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This budget-friendly meal plan includes a week’s worth of dinners for four people. It costs less than £36 in total and is designed for busy families that need flexibility or want to reduce the time they spend cooking.

We asked family cook and best-selling author Sarah Rossi (AKA Taming Twins) to write the recipes as she is a whizz at dreaming up fuss-free dishes the whole family will love. She also created a meat-free version of the plan (which costs even less!).

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How we costed our recipes

We have stuck to a strict ingredient budget of £9 per person for the week, which averages out at just under £1.30 per portion.

We’ve based most of our costs on the smallest available pack size, meaning even if you don’t use a whole jar or packet, the entire cost is still included in the budget.

Meanwhile, store cupboard items like oil, salt, pasta and rice are costed according to the quantity you use, as they tend to have long shelf lives or be purchased regularly as part of a standard family shop.

The recipes

Day 1: Barbecue pulled chicken with sweet potato wedges

This super-simple pulled chicken burger will become a firm family favourite! It’s served with sweet potato wedges for a decent dose of fibre, too. As part of this recipe, you will cook a big batch of chicken thighs which will form the base of the next two meals.

Day 2: Quick chicken chilli

This chicken chilli can be thrown together super quickly using pre-cooked chicken thighs and a few store cupboard ingredients. Adjust the amount of chilli flakes to suit your taste – they can be used as an extra garnish too for anyone who gets a kick out of spicy food.

Day 3: Peanut chicken noodles

These simple chicken noodles are full of nutty flavour from an easy two-ingredient sauce. Using a bag of ready-chopped stir-fry vegetables saves lots of time and is good value too. This recipe uses the last of the batch cooked chicken thighs.

Day 4: Sausage and tomato pie

This puff pastry sausage pie is a hearty dinner that also happens to be quick and easy to make. Use a rectangular roasting tin or baking dish if you have one as the pastry sheet will fit neatly on top and you won’t have to do any fussy shaping or trimming. As part of this recipe, you will make extra tomato sauce to use in tomorrow’s pasta bake.

Day 5: Bacon and pea pasta bake

A little bit of bacon goes a long way in this simple pasta bake. It uses the rest of the tomato sauce from yesterday’s recipe and is finished under the grill meaning there’s no need to turn the oven on.

Day 6: Leek and cheddar frittata

Batch cooked baked potatoes are chopped and paired with softened leeks for a twist on a Spanish tortilla. Frittata makes a fantastic midweek dinner as it’s very filling and can be eaten cold if not everyone can sit down at the same time. This also makes it ideal for lunches if there are any leftovers.

Day 7: Double-baked potatoes

These delicious twice-baked potatoes are stuffed with bacon, peas and creamy soft cheese. A little grated cheddar gives a lovely crisp and golden top, too. Usually, twice baked spuds are a bit of a faff, but this recipe uses batch cooked baked potatoes from yesterday’s dinner to save time and effort.

Shopping list

Fruit and vegetables
□ 8 large potatoes (about 1.2kg/2lb 10oz in total)
□ 1kg/2lb 4oz sweet potatoes
□ 500g/1lb 2oz carrots
□ 500g/1lb 2oz leeks
□ 1 large pack of mixed stir-fry vegetables (about 600g/1lb 5oz)
□ 3 peppers
□ 4 brown onions
□ 1 garlic bulb (or 9 individual cloves)

Meat and fish
□ 1.8kg/4lb chicken thighs, boneless and skinless
□ 8 sausages (about 454g)
□ 8 rashers bacon (about 300g/10½oz)

Dairy, eggs and chilled
□ 375g/13oz ready-made puff pastry sheet
□ 200g pack of garlic and herb soft cheese
□ 275g/9¾oz cheddar
□ 1 tbsp milk
□ 6 free-range eggs

Tins, packets and jars
□ 120g/4¼oz crunchy peanut butter
□ 200g/7oz long-grain rice
□ 250g/9oz dried noodles (such as egg noodles)
□ 250g/9oz dried pasta, any shape
□ 400g tin kidney beans
□ 2 x 500g packs passata
□ 2 x 400g tins chopped tomatoes

Cooking ingredients
□ 6 tsp olive oil
□ 85ml/3fl oz vegetable oil (about 6 tbsp)
□ 1 tbsp ground cumin
□ 4 tsp paprika
□ 1 tsp dried chilli flakes (optional)
□ 2 tsp dark brown sugar (optional)
□ 2 tsp sugar or honey (optional)
□ salt and ground black pepper

Frozen
□ 800g frozen peas

Condiments
□ 6 tbsp dark soy sauce (reduced sodium if you follow a reduced-salt diet or have very young children)
□ 100g/3½oz barbecue sauce

Other
□ 4 bread rolls or burger buns

First published in December 2023