Cheap meal ideas!!!

[Siyren]

Money is rather tight- so I need as cheap as possible ideas- basically anything that doesn't involve beans or eggs as my oh is fussy x

 

[Blah11]

Im setting a 40£ max budget starting next week and sticking to it!

 

[Pirate]

Shepherds Pie-combine ground beef (cooked) with vegetables (any will do), mix with gravy and seasonings to taste, top with mashed potatoes, cover and bake until everything is warm. You can also add rice to make the meat to farther (pre cook the rice)

Meatloaf-mix bread crumbs in with the ground beef/turkey to make it go farther. You can also cook mini meatloafs in a muffin pan. They freeze well for later.

Lasagna-substitute the ricotta with cottage cheese to save money. Lasagna isn't necessarily cheap, but it is hearty and there are always leftovers. Leftovers also freeze well for later.

Salsa Chicken (or beef or pork)-throw a chicken breast or two in a slow cooker with a jar of salsa, cook until chicken is done, shred with a fork, add in a can of chicken broth (I recommend low sodium) and a cup of rice, cook until rice is tender, and serve in tortilla shells.

Chicken (or beef) and noodles-leftovers also freeze reasonably well.

Spaghetti or chicken Parmesan

Basically any casserole is cost effective because they require less meat. Good luck! I really do feel your pain!

 

[Blah11]

Oops hit submit too quickly.

Going to get a big joint of meat per week and spread it over a few meals, have atleast 1 meat free meal, 1 freezer meal and 1 cold meal for dinner per week.

Pasta is cheap, homemade soup, sausage casserole, mince n tatties, jacket spuds, corned beef hash, stews, curry with leftover meat, pizza, chicken dippers etc! Basically avoiding chicken and beef too as theyre expensive.

 

[Pirate]

You should also look into batch cooking and freezing. It takes some research and planning but it is totally worth it because all of your food is pre made and your grocery cost goes way down. I did main dishes with enough leftovers for lunch the next day for both DH and I for two months for $140.

 

[Vickie]

I have also found that here at least if you go early in the morning to grocery stores they will have their meats discounted (usually a few days away from expiring). Since we freeze all our meat anyways until use if I can find it on sale I will buy it and freeze it sometimes you can find some really good deals that way

 

[Melissa93]

pasta bake and I get this fish in butter sauce pack of 4 birds eye i think they in plastic bag u stick in water and boil for 20 mins, do that with rice, price varies I get it from heron food for £1.35 but in tesco its £4 for the same thing x

 

[xprincessx]

cheese and potato pie!!

Mashed potato mixed with lots of cheese!! easy peasy and delicious

 

[lindseymw]

Puff pastry pizza. I get the frozen pastry from Heron for about 60p.

Pasta Bake
Corned beef & potato pie

Batch cooking. If I make shepherds pie or lasagne, something like that I make a load and freeze parts. Usually have 3/4 portions left over (large adult portions too).

 

[summer rain]

Mince stew and dumplings, in fact dumplings with anything, I use the vegetable suet and basics self raising flour to make the dumplings and dried soya mince. I made it last night and it cost around £2.40 total (an overestimation) for 6 large portions. I have found a foolproof way to make gorgeous dumplings and it is really easy. Just get a teacup or small mug and fill it about 2/3 full with suet and put it a bowl add a full cup from the same cup of the flour, then add salt, pepper, and whatever else you want-grated cheese and herbs are good to the dry ingredients, mix well. Then add quite a bit of cold water; you want it to be slightly too wet to handle but not completely liquid, mix well with a wooden or metal spoon and then drop by large spoonfuls into the stew or casserole when it is almost fully cooked. If cooking the stew/casserole in the oven then just cook until they are slightly browned and if cooking on the hob simmer for about 20 minutes then at the end put the pan under the grill (make sure its a pan suitable for this purpose) and the dumplings will turn out gorgeous and fluffy without being too soggy or too hard xx

 

[Louise88]

I've been living on cheap meals for the last month,

Pasta bake- you can buy the sauce in jars for £1 and you just sprinkle cheese on top to melt, you can also add things to it like chopped sausage or some veg.

