Feed the Family for Less: How to Eat Well on a Budget
Published on 8th Dec, 2025
We know that keeping the whole family fed with nutritious, tasty meals without breaking the bank can be a real challenge. But it doesn't have to be hard! This guide is packed with smart budget cooking tips, fantastic cheap meal ideas for families, and a handy checklist of budget pantry essentials. We’re here to help you get creative in the kitchen and prove you can eat well for less, making every penny count.
Budget Cooking Tips
Saving money starts before you even turn on the hob. By adopting a few simple habits, you can dramatically cut your weekly food bill:
Prioritise Pulses and Grains: These are the foundation of affordable, filling, and healthy cooking. Stock up on lentils, dried beans, rice, and pasta. They are nutrient-dense, filling, and cost significantly less than meat or fresh produce, making them perfect for bulking out dishes.
Use Cheaper Proteins: Look beyond expensive chicken breasts and prime cuts. Proteins like mince (especially our Morrisons Savers range), sausages, eggs, and tinned fish (tuna or sardines) offer brilliant nutrition at a fraction of the cost.
Batch Cooking is Key: All the recipes listed in this guide are easily scalable for batch cooking. This helps you reduce energy costs per portion and ensures you have future meals ready in the freezer, saving you from expensive, last-minute takeaways or impulse purchases.
Minimise Waste: Food waste is money waste! Menu planning and choosing clever recipes like Bubble & Squeak (using leftover mash and veg) or Cottage Pie ensure you maximise the value of every ingredient purchased.
Cheap Meal Ideas
Discover our collection of versatile, comforting, and affordable dishes—they’re the best starting point for when you’re cooking on a budget.
Potato Topped Pie
The single most effective cost-saving measure is cheap ingredients and bulking out the more expensive mince with dried red lentils or other types of beans. An easy dish to do this with is cottage or shepherd's pie. Lentils are one of the cheapest sources of protein, dramatically reducing the price per serving while adding fibre and volume. Plus, potatoes are an incredibly inexpensive, filling topping.
Try these dishes below using ingredients like: Morrisons Savers Beef/Pork Mince, Dried Red Lentils, Potatoes (look for our Wonky Veg range!), and Tinned Chopped Tomatoes.
Simple One-Pan Tray bakes
These are the ideal easy dishes with convenience and cost in mind. Sausages are generally one of the most budget-friendly meat options, while chicken drumsticks and thighs are more cost-effective than breast cuts. Tinned beans are inexpensive, high-protein fillers. Combining everything onto a single tray minimises cooking time and energy use, saving on utility costs.
All you need are a few basic ingredients: a cost-effective protein, Tinned Beans (Cannellini/Butter Beans), Wonky Carrots & Onions, and Stock Cubes.
Easy Pasta Bakes
Pasta bakes rely almost entirely on store-cupboard staples and easy freezer fillers, which are cheapest when bought from our Morrisons Savers range. Tinned tuna is a cheap source of long-life protein, and pasta is one of the most cost-effective carbohydrates.
Try our recipes below, subbing some ingredients for budget essentials such as our Morrisons Savers pasta, tinned tuna, tinned vegetables, Savers cheese, and frozen vegetables.
Comforting Curries
Curries are a fantastic and affordable way to cook for a family, using affordable ingredients like cheaper cuts of meat, pulses, lentils, or just veg, bulked out with onions, stock, basic spices (curry powder/turmeric), and served with a budget-friendly side of rice. Vegetarian curries are an especially affordable and delicious way to watch your spending. If you use lentils or chickpeas to form the bulk and the protein, it costs only pence per serving—a highly scalable, filling meal.
Budget Baked Potatoes
The classic way of enjoying a filling but affordable meal is, of course, with some large baking potatoes! Potatoes are one of the most filling and cheapest whole-food carbohydrates. These meals are affordable because the potato itself is so cheap, and the toppings are highly flexible.
Get inspired with budget toppings such as tinned baked beans, Savers cheddar cheese, tinned chilli con carne, or homemade chilli using Savers mince.
Budget Pantry Essentials Checklist
When you’re on a budget, look for our own-brand and Morrisons Savers ranges. For cheaper fruit and veg, check out our Wonky range. You can always swap fresh ingredients for tinned or frozen alternatives to make every penny count!
Pantry Essential | Types to Try | Best Uses |
Rice | Served with red lentil dahl or simple chickpea curry. Rice pilaf flavoured with stock cubes and frozen vegetables. Fried rice is excellent for using up any small amounts of leftover cooked rice/veg/meat. Or even as a sweet rice pudding dessert. | |
Pasta | Tuna pasta bake using tinned tuna, Savers tinned tomatoes, and cheese. Macaroni cheese made with milk/flour/butter, and Savers cheese. Or for a simple sauce, try spaghetti puttanesca with tinned tomatoes, garlic, and dried oregano. | |
Dried Oats | Porridge or overnight oats for a quick, cheap, and filling breakfast. Used in meatloaf or meatballs as a binder/filler to stretch mince further. Flapjacks or a crumble topping for cheap desserts using budget apples or tinned fruit. | |
Potatoes | Jacket potatoes served with budget toppings such as beans, cheese, and tinned tuna. Bubble and squeak is a zero-waste meal using leftover mash and cooked veg. Cottage or shepherd’s pie topping or an inexpensive ingredient for filling sides like wedges. | |
Dried/Canned Beans & Pulses | Essential bulk in any chilli by mixing with mince for maximum savings. Tacos and burritos are perfect with black beans seasoned with your store cupboard spices. Bean stews work with lentils or cannellini, and butter beans in a simple tomato broth. Or try using lentils to bulk out meat mince or in a dahl. Lentils or vegetables in soup are also a highly nutritious and simple soup base. | |
Tinned Tomatoes | The base for everything… pasta sauce, tomato soup, curries, chilli, stews, and Shakshuka, just to name a few! | |
Tinned Fish | Tuna pasta bake with a creamy or tomato-based sauce. Fish cakes mixed with leftover mashed potato. Sandwich fillers mixed with budget mayonnaise and frozen sweetcorn. | |
Frozen Vegetables | Bulking out stir-fries, fried rice, curries, soups, pasta sauces. Fills you up more while adding nutrition and colour to any meal. | |
Frozen Meat | Chilli or bolognese, as mince is highly versatile for batch cooking. Sausage traybakes are quick, one-pan family dinners. Or how about a hearty fish pie? | |
Basic Dried Spices | Chilli & Tacos: Cumin, Chilli Powder, Smoked Paprika, Garlic Powder. Curry: Curry Powder, Turmeric, Cumin. Italian Dishes: Dried Oregano, Basil. | |
Onions & Garlic | Necessary base for virtually every single savoury meal, such as soups, stews, pasta sauces, and curries. | |
Eggs | Try making a frittata or shakshuka poached in leftover tomato sauce for a cheap dinner. Fried rice or noodles with an essential quick protein addition. Use in binding or coating for fishcakes or a simple batter. |
