on top)
Chicken breast, veg and potato
Roast chicken
Beef stew type thing (i don't like this much but DH cooks it quite nicely!)
Baked potato, ratatouille, houmous

From this list you’re certainly not throwing money away on food! Maybe looking at the snack options would be a place to cut down costs a bit. I get that you’re a bit incapacitated just now, but can you bake? Buying flapjacks for example is a very expensive way to have them, when you can make a huge tray for about £3.50 of ingredients (and you know what’s in them too, which is why I bake!)

Caspianberg · 18/03/2025 11:52

Mixing up meat with veggie days.

https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/268002/sweet-potato-spinach-and-halloumi-curry/

This is a good veggie curry. You can have leftovers without the halloumi also for on baked potatoes for adults lunch next day. I cook without the chilli in so it’s a mild casserole type thing for Ds, then dh and I add chilli to our tastes after ( I also only like mild spice). It freezes well also, and you can swap out sweet potato for butternut squash or pumpkin if cheaper

Sweet Potato, Spinach, and Halloumi Curry

This vegetarian curry with sweet potatoes, spinach, chickpeas, and halloumi cheese is very adaptable to different tastes. Serve hot with brown basmati rice and papadums.

https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/268002/sweet-potato-spinach-and-halloumi-curry/

Darkclothes · 18/03/2025 11:57

Our nearest Aldi's offer click and collect. Could you do the order and DH just picks it up from the carpark?

Our of interest, what are you buying from Waitrose that isn't much cheaper at Sainsburys or Asda? 🤔

Shakshuka? I don't strictly follow this recipe, but mix and match a bit. Sometimes I cook some chorizo (yes, I know, not traditional at all) which adds extra flavour and a meaty kick. I also add a tin of chick peas for added protein. You can reduce the spice for the kids too.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/shakshouka_74716

Snacks: Do the kids eat fruit?

Celery sticks with peanut butter down the centre.

Veg batons (carrot, celery, peppers) with houmous.

Shakshuka recipe

Shakshuka recipe

The Hairy Bikers' shakshuka is an incredibly easy baked egg recipe that works just as well for brunch as it does for dinner. Serve with plenty of bread.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/shakshouka_74716

PoppyBaxter · 18/03/2025 12:00

popsickle555 · 18/03/2025 11:33

Feeling a bit better about our spend now...DH says he doesn't see how we are that bad but my parents came over yesterday and were outraged by our spend. Having said that I realise my mum has no idea. My dad does all the cooking and shopping! He totally understood why it's £200...I guess she's probably quite out of touch with costs.

But there are good ideas here...

What do I normally cook...here's the main things we eat during winter/colder weather:

Shepherds pie
Prawn, feta, tomato dish with rice
Chilli and rice
Homemade pizza (i buy the bases)
Sausage tray bake
Chicken thigh tray bake
Baked potato with tuna, cheese etc
Fajitas (GF wraps)
Spag bol
Fish and chips (bought from supermarket)
Burgers and wedges (buy burgers, make wedges)
Chicken tikka (slow cook)
Steak, chips & salad
Chicken and cashew nut stir fry
Meatballs and rice / pasta
Sausage and apple tray bake
Chicken, leek, bacon pie (GF bought pastry, sometimes make with mash on top)
Chicken breast, veg and potato
Roast chicken
Beef stew type thing (i don't like this much but DH cooks it quite nicely!)
Baked potato, ratatouille, houmous

And that £200 used to be about £75 in Aldi, where I would throw all manner of luxuries into the trolley without having to give it a thought (salmon en croute, fancy cheeses, deli olives etc)!

Jins · 18/03/2025 12:08

popsickle555 · 18/03/2025 11:33

I can make this today - thanks!

I find that leaving GF pasta to cool isn’t successful. It’s nice enough but it seems to go hard when cool and nobody wants to eat it.

If it works for you can you let me know what pasta you use please?

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