Macaroni cheese again you can add broccoli or peas etc.

Lasagne

Cottage pie, if you find mince to be to expensive then use Quorn we've found it to be half the price of real mince and i can't taste the difference

Sausage and mash

fish, chips and peas

Spaghetti Bolognese or make a penne Bolognese

Curry with rice or chips again there's usually deals on jars of curry sauce and turkey breast is cheaper then chicken so you can use this as an alternative to save money.

Xx

 

[happymummax]

If you know anyone with an allotment it's always worth asking if they've got anything going spare (my dad gets loads from friends allotments) or offering a bit of cash, that will help cut costs.

Moneys tight for me too, me my lo & some days my oh usually have:

Chicken thigh casserole (thighs cheaper than breast)
Sheppards pie
Spaghetti bologanaise
Fish pie (I use adds fish mongers they usually have good offers)
Turkey curry
Jacket potatoe with left overs
Saussage casserole

When I make bologanaise or lasagne I use smart price/basics pasata it's about 40p a carton. I also try and use as much of the smart price/basics stuff as I can.
Also I get my meat from the butchers, I find it a lot cheaper than from the supermarket as its better quality and not full of water, and I can buy the exact amount I need so nothing gets wasted xx

 

[dgirllamius]

I make a tomato cheese pasta thingy with bockwurst.

Get some pasata, tomato puree, some bockwurst (or frankfurters same thing), mozzarella ball, penne pasta, basil and oregano.

Cut up the bockwurst and put them into a saucepan, then add the pasata. Add a bit of tomato puree to make the sauce a bit thicker. Add in the basil and oregano and just let it warm up on a low heat (I use 3 and then put it down to 2 when nearly done). cook pasta. cut up mozzarella and put into a bowl. Add pasta to bowl followed by the tomoato and bockwurst sauce. Mix it up and serve with garlic bread. It's really nice.

 

[vaniilla]

I'm not sure if anyone has already recommended it but the resourceful cook has meal plans and ideas for tight budgets. https://resourcefulcook.com/

 

[missbabypo]

We use quorn instead of real mince because I hate the smell of mince cooking. We also save money by buying sliced frozen peppers and frozen diced onions. You get more for your money and less waste if you decide to have your meal on a different day x

 

[pinkpolkadot]

Cheese and ham/bacon pasta (soft cheese, grated cheese, water, garlic powder, oregano, basil, ham/bacon)

Pasta meatballs/bacon/sausage (tin chopped toms, tom puree, garlic, oregano, basil, soy sauce, chilli flakes (optional), meatballs/bacon/sausage)

These are fast too, I am very impatient!!

 

[sequeena]

I've been making a lot of cottage pie lately. I use 2 cloves of garlic, 1 large onion (frozen I can't be arsed with chopping), 450g minced beef, 300ml stock (I use OXO), 2 table spoons tomato puree, tea spoon mixed herbs, 1 tin chopped tomatoes, lots of Worcestershire sauce and frozen mixed veg. 2 big baked potatoes boiled and mashed with milk and butter. Bit of grated cheese on top and put it in the oven until the cheese has melted and gone golden brown

 

[sequeena]

We use quorn instead of real mince because I hate the smell of mince cooking. We also save money by buying sliced frozen peppers and frozen diced onions. You get more for your money and less waste if you decide to have your meal on a different day x

We do the same with veg too. I love the dorot frozen garlic

 

[Midnight_Fairy]

Sausage jambalaya

 

[sequeena]

Yesterday I fried frozen diced onions with frozen garlic (dorot 20 cubes crushed garlic is 50p in Tesco), put diced chicken in (also frozen) then added a few spoonfuls of garlic and herb soft cheese, put frozen slices peppers in right at the end then mixed it with spaghetti