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Your favourite 'lowish cost' family meals

60 replies

longshot · 03/03/2026 19:44

I need to shave a substantial amount of our monthly food bill and easiest way will be by reducing the spend we make on evening meals. I have calculated that for the 4 of us most evening meals cost us approx £8-16 currently, occasionally more. Once a week we have something 'cheap' like baked potatoes but even then it's probably approx £8 with salad, tuna etc. I do all the usuals eg bolognaise, pasta bakes etc but we have one who needs GF pasta etc which increases the price a bit. Also we are 4 adult size portions so one 500g portion of mince is for 4 of us. Kids are teens and eat a lot as does my sporty DH!

Please can you list any top meals you make that come in as quite budget? Happy to do some veggie but mostly meat / fish ideally.

OP posts:
oncemoreuntothebeachdearfriends · 04/03/2026 09:15

Lambs' liver floured & quickly fried.
Chicken livers cut into chunks, + onions, mush etc as a sauce for pasta.
Kidneys & hearts are cheap as well.
Oxtail is not as cheap as it used to be, but still delicious & good value .

Beamur · 04/03/2026 09:18

Kedgeree made with smoked mackerel and boiled eggs is nice and inexpensive.

herbetta · 04/03/2026 10:50

hamptonedge · 03/03/2026 21:14

Add a tin of lentils to make mince go further, you cant see them 😉

Buy massive cheap bags of dried red lentils in ethnic aisle or famfoods & soak overnight or for a couple of hours first

FurForksSake · 04/03/2026 10:51

Red lentils cook in 15 minutes. Just rinse them and throw them in, no need for soaking or pre cooking

Kelta · 04/03/2026 10:57

Soy protein mince is a really good bulker. I can easily make a 500g pack of mince last three family sized meals by adding a few handfuls of soy protein mince. It is indistinguishable from the meat mince once in a bolognese/chilli/lasagne/cottage pie.

Holland and barrett sell a decent one. Generally works out about £2.30 for a big bag since they often have it on buy one get one half price. A big bag will last ages.

GoldenCupsatHarvestTime · 04/03/2026 11:25

Chicken mince Thai curry - pack of chicken mince (£2), a diced onion, a ribboned carrot, 2 diced potato’s, in the pan, add tha paste and a tin of coconut milk. Serve with brown rice.

Mushroom, onion and tin of Aldi mixed Mexican beans with small tortillas and hot sauce. Jarred red cabbage tops.

chopped chicken drummers, carrot, onion, celery, chicken stock and throw in a handful of broken spaghetti and lentils for soup.

longshot · 04/03/2026 12:52

Burntt · 03/03/2026 21:28

Add lentils or butter beans to most mince dishes to bulk it up.

I only ever buy meat when reduced. Tesco is good as they have the reduced section rather than the reduced food still in place and you have to search for it. I have a freezer draw just for the reduced meat as obviously if you are using it all week you have to freeze it immediately being about to go out of date. same with bread if you have the freezer space sometimes there’s loads of bread for pennies.

do you drink? A bottle of wine or two a week adds up

things like sauce jars buy in bulk when on offer. Do you need the branded stuff or Will own brand do?

bars of soap. Soooo much cheeper and last much longer than liquid soap (better for the planet too!). I actually have found lots of the eco subscriptions saving me money things like toilet roll washing tabs (give up fabric conditioners). Order 5 litres of white vinegar and it cleans most things.

like the lentils add frozen peas or beans to meals.

lots of pasta meals- if you get the massive supermarket own brand of pasta it’s cheeper just boring penne or fusilli. noodles not pot noodles but the instant kind with the seasoning packet (you don’t have to use the seasoning packet use the noodles in place of the normal more expensive Sherwood noodles or whatever brand you are used to. Rice- again cheeper in bulk.

boring fruits instead of berries. Veg in season (or reduced!)

tinned soup (we have soup whenever I find tiger bread reduced)

iceburg lettuce for salads.

Try not to get set in your ways for packed lunches. Look for what’s on offer and adapt

own brand cheddar cheese. Mature and use less

if you really want to save money then the own brand tinned new potato’s and bother veg is often cheep. You notice the difference in taste however. Tinned fruit is ok though

for gluten free look for reduced. The bread is often reduced. I usually have GF pancakes and bagels in the freezer

I moved to tinned veg to free up space in the freezer for all my reduced purchases.

batched cook and freeze. Things like 500g mince that I’ve stretched with lentils means leftovers I can freeze.

switch to tap water. You do adjust after a while without fruit juice and squash. I’d rather tap water than cheap tea bags 🤢

I'm not a convert but I’ve seen garlic and onion seasoning recommended as cheeper than the fresh.

I know you were asking about food but eBay/bunted bundles of clothes saves loads and you can sell the individual items you don’t like from the bundle.

jumpers and warm socks instead of the heating on. Snuggle under blankets etc. Only wash dirty clothes particularly jeans can be worn more than once before washing.

Cut snacks and Look and your portion sizes. Tinned fruit and possibly tinned custard as dessert means smaller portions for the main meal are easier to tolerate.

own brand breakfast cereal. Own brand jam/marmalde/etc on toast for breakfast.

oats are cheep GF breakfast. Purée whatever fruits are in the reduced section and you can make oat breakfast bars and freeze. The value chocolate bars are disgusting to eat but grate then into breakfast bars etc instead of chocolate chips and it’s good value.

I don’t have the space in my current house but I saved loads when I had the space for a second freezer! If you have the space definitely consider that

Some fantastic tips in here!

Yes, neither of us drink at all and the kids only drink water or milk, we do own brand for almost everything so it’s more about meal ideas I think as to be honest I’m now good at keeping costs lower elsewhere…but I know I cook a lot of meat and fish so some of these ideas for meals are excellent! And yes someone on here put me on own brand basic biscuits and crisps for snacks and we do that, plus fruit and toast. There’s nothing ‘excessive’ going on from what I see but the main meals can be cheaper so I’m going to focus on that 🙂.

OP posts:
longshot · 04/03/2026 12:54

And breakfast we only have toast and eggs or porridge with frozen berries on offer now. My youngest likes cereal and we do get her that but only Aldi so pretty cheap. Cut out all granola etc as that was expensive!

OP posts:
MochaAndBiscuits · 04/03/2026 13:10

One of our family favourites is crispy shredded chicken (sold in most shops in the frozen section) finished off in the frying pan with either satay sauce or sweet and sour sauce served with either rice or noodles and broccoli on the side

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