I don’t tend to think of the meals I cook in terms of how much they cost per portion because I often use food that I get reduced or things that I already have in the house but an article I read a while ago shared a few recipes that cost under 50p a portion.
Lots of people were commenting how great it was that you could cook meals so cheaply but I must admit that I did look at some of the ideas and the tiny portion sizes and think that I could do better.
But could I do better – is it really possible to feed a family of 4 on a £2 meal budget and still make sure that what you’re serving is healthy and enjoyable?
Let’s look at some of the regular meals on our meal plan….
For a family meal of this I would use 250g Arborio rice and around 500-600g of mixed veg along with three pints of hot vegetable stock. The above recipe uses slightly less quantities as it’s made to serve 2-3 people (Mr Frugal isn’t a huge fan of the veggies in it). Assuming i pay full price for everything and buy supermarket own brands then the cost for 250g Arborio rice would be around 60p, the mixed veg ( I buy Tesco value because it’s a good mix and everything is already in small pieces so perfect for thinks like this) would be around the same at 60p and the stock cubes (own brand value are just as good as any) would be around 10p. That comes to £1.30 which works out to around 32p a portion.
I generally use around 300g Macaroni for this which would cost around 30p if I’m using value pasta. Then there’s the 800ml of milk which I work out to be around 35p and the 200g cheese (you can use more if you like it cheesier) which would be around £1 if you buy something like Tesco value grated at £2.50 for 500g. The butter and the flour are things I would have in anyway but for the interests of costing the meal out fully I would guess at around 10p for the flour and 25p for the butter. That brings it in at £2 for the four of us which is a great price per serving of 50p. You could even add a bit more cheese for that price 😉
This one is a challenge for me personally to get this recipe to under 50p a portion as I don’t like buying cheap meat. I do completely understand that you buy what you can afford and what your family likes to eat so it’s up to you what sausages you use to make your toad in the hole. 😉 If you were to use Tesco value frozen sausages then your cost for sausages would be considerably less than if you used more expensive sausages. I’m going in the middle here and costing it based on 6 middle of the road sausages which, if you buy frozen, will work out to around 80p. Add around 15p for the flour, 20p for the milk and 40p for the eggs (cheaper if you don’t want free range) and this makes 12 mini toad in the holes for £1.55. I would add a handful of frozen veg each which would being the price up to about £1.80. You could serve it as it is but personally I’d splash out and buy a bag of potatoes to make mash with although that would bring the rice up from 45p a serving to around 70p a serving.
So there’s three meals you can serve your family that cost 50p and under per serving. I’ll share some more next week but in the meantime, what’s your favourite budget meal for the family?
(I can’t for the life of me find this article now but actually, even if I could, I probably wouldn’t link to it because I don’t want it to look like I’m diminishing anyone’s efforts to cook on a budget.)
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Occasionally I roughly calculate how much a home-made meal costs, and while more often than not it's pretty cheap, it's not dirt-cheap. Especially if there's fish or meat (pastured and organic) involved. Of course, a meal of comparable quality and comparable ingredients at a restaurant would cost several times more…
That's really delicious food. Personally I am a big fan of you. I really love to read your story. I have never thought that I can make the Toad in The Hole perfectly. I really very happy. I will make it again. Thank you
Oh my goodness Cass it's like you read my mind! We have all change in the Dove household from next week and I'll need to do all the cooking and on a budget too. These are great ideas, I must have a look to try and plan what we're going to eat each night!
Fantastic ideas – we love macaroni cheese and other pasta. Great budgeting. Kaz x
Some great ideas, I love risotto as a cheap meal, but my husband doesn't like it, so I only make it once in a blue moon. For toad in the hole, I buy more expensive sausages, but use a pack of value batter mix (about 12p) , because you just need one egg and water to make it up, so it's cheaper than making my own as I don't need milk or multiple eggs 🙂
I've never worked out how much our home made meals cost to make. I guess that one of the cheapest must be pasta with tomato sauce – the ingredients for the sauce are tinned tomatoes, garlic, onion and a little olive oil and everybody loves it!
I had never thought about this at all, not that I do any of the cooking, but it certainly does make you think!
I'm like you that I don't like to buy cheap meat. In fact, I try to avoid buying meat at the supermarket full stop. I am thinking about trying a cheaper cookery week to see if we can discover some cheap, tasty meals to become part of our everyday menu.
wow some amazing ideas! i am so needing to tighten out food budget belt!
You have inspired me to make toad in the hole for dinner tonight!!! HAven't had it in so long and forgot how cheaply you could make it for 🙂
I do agree with you, Cass, there are loads of healthy and very cheap meals that can be done for pennies (lentils come to mind now), it is only a matter of getting used to at food in this way and not always buying things in supermarkets for the sake of buying!xx
50p a serving based on 4. Your meals are great, I definitely spend more then that. I love Macaroni Cheese mmm yummy!
That is a brilliant saving -we have realy cut back but it is so tempting to buy ready made food
I spend far too much on food shopping each week, I really need to take onboard some of your recipes and ideas x
Some fab ideas here – macaroni cheese is one of my fav fallback dinners – I always have all the ingredients in!
I really struggle to feed us for 50p a portion. The boys are bottomless and I only buy good quality meat just like you, plus not mark downs near us
Wow, I never really thought you could do a portion for 50p.
I am loving the look of you Macaroni Cheese, ive never made my own (feels the shame) and when you work it out, I totally could and it would be cheaper x
I have never thought about meals I cook in this manner, except maybe for the big holiday meals where I buy especially for them, but you really made me think. 50p a person does sound a bit low, but on the other hand both the vegetarian options you gave are loved around here and we eat them quite regularly. I just never thought to calculate their price!
Home cooked meals are something I look forward to more than fast food or eating out. I agree 50p sounds reasonable, Cass.