If you find yourself frequently reaching for your mobile phone rather than the fridge door for your meals, getting into the habit of making your own can save you a lot of money. Here four professional chefs and home cooks share their favourite recipes to cook on a budget.
The average household spends just over £100 on food at restaurants and takeaways every month, according to official figures. High food inflation has meant that our favourite dishes have been soaring in price.
The biggest annual rise for a takeaway meal in 2023 was fish and chips, up almost 20% or £1.44 to an average of £9 per person or £36 for a family of four. With some of the recipes below costing less than £5 to feed four people, you could save over £30 by hitting the hob instead of the takeaway.
In this article, we include:
- Ella’s Harissa Tomato Soup
- David’s Ethiopian Lentil Stew
- Kai’s Cheap Pesto
- Alice’s Lentil Dahl
- More tips for cooking on a budget
Read more: How to fight shrinkflation
Each recipe below is for four people and contains a summary of the total costs if you were to shop for the ingredients at the supermarket chain Morrisons.
“Use whole vegetables and invest in high quality ingredients“
Ella, 24, works for a tech company in Dublin, and runs a food blog, @ellasveganplate on Instagram. Here are Ella’s top tips for cooking on a budget:
- Find inventive ways of avoiding waste. Don’t throw away cauliflower leaves but dice them up and sauté orroast them. Carrot tops can be used to make a pesto. Coriander stems can be chopped finely to add to a recipe. Corn cobs are great to make a stock. In fact most vegetable scraps can be turned into stock and beetroot leaves are delicious when sautéed.
- Buy small supermarket herb plants and divide them into smaller pots on your windowsill. This prevents your herbs going off and makes them so easy to keep. It may inspire a new hobby: learning to grow your own vegetables.
- Know when to invest in high quality ingredients.I always buy the best oil, rose harissapaste, tinned tomatoes and tahini because I know that these can carry a dish, especially if I’m using cut-priced veg or things that are about to go off. Having really good ingredients means that I can elevate a simple and cheap dish to something special!
- Use a budgeting app. I use a app to work out where my money is going and how much I am spending on food, especially.
For many more budgeting apps, including options with free plans, see our guide but most banking apps will have nifty tools to help you budget.
Ella’s Harissa Tomato Soup
“This recipe uses tinned beans and tomatoes for a soup but it’s the rose harissa and tahini that make the dish so special.”
Ingredients
- 2 cans of choppedtomatoes(60p each or £2 for 4)
- 1 can of cannellinibeans(89p)
- 60g of runny tahini(£2.90 for 300g)
- 175ml of water
- 1 tbsp of sherry vinegar (£2.80 per bottle) or red wine vinegar (£1.30 a bottle)
- 1 tbsp of agave syrup(£2.50 per bottle)
- Rose harissa (£2.25 a jar) or regular harissa (1 tbsp) (£2.99 a jar)
- Handful of cashews (optional)(£2.49 for 180g)
- Garlic bulb (99p for 4)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6. Cut the top off the garlic head. Slather some olive oil on it, then wrap it in tinfoil and put it in the oven for 35 minutes.Meanwhile, dice a medium white or yellow onion and measure out the remaining ingredients in advance.
- Heat theolive oil (use chilli oil if you’d like some heat) in a dutch oven or casserole over medium heat.Let it heat up until you feel the warmth when hovering your hand over. Add the onion, then stir frequently for five minutes. Add the harissa and stir for a further five minutes.
- Pour in two cans of chopped tomatoes, the vinegar and then 3/4 cup of water. If your blender isn’t strong, add the cashews now. Bring to a boil and then leave to simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes. Next, add the beans.
- Add salt and pepper and place the mixture in a blender along with the tahini, agave syrup and cashews (if you haven’t already). Add the roasted garlic and blend, blend, blend.
- Taste the soup and see how you like the thickness – add more water if it’s a bit too thick, plus salt & pepper to taste.
- Top with extra tahini, flaked almonds, and purple basil. You can even add microgreens, Oatly crème fraîche or pickled onions!
The maths
If you’re buying from scratch, the total cost of these ingredients comes to around £14.50. This works out at £3.60 per serving for a family of four, a saving of over £5 per person compared to your average takeaway.
