The cost of living has made food one of the biggest areas where families, couples and individuals are trying to save money. Everything seems to have increased in price – meat, dairy, fresh produce, and even everyday basics that used to be affordable. But while food prices have risen, it doesn’t mean eating well has to disappear from the budget.

With a little planning, a sensible shopping list and a few ingredients that can be used in multiple ways, you can still create filling, high protein meals without spending a fortune.

I’m visiting some of the UK & Ireland’s most popular supermarkets to see how far a £25 budget can really go. This week, it was Lidl. My challenge was to spend under £25 and create as many filling, high-protein meals as possible. The result? I spent just £23.82 and made 14 meals:

• 5 high-protein breakfast bagels
• 5 one-pan chicken sausage pasta lunches
• 4 portions of slow cooker Thai basil chicken

That’s breakfast and lunch sorted for the working week, plus dinner for the family for one night (or four meal prep dinners if you’re cooking for one). The aim wasn’t to create complicated recipes or buy lots of unusual ingredients. It was simply about making ingredients work harder.

When you’re shopping on a budget, the biggest mistake is usually buying ingredients for just one meal. You might buy a pack of chicken for dinner, a bag of salad for lunch, some breakfast items and a few snacks (and suddenly you’ve spent £40 or £50 without realising!!)

Instead, I planned meals around ingredients that could be used across several dishes. For example:

• Eggs became the base of my breakfast bagels.
• Sausages were used in both breakfast and lunch.
• Chicken was stretched across two different meals.
• Herbs, spices and cupboard staples helped transform simple ingredients into flavour-packed dishes.

The key is not just looking at the price of an individual ingredient. It’s looking at how many meals that ingredient can create. A £3 pack of chicken might seem expensive, but if it creates five lunches, it suddenly becomes much better value.

Here’s everything I bought:

Protein & Dairy

Chicken Breast Mini Fillets – £3.69

450g chicken thighs – £3.89

12 eggs – £1.79

8 Sausages – £1.49

Cottage cheese – £1.29

Cheese slices – £1.35

Creme fraiche – £0.49

Carbohydrates

5 bagels – £0.98

Fusilli pasta – £0.72

Fruit and vegetables

Cherry tomatoes – £0.76

Red pepper – £0.70

Mushrooms – £0.75

Cupboard ingredients and sauces

Chopped tomatoes – £0.45

Fish sauce/oyster sauce – £1.69

Orange juice – £1.79

Some of these ingredients were not used entirely in these meals, meaning there was still plenty left for future recipes. I also used cupboard staples I already had at home, such as:

• Salt and pepper
• Dried herbs and spices (like oregano and chilli flakes)
• Chicken stock cubes
• Soy sauce
• Cornflour
• Tomato puree
• Olive oil
• Basmati rice
• Honey

I also had fresh garlic and basil in the house too. These ingredients are exactly why having a decent cupboard of basics can make such a difference. You don’t need to buy every single ingredient from scratch every time you cook. A few simple staples can completely change a budget meal.

One thing I think is often overlooked when talking about budget cooking is the value of having a stocked cupboard. People often focus only on the fresh ingredients they buy each week, but the items you already have at home can make a huge difference. Things like:

• Dried herbs
• Spices
• Stock cubes
• Rice
• Pasta
• Tinned tomatoes
• Sauces
• Seasonings

can help you create countless different meals. A packet of chicken might become a curry one week, a pasta dish the next, or a stir fry another time. You don’t need a huge cupboard full of expensive products. Just a few reliable basics can help you make cheaper ingredients taste amazing.

The biggest lesson from this challenge was that planning matters more than spending. Before going shopping, I knew exactly what meals I wanted to create. That meant I wasn’t walking around Lidl adding random things to my basket. I focused on:

• Buying ingredients that overlap
• Chicken, sausages, eggs and cheese were used across multiple meals.
• Choosing affordable protein sources

Protein can often be one of the most expensive parts of a shop, but eggs, chicken thighs and sausages can help keep costs down.

The answer is yes – but it does require a bit more thought. A £25 shop won’t look the same for everyone. Prices vary between stores, locations and offers, and you may already have different ingredients at home.

But the idea remains the same: A smaller budget doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice flavour, variety or protein.

By planning meals before shopping, choosing ingredients that work across different recipes and making use of cupboard staples, you can create a lot more food than you might expect. Budget cooking doesn’t have to be about restriction. It’s about being creative, making ingredients stretch and getting the most value from what you buy.

With food prices continuing to rise, small changes like this can make a big difference.

Sometimes £25 can go much further than you think.

Happy cooking!

Nathan