7 Day Family Meal Plan on a Budget: Part 3
This is the third edition of my budget meal plan. Another full week of meals for a family of four: seven dinners, breakfast every morning and lunch every day. No skipped meals, no sad food and no compromise on flavor.
This week features some of the most comforting, crowd-pleasing dinners: a warming beef mince curry, creamy tomato pasta with garlic bread, proper bangers and mash with onion gravy, a Greek sheet pan chicken and a full Sunday roast with all the trimmings. Breakfasts rotate between baked oats, banana oat pancakes and easy frambled eggs (my lazy scrambled eggs that require almost no effort). Lunches use a mix of tuna salad, pizza toast, tuna rice salad and the classic PB&J.
For the first two editions and the full system behind how I plan and shop on a budget, see Part 1 and Part 2. For the meal planning and shopping strategies, read my How to Meal Plan for a Month and How to Save Money on Groceries posts.
A caveat or five:
- This plan fed my family of 4 with two teenagers (including one very hungry, protein-obsessed 17-year old). Your family might eat less which would mean more leftovers for lunch the next day.
- I’m working on the assumption that you have cooking oil, salt, pepper, general spices (like garlic powder, paprika, dried herbs) and sugar. Where a recipe calls for butter and you don’t have it, feel free to substitute oil or leave it out.
- If you already have canned tomatoes, beans, rice, pasta or any of the produce/meat options in your pantry or freezer, you won’t need to buy those and will also save a bit.
- If a recipe calls for fresh herbs, use it if you have it but don’t buy it specifically for the recipe. Dried herbs works just as well and if you’re lucky to have it in your garden, go for it. Remember, most of my recipes are developed to be used as a stand-alone recipe. When I’m developing a budget meal plan, we have to cut a few things like fresh herbs, etc. to save.
- Wherever possible, buy items on special and substitute. If tuna isn’t on special this week at your local stores but chicken breasts are, buy those, poach them and shred them to make chicken salad instead. If eggs are too expensive, add another breakfast option instead. These ideas are just that, ways to inspire you to think about your week’s meals before you go to the store.
The Strategy
The Strategy
- The proteins this week: Ground beef/beef mince, pork sausages, chicken, burger patties (which I found on special but you can absolutely add more ground beef and make your own), boerewors/sausage, salami or ham for the pizza toast and canned tuna.
- Sunday’s roast feeds forward. The roast chicken on Sunday is the most expensive single dinner of the week but if you bought a big chicken, any leftover chicken becomes Monday’s lunch sandwiches for next week. The carcass becomes free stock for future soups. One chicken, multiple meals across two weeks.
- Breakfasts are dirt cheap. Baked oats, banana oat pancakes and frambled eggs all use pantry staples and basic ingredients. No expensive cereals, no specialty items. Oats, eggs, bananas, milk, butter. That’s breakfast for the week.
- Lunches are low-effort and low-cost. Tuna salad (canned tuna, mayo), pizza toast (bread, tomato sauce, cheese, whatever toppings you have), tuna rice salad (leftover rice, canned tuna) and PB&J. None of these require significant additional shopping beyond what’s already on the list.
- Friday and Saturday are store-bought protein. I used store-bought burger patties on Friday and boerewors (South African sausage) on Saturday. This is a deliberate budget choice: store-bought patties and wors are often on special and they require zero prep time. Feel free to make your own patties or use a cheaper or local-to-you sausage option.
The lesson: you don’t need to plan the perfect menu and then go shopping. You can shop first (or at least check the specials first) and let the available deals shape what you cook. The meals are just as delicious and the savings are tangible.
The Shopping List
Bought on Special This Week
- Canned tuna
- Pork sausages
- Frozen peas
- Spaghetti
- Burger patties
- Cheese
- Peanut butter
Other Proteins
- Whole chicken
- Ground beef/beef mince
- Boerewors (sausage)
- Eggs
- Spaghetti/ham
- Chicken thighs
Pantry and Staple Items
- Rice
- Tomato passata/puree
- Oats
- Olives
- Chilli crunch
- Strawberry jam
- Mayonnaise
Fresh Produce
- Onions
- Garlic
- Carrots
- A large bag of potatoes
- Carrots
- Green beans
- Corn on the cob
- Cucumber
- Bananas
- Avocados
- Lemons
Spices (from the pantry)
Salt, pepper, cumin, smoked paprika, chili powder, garlic powder, oregano, bay leaves.
Breakfasts
Breakfasts this week are deliberately simple and inexpensive.
Easy Banana Baked Oatmeal
Easy oatmeal baked until golden on top and crisp around the edges. One dish feeds the family, twice (it makes 8 portions). Make it the night before and reheat in the morning or bake fresh while you get ready.
Frambled Eggs
My lazy scrambled eggs. Crack eggs into a buttered pan, let the whites start to set, then gently scramble the whole lot in the pan so you get a mix of set whites and creamy, soft curds. Top with grated cheese and serve on toast. It takes about 3 minutes and there’s no bowl to wash because you’re not beating the eggs first.
Banana Oat Pancakes
Oats, banana and eggs blended and cooked in a pan. They’re naturally sweet from the banana, freezer-friendly and the cheapest pancakes you’ll ever make. Batch cook a big stack and reheat from the fridge or freezer across the week.
Lunches
Lunch can be either one of the below sandwiches or leftovers. If packing a lunchbox for kids, I always like to add a piece of fruit which is where the extra apples or bananas come in handy.
