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Here’s week 4 of my Money Saving Meals series, where we’re bringing you a month of detailed budget meal plans so you don’t have to do the thinking of ‘what’s for dinner’ every evening.
You will find everything you need to follow for an easy, flavour-packed and healthy ease into the New Year – including a full FREE shopping list, additional notes and a breakdown of cost.
On these cold days of January, there’s one thing we need, and that’s hearty and delicious home cooked food that doesn’t break the bank – right?!
We are here for you, my friends!
This is the FOURTH and final budget meal plan in our Money Saving Meals series, where we bring 4 weeks of family friendly midweek dinners that tick all the boxes. Here are the others: week 1, week 2 and week 3.
About this budget meal plan
We have concentrated here on bringing you a collection of recipes that strike a balance of prioritising price and value, while also making sure you get:
⭐️ A full meal for 4 people
⭐️ A balanced plate of carbs, protein and vegetables
⭐️ A variety of ingredients and dishes
Things to note
➡️ You may want to add some side dishes to some of these recipes, which we will outline in the notes below
➡️ Please be aware that any suggested sides have been added to the shopping list but are NOT included in the costings breakdown
➡️ I’ll be sharing this meal plan on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok, so watch out for the videos so you can cook along.
For reference, I shopped for this Meal Plan in December 2023 at Aldi and it cost £29.30
Why use a budget meal plan?
⭐️ Knowing exactly what food to buy for avoids food waste, saving you money
⭐️ Having a plan for dinner avoids the mental load of “what’s for dinner?” question every night
The printable shopping list can be found here.
You can find more Meal Plans here:
Meal Plan 26 – Slow Cooker Saviours
Meal Plan 25 – Easy Midweek Winners
Meal Plan 24 – 5 Brand New Recipes
Some tips for using a budget meal plan:
➡️ Check for any items on the shopping list that you already have in your cupboard
➡️ Maybe think about doubling up and freezing a recipe or two where the recipes are suitable, so save cooking another day or for the weekend
➡️ Remove ingredients for any meals that you don’t want to cook
➡️ The shopping list includes the cheapest version of each ingredient. Obviously if you want to buy lower fat mince or free range etc, that’s personal choice
➡️ All of the recipes are to serve 4, so if you’re cooking for 2, simply halve the ingredients
The recipes
Dinner 1
⭐️ Cost: £.98p per portion
⭐️ Serving suggestion: We’ve added salad to serve on the side to the shopping list.
⭐️ We’ve bought a bag of red onions for all of the week’s recipes, so use these instead of white
Naan Bread Pizza
Dinner 2
⭐️ Cost: £1.32 per portion
⭐️ Brand new recipe!
⭐️ We’ve added rice to the shopping list to serve with this dish
Slow Cooker Vegetable Curry {SO Easy!}
Dinner 3
⭐️ Cost: £1.26 per portion
⭐️ Complete meal in 10 minutes – no need for sides
Creamy Bacon Pasta {10 Minute Meal}
Dinner 4
⭐️ Cost: £.99p per portion
⭐️ Serving suggestion: We have included rice on the shopping list to serve with this.
Sticky Beef Mince Stir Fry
Dinner 5
⭐️ Cost: 90p per portion
⭐️ We’ve added baking potatoes to the shopping list, so you could use these for slow cooker jacket potatoes or homemade chips depending on what you fancy!
Crustless Quiche
Quick reminder, the printable shopping list can be found here.
If you’ve found this useful, let’s be friends on Instagram @tamingtwins
Please remember, all prices included in this meal plan are correct at the time of writing, but are subject to change.