Top tips for cooking on a budget

Establish your family's food budget first, then get planning. Spending some time at the weekend writing a meal plan will help you only buy what you need and saves your mental energy, too. Get the family involved so everyone knows what’s coming, and leave a night or two free for some treats (check out our Pizza Night Dine In menu for when you don’t fancy cooking). Before you start, ‘shop your cupboards’ and fridge to determine whether you’ve got foods you’d like to use up, and use this as a base for your recipes. We’ve got hundreds of flavour-packed, budget-friendly ideas online.

If you’ve got a little extra time at the weekend, invest it in some meal prep to reward your future self. This doesn’t necessarily mean eating the same dish every night. Try roasting a big tray of seasonal veg, such as squash, red onions and courgettes, ready to be tossed through pasta, blitzed into sauces and served with grains and houmous for a quick packed-lunch. Add a few jacket potatoes to the oven at the same time, which can be eaten as they are with beans or tuna (both part of our Remarksable Value range). Or halve cooked potatoes and remove the flesh, mix with our Remarksable Value cheddar and a finely diced onion, load back into the skins and bake until bubbling.

Frozen food is great value, packed at its peak for freshness, and, since you only use what you need, eating more of it will help you cut down on waste. Stock up on great value staples like our frozen peas – picked and packed within 48 hours to lock in the flavour – and fish and seafood, which is 100% responsibly sourced. Frozen mixed berries are a budget-friendly choice, and as good blitzed into smoothies as they are topped with apples and crumble then baked.