I’ve tried to keep all of these options budget friendly as I know finances are difficult for many during this time. For some more information on budget friendly meals then check out my post on 7 cheap and filling meals you need to make. A lot of these dishes can be made with meat, vegetables or meat substitutions to cater for different diets too. There’s also a few sweet treats on here too to make lockdown feel a little bit better!1. Pasta bake – the are endless options with this. From creamy sauces to tomato based sauces, pack it with meat or vegetables or both and a good sprinkling of cheese on top.
2. Chilli con carne – this can be made with beef or turkey, vegetables or a meat substitute. I have a recipe for a hearty and healthy chilli that will please everyone.
3. Turkey keema curry – this is one of my favourite things to make and goes down a treat. It’s a little bit of spice and relatively healthy thanks to the turkey mince and tomato based sauce. Check out my recipe for a keema curry.
4. Beef stew – the perfect thing to throw in the slow cooker and the perfect dish to pack with vegetbales.
5. Sausage casserole – again this can use meat or a substitute and is another hearty dish you can throw lots of vegetables into.
6. Fajitas – for these you can use mince, chicken or beef or a vegetable substitute. Fill them with peppers, onion and salsa and a little sprinkle of cheese if you fancy.
7. Omelette – the ultimate quick meal that you can put just about anything in! You can chuck what ever you want in an omelette and it always turns out good.
8. Burgers – another good option for vegetarians or meat eaters. Load your buns with salad, sauce, coleslaw or whatever else you fancy.
9. Mac and cheese – the ultimate comfort food. Add peas, bacon or chicken to bulk the dish out a little bit more.
10. Dump cake – if you fancy something sweet but don’t have many ingredients in a dump cake is perfect. My recipe uses peaches but I have made it with pears and blackberries before.
11. Slow cooker pulled meat (pork, beef, chicken) – honestly I’d be lost without my slow cooker. If you don’t have one now is the time to get one! I love slow cooking meats for hog roast sandwiches or a Sunday dinner.
12. Carbonara – probably one of my favourite ever dishes. Again it can be bulked out with meat (or a substitute) if you want. Chicken or bacon works best.
13. Slow cooker fudge – Everyone seems to be loving slow cooker fudge during the lockdown and who can blame them when it’s so easy to make?!
14. Chicken tikka – can you tell I like cooking curry? We’re big fans of Indian food though and providing you have all the spices curries are pretty simple to make! Here’s my take on chicken tikka.
15. Southern fried chicken wraps – super simple, pack the tortilla wraps with salad and add your southern fried chicken and you’re done!
16. Shepherd’s pie – or cottage pie depending on what meat you use! Either way I like to pack this with vegetables to make up more portions. If you’re freezing this though I recommend only freezing the meat and veg not the potato.
17. Fried rice – you can mix this up with different meat, fish or veg additions according to what you have available.
18. Campfire stew – ah the famous campfire stew! Another slow cooker favourite that’s perfect for portioning up and freezing.
19. Toad in the hole – another favourite in our house. Homemade Yorkshire pudding with sausages in it. Yum!
20. Cookies – cookies are a great thing to make as you can pretty much but anything in them and they’ll taste amazing.
When it comes to saving time and money on food I’m a massive fan of batch cooking. If there’s only two of you eating then it’ll mean you can cook big portions and freeze what you aren’t using. If you’re a family it will mean you can have quick and easy meals that you know are good for your family.
What have you being enjoying cooking or baking during the lockdown? Let me know in the comments.
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Thank you for sharing so many great ideas! I have never heard of the slow cooker fudge but I live for using my slow cooker, so easy to use! Will have to do some research. Love the suggestions and all are cheap and easy as you said. Great post. Emma x
Thanks! I’d be lost without my slow cooker! x
These are fabulous meal ideas! We usually stick to the same staple meals but I would love to eat a Toad in the Hole right now haha. Bookmarked for later!
Leanne | Latte Leanne xx
Hope you’ve found some new ideas! x
Luckily things are slowly starting to return to normal with food stocks in the U.K., I hope you’ve been managing to create some fun meals though! x
Thank you for reading, I hope it provided you with some meal inspiration! x