Cheap Family Meal Plan UK: 7 Dinners for About £35
Planning dinners for a family is hard when every shop costs more. This cheap family meal plan gives you seven dinners for four people, built to cost about £32 to £35 at a typical UK supermarket. It uses simple ingredients, cooks the same food twice where it can, and leaves a few pounds spare in case prices are higher than we expected.
The week at a glance
| Day | Dinner |
|---|---|
| Monday | Egg fried rice with peas and veg |
| Tuesday | Chicken and veg curry with rice (double batch) |
| Wednesday | Cheesy bean quesadillas with salad |
| Thursday | Curry wraps with salad (leftover curry) |
| Friday | Lentil and veg soup with cheese toasts |
| Saturday | Cottage pie with peas |
| Sunday | Potato omelette with salad |
What the weekly shop costs
These are rough estimates based on typical budget supermarket own-brand prices. Your total will depend on where you shop and what is on offer that week.
| Section | Estimated cost |
|---|---|
| Meat and eggs | £9.30 |
| Fresh fruit and veg, and cheese | £8.65 |
| Tins, rice and dry goods | £9.00 |
| Bread, wraps and frozen | £5.00 |
| Estimated total | about £32 |
This plan covers dinners only, for four people. It assumes you already have cooking oil, salt, pepper, milk and stock cubes.
Five ways this plan keeps the cost down
- Cook once, eat twice. Tuesday’s curry is made in a big batch, so Thursday’s dinner needs no extra cooking.
- Stretch the meat. Red lentils go into the soup and the cottage pie, so you need less mince and still get a filling meal.
- Use cheap protein. Eggs, beans and lentils cost far less per portion than meat.
- Buy the big bag. Bags of onions, carrots and potatoes cost less per portion than loose veg, and this plan uses them all.
- Shop from a list. Planning the week stops impulse buys and cuts food waste.
Making it fit your family
- Feeding two? Halve the quantities, or keep the same amounts and freeze the extra portions.
- Feeding six? Add a little more rice, pasta and bread, and use an extra tin of beans or lentils to bulk out the meals.
- Vegetarian? Swap the chicken and mince for extra chickpeas, beans and lentils.
Get the free printable plan
Join our list and get the full “7 Days of Dinners for £35” PDF, with a tick-off shopping list and simple instructions for every meal.
Common questions
Can you really feed a family of four for about £35 a week?
For dinners, it can be done with simple, planned meals, but your total depends on your supermarket, your area and what you already have in the cupboard. Treat the numbers here as a guide.
Does this include breakfast and lunch?
No. This plan covers dinners only.
What if a price has gone up?
Swap that ingredient for a cheaper one, or switch to your supermarket’s own brand. You can also swap any meal for another of similar cost.
Meal plans, recipes and costs are ideas and estimates only. Always check ingredient labels for allergens. We do not give medical or dietary advice. Privacy policy.