Root Vegetable Layer Bake
Serves: 4 | Cost per person: 79p | Total cost:£4.74
Priced at Tesco
- Baking potatoes 75p
- 2x Woodside Farms pork sausages £2
This root vegetable layer bake uses dried herbs to keep it under budget. Rather than 24 chipolata sausages , weve gone for regular sausages and allowed for 3 per person.
If you want to make it vegetarian, skip the sausages and top with cheese instead such as British Mature Cheddar Cheese, £1.65 for 220g. Making this dish vegetarian will also cut the cost per person.
Get the recipe:Root vegetable layer bake
Spicy Mixed Bean Tortillas
Serves: 4 | Cost per person: 87p | Total cost:£3.48
Priced at Aldi
- 1x Everyday Essentials kidney beans, 28p
- 1x Four Seasons Mildly Spiced Taco Mixed Beans, 59p
- Emporium Cheese Slices, 75p
This meal makes a really nice change from soups, pasta, and potato dishes. Its really easy to make and its ready in only 35 minutes. You might even find some of the ingredients – such as kidney beans for instance – are things you already have lurking in your cupboards.
Get the recipe:Spicy Mixed Bean Tortillas
Mango And Tomato Curry
Serves: 4 | Cost per person: 89p | Total cost:£3.56
Priced at Sainsburys
- Sainsbury’s White Rice , 40p
This recipe swaps meat for mango instead making it cheaper than classic curry. The mango is not only cheaper but adds a real depth of sweetness to this dish. You do need a few spices to follow this recipe exactly – mustard seeds and curry leaves, for instance.
Dont worry too much if you dont have them though. We left out the mustard seeds and swapped the fresh curry leaves for some lime zest from fresh lime because it is a good substitute. You can also add a squeeze of lime juice at the end to give it a fresh little twist.
Get the recipe:Mango and tomato curry
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Sweet & Sour Lentil Dhal With Grilled Aubergine
Spice up supper with this superhealthy recipe that’s high in fibre, packed with iron and counts as 4 of your 5-a-day – it’s cheap too!
Everyone needs a trusty tomato soup recipe – and this one costs less than a pound per serving
A quick, low-fat idea for a midweek supper – good if you’re on a budget.
Courgette Bacon And Chilli Pasta Bake
Serves: 4 | Cost per person: 99p | Total cost:£3.96
Priced at Sainsburys
- Hubbards Foodstore Pasta Shapes , 58p
- Fresh cut basil 47p
The smoked bacon, garlic, and basil infuse this pasta dish with plenty of flavour. Rather than topping with cheddar, which can be very expensive, weve used a ball of mozzarella. Cut it into chunks and lay it over the top of the pasta when you pop it in the oven for a lovely, creamy cheese finish. We also swapped the fresh chillies for dried ones from the store cupboard, which give just the same spicy kick.
Get the recipe:Courgette, bacon and chilli pasta bake
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For Seasoned Cooks And Kitchen Novices Cookbook Author And Nutritionist Robin Miller Takes It Back To Basics With Great Family
Fork-tender beef, aromatic vegetables and an herb-scented, wine-infused broth make this the ultimate beef stew. Hearty bowls of buttery beef and warm vegetables can be enjoyed whether youre swaddled in your comfy pants or bedecked in your finest attire and the beauty of this stew lies in the fact that its easy to make and the low, slow cooking time is a great excuse to cozy up in the house.
There’s also no need to hunt down obscure ingredients or buy fancy cookware. Your sturdiest pot will do. You dont even need a well-stocked spice rack. Which is why this is such a time-honored, one-pot winter meal.
However, because it’s so simple, I have a few suggestions to ensure you get a great result every time.
Culinary fairy godmother Ina Garten wrote a cookbook for real life:‘We’re all kind of exhausted’
Chicken Leek And Lemon Pie
Assemble a pie crust and bake the lower portion for 10 min, or until firm. In a skillet, sautee onions, thinly-sliced leeks , and sliced chicken until the chicken is cooked through and the leeks soften. Add a tiny bit of chicken stock, the juice and rind of 1 small lemon, and a generous handful of peas. Mix well, and add a tablespoon or so of heavy cream. Pour that mixture into the pie shell, top with the other crust, and bake until golden-brown.
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Italian Chicken Roasted Potatoes Green Beans
Chicken: $1.69/lb Cut into small tenders, marinate in Zesty Italian dressing, and grill in a skillet.
Roasted Potatoes: $.25 each x 2 Cut into bite sized pieces, and roast in skillet with olive oil and seasoning.
Can of Green Beans: $.49
2 servings
$1.39 per serving
Easy alternatives: Change up your marinade for different meals. You could try BBQ sauce, Honey Mustard dressing, or a teriyaki sauce for different flavors.
Ground Beef: $2.69/lb Brown beef and add taco seasoning packet or homemade taco seasoning.
