With just a few cheap and easy recipes, meal planning will save you both time and money. Prepare breakfasts, lunches and dinners for the week ahead with our easy to follow meal plan!
Meal prep is basically preparing food in advance (shocker!) for the next few days or week ahead. Planning exactly what you're going to eat and when can feel like a bit of a chore, which is why we've done the hard work for you.
The average student spends £92 a month on groceries and an extra £34 on takeaways (that's £126 on food in total), which comes to around £1104 for 12 months.
We've done the maths, and if you follow our cheap meal prep plan, you could end up saving over £200 a year, with a day's worth of meals (that's breakfast, lunch, dinner AND snacks) coming in at just £2.67!
We've also added free downloadable shopping lists below to get you started on all the recipes.
Seven different recipes for breakfast, lunch, dinner PLUS snacks might seem like a lot at first glance. But the good news is: we've come up with 28 different recipes so you aren't eating porridge day in and day out! The prices listed* are how much one recipe costs for one person per portion.
Feel free to pick and mix if some look more tempting than others!
28 days: £5.79
28 days: £22.44
28 days: £37.56
28 days: £9.96
If you do think that our meal prep plan might sound like one for you, we've created a shopping list using all the recipes above that should last you a month.
We based our calculations on Tesco.com prices (which were accurate at the time of writing*) and as you can't generally buy just 25p's worth of porridge, we bought enough ingredients for four servings per recipe to last the month.
Note: Certain items will have to be bought in bulk and may cost more than our rough estimations for each recipe.
We've created a Google Doc checklist that contains all the items on this page. You can download it, edit the list and then print it off to have with you when you go to the supermarket.
Click the button below where you can find the link within our 'useful tools' page.
Important: Please read the steps at the top of the document on how to download the file!
Credit: Julia Mikhaylova – Shutterstock
The average student spends £92 a month on groceries and an extra £34 on takeaways (that's £126 on food in total), which comes to around £1104 for 12 months.
We've done the maths, and if you follow our cheap meal prep plan, you could end up saving over £200 a year, with a day's worth of meals (that's breakfast, lunch, dinner AND snacks) coming in at just £2.67!
We've also added free downloadable shopping lists below to get you started on all the recipes.
Cheap and healthy meal plan ideas
Credit: Kiian Oksana – Shutterstock
Feel free to pick and mix if some look more tempting than others!
Breakfast meal plan ideas
| Day | Meal | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | Porridge | 22p |
| Tuesday | Cornflakes | 11p |
| Wednesday | Weetabix | 20p |
| Thursday | Toast | 10p |
| Friday | Yoghurt | 14p |
| Saturday | Eggs | 26p |
| Sunday | Pancakes | 43p |
Total cost
Weekly: £1.4528 days: £5.79
Lunch meal plan ideas
| Day | Meal | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | Bean salad | 49p |
| Tuesday | Bacon and egg pasta | 59p |
| Wednesday | Cheese and onion rosti | 61p |
| Thursday | Chickpea and chorizo couscous | £1.29 |
| Friday | Sausage and bean casserole | £1.04 |
| Saturday | Italian soup | 76p |
| Sunday | Chilli con carne | 83p |
Total cost
Weekly: £5.6128 days: £22.44
Dinner meal plan ideas
| Day | Meal | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | Pulled pork | £1.36 |
| Tuesday | Bolognese | 75p |
| Wednesday | Enchiladas | £1.72 |
| Thursday | Pea and mint spaghetti | 77p |
| Friday | Chicken with roasted vegetables traybake | £1.76 |
| Saturday | Cod with pesto, vegetables and herb potatoes | £1.74 |
| Sunday | Stir fry | £1.29 |
Total cost
Weekly: £9.3928 days: £37.56
Healthy snack ideas
| Day | Meal | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | Omelette muffins with vegetables | 50p |
| Tuesday | Cheese and crackers | 25p |
| Wednesday | Homemade hummus and carrot sticks | 20p |
| Thursday | Yoghurt and granola | 50p |
| Friday | Popcorn | 25p |
| Saturday | Avocado on toast with egg | 59p |
| Sunday | Celery and cream cheese | 20p |
Total cost
Weekly: £2.4928 days: £9.96
If none of those snacks take your fancy, maybe these will...
Shopping list for meal prep
redit: goffkein.pro – Shutterstock
We based our calculations on Tesco.com prices (which were accurate at the time of writing*) and as you can't generally buy just 25p's worth of porridge, we bought enough ingredients for four servings per recipe to last the month.
