At the moment most of us are looking for ways to save money, and food is often one of our biggest expenses. These cheap family meals can help you to feed your family well, without breaking the bank.
Easy healthy dinners are always good, especially midweek when you haven’t got much time or during the school holidays.
But at the moment most of us are also having to look for cheap dinners and cheap easy healthy meals on a budget can be much harder to find.
I know that we’ve definitely started to make some changes. We’re not having large meals like Sunday roasts as often, and when we do it’s far more likely to be chicken or pork than lamb or beef.
Fortunately, some of my family’s favourite meals are also budget-friendly. In this post, I’ve tried to include the meals that my kids love, and that avoid expensive ingredients like lamb, beef, and chorizo, or I’ve given you some cheaper alternatives and ingredient swaps.
What are the Best Cheap Family Meals?
The best budget-friendly family meals are the ones that use ingredients that you’ve already got, or things that you can get cheaply.
This is different for all of us, and will also depend on your tastes, dietary needs, and preferences.
But some staples that are great to have in, that can be part of many different cheap meals for the family include:
Pasta – Skip the fancy kinds and opt for supermarket value range penne. It does the job!
Tinned Tomatoes – Again, go for basic, even blending tinned plum tomatoes if they’re cheaper than chopped. This absolute staple is the base for many a pasta sauce.
Frozen Chicken Breasts – Chicken breasts are healthy, filling, and cheaper than other meat. Most supermarkets do a value 1kg bag of frozen breasts that can be used in loads of recipes. If you are buying fresh chicken, I find thighs are often cheaper than breasts, and you can get them without the bones if you prefer.
Rice – Filling, cheap, and you can use normal rice for risotto if you need to.
Tinned Beans – These are great in a five-bean chilli, but you can also add extra beans to meaty dishes like cottage pie, to make them go much further.
Eggs
Potatoes – Potatoes can bulk out stews and casseroles, they are a cheap side dish, and a baked potato makes a great easy meal.
Frozen Veg – Frozen veg is cheaper than fresh, it lasts longer, it can be more nutritious, and you can use it in place of fresh in any recipe. Tinned is also a cheap alternative.
Frozen Fruit – Frozen and tinned fruit also makes a great alternative to fresh and can also be used in baking.
Tinned Fish – Tinned fish like tuna is great for a tuna pasta bake, to top salads and to eat with tinned potatoes and veg for an easy cheap family dinner.
Frozen Fish – I often buy frozen cod fillets which are great in a hash or with frozen chips and peas.
How Can You Make Your Favourite Family Dinners Cheaper?
Often the best way to make your existing favourite family dinners cheaper is to simply skip or swap out the most expensive ingredients.
We love chicken and chorizo risotto. Frozen chicken and veg are cheap enough, so we just switch from risotto rice to cheap white rice and skip the chorizo.
Turning your leftovers into your favourite dinner, like using leftover lamb to make shepherd’s pie is another great idea.
Another option is making your favourites go further so they are better for money. Do this by serving with cheap sides, like bread and butter and a portion of frozen veg, and by adding things like frozen veg, tinned beans, potatoes, or lentils to the recipe.
What do Cheap Family Dinners Need?
Of course, nutrition is important, and by using things like frozen veg and fruit, high-fibre beans and chicken, you can create a nutritious meal and healthy snacks without spending too much.
But the taste is also important, especially when you are feeding kids. There’s no point in cooking a cheap family meal that’s super healthy if no one enjoys it.
So, for me, what cheap family dinners need is balance. There’s nothing wrong with baked potatoes with beans and cheese or chicken nuggets, chips and frozen peas occasionally, as long as there are lots of fibre, vitamins and healthy fats in your weekly diet.
Tips for Feeding a Family on a Budget
There are countless tips out there for feeding your family on a budget, so I’m sorry if I’m repeating them. I’m also sorry if you are already doing them all. I was a single mum with no money that ate cereal for dinner. I know it can be tough.
Freeze Extras
I save everything! If I’ve got lots of leftovers, I’ll make another meal, but even little bits can be used in something else. Avoiding food waste by freezing extra bits or by popping them in the fridge for the next day is a great way to save money.
Batch Cook
Batch cooking can be (not always!) cheaper than cooking two meals. Freeze leftover portions for another day.
Bulk Things Out
Bulking things out with beans or grains, or extra vegetables is a great way to make a meal that would usually serve 4, serve 8, giving you chance to freeze half.
Go Meat-Free One Night
Meat and other dairy products can be the most expensive things in your shopping basket. So, try to reduce where you can. A five-bean chilli for example is much cheaper than a chilli con carnie. Going vegetarian or vegan once a week – or more – is a fab way to find some new cheap family meals.
Make the Most of Leftovers
A big joint of meat for Sunday lunch can be expensive. But if you can use the leftovers to make a curry or another filling family meal, it can still be worth it. I love recipes that use leftover meat and have a huge collection.
Buy Frozen and Tinned
Frozen and tinned fruit and veg are much cheaper than fresh, and you don’t need to worry about them going bad and wasting your money.
Add sides
Adding sides, like frozen veg, tinned potatoes or even bread and butter is a great way to stretch meals.
Try New Things
For example, tofu is much cheaper than meat and can be used as a substitute in your favourite meals really easily.