Shredded Cheese: $.25 per serving
Tortillas: $.15 each
$1.89 per serving
Roast Sweet Potato Soup
Serves: 4 | Cost per person: 52p | Total cost:£2.10
Priced at Asda
- Asda Farm Stores Cooking Bacon , 75p
Sweet potato makes a delicious, velvety soup that is a welcome treat at lunchtime or as an evening meal. You could double the batch of this by simply buying one more onion .
Freeze any portions you do not intend to eat in the next three days and the spend per portion drops to an incredible 28p per portion. You can add also a crusty baguette for dipping for another 80p.
Get the recipe:Roast sweet potato soup
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Courgette And Lemon Pasta
Serves: 4 | Cost per person: 84p | Total cost:£3.37
Ingredients:
- Ricotta cheese, £1
A quick, light pasta, perfect for summer evenings. This original recipe serves two, so weve doubled all the quantities except the lemon. One will be sufficient, but two would be too lemony for the dish. Theres enough room in the budget to buy two Smart Price garlic bread baguettes bringing the total spend to £1 per person.
Get the recipe:Courgette and lemon pasta
Squash And Pepper Risotto
Serves: 4 | Cost per person: 87p | Total cost:£3.92
Priced at Sainsburys
- 1 red pepper, 42p
- Sainsbury’s dried grated hard cheese, £1.05
This is lovely comfort food, especially towards the end of summer and into Autumn when butternut squashes come into season. If you want to cut the cost further on this dish, opt for extra spring or mature cheese. That way you won’t need to use too much of it to get the flavour – and then they’ll be plenty left over for next time. It’s also a low-calorie option too as too much cheese ups the fat and calorie count.
Get the recipe: Squash and pepper risotto
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Beetroot Risotto With Horseradish
Serves: 4 | Cost per person: 95p | Total cost:£3.80
Priced at Sainsburys
- Sainsburys Cooked Beetroot vacuum pack 80p
- Everyday Value horseradish sauce 70p
- Gs Little Leaves wild rocket 85p
This colourful, tasty beetroot risotto is packed with flavour. You may be able to save more by buying raw beetroot and cooking it yourself – check the price as it varies a lot depending on whether its in season or not. Otherwise, the cooked version is quicker and easier as you dont have to peel it yourself .
Get the recipe:Beetroot risotto
Easy Cheesy Baked Tortellini Casserole With Meat Sauce
Not only is this an inexpensive dinner idea, but it is also effortless and perfect for those nights you dont want to bother with a complicated dinner.Chances are you already have most of these ingredients at home, so you dont need to venture out to the store.With five basic ingredients, you will have a delicious dinner that both your stomach and wallet will appreciate.Pasta, cheese, and meat sauce combined are always a winning combination!
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Pasta Potato And Bacon Salad
Serves: 4 | Cost per person:£1 | Total cost:£4.02
Priced at Asda
- Farm Stores cooking bacon 75p
- Smart Price pasta shapes, 32p
This flavour-packed meal serves four and makes a lovely lunchtime meal, especially if its warm enough to eat outside. The soft new potatoes, salty bacon, sour cream, and spring onions pack this dish full of flavour. Toss in the pasta shapes and serve.
Pasta, potato and bacon salad is also a great BBQ side dish – ideal if you’re throwing a cheap BBQ . If you want to cut the cost of this meal further, leave the pasta out of the recipe or leave the potato out and choose a potato salad or pasta salad instead.
Get the recipe:Pasta, potato and bacon salad
- Spring greens £1.30
- British eggs 85p
You can make this delicious bacon squeak frittata from leftovers. The original recipe calls for just one potato, carrot, and parsnip, but weve used two of each to make sure no one goes hungry. Add a good splash of milk to the eggs as well, to make them go further.
The great thing about this frittata is that it’s made mostly with vegetables – which are cheap compared to meat. The bacon adds a saltiness to the recipe so there’s no need for extra seasoning.
Get the recipe: Bacon squeak frittata
Cheesy Tater Tot Casserole
The crunchy tater tots on top of this cheesy ground beef casserole makes for one of the best dinners youll ever eat! Plus, its really cheap to make with ground beef, canned veggies , canned soup, and cheese.
INSTRUCTIONS
Cheesy Tater Tot Casserole
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$2 Per Person Meal Ideas
These prices are mostly from shopping at Aldi and finding sales on meat and other items.
If you dont have an Aldi, look for a discount grocery store near you, markdowns on meat and produce, and for great sales to stock up on deals.
$2 Meal Ideas:
So, what is the cheapest meal you can make, while also eating a well balanced meal?
All these meals are under $2 a serving, and several under $1 per serving! And they will get your family fed and satisfied. These meals have just a few ingredients so you can get dinner made quickly and affordably.