However, the real cost of this dish is much lower, because for the most part you’re only using a fraction of what you’ve bought. This means you can make this soup over and over again, just topping up a couple of ingredients, which will seriously lower the cost.
“Shop at markets and skip ready meals“
“I grew up in a household that loved cooking,” explains David, 25. “My father, originally from Portugal, came to work in Michelin-starred kitchens. Dinner was the occasion at the end of the day that brought the family together.
“Cooking was a journey I started only after leaving home for university. I would try to recreate the flavours and meals of my youth. Often, these initial experiments were a disaster that would only improve following a couple of phone calls home.
“I’m currently working as a chef in a modern fine dining restaurant in Amsterdam whilst studying for my final exams to become a lawyer. A passion for food has become a way to support myself.”
Here are David’s favourite ways to save money while cooking:
- Try to buy food at markets and independent, specialised shops. Prices tend to be fairer, as at the supermarket you pay for the convenience of everything being in one place.
Markets and independent shops also offer much higher quality, and people who work with the produce every day can advise you on what to go for. - Use leftover fruit and veg that is reaching its expiry date. A lot of recipes can use up overly ripe fruit that is on the cusp of being bad. It’s a good way to make healthy smoothies or fill out dinners with vegetables that would otherwise go to waste.
Fermentation and pickling are also a great way to ensure zero food waste and will add life to any dish. - Avoid buying ready meals. The individual components of them are often incredibly cheap, and the cost of one is better spent on whole ingredients to make a dish that can last for days. A big batch can be frozen for the future.
David’s Ethiopian Lentil Stew
“This dish uses a simple clarified butter to add all the flavour and heat. It is hearty and makes use of cheap red lentils with essential cupboard ingredients.”
Ingredients
- 500g of butter (£2 for 250g pack)
- Cup of dried red lentils (£1.89 for 500g)
- Two large onions (£1.35 for a pack of 4)
- 3 cloves of garlic (99p for 4 bulbs)
- 1 cinnamon stick (£1.09 a jar of 3 sticks min)
- 8 cardamom pods (£1.09 a jar)
- 2 tsps ground cumin (£1.09 a jar)
- 2 tsps oregano (£1.09 a jar)
- Smoked paprika (£1.09 a jar)
- 1 tsp fenugreek (£1.09 a jar)
- Fresh ginger (£1.25 for 125g)
- 1 tbsp tomato paste (65p)
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg (£1.09 a jar)
- Handful of basil leaves (85p a 30g sprig)
- 1 tbsp Berbere spice mix or Ras El Hanout (£1.09 a jar)
- 1 vegetable stock cube (£1.39 for pack of 4)
- Rice (£1.59 for 500g)
- Fresh coriander to serve (£1.39 for 100g bunch)
Instructions
- First, you’ll need to make the clarified butter. Melt the butter over a low heat. Add half of an onion, not sliced, with 2 cloves of crushed garlic. Stir occasionally until the onion is translucent.
- Next add a cinnamon stick, the contents of eight cardamom pods, the cumin, oregano, 1 tsp smoked paprika, fenugreek, a thumb of ginger, ground nutmeg and a handful of basil leaves.
- Leave to cook on a low heat, stirring occasionally for 20 minutes. Strain through a sieve and add the content to a glass jar. You only need to use a bit of this clarified butter for this recipe, but it will keep for a long time and can be used in a wide range of recipes to add flavour.
- Soak a cup of dried red lentils for about two hours, then pour the water out and wash the lentils one more time through a sieve with running water.
- Chop up an onion and a clove of garlic, then cook using three tablespoons of the clarified butter for about three minutes. Add a tablespoon of Berbere spice mix or Ras El Hanout, a thumb of chopped ginger and a tablespoon of smoked paprika. Mix well with a spoon.
- After another two minutes, add the soaked lentils and a tablespoon of tomato paste. Cook for another three minutes.
- Add vegetable stock to cover the mixture, bring to the boil and then to a low simmer.
- The lentils will thicken into a sauce in about 25 minutes at this heat with occasional stirring. Once you have the desired consistency, turn off the heat and leave to sit for 15 minutes. Serve with rice and coriander. Freeze any leftover batches.
