I don’t know about you but I’ve been thinking about ways to keep food costs down. At this stage cutting food costs is not the aim of my game. I just want to keep them consistent. So I had a think and I came up with 5 dirt cheap meals.
None of the ideas are ground breaking or wildly exciting. However, that said, I find sometimes we over complicate things. I wanted meals that were nutritious, quick and cheap.
Protein is often the most expensive ingredient. Therefore I decided to include meat in the majority of the meals. If you are vegetarian or vegan most of these meals can be adapted to make them suit your needs.
For simplicity’s sake I have based all costings on Tesco’s website. Shopping around for the best value for your family is advised! Also please note the prices are correct at the time of publication but may change.
5 dirt cheap meals
- Eggs, baked beans, toast and orange juice
- Pasta with a tuna and tomato sauce
- Home-made pizza and chips
- Cottage pie
- Home-made soup and bread
Eggs, baked beans, toast and orange juice
Eggs are a fantastic source of iron and orange juice contains vitamin c to help our bodies absorb the iron. Baked beans and toast contain essential ammino acids. If that doesn’t sell you on the idea of eggs and beans for dinner what about price?
An egg per person is €0.26
1/4 of a can of baked beans per person is €0.10
3 slices of toast per person would be approximately €0.10
250ml of orange juice per person is €0.38
The total would be €4.23 for the ingredients, with half a loaf and 2 eggs left over to use on another meal. The total cost for the meal itself would be €3.34 or €0.84 per person.
A delicious and healthy meal that can be cooked in a few minutes on a small budget!
Pasta with a tuna and tomato sauce
Beef and chicken are expensive. A great alternative that pairs brilliantly with pasta is tuna.
With pasta sauce you have options. You can either make a home-made sauce or use a cheap jar of ready made tomato sauce. I prefer to make our own because it allows us greater control over what goes into our meals.
It doesn’t take long to make and can be as full of vegetables as you like.
Ingredients you will need include:
500g pasta would be €0.50, giving a large serving of 125g per person for €0.13
Tin of chopped tomatoes is €0.35
2 cloves of garlic would be approximately €0.05
2 onions would be approximately €0.20
100g mushrooms would be about €0.30
A table spoon of dried mixed herbs would be about €0.05
2 tins of tuna €1.98
The total would be €6.14 for the ingredients, with plenty of ingredients left for other meals such as home-made pizza. The total cost for the meal itself would be €3.43 or €0.85 per person.
Home-made pizza and chips
Pizza and chips don’t have to be expensive or unhealthy.
The Caribbean Dub aka Santis has a video of how to make your own pizza bases for as little as €0.20 each! The link for the video is here.
The other ingredients you’ll need are:
2 onions would be approximately €0.20
2 cloves of garlic would be approximately €0.05
Tin of chopped tomatoes is €0.35
100g mushrooms would be about €0.30
2 carrots would be about €0.20
Table spoon of oregano would be about €0.05
500g mozzarella is €1.98
1kg potatoes are €0.49 and a drizzle of oil would be about €0.10
Again you will have ingredients to use for other meals left over. The cost of this meal would be about €3.93 or €0.98 each per person.
Cottage pie
Cottage pie is one of those hearty meals that can be super nutritious and be cheaply made.
The other ingredients you’ll need are:
1.5kg potatoes would be about €0.74
3 carrots would be about €0.30
100g mushrooms would be about €0.30
2 cloves of garlic would be approximately €0.05
2 onions would be approximately €0.20
1.028kg mince beef is €3.90
It is worth noting that cheaper mince beef generally has a higher fat concentration. This can be strained after cooking if you wish, use caution as this will be extremely hot, using a colander and a container. Do not strain straight into your sink as it will cause a blockage!
The cost of this meal would be about €5.49 or €1.38 per person. The nice thing about this meal is it can be made early in the morning and just reheat for the main meal.
Home-made soup and bread
Last of the 5 dirt cheap meals is a simple but nutritious vegetable soup. Cheap, delicious and reasonably quick to make.
The ingredients you’ll need:
500g potatoes €0.25
2 cloves of garlic would be approximately €0.05
2 onions would be approximately €0.20
3 carrots would be about €0.30
Stock cube will be about €0.05
Approximately 2 tablespoons of flour will cost roughly €0.02 and a knob of butter about €0.05
Using the remainder of the loaf of bread works out at about €0.35
The cost of this meal would be about €1.22 or €0.31 per person. Zero food waste and a healthy meal that costs next to nothing.
Meal plan based on the 5 dirt cheap meals
I’d like to draw your attention to the order the meal plan is in. Starting with home-made soup and bread means the fresh bread is getting used first. Then the eggs, beans, toast and orange juice. It was a deliberate choice, because the bread will suit toasting better on the second day. After that each meal leads to the next, without it being too similar and repetitive.
In summary the cost to make these 5 dirt cheap meals, based on the ingredients used, is €17.41 for a family of four. There will be ingredients left over for other meals and the cost of these is not included in the €17.41!
The following is a shopping list of all the ingredients mentioned..
- eggs
- bread
- beans
- orange juice
- 2x tins of chopped tomatoes
- pasta
- mushrooms
- mixed herbs
- oil
- butter
- 3kg potatoes
- carrots
- onions
- garlic
- 2x tins of tuna
- oregano
- 500g mozzarella
- minced beef
- stock cubes
- flour
Zero food waste
By now you have probably realized that this meal plan is made not only with cost in mind but with an aim for zero food waste. Reducing the amount of food you send to landfill is a key component in keeping your food costs down.
It doesn’t need to be difficult or complicated. This meal plan is full of delicious and healthy meals with minimal cooking effort required.
When you make your meal plan make sure to include a day for leftovers.
Further reading
If you found this post useful then you might also be interested in..
Frugal Mama Ireland 
