When you’re trying to save money, dinner is a good place to start. Cooking at home, planning your meals and making the most of ingredients you already have can all help reduce the cost of your weekly food shop. You don’t need expensive cuts of meat or lots of specialist ingredients to make a good dinner. Affordable ingredients such as chicken thighs, mince, sausages, pasta, noodles, potatoes and rice can be turned into filling meals with the right seasoning and sauce.

I’ve put together some of my favourite cheap dinner ideas below, including slow cooker meals, air fryer recipes, fakeaways and quick one-pan dinners.

Making a budget dinner doesn’t mean you need to completely change how you shop or cook. A few simple habits can make your food budget go further.

Plan Your Meals

One of the easiest ways to save money is to have an idea of what you’re going to eat before you go shopping. Planning a few cheap dinner ideas for the week means you’re less likely to buy ingredients you don’t need or order a takeaway because you don’t know what to cook. You don’t need to plan every single meal – even choosing four or five dinners for the week can make your food shop more organised. My Bored of Lunch Meal Planner is perfect for this, helping you plan your meals for the week, organise your shopping list and make the most of the ingredients you buy, so you can save money and cut down on food waste.

Use Affordable Ingredients

Some ingredients are particularly useful when you’re cooking on a budget. Mince, chicken thighs, sausages, pasta, rice, noodles, potatoes, beans and lentils can all form the basis of filling meals without costing a fortune. You can then add flavour with sauces, spices and seasonings you already have in your cupboard.

Make Ingredients Go Further

A key part of budget cooking is making one ingredient work across several meals. For example, a large pack of chicken could be used for a curry one night, wraps another day and a pasta dish later in the week. Mince is another incredibly versatile ingredient. It can be used for quesadillas, pasta, noodles, chilli, tacos and savoury mince. Thinking about how you can use an ingredient more than once can help reduce waste and keep your shopping bill down.

Buy What You Need

Food waste can quickly make a cheap food shop more expensive. Before heading to the supermarket, check your fridge, freezer and cupboards. You might already have ingredients that can form the basis of your next budget dinner. Frozen vegetables can also be useful because you can use exactly what you need without worrying about fresh ingredients going off.

There are plenty of affordable foods that work well as the basis of a cheap dinner. Some useful budget staples include:

• Pasta
• Rice
• Noodles
• Potatoes
• Oats
• Eggs
• Beans
• Lentils
• Chickpeas
• Mince
• Chicken thighs
• Sausages
• Frozen vegetables
• Tinned tomatoes
• Bread and wraps

The cheapest option will vary depending on where you shop and what’s on offer, but having a few of these staples in your cupboard or freezer can make it much easier to put together an affordable meal.

Feeding a family on a budget can be challenging, particularly when food prices are rising. The good news is that you don’t need to cook completely different meals to save money. Look for dinners that use ingredients such as mince, chicken, sausages, pasta, potatoes and rice. These can usually be stretched with vegetables, beans or other inexpensive ingredients.

One-pan meals, pasta dishes, casseroles and slow cooker dinners are particularly useful because you can often make a large batch without using lots of different ingredients. Take a look at my recent budget food shop series, where I spent just £25 at Lidl and made 14 meals, plus my Tesco food shop to see just how far £25 can stretch.

Eating well on a budget doesn’t mean you have to buy everything fresh or choose expensive “healthy” products. Start with affordable staples and build meals around them. Frozen vegetables, tinned beans, lentils, eggs, chicken, mince, rice and pasta can all be useful ingredients.

It can also help to cook from scratch where possible. A homemade curry, pasta dish or fakeaway can often be much cheaper than buying the same meal ready-made or ordering takeaway. Batch cooking is another great option. If you’re already cooking dinner, making extra portions means you can have another meal ready for later.

A cheap dinner can absolutely be part of a balanced diet. Eating on a budget doesn’t mean you need to rely on processed foods or takeaway meals. Simple ingredients such as vegetables, beans, potatoes, rice, pasta, chicken, eggs and mince can all be used to create balanced meals.

Try to include a mixture of protein, carbohydrates and vegetables where possible, but don’t feel like every meal needs to be perfect. The most important thing is finding meals that are affordable, enjoyable and realistic for your household.

There are lots of small changes that can help reduce the cost of your food shop. Start by checking what you already have at home. Plan your meals around ingredients that need using and make a shopping list before you go.

Buying supermarket own-brand products can also help, as can choosing ingredients that are in season or on offer. Buying larger packs can sometimes work out cheaper, particularly for ingredients such as chicken or mince, but only if you know you’ll use them. Freezing portions can help prevent waste.

Don’t forget about your freezer either. Frozen vegetables and other frozen ingredients can be incredibly useful for budget-friendly dinners because you can use exactly what you need.

Variety is important, especially if you’re trying to stick to a budget for several weeks. Choose a few affordable ingredients and rotate the flavours. Chicken can be turned into curry, satay, pasta or a spicy air fryer dinner. Mince can become quesadillas, noodles or savoury mince.

You can also change the sides. Rice, pasta, potatoes, noodles and wraps can all make the same protein source feel like a completely different meal. This is one of the best ways to enjoy cheap dinner ideas without feeling like you’re constantly eating the same thing.

Eating on a budget doesn’t have to mean boring meals, tiny portions or giving up your favourite foods. With a little planning, affordable ingredients and some good recipes, you can make delicious budget-friendly dinners that the whole family will enjoy.

Mince, chicken, sausages, pasta, noodles and potatoes are all affordable ingredients that can be turned into something really tasty. Slow cookers and air fryers can also make budget cooking easier by reducing hands-on time and helping you make meals with minimal fuss. Whether you’re looking for a quick budget dinner, a cheap family meal, a fakeaway to replace your Friday night takeaway or some new budget eats to add to your meal plan, there are plenty of options.

Start with a few recipes you know your family will enjoy, plan your food shop around them and make your ingredients work harder. You don’t need to spend loads of money to make a really good dinner.

Happy cooking!

Nathan 🙂