Tuna Salad
Making use of the tuna special, I made a big batch of tuna salad at the start of the week. Served on a bed of greens, as a sandwich filling or scooped with crackers, it’s a great lunch option that keeps well in the fridge for 3 to 4 days. Canned tuna is one of the most budget-friendly proteins you can buy and when it’s on special, it’s worth stocking up. One batch of tuna salad covers multiple lunches with zero additional cooking. Leave out the celery if you don’t want/have it in the fridge.
Pizza Toast
Bread, a spoonful of pizza sauce which I always have in the freezer (but I included passata in the shopping list so you can make your own), grated cheese and whatever toppings you have: sliced ham, peppers, onion, olives. Grill or broil until the cheese is melted and bubbly. I use salami this week but when ham is on special it’s a great choice. Leftover chicken also works.
Tuna Rice Salad
Leftover rice (from Monday’s curry) air-fried until crisp, canned tuna, a simple dressing and whatever vegetables you have. A fast, filling, protein-rich lunch that uses up leftovers. I added a jar of chilli crunch/chilli crisp to the shopping list but it’s an optional extra and will save you money if you don’t buy it. We like spicy food so it’s a great fridge-staple for us.
The Dinners
Monday: Beef Mince Curry with Turmeric Rice
Ground beef cooked with onions, garlic and a generous amount of curry powder. Served over golden turmeric rice (just add a teaspoon of turmeric to the cooking water). This is one of the most affordable dinners you can make: the mince stretches far in a saucy curry, the rice is cheap and the spices do all the flavor work.
Budget tip: Cook extra rice. The leftover turmeric rice becomes part of tomorrow’s tuna rice salad for lunch. One pot of rice, two meals.
Tuesday: Creamy Tomato Pasta with Garlic Bread
My creamy tomato pasta is a family staple for a reason: it’s fast, cheap, uses pantry staples and the cream transforms a simple tomato sauce into something velvety and rich. I served the pasta with store-bought garlic bread but that’s optional. You can easily make your own garlic bread too.
Budget tip: I used tomato passata for the sauce but if you can find canned chopped tomatoes on special, buy those and blend them yourself.
Wednesday: Bangers and Mash with Onion Gravy
Juicy pork sausages, creamy mashed potatoes and a rich onion gravy made from slowly caramelized onions. Served with buttered frozen peas. This is the epitome of comfort food.
Budget tip: Sausages are one of the most budget-friendly proteins. Buy a family pack on special and freeze any extras. The onion gravy is basically just onions, butter, flour and stock. The cheapest gravy you’ll ever make and the most flavorful.
Thursday: Greek Sheet Pan Chicken
Chicken thighs roasted on a sheet pan with potatoes, onion and olives with lemon, oregano and olive oil. Everything goes on one pan, into the oven and dinner is done with almost no active cooking. The Mediterranean flavors (lemon, garlic, oregano) are robust and make simple ingredients taste incredible.
Budget tip: Chicken pieces (thighs and drumsticks) are significantly cheaper than breast and they stay juicier during roasting. The potatoes roast in the chicken fat and the lemon-oregano juices, which means they taste incredible without any additional effort or cost.
Friday: Burgers with Air Fryer Fries
Friday is burger night. I used store-bought patties this week because they were on special and sometimes budget cooking means letting someone else do the work. If you want homemade, my burger patty recipe is simple and cheaper per serving than store-bought (when not on special). Serve with air fryer fries, cheese, whatever toppings you have and a simple burger sauce (mayo, ketchup, mustard).
Budget tip: Store-bought patties on special are a genuine budget option. No prep, no seasoning, no forming. Just cook and serve. Check the specials at your local stores before defaulting to homemade.
Saturday: Boerewors Rolls with Fried Onions
The South African classic. Boerewors (or any good sausage) braaied, grilled or pan-fried, served in a roll with fried onions, tomato sauce and mustard. This is the easiest dinner of the week: cook the wors, slice a few onions and fry until golden and assemble. I braaied some mielies (corn on the cob) alongside the wors for a quick and easy side dish.
Budget tip: Boerewors is often on promotion at South African supermarkets, especially in larger quantities (which I included here to have extra for larger portions or as a meal the next day). Buy when it’s on special and freeze the extras. A boerewors roll is one of the cheapest, most satisfying dinners you can serve and everyone loves it.
Sunday: Roast Chicken with All the Trimmings
The Sunday dinner. A whole roast chicken with roasted potatoes, green beans and glazed carrots. This is the most “expensive” dinner of the week but it’s Sunday and we deserve a beautiful family meal. The recipes I’ve linked are the ones I use most often but for this meal I simply blanched the green beans and tossed them with a small knob of butter and salt. The carrots were glazed with brown sugar only (I didn’t use orange this time) and the chicken was very simply roasted with oil, salt and pepper. I made a quick gravy with the drippings, flour and water and that was lunch done.
Budget tip: A whole chicken is always cheaper per kilo than chicken pieces or breasts. It feeds a family of four with leftovers. Roasting it yourself is a cost-effective and the result is always so delicious. The fond left in the pan from the chicken makes the best, easy gravy. The roasted potatoes cook in the same oven using the same energy. The green beans and carrots are among the cheapest vegetables in the store.
More Budget-Friendly Content
Easy Freezer Meals: Stock your freezer in four batch cooking sessions.Â
Easy Taco Meat: One batch covers multiple dinners.Â
What to Make with Leftover Taco Meat: Four easy dinners from one batch.Â
What to Make with Leftover Stew: Turn leftovers into a brand new meal.