LIFE

35 meals under £5

Last modified on Thursday 13 October 2022

Feed your family for under a fiver with these delicious, family-friendly recipes.

It can be tough feeding the whole family with tasty and interesting meals when you're on a budget, but luckily for you, we've got loads of recipe ideas for hearty, kid-friendly dishes that'll feed you all for less than a fiver.

In fact, some of our meals cost as little as a pound or less per person, saving you extra cash but keeping those little tummies full.

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Making a weekly meal plan can help to save money, too and help you shop more wisely. So why not invest in a meal planning whiteboard so you can plan meals and your shopping list every week. See more details here at Amazon.

You can tuck into dishes like leek and lamb cobbler, courgette risotto, salmon pasta or sausage and sweet potato casserole – and we've got plenty of other yummy ideas where they came from!

Meal planning and cooking at home is a great way to help you stick to a budget. It reduces the chance of impulse buys and makes the most of the ingredients you already have in the cupboards.

What's more, it can help you to make better food choices and feel fuller for longer, instead of binging on takeaway food, ready meals and snacks.

Check out our month-long budget meal plan for more ideas of cheap and easy meals you can cook at home, featuring plenty of ingredients you'd likely have in your cupboard already, making some of these dishes effectively free to make.

Don't forget to make large portions where possible so you can save them for leftovers or freeze the rest. That way, when plans change, you've got a meal ready to defrost.

Handy tips for making meals under £5

Stock up on healthy extras for lunches, snacks or treats

Great options include fromage frais, yoghurt pots, salad or vegetable sticks, fruit (fresh, tinned or dried), tinned rice pudding, jelly, nuts or crackers. Check out our snack recipes for more ideas.

Look for special offers on breads

Freeze bread on the day of purchase and only take out what you need to defrost each day.

Homemade puddings and treats

Make a double batch and freeze half for another time. Check out our dessert recipes for ideas.

Batch cook

Make big one-pot meals like chillilasagnespaghetti bolognese or a stew, then freeze some and defrost whenever you haven't the time to cook. A slow cooker is a great way to do this.

Go meat-free a few times a week

Going veggie a few times a week is good for your health, your wallet and the environment.

Sneak in veggies in clever ways

It’s can be tricky getting the kids to eat certain foods like vegetables and fibre-rich grains, but our recipes use clever ways of incorporating them.

Make cheap healthy swaps

You can still keep the family healthy when you're on a budget. Just make simple swaps like semi-skimmed milk instead of whole milk, wholegrain bread instead of white, brown pasta and rice instead of white and so on.

Buy a couple of big bags of frozen veg for the week too, instead of fresh which may go off quickly. You can always bulk out dinner with vegetables if you haven't got much meat.

Make sure you have some handy cupboard essentials

The meals work on the assumption that you have already got some of the basic ingredients such as vegetable/olive oil, stock cubes, mayonnaise/salad dressing, sauce, spreads, mixed herbs, chilli powder etc.

Use spare cash for staple cooking ingredients

If you have any spare money at the end of the week, use it to stock up on staple cooking ingredients such as flour and tinned tomatoes, or buy bigger bags of rice and pasta that will last for a couple of weeks.

Choose food on special offer

You can cut the cost of your shopping further if you choose foods on special offer, cheaper cuts of meat and use dried pulses instead of tinned. Many supermarkets add great offers in the late afternoons and evenings, so try shopping later in the day to nab a bargain!

Have you got some great tips for making meals that cost less than a fiver? Let us know over on our forum below:

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