Can you cook lunch for £2.70?
Discussion
My work has canteen which sells subsidised food, a main meal which is fresh, healthy and cooked to order costs £2.70. You can also order something to take home in the evenings for the same cost, and breakfast starts from as little as 50p.
It got me thinking, could you actually cook a different fresh and nutritious meal each day for less than £2.70, including gas, electricity and washing up?
I don't think you can? Which makes a cheap meal even more satisfying.
It got me thinking, could you actually cook a different fresh and nutritious meal each day for less than £2.70, including gas, electricity and washing up?
I don't think you can? Which makes a cheap meal even more satisfying.
Absolutely you can, with enough planning it's really not that difficult.
Making sure you make use of whats in season for the best price on stuff like fruit and veg, then there's things like eggs and what not that are pretty inexpensive. You've got to look at the bigger picture and look at it as a weeks worth of food rather than one day, as that gives you more money to play with.
Making sure you make use of whats in season for the best price on stuff like fruit and veg, then there's things like eggs and what not that are pretty inexpensive. You've got to look at the bigger picture and look at it as a weeks worth of food rather than one day, as that gives you more money to play with.
NordicCrankShaft said:
Absolutely you can, with enough planning it's really not that difficult.
Making sure you make use of whats in season for the best price on stuff like fruit and veg, then there's things like eggs and what not that are pretty inexpensive. You've got to look at the bigger picture and look at it as a weeks worth of food rather than one day, as that gives you more money to play with.
I appreciate what your saying, but I just can't see me getting 5 pieces of meat and enough veg for 5 meals from ASDA for less than £13.50 nevermind the gas, electricity and water used to cook and clean.Making sure you make use of whats in season for the best price on stuff like fruit and veg, then there's things like eggs and what not that are pretty inexpensive. You've got to look at the bigger picture and look at it as a weeks worth of food rather than one day, as that gives you more money to play with.
I'm in the same boat, except my work canteen does a main meal for £1.99
On the days where they serve rice+ a quarter chicken it's a no brainer to order that. some things like lasagne or moussaka are filling too. I want to take in more lunches as it will save me time during lunch break... but don't want to exceed £2.
ideally would probably want to take in something like roasted meat or sausages. and eat with rice or bread. or with noodles that can be cooked from boiled tap water (not a kettle in sight) or with help from the microwave.
On the days where they serve rice+ a quarter chicken it's a no brainer to order that. some things like lasagne or moussaka are filling too. I want to take in more lunches as it will save me time during lunch break... but don't want to exceed £2.
ideally would probably want to take in something like roasted meat or sausages. and eat with rice or bread. or with noodles that can be cooked from boiled tap water (not a kettle in sight) or with help from the microwave.
lucido grigio said:
Easily.
I can feed just myself a decent evening meal for about 1 pound ,not sure on gas costs.
It's not 100% nutrition for the purist but it's a decent plate of food.
I cook and freeze a lot of slow cook meals.I can feed just myself a decent evening meal for about 1 pound ,not sure on gas costs.
It's not 100% nutrition for the purist but it's a decent plate of food.
Today we did a chilli, and the per portion cost was about £1 for the ingredients. Given that we were cooking 10 portions in a slow cooker the energy cost must have been tiny. I do similar for Spaghetti Bolognese, Curry, and Goulash.
If you cook in bulk from fresh ingredients it's actually very cheap to eat.
t sandwiches for £3.60.
Can easily bulk up meals with frozen / tinned veg. Likewise rice and pasta are very cheap for the quantity of carbs you get.
Let's say you make a batch of chilli with 4 generous portions:
- 750g of mince will do 4 times and is only £2.50
- 2 tins of kidney beans for 70p total
- 1kg of rice is 65p and you'll probably only use a quarter of that, so 16p
- 2x packets of chopped tomatoes 60p total
- Tomato Puree 55p
- Mixed herbs £1, but you use a negligible amount, say 5p worth
- Chilli powder 85p, negligible amount, say 5p worth
Not an ideal recipe, missing a few things (garlic mainly), but gives a decent minimum. Anyway, £4.61 / 4 = £1.15 per meal. Freeze portions and warm them up in the microwave.
No idea about other costs (energy), especially if we start to include time taken and cost to go to the shops for ingredients and actually cook it.
Price obviously rises if you are fussy and buy premium branded products, but I bet the canteen aren't doing that, so hardly seems fair.
Let's say you make a batch of chilli with 4 generous portions:
- 750g of mince will do 4 times and is only £2.50
- 2 tins of kidney beans for 70p total
- 1kg of rice is 65p and you'll probably only use a quarter of that, so 16p
- 2x packets of chopped tomatoes 60p total
- Tomato Puree 55p
- Mixed herbs £1, but you use a negligible amount, say 5p worth
- Chilli powder 85p, negligible amount, say 5p worth
Not an ideal recipe, missing a few things (garlic mainly), but gives a decent minimum. Anyway, £4.61 / 4 = £1.15 per meal. Freeze portions and warm them up in the microwave.