The maths
This is another spice heavy recipe, which will leave you well equipped to make this dish and many others in the future. You’ll also have a jar of clarified butter afterwards, which can be stored and used again for many other recipes.
If you’re making this from scratch, it will cost you about £24, or just over £6 each for a family of four. This will save you saving you around £4 per person compared to a takeaway. But after you’ve got all the spices and the clarified butter, you’ll only need to pay for for the other fresh ingredients if you buy lentils and rice in bulk. That’s a grand total of £5.80 to feed four.
“Find low-cost substitutes and grow your own vegetables“
“I grew up from the age of about 11 mostly with my dad who lacks a sense of smell due to nasal polyps. He is also generally not that fussed about experimenting with food,” Kai, 25, explains.
“So I started making a lot of my own meals at 14 or 15, and experimented with a lot of food.”
Here are Kai’s top tips to save money while cooking:
- Find cheap substitutions. Meat can be swapped for lentils, mushrooms and potatoes. Bread can be frozen and old bread works amazingly in stews. You could even just use stock to get the meat flavour. Cheap red wine can be used instead of pomegranate molasses.
- Microwaving food is not defeatism. It uses 80% less energy than an oven.
- Grow your own, or volunteer at a local allotment. I am able able to grow my own vegetables through my volunteer work at a care home in West London. I didn’t need to buy a single courgette all summer.
- Make your own stock. Keeping leftover bones and fat in the fridge then boiling it with lots of veg is a great way to make tasty, healthy broth. A chicken can last you the whole week if you need it to, bones and all.
Kai’s Cheap Pesto
This is an easy pesto that you can make with some very common ingredients.
Ingredients
- Greens. You don’t have to use purely basil for this or at all. I used mostly my freely grown garden greens, which gave it a spicy rocket taste. Check the reduced-price section in supermarkets for cheap greens such as rocket or spinach at the end of the day (£0 to £1.49, depending on what you buy)
- Cheese. Parmesan is expensive. Feel free to use any tangy hard cheese (£1.89 for 170g of Savers hard cheese in Morrisons)
- Oil. Mix olive oil with sunflower oil/other less expensive oil (£2 to £3 if you don’t have any in)
- Herbs. Mix and match, you don’t have to be a purist(up to £2)
- Nuts. Pine nuts are expensive (£3.89 for 100g). Go for peanuts (40p per 100g), or sunflower seeds (66p per 100g) instead and blend.
Instructions
This is super simple! All you have to do it throw everything into a food processor and blend away, or use hand mixer. You can even chop the ingredients finely and stir if you don’t have either.
Add it to pasta, rice, mushrooms or any bulky food to make a hearty, healthy meal.
The maths
If you’re buying everything from scratch, this dish can cost up to £13, depending on what you buy. However, if you make cheap substitutions along the way, or look for reductions, it can come to no more than £5.
If you are mixing it with pasta, you can add 75p for 500g of fusilli to your bill. This means the dish costs a maximum of £3.50 per person, but can also be just over a pound, saving at least £5.50 per person compared to your average takeaway.
“Buy versatile ingredients and stock up on seasonings“
“For me, cooking is all about being food-smart,” says Alice, 25. “It’s thinking aboutwhereyou’re buying your food;whatyou’re cooking with; andhowyou’re cooking it.”
Here are some of Alice’s top money-saving tips.
- Buy ingredients that can be used in multiple ways.For example, carrots could be used in a bolognese, a stir fry, a roast, or as a snack with hummus. If you are buying multi-purpose ingredients and planning your meals, your food will go much further.
- Embrace frozen fruit and veg. They’re a much cheaper alternative and have a much longer storage life. Less waste is better for the planet and your wallet.
- Stock up on spices and seasonings. You can make the cheapest ingredients taste delicious if you have things to flavour them with, even frozen veg.
My favourite seasonings which I think can transform any meal are: garam masala; Chinese five spice, smoked paprika; dried herbs, like oregano; black peppercorns; cumin; chilli flakes; sea salt. I also always have soy sauce, sesame oil and fish sauce.
If you buy in bulk, you can keep topping up your grinder instead of buying a new jar each time.
Alice’s Lentil Dahl
“This recipe is a standard dhal recipe that never fails. It is ridiculously cheap and super delicious, plus easy to make in bulk and freeze.
