Looking for low cost family meal inspiration, I’m trying to halve our food budget!

[R184]

Hi everyone,
I’m looking for some meal inspiration and ideas from those who are good at keeping food costs down!
We’re a family of 5 (2 adults and 3 children aged 9, 6 and 3). At the moment we spend around £600 a month on groceries, which includes toiletries and household bits. I know this isn’t outrageous for a family of five, but I’d really like to challenge ourselves and see if we can get it down significantly, ideally around half if possible.
I’m planning to do a proper “use what we have” challenge first, then shop much more intentionally and batch cook where I can. I’d love to hear your go-to cheap family meals that everyone actually eats!
Things like:

• budget-friendly dinners
• meals that stretch for leftovers
• freezer-friendly ideas
• cheap packed lunches/snacks
• ways to make meat go further

We do have some fussy moments with the kids (don’t we all 😂), so I’m looking for realistic family meals rather than just “rice and beans for a month” type suggestions. What are your cheapest meals that your family genuinely enjoys?

I think you introduce 3 days of cheaper meals
pasta
jacket potato
vegetarian dish
one thing you could do is make batches of chilli and bolognaise but use half mince half lentils to reduce amount of mince used .
End of the week have homity pie and chuck in all the bits n bobs not used in the week eg the left over leak or odd carrot , bit of cheese , cover over with pastry lid .

Last October I bought a second hand bread maker. They are easy to pick up cheap as people buy them, they collect dust so they sell them on barely used.
I can honestly I have not eaten shop bought bread since.

It takes 5 minutes to put a loaf on. It's far tastier than shop bought. Healthier. It also costs a fraction of the price of store bought.

We make pizza dough in the machine too. Homemade pizzas are fun and cheap!

Half of that monthly budget is less than £70 a week. That is just not possible. I think you need to be realistic. Your current amount of £600 a month is only £138 a week. I think you would be unlikely to shave more than £20 a week off of that. Especially if you are including toiletries. Unless you are having to reduce do to a job loss or something then maybe look for other areas to cut back. Nutrition is so important for growing kids and trying to cut back to less than £2 per person a day is ridiculous. Even prisoners have a minimum of £3

Beans

Less meat. Works well for us.

Thanks for your reply. I completely understand what you mean that £70/week would be a big challenge, especially including toiletries and household items.
I should have explained better, I’m not expecting to feed a family of five indefinitely on that amount, more that I want to do a challenge to reset our spending, use up what we already have, reduce waste and see how low we can realistically get it.
We’re lucky that this isn’t due to losing income, I just want to be more intentional with our money and free up some room elsewhere in our budget.
I’m definitely not looking to compromise on nutrition for the kids, just hoping to find ideas for meals that are affordable, filling and family-friendly 😊

Thanks! I do have one already but have gotten out of the habit of using, il dust it off 😂

Years ago there was a cooking show and cookbook called 'economy gastronomy'. You can still get a lot of the recipes online though the show was cancelled. The concept is making one meal then making stuff from the leftovers, or making a batch base and then making multiple different meals from the bath cooked base.

The thing to do is keep variety so it needs to be yummy.

The ones I do consistently return to are:

Day 1: roast a chicken, eat roast chicken serve with veg etc
Night of Day 1: boil the chicken into a stock
Day 2: use the stock and strip the rest of the chicken to make any of chicken curry, ramen, risotto, chicken supreme.

Day 1: Slow cook a load of beef shin with onions and some diced veg in beef consommé from a can
Day 2: Use the slow cooked beef to make any of Thai red curry, chili con carne, ragu for pappardelle

Batch cooked pork meatballs with finely chopped onion and herbs and pork mince (cheap) and you can freeze them and use them in sauces, you can serve with rice or couscous or in a pasta sauce.

Oh and try not to rely too much on mince. Cheaper cuts like beef shin or pork shoulder or whole animals like a whole chicken are cheaper and nicer. It's only sustainable if the food is actually nice.

Just thinking on the £70 idea... If we get a large chicken for £7 that would usually feed us for 3 days. Then a beef thing would be £10 worth of beef and would last 2 days. Other things rice, pasta, veg, eggs... maybe another £35 worth. The something like pizza on a Friday (home made dough) and a take away on a Saturday (not in budget!) - £70 does feel tight but manageable if you don't use any processed ingredients.