Cheap Veggie Pasta Recipes
Pasta is an excellent budget ingredient for any meal, it can be mixed with low cost seasonal vegetables, beans and lentils cheap meats. Tocreate dishes with extra flavour when using pasta, you may have to add extra slightlymore expensive ingredients, but use these sparingly and you can get anamazingly cheap meal
Greek broad bean and pasta salad
Pasta salad with tomato, olive, broad beans, and feta mixedwith warm pasta, coated in a fresh rosemary and garlic dressing. This deliciouspasta is full of flavour by adding a touch of feta and olives, but the bulk ofthe dish is pasta and broad beans which are very filling and relatively cheap. Servewith garlic bread
Pasta with courgette sauce and spinach balls
Pasta coated in a courgette, garlic, and chillisauce, served with Carluccio’s spinach and parmesan balls flavoured with garlicand nutmeg. This recipe is ideal for the budget conscious the main ingredientsare pasta and courgettes, the dish is given extra flavour with the garlic and chilli.The spinach balls really add an extra texture and taste to the dish, so werecommend them if the budget allows as they are delicious
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Macaroni Cheese With Peas
Serves: 4 | Cost per person: 95p | Total cost:£3.79
Priced at Sainsburys
- Everyday Value pasta penne quills , 58p
- The Greengrocer garden peas , 52p
- J James cooking bacon , 75p
- Sainsbury’s Mary Ann Dairy Mild Cheddar Slices 200g, 99p
- British Creme Fraiche, 95p
This is such a great classic family meal, made even tastier with bacon and even healthier with peas. Faith says: Adding the bacon and peas to macaroni cheese lifts it from a side dish into a main meal, and this recipe is easy to scale up if you have loads of kids to feed.
Using cooking bacon keeps the costs down. You end up with the same great taste, its just that rather than paying extra for neatly packaged rashers you get a mix of streaky and back bacon, some chunks and some slices, some with rind and some not.
Get the recipe:Macaroni cheese with peas
Tuna And Brown Rice Salad
Serves: 4 | Cost per person: 98p | Total cost:£3.95
Priced at Asda
- Smart Price red kidney beans, 33p
- 1 tin sweetcorn, 40p
- 2 tins Smart Price Tuna in brine, 59p
This tuna and brown rice salad is not only cheap to make but nutritional too. The original recipe serves one so weve doubled the amount of onion and tuna, and quadrupled everything else to make it serve four in total. This is a great choice for those warmer summer evenings when you’re looking for something filling but not too heavy.
Leftovers can easily be stored in the fridge and eaten the next day for lunch. If you want to cut the cost of this dish further, leave the salsa dip and enjoy a plain tuna and brown rice salad instead.
Get the recipe:Tuna and brown rice salad
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Cheap Dinner Ideas That Do The Most With The Least
Looking for some cheap dinner ideas? Sure, we all areand we wholeheartedly believe that you can cook well while spending less. Whether youre saving money for rent, future travel plans, or because the cost of everything is just too damn high, you can still make a delicious dinner. It just takes some clever techniques and inexpensive pantry staples such as rice, pasta, beans, frozen produce, and chicken thighs. Turn your stash into spicy one-pot kimchi and squash mac and cheese, the ultimate comfort food creamy, lemony tortellini soup store-bought udon noodles bathing in buttery tomato broth or turmeric-infused red lentils and spinach with rice. Here are 71 ways to prove that your cheap meals can also be your best meals.
Garlic Toast Mini Pizzas
Are you looking for last minute dinner ideas? These mini pizzas are super fun and easy to make with just 3 ingredients plus the toppings of your choice. How can you go wrong with a crispy garlic toast crust topped with sauce and melted cheese? Yum!
INSTRUCTIONS
Garlic Toast Pizzas
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Easy Budget Meals For Two
For many people, cooking a well-balanced range of meals from scratch often feels unachievable, with the pressure of busy schedules and rising food costs. But with a bit of forward planning and clever use of ingredients, we believe its possible to make a range of low-cost, nourishing meals to enjoy every night of the week.
For a budget of only £35, weve put together a seven-day menu of satisfying and scrumptious suppers or lunches to serve two people. You might even have some leftovers!
We’ve provided a handy shopping list to get you started, based on prices from a range of supermarkets. Please note the £35 total does not include a few storecupboard and fridge ingredients, which are listed below.
Can You Cook Anything For Under $10
You dont have to worry about breaking the bank to make these cheap dinners because most of them will cost you below $10.
Most of the ingredients are probably things youve had lying around the pantry for months anyway.
Instead of needing to head to the grocery store every time you want to make a great meal, these recipes will make easy cheap dinner ideas without needing to leave home.
So sit back and take some notes on the best cheap dinner meals for you and your family.
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Split Pea Soup With Sausage
This pea soup is cheap and easy to makeit just takes time to simmer, so be sure to start it early. Onion, carrot, garlic, and celery are sauteed in oil until soft, not browned. Add in your split peas and toss them around with the other ingredients, then add your stock and let simmer for an hour or so until its a delicious, sludgy consistency. You may have to add more stock as the peas can thicken things up a lot. You can either cut the sausage into 1/2-inch slices and drop them into the pot to cook in the soup, or you can fry the slices separately and add them to each dish before serving.