“Also, the best thing about it is you can add extra elements to make it more impressive (for instance, if you’re hosting a dinner), whilst still keeping it super low cost by using similar ingredients.”
Ingredients
- Red lentils (£1.89 for 500g)
- Choppedtomatoes (60p each or £2 for 4)
- Coconut milk (£1 a can)
- Spinach (£2.25 for 450g)
- Large brown onion (£1.35 for a pack of 4)
- Garlic bulb (99p for 4)
- Fresh ginger (£1.25 for 125g)
- Chilli powder (£1.09 a jar) or fresh chilli (59p per 50g)
- Vegetable or chicken stock cube (£1.39 for pack of 4)
- Garam masala (£1.09 a jar)
- Cumin (£1.09 a jar)
- Curry powder (£2.15 a jar)
- Star anise (£1.09 a jar)
- Lemon (£1.50 for 4)
- Rice (£1.59 for 500g)
- Fresh coriander (£1.39 for 100g bunch)
Instructions
- Cook your rice according to instructions. In a medium-sized pot, add oil and when it’s sizzling hot, toss in the chopped onions, garlic, ginger, chill and salt and cook for five to seven minutes or until the onion pieces are translucent.
- While this is cooking, make your stock, then add your spices and cook for one minute. Add your lentils and stir until they are fully coated. Add your chopped tomatoes, stock and coconut milk to the pan and bring to the boil. Use more or less chopped tomatoes and coconut milk depending on how creamy or tomato-heavy you want it.
- Once boiled, bring to a simmer and add the juice of one lemon and a clove of star anise. Put the lid on the pan and let it simmer for approximately 10 to 15 minutes, or until the lentils are cooked.
- When almost done, add your spinach plus any additional seasonings, such as salt, pepper and lemon. Serve with rice and any extras, such as a slice of lemon and some fresh coriander.”
The maths
The total cost of this dish, if you’re buying everything from scratch, comes to around £22.30, a cost of just under £5.60 per person. This saves a total of around £14 compared to a takeaway for four.
However, you’ll have a lot of ingredients leftover including an impressive array of spices, making it much cheaper to make this dish again in the future.
More tips for cooking on a budget
Along with the tips from the chefs above, there are plenty of other ways to cut costs and make getting started with cooking less daunting.
1. Get the right equipment. A decent knife, chopping board, saucepan, frying pan, wooden spoon and a colander are all you need to get started – supermarkets and Amazon sell these at low prices.
2. Get onboard with TikTok and Instagram recipes. Lots of chefs have taken to social media to show off their recipes on a budget. You can find recipes for practically anything on these platforms. When recipes are suggested to you, save them to your account and pull them up when you get hungry.
3. Borrow recipe books from friends and family, and scour the internet. Everybody has old recipe books that they have barely touched. The internet is also a phenomenal resource for ideas and recipes.
4. Cook in bulk. It’s much less effort to cook double or quadruple what you need and keep it in some Tupperware in the fridge or freezer than cooking a new meal from scratch later on. If you’re freezing food, portion it out and add it to separate sandwich bags beforehand – that way you won’t defrost more than you need.
5. Find out what vegetables are in season to get them when they’re cheapest. This way you can adapt your dishes around the most affordable ingredients. The National Trust’s website lists what fruits and vegetables are in season during each month of the year .
6. Use food processors and slow cookers for easy meals. A food processor or soup maker is cheap and great for veg on the turn. Throw some meat, vegetables and herbs into a slow cooker for a few hours and you’ve got a great meal by dinner time.
7. Use an app to avoid food waste. SuperCook is one of many apps that shows you a range of recipes you can make with what you’ve got in the pantry.
8. Find out when your local supermarket makes reductions on fresh food. We’ve listed the times when the major supermarkets reduce the prices of their perishable goods.
9. If you live with housemates, take turns cooking or do it together. As well as being cost effective, it can be a lot of fun to cook and try out new recipes with others.
If you’re looking for ways to save in the supermarket amid rising prices, see our 17 ways to cut the cost of your food bill.
Important information
Some of the products promoted are from our affiliate partners from whom we receive compensation. While we aim to feature some of the best products available, we cannot review every product on the market.