Probably not sustainable and we spend way more than that at the supermarket as buy treats and booze and cleaning products etc etc. But core food? Tight but not unmanageable.

If the meal is mince based or has a sauce, bulk it up so that it doubles or triples the volume of the meat. Use fresh veg like grated carrots/courgette. Or with frozen veg (Eg frozen diced base mix - carrots, celery, onions, Frozen sliced mushrooms) or beans, or lentils (tinned green lentils are the best imo because they are quick to cook, cheap, don't need soaking and the texture isn't grainy like red lentils).

Eat a vegetarian meal once a week. Use lentils, tinned beans or frozen edamame beans as the protein. Make a curry or daal. Alloo gobi is my favourite. Or make a vegetarian chilli con carni

Don't buy snacks. Batch cook flapjacks, muffins, cakes, cookies etc and freeze. Really try not to buy anything that's ready made, or branded. Try not to buy drinks, either soft drinks or alcohol unless it's a special occasion.

Shop in person at 8pm and look out for the yellow sticker stuff. Most things can be frozen. Don't shop when you're hungry

I make a chickpea curry which is very cheap, but might not appeal to the family. Breakfast cereals and snacks can often be a significant portion of the weekly food budget, so that might be worth looking at more than main meals.

I agree with others, halving the budget seems a bit unrealistic, however, some long term savings could be reusable kitchen towels to replace paper towels, batch cooking will save a few quid. I tend to plan the weeks meals by picking meals that mostly use the same ingredients, I find that cheaper and less wasteful than planning 7 totally different meals. Another thing to save on his monthly subscriptions, have a look to see what you pay for monthly and really question if you need that service. I cancelled Netflix as I barely watch it for example. Not sure what food brands you buy but dropping down a brand can save money too

where did you buy from. i think i would like to have a go at this... and is it really much cheaper?

we shop online at Sainsbury for heavy or bulky stuff, which means that
we can see what is reduced, on offer, eg a 5k. bag of Jasmine Rice is
half price, orgnic milk reduced, rather than trailing round the store looking
for bargains

we buy 3x12£ small chickens from Waitrose, for eg, roast them together,
this means we have more breast, Sunday lunch with gravy etc., legs for
lunches, wings fought over, then strip the chickens of every scrap
of meat with a scalpel, this is bagged and frozen for curry, risotto, tiny bits
for soup, 3xcarcasses bagged and frozen until in the slow cooker for stock.

750g slabs of cheddar £5 at WR, (£6.67kilo) and excellent, grate, this perks
up anything plain, with boiled beetroot on a home made loaf, anything.
Everyone here knows how to make a good omelette (watching Jamie Oliver)

we buy sacks of root veg from the farmshop, potatoes, carrots and onions,
carrot sticks, onion soup, mash! we would all live on mashed potatoes ha ha

I found a breakthrough was discovering how to make proper pastry,
so easy I had no idea, a great way of using up odds and ends and
this summer flans and quiches, always look good and nice cold, and one
cheese and onion with real chips and green beans from the allotments.
we grew strawberries in the garden this year on straw, robbing the rabbit ha ha
large 10” Country Cake with sultanas, buns, scones, filling and delicious
with home made damson jam

Savers for regular cosmetics, cotton wool, toothpaste, etc, hwb, cleaning stuff,
things you don’t see in Tesco or wherever, Tiger Balm, pumice stones, satin
shower caps, much cheaper and they will deliver in a box, minimum charge.

We buy Sainsbury dishwashing powder now and pour it carefully.
We bought WR own pouches, from £4 to £4.50! now they are £5, so powder
it is, unless they are on offer when I will buy a couple of bags

My mil bought me a slow cooker, I didnt think I would use it as it seems old
fashioned, but we do, to make stock/soup, cook a chicken, bolognese sauce,
or anything needing long slow cooking, economical and never boils over.

the answer is putting in the work, make and bake, everything is so expensive
now, even flour! eggs we buy 18 from the local farm shop, stay away from
the chi chi ones, watermelons, grpefruit, bananas, guava, papaya are NOT
home grown!
buying larger, making larger and cutting up is way more economical than
individual or smaller, as a large piece of pork for eg., cut off the crackling,
long slow cooking, allow to cool, carve thinly, enjoy roast dinner
with all the extras, then cold meat next day with crunchy sweet potato chips,
then cold pork and salad day after, for lunch, by which time the rest is in the freezer.

this hasn’t answered your questions sorry, I know you want us to be more specific

there are many things we just don’t buy any more, many, now we stick to basics
winter is easier I find, with hearty soups, chunks of bread, casseroles,
shepherds pie with meat/lentils, dumplings! Yorkshires! filling and delicious.