Kitchen cupboard essentials
| Cupboard essentials | Quantity | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Balsamic vinegar | 250ml | £1 |
| Breadcrumbs | 175g | 80p |
| Butter | 250g | £1.50 |
| Instant coffee | 100g | 74p |
| Cumin | 43g | 85p |
| Dried basil | 18g | 70p |
| Flour | 1.5kg | 45p |
| Ground coriander | 16g | 85p |
| Olive oil | 250ml | £1.30 |
| Paprika | 52g | 85p |
| Pepper | 25g | 70p |
| Salt | 750g | 35p |
| Stock cube beef flavour | 100g | 55p |
| Stock cube vegetable flavour | 100g | 55p |
| Sugar | 1kg | £1.60 |
| Tea bags | 200g (80 tea bags) | 58p |
| Tomato puree | 142g (1 tin) | 35p |
| Worcester sauce | 150ml | 85p |
| Fish sauce | 150ml | £1.70 |
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Monthly shopping list
| Item | Quantity | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Avocado | 2 | £1.70 |
| Baby potatoes | 700g | 69p |
| Bacon | 500g | 72p |
| Baked beans | 2 tins | 64p |
| Beef mince | 2 x 500g | £2.98 |
| Black beans | 1 tin | 55p |
| Bread | 1 loaf | 36p |
| Cannellini beans | 2 tins | £1.10 |
| Celery | 100g | 49p |
| Cheddar cheese | 460g | £2.30 |
| Cherry tomatoes | 2 packs | £1.08 |
| Chicken breast | 2 packs | £7.60 |
| Chickpeas | 3 cans | £1.65 |
| Chilli powder | 50g | 85p |
| Chopped tomatoes | 2kg | £1.40 |
| Chorizo sausage | 1 | 91p |
| Cod | 520g | £2.18 |
| Cornflakes | 500g | 50p |
| Couscous | 500g | 70p |
| Crackers | 300g | 40p |
| Cream cheese | 200g | 55p |
| Curry paste | 200g | £1.35 |
| Dark soy sauce | 150ml | 65p |
| Eggs | 2 boxes of 15 and 1 of 6 | £3.23 |
| Egg noodles | 300g | £1.50 |
| Fresh mint | 20g | 70p |
| Frozen peas | 900g | 62p |
| Frozen spinach | 900g | £1.50 |
| Frozen vegetable mix | 1kg | 79p |
| Garlic | 2 cloves | 32p |
| Gran padano | 175g | £1.89 |
| Granola | 1kg | £1.60 |
| Green pesto | 150g | 90p |
| Kidney beans | 1 tin | 30p |
| Lemon | 1 | 30p |
| Lettuce | 1 | 45p |
| Low fat yoghurt | 3 x 500g | £1.35 |
| Mayonnaise | 500ml | 41p |
| Milk | 8 pints | £2.18 |
| Mushrooms | 190g | 81p |
| Mustard powder | 57g | £1.35 |
| Onions | 12 | £1.08 |
| Orange juice | 3 x 1L | £1.35 |
| Passata | 500g | 32p |
| Penne pasta | 2 x 500g | 58p |
| Pepper | 9 | £2.85 |
| Popcorn | 6 bags | £1 |
| Pork shoulder | 1kg | £3.85 |
| Porridge | 1kg | 75p |
| Potatoes | 700g | £1 |
| Red onions | 3 | 63p |
| Rice | 1kg | 45p |
| Sausages | 8 | £1.40 |
| Spaghetti | 3 x 500g | 60p |
| Spring onions | 100g | 55p |
| Stir fry vegetables | 600g | £1.40 |
| Sweet potatoes | 1kg | 95p |
| Wheat biscuits cereal | 432g | 75p |
| Wraps | 1 pack of 8 | 95p |
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Note: Certain items will have to be bought in bulk and may cost more than our rough estimations for each recipe.
Download student meal plan shopping list
Credit: kreus – Depositphotos
Click the button below where you can find the link within our 'useful tools' page.
Important: Please read the steps at the top of the document on how to download the file!
Make sure you follow these tips at the supermarket to get as much bang for your buck as poss!
How to plan weekly meals
Meal prepping doesn't have to be a mountain of a job. Where there's a will there's a way!-
Start with one meal a day
Planning three meals a day for seven days a week can seem like a mammoth task if you've never done meal prep before, so start small and prep one meal a day for yourself.
Lunch is probably the best one to start with as it's the one you're most likely to eat at uni. Even though uni canteens and cafes are generally cheaper than a Pret, you still end up spending around a fiver for one dish. May we remind you of our bean salad recipe that only costs you 49p per serving?
You can make a different dish for every lunchtime the night before, but we'd suggest you either make enough of what you had for dinner to use for lunch the next day, or make a really big portion to last you a few days. Then feel free to add in breakfast, dinner and snacks as you go along! -
Set aside time to do meal prep
The easiest way to work meal prep into your very busy schedule of uni, coursework, socialising and extracurriculars, is to set aside one day a week or a month to do all of your meal prep cooking.
Remember, the freezer is your friend. If you wanted to do lunches for a whole month, for example, you could make five portions (seven if you want to include the weekend) of four different dishes on a Sunday afternoon and freeze the lot. That way you can alternate your lunches so you don't end up eating the same dish for a week! -
Choose a handful of recipes that are quick and easy to make
Choose a bunch of yummy recipes that you love AND are easy to make. Going back to our lunch example, that's only four recipes. It'll make your meal prep much easier and you won't spend hours on end figuring out what to munch on for the next week.
Credit: Jiri Hera – Shutterstock -
Make meal planning fun
If you enjoy cooking, spending an afternoon in the kitchen won't be a problem. But even if you don't, there are ways to make meal prep a more enjoyable activity. Whack on some tunes or have a Netflix series on in the background (don't get distracted and cut yourself when you're chopping veg, mind!).
Meal prep with one of your housemates if your kitchen is big enough. Cooking together is a great bonding activity and having a gossip while cutting cucumbers will make time fly! If your housemate fancies joining in the on the money-saving, you could each choose a couple of recipes and split the end result. Four hands work a lot quicker than two!
To fridge or not to fridge the tomatoes?
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