Meal Plan
Meal planning, for every meal, and even snacks is one of the most effective ways to reduce your food bill.
Always Check Your Cupboards
Before writing a shopping list, check your cupboards, this helps you to reduce waste and make the most of what you’ve got, as well as cut bills.
Buy in Bulk
Buying in bulk isn’t always cheaper and might not always be possible if you are on a very tight budget, but if you can buy long-life products like rice and pasta in bulk, you can save a lot in the long run.
Shop in Season
In-season produce from a market is much cheaper than buying out-of-season things that have been flown halfway around the world. It’s also much better for the environment.
Cook from Scratch – Sometimes
Cooking from scratch can be a great way to save money. But not always. There’s nothing wrong with buying a jar of cheap pasta sauce occasionally. You can still add extra veg to bulk it out and to add some nutrition.
A Meal Plan Example – Cheap Meals for a Week for a Family
Meal planning is one of the best ways to save money and time and reduce waste. Here are some ideas for family meals on a budget that we’d typically have on a meal plan if we were looking to save money.
Sunday – Roast Chicken
I do like a roast. We don’t have them every week, but roast chicken with potatoes and a few vegetables isn’t a particularly expensive meal, and it’s super filling and healthy. Use store-own gravy, and buy in-season or on-offer veg.
Monday – Leftover Chicken Fried Rice
If you can afford it, buying a bigger chicken so that you’ve got plenty of leftovers, is cheaper than buying a smaller chicken and then meat for another day.
Leftover chicken fried rice (swap from turkey in this post) is a lovely filling meal, and things like soy sauce can be bought cheaply, and add flavour to many cheap meals.
Tuesday – Chow Mein
I love a pork chow mein, made with cheap pork chops, sliced into thin strips. You can also skip the meat altogether and add extra red pepper, onion and some frozen broccoli.
Wednesday – Baked Potatoes
The kids generally have a big lunch at school on Wednesdays and Robyn sometimes goes to her nans her tea. So it’s a great chance for a super cheap baked potato dinner. Filling, crazily comforting, and a brilliant midweek meal on a budget.
Thursday – Pasta Bake
When it comes to cheap dinner ideas for a family not much beats pasta bake. I love my chicken and chorizo pasta bake recipe. To cut costs, swap the chorizo for bacon, or skip entirely, just top with cheddar and use a store-own soft cheese.
Friday – Cottage Pie
Cottage pie is a tasty and cheap meal. Mince is fairly cheap, but reduced costs further by using half mince, half lentils.
Saturday – Leftovers
If we’re looking to save money, we’ll have one night a week for leftovers. For this example, it would be either leftover cottage pie or pasta bake with bread and butter. Or two of us might have one and two the other.
My Favourite Budget Meals for Families
These are some of my favourite family meal ideas on a budget, and a few tips on how to make specific recipes cheaper, or ways to make them last longer.
Peri-Peri Chicken Wraps
Peri-peri chicken wraps with frozen chips are a lovely cheap dinner. I find that mini chicken breast fillets are often cheaper than full breasts, and ideal for this recipe.
Sweet Chilli Chicken Traybake
Chicken traybakes are always great quick family meals on a budget but using chicken thighs instead of breasts can help you to cut costs even more. A lemon and herb traybake is another great option.
Leftover Chicken Pasta
Leftover chicken pasta with frozen peas, and bacon if you have it is an amazing budget dinner. You could also make this with pre-cooked frozen chicken breasts.
Chicken Pasta Bake
Pasta bakes are always up there in my go-to family meal ideas. They are also very budget-friendly.
Sausage Curry
Sausages and curry both make excellent cheap family meals. So sausage curry is always going to be good!
Fried Rice
You can make fried rice with any leftover meat, or even just lots of veggies.
Five Bean Chilli
Five bean chilli is tasty and nutritious. You can also use it to make vegan burritos or tacos.
Burritos with Sausage
Sausage burritos are a big family favourite, and sausages can be much cheaper than other meat.
Sausage and Bean Traybake
A big sausage and baked bean bake with frozen peas is a great family dinner that’s cheap, quick and easy.
Easy Chicken Curry
Some curry recipes are complicated, and all of the ingredients mean that they are expensive to make if you don’t already have a store cupboard filled with spices. Not this one! This is a super simple curry great for cooking on a budget.
Sausage and Mash Pie
A fun take on classic sausage and mash, all baked together and topped with cheese. Yummy!
Sausage and Sweet Potato Traybake
A sausage and sweet potato traybake is healthy, colourful and cheap to make. Use frozen sausages to save more.
Sausage Pasta Bake
Another pasta bake, but this time with sausages. Serve with bread and butter to make it go further, and add a side of salad or frozen veg.
Sausage Hotpot
Sausages and baked beans are great for filling family meals on a budget. This hotpot is a great alternative to a classic lamb version.
Risotto
Risotto can be expensive, but using leftover or frozen chicken and frozen corn and peas can be a great way to save money.
Sausage Pasta
Sausage pasta is delicious, cheap and easy. Perfect if you are looking for cheap family meals.
Of course, cheap family meals aren’t all you need. Even when we’re on a budget, cheap cake recipes and other good value treats are still important!