I’m interested now to read other posters, new ideas always welcome

I have asda delivery pass and do smaller more frequent shops to reduce waste. I often buy in for 4 days and manage to get another day or 2 out.

I tend to batch make a tomato sauce, so onions, carrots and tinned tomato, red pepper if i have one, stalk of the brocoli that i dont really use. I then use this sauce in chicken curry, pasta bake (use regular cream cheese mixed in), bolognaise, chilli etc. I also use pork or chicken mince (don't actually eat beef) and its much cheaper.

If i do something like a roast chicken, I keep the 'left overs' to one side to make an extra meal. I also make a big batch of say root veg mash and freeze it in portions as it reduces waste and makes cooking easier.

I add lentils to recipes often. I regularly make lentil based soup for lunch. cheap and filling. if i make chilli ill add two tins of mixed beans. I bulk meals with veg.

We have a rhythm, Sunday is roast or bbq, Monday is leftovers in various forms. Tuesday is a more random day, pork chops, curry, stir fry, goujons. Wednesday is jacket potatoes, I make a huge batch of chilli with a tonne of beans in once every couple of months and freeze it in portions. Thursday is pasta and garlic bread. Friday is something and chips from the freezer. Saturday is a treat night.

where I can make things in the insta pot and freeze I will, I then bulk those meals out with veg and pulses. Curries, chilli, stews, whatever it is.

Cooking a joint on a Sunday I also find works out well and I only serve half the meat and use the other half often for wraps with lots of veg or salad on a Monday.

yes indeed ! we have fruit now for breakfast, and home made bread,
even though we have 2! bakers in this town, its so expensive !!! so
doorsteps with butter and (not always) home mde jam or marmalade
or lemon curd, Marmite, home made! peanut butter (dead easy)

when my daughter has friends round she will make a pot of tea, cut
them slices of bread, generously buttered and jammed, they all love
it, a rare treat ha ha -
this is a snack free house, which I wonder if its unusual nowadays

I like baked feta pasta, as do the kids, which is super cheap. For 4 adults servings

200g salad cheese (value brand feta) 85p
2 bags of baby plum tomatoes £1 each - £2
500g pasta -50p ish
Some fresh basil (free/negligible if you grow some herbs on your window cill)
A glug of oil - 10p ish
A few chilli flakes 10p ish
Salad to serve (£ various depdnding on what you have in and what you like).

Put the feta in a dish with the tomatoes, drizzle with oil, sprinkle chilli flakes and roast at 200 for 30 mins.
Cook pasta.
Drain the cooked pasta and add to the baked feta/tomatoes snd stir together. Sprinkle over torn fresh basil.
Serve with some salad.

Serves four adults for about £3.50-4

I’m not really sure if you’re asking the right thing, you want one of those apps that suggests recipes based on store cupboard ingredients to use
up supplies. Your food budget is hardly excessive.

the things I can think of is home making snack food, and eating less processed meat, trying to buy less in plastic but on the whole, you should not be cutting back hugely on what you’re feeding your kids unless you have to…

Go veggie/ vegan and you'll save some money. Also, if you can afford and store stuff, bulk buy things like canned goods, pasta & pulses.

Tasty freezable meal ideas that are cheap & nutritious (you can use uncooked frozen veg instead of fresh to make it ultra cheap.):

https://www.thissavoryvegan.com/slow-cooker-sweet-potato-curry/#recipe

https://www.butcherbakerblog.com/2014/03/21/slow-cooked-lentil-ragu/

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/butter-bean-chorizo-stew

Jacket potatoes, buy loose and they cost pennies. DC have beans and cheese, I prefer tuna and sweetcorn (I make a batch up and use the rest for school lunches).