No idea about other costs (energy), especially if we start to include time taken and cost to go to the shops for ingredients and actually cook it.
Price obviously rises if you are fussy and buy premium branded products, but I bet the canteen aren't doing that, so hardly seems fair.
Edited by Strudul on Friday 3rd November 23:41
As others have replied, from an ingredient perspective its not difficult and at home, even including gas/electric etc it can be done.
At work however they have labour costs and that is what makes it expensive.
At work my ingredient budget is £1.47 which is averaged over 45 different meals, some at 80p some are £2.50+. However by the time you pay people to cook, serve, wash up, clean and do the admin our meal cost is nearer £3.50 and that's not taking into account electric, gas etc
That's why companies always refer to meals as "subsidised"
At work however they have labour costs and that is what makes it expensive.
At work my ingredient budget is £1.47 which is averaged over 45 different meals, some at 80p some are £2.50+. However by the time you pay people to cook, serve, wash up, clean and do the admin our meal cost is nearer £3.50 and that's not taking into account electric, gas etc
That's why companies always refer to meals as "subsidised"
Easily
I do a decent chilli at home, from scratch, which works out at around £0.80p per portion for the ingredients (including rice), a slow cooker on for 8 hours, costs about 35p in electric. This will produce 5 portions, there are three of us so 2 are frozen, just this morning I've got out of the freezer 2 portions for this evening as the wife is out and it's just myself and daughter.
Tinned tomatoes 29p
Kidney beans 35p
Onion 5p
Garlic 2p
500g mince £2.29
Tomato puree 50p (I'll use 10p worth)
Stock cube 3p
Dried coriander, chilli, cumin and a bay leaf probably cost 15p in total
Wine £3.50, I'll use 50p worth
Rice can be 40p for a kg for 5 will 20p
Total of £3.98 for a meal for 5 which is £80p each, add the cooking cost and you have 89p each.
I can also do a bloody good spag bol for a similar cost too, both of these meals also use red wine.
It's when certain demographics complain that they are unable to afford healthy food and use that excuse as a reason as to why they buy crap, it really annoys me as, it is complete rubbish, decent home cooked food can be cheap.
I do a decent chilli at home, from scratch, which works out at around £0.80p per portion for the ingredients (including rice), a slow cooker on for 8 hours, costs about 35p in electric. This will produce 5 portions, there are three of us so 2 are frozen, just this morning I've got out of the freezer 2 portions for this evening as the wife is out and it's just myself and daughter.
Tinned tomatoes 29p
Kidney beans 35p
Onion 5p
Garlic 2p
500g mince £2.29
Tomato puree 50p (I'll use 10p worth)
Stock cube 3p
Dried coriander, chilli, cumin and a bay leaf probably cost 15p in total
Wine £3.50, I'll use 50p worth
Rice can be 40p for a kg for 5 will 20p
Total of £3.98 for a meal for 5 which is £80p each, add the cooking cost and you have 89p each.
I can also do a bloody good spag bol for a similar cost too, both of these meals also use red wine.
It's when certain demographics complain that they are unable to afford healthy food and use that excuse as a reason as to why they buy crap, it really annoys me as, it is complete rubbish, decent home cooked food can be cheap.
Edited by HTP99 on Saturday 4th November 09:08
2 or 3 egg omelette, very nutritious and cheap. Plenty of different fillings for variety. Cheese, ham, tomatoes, mushrooms etc. Probably around £1 max price, I get my free range eggs 12 for £1.50 from a local farm.
Microwave last night's leftovers - equivalent to nothing as they'd likely get thrown out otherwise.
Microwave last night's leftovers - equivalent to nothing as they'd likely get thrown out otherwise.
SydneyBridge said:
Its the meat that costs, a large proportion of any meal, a veggie meal is a lot cheaper
Maybe that's how we keep meal costs down in our family - I allow 100g of meat per person, although on the flip side I'm moderately picky about the meat we buy.Something which is finally getting through to my family is making use of what's already in the fridge and varying the recipe accordingly instead of filling the food waste bin every Friday.
At home, easily. 500g mince is £2, 6 decent sausages is £2.50, 6 chicken thighs £3, 6 eggs £2. That's at most £1.25 per serving for your protein and fat. Green veg is 40p per broccoli head, 70p for a cabbage, potatoes and bread are not expensive...
Premises rent and staff costs would be a different story, but at home this is easy.
Premises rent and staff costs would be a different story, but at home this is easy.
My wife manages a very large number of school canteens for a (now) private catering company. They get 82p per head to prepare and serve a main and dessert. Has to have at least one protein and 3 veg/salad (at least two have to be fresh) in the main, but more flexibility with dessert.
She tells me it is easily doable. The biggest impact on profitability is wastage, I'm told.
She tells me it is easily doable. The biggest impact on profitability is wastage, I'm told.
Gassing Station | Food, Drink & Restaurants | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff