Affordable family lunches: Your best canned food tips!

[EllieSmumsnet]

Summer holidays can stretch the family budget, but we’ve got a potential solution! Partnering with Love Canned Food, an initiative that celebrates everything canned food, as canned food is not only tasty, but also great value for money. It’s also high in quality, convenient to use and helps cut food waste. We're looking for your best tips and tricks for creating the perfect family lunch using canned food. Canned foods can be a great way to cut costs by up to a third, and they offer versatility and convenience.

• Share your tricks for creating the perfect family lunch using canned food in the thread below to be entered into a prize draw
• One lucky MNer will win a £200 voucher for a store of their choice. You can find out more about the VEX gift card and retailers here.
• Don’t forget to vote in our poll below.

Here’s what Love Canned Food has to say:
"Switching to canned food can save families up to 31% on their food bills while still enjoying great-tasting, home-cooked meals, during the school holidays . We aim to show families how easy and tasty canned food can be, while saving up to £160 too over the summer break*."

Share your family’s favourite budget busting meal ideas using canned foods.. One lucky winner will win a handy canned food hamper, plus a £200 voucher for a store of their choice! Let’s make summer lunches easy, affordable, and fun. Ready, set, cook! 🌟🍴

For more inspiration and recipes, check out Love Canned Food here.

Thanks and good luck with the prize draw!
MNHQ
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Baked beans!
On toast, a jacket, or even as a pasta sauce with cheese.

I've found that cannellini beans and chickpeas make great fillers / bases for salads. Then you don't need as much fresh salad ingredients and it's still super filling if you make a nice dressing to mix through it!

DS used to love a tin of mixed bean salad, with some pesto, chopped tomato and black olives stirred though. Really lovely with some toasted pita bread. It was a handy lunchbox alternative to sandwiches too.

Tuna Melts are a family favourite. So much so that, in the school holidays, I keep a tub of the tuna mix ready to go in the fridge for quick lunches. The mix also tops potato wedges to be scattered with cheese and baked for an easy supper dish.

Keeping a good stock of tins is a great way to reduce the "what can we have for dinner?" panic when plans change, too - we live a good distance from the nearest shop, so a few tins of different pulses will make a simple bean chilli to provide a filling dinner when time is short 😋

We make lots of hummus for snacks.
It's so easy to whizz up some canned chick peas, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, seasoning and water. We don't always add tahini and dip pitta bread into it as well as carrot and cucumber sticks.

Tuna Mayo for sandwiches or baked potatoes.

Any canned beans in a salad

My dc love canned sardines and will eat them with rice or potatoes.

This is an interesting one!

So, I love a fruit salad and absolutely love pineapple rings (always have - maybe somewhat nostalgic). My cupboards are stacked with tinned fruit as it lasts much longer then fresh fruit, and getting DC to eat her five a day can be somewhat strenuous, so perfect for lunch.

Tinned fruit is fab. I always have peaches in, to serve with ice cream or Greek yogurt. I made a peach crumble recently, was very nice.

Pineapple rings has reminded me of that wonderful creation...
Hawaiian Toast!
Slice of bread, slice of ham, pineapple ring, topped with a slice of cheese...toasted till the cheese bubbles.
Use a cheese that melts well, maybe Gouda. For the finishing touch add a maraschino cherry if available.
The Perfect Lunch!

I always used canned veg to bulk out bolognese, curries, stews and pasta. I always get leftovers too and use that for jacket potatoes the next day

Chickpeas and orzo ! makes a great base to a soup or bolognaise for small mouths, added to vegetables and a tomato sauce a great lunch.

I love the idea of a fruit crumble with store-cupboard ingredients - flour and butter and oats for the crumble - over tinned peaches/pears/apples

Canned food is a lifesaver for family lunches! I love whipping up a bean salad with canned chickpeas, kidney beans, and sweetcorn. I just toss them with some chopped veggies, a bit of feta, and a quick vinaigrette. It’s super easy, healthy, and my family always enjoys it.

Tuna, canned fruits in juice and baked beans (Branston)

Tinned pears with evaporated milk is a favourite in our house as is tinned peaches to make crumble with.

Tuna pasta bake and add in a load of sweetcorn to stretch it a bit further.

Tinned tuna mixed with chopped onion, added to tinned beans - either mixed beans, kidney beans, etc. with added side salad. Makes a healthy, quick lunch from stuff already in the kitchen.

Tuna and sweetcorn - the prefect sandwich and tuna filling - and add to a pasta bake in winter.
Agree with the tinned new potatoes in the airfryer - use this idea too.

But a canned mixed bean salad and a tin of tuna... Drain both well and mix together. A nutritious and easy lunch!

Thanks to everyone who took part in this discussion - some great recipe ideas and tips!

The lucky winner for the prize draw is @ohdannyboy