We have a few meals we make with pork mince which is cheaper than beef at the moment. Tacos, which is pork mince, red pepper some Cajun spice, kidney beans and pasata. Then salad bits and cheese on mini wraps (Aldi) or soft tacos (Tesco) depending on which supermarket. Pork mince burritos also, we add grated carrot and sweetcorn to the mix to bulk out veg. Up until recently we would get two meals for four of us (DP, teen dd's and I) out of 500g of mince, dd's have increased their appetite a bit but we get one serving for four and one for three.

When I make a Bolognese I make a rainbow Bolognese so chip up 1 red, 1 orange and 1 yellow pepper plus an onion, a grated carrot and add 3 cans of chopped tomatoes and a can of passata to 1 kg of mince beef. Then I portion it up and freeze. On pasta, on rice or on a jacket potato. Another cheap meal is a ham and cheese toastie served with cherry tomatoes, salad leaves and a spoon of coleslaw.

So I make pizza dough in my bread maker, as it costs 170g worth of flour x 3 should make you 6 medium size pizza

a tin of tomatoes strained and tomatoe purée added

dust in semolina

then cook for 8 minutes in a hot 🔥 cen

now add your toppings, mushrooms and garlic butter on one instead of a tomatoe base will be scrumpy

this can use up your store cupboard items lurking

i use bbc food and delicious for ideas or meals I can make, then double the quantities to make enough for the following week or last week of the month and pop in freezer. If you can cook once and eat twice, you’ll get a cheaper week the following week.

Ive also found planning for a months shopping does dramatically reduce the cost.you only make one order or shop once, so not going regular reduces impulse purchase and makes you much stricter on planning. But do plan in puddings for weekends and some easy throw in the oven dishes ( fish and chip Friday or a couple of fake away curries) make flat breads and use chickpeas. But chicken thighs in bulk - Sainsbury sell 2kg boxes of thighs for £5.75. I use two boxes of these to make curry to freeze, sticky screwed kebabs, and casserole type dishes

for example

https://www.deliciousmagazine.co.uk/recipes/freezer-friendly-chicken-tikka-masala/ Not too many ingredients and easy to freeze, I’d just swap breast for thighs and double quantity. Then make bbc flat breads to go with the curry and freeze half the flat breads

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/marry-me-chicken

id swap the creame for cream frache and again double the recipe and freeze half, serve with rice and vegetables

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/satay-sweet-potato-curry Id add chickpeas and omit the coconut oil, I’d use olive or vegetable and buy lazy ginger and garlic again freeze half make double

https://www.deliciousmagazine.co.uk/recipes/crunchy-melty-tuna-and-broccoli-pasta-bake/ I omit the crunch, it does freeze well and it’s tuna so cheap, make double and freeze two thirds. I just use regular broccoli as it’s cheaper

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/slow-cooker-chilli-con-carne It’s easy to put on before work and quadruple the ingredients, freeze three quarters for the rest of the month

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/bacon-mushroom-pasta But enough to make four times, the mushroom you can buy frozen and pesto will last in fridge once open.bacon is preserved meat so will last 4 weeks but place in smaller bags and freeze if concerned about being eaten or going off

https://simply-delicious-food.com/creamy-cauliflower-pasta-bake/

puck up 20 jacket potatoes and bake beans and cheese. Tuna and mayo

if you make 4 x as much as you need the first week, you’ll not need to cook the following 2/3 weeks.

stock up on breakfast items and eggs, pancakes at weekends, make bread it’s cheaper, make brioche. Slice and freeze - this prevents wastage

We do
Soup one night (with bread)
On toast one night (beans and cheese or eggs and cheese
Jacket spuds one night (tuna, bean bolognese, chilli) with hm coleslaw and salad
Roast chicken once a week, with roast potatoes and veg which leaves leftovers for either
Chicken curry with rice or chicken pasta
Pasta bake with sausage and lots of veg
Quiche with chips/salad.

Breakfasts of toast, fruit, yoghurt.
Lunches of sandwiches (toasties at home), wraps, cold hm pizza slices, soup and toast.
Snacks of toast and marmite, slices of cheese, ham and cucumber, digestive biscuits with butter and /or cheese.