Cook smart

If you’re cooking on a budget we’ve got some great, home economy tips and savvy ideas for your weekly shop and meals to help save you money.

Plan your meals
It may sound simple, but planning what you are going to cook really does help save money and time. Try working out your meals for a whole week, starting by listing what you need to use up from the fridge first. Then work out your shopping list, balancing it against the budget that you have to spend. A few tweaks like buying tinned fish and frozen veg should save you pounds and give you lots of ingredients that can be stored without going off before you get to them.

Make stock
Next time you’re peeling veg for dinner, don’t throw the odds and ends into the food waste. Instead, put them towards making a great-tasting and economical vegetable stock that can be used as a base for stews, soups and veggie risotto. Get a large Tupperware or plastic box with a sealable lid. When you are preparing meals, add any veg filling it up over the course of a few days. Make it at least a third onions and garlic, but add root veg and other scraps including carrot, celery, mushrooms and leek, and any parsley or thyme stalks (but avoid starchy veg such as potato and parsnip, and hardy, leafy greens, which will turn your stock bitter). Seal and store it in the freezer after each addition. Once the box is full, then you can make your stock! Put the frozen veg into a very large saucepan, cover with water, then add a few peppercorns and a couple of bay leaves and bring to the boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook for around 1 hr. Remove the vegetables, then strain the liquid through a fine mesh sieve.Measure out into storage containers, then use straight away or freeze for up to three months.

Make meat go further
Try bulking out classic meat dishes with cheaper pulses and beans, such as this Beef and bean chilli. Or buy Co-op Steak (even better if it’s part of our meat offer!) then stretch it over two meals by slicing and stir frying with lots of veg one night, then frying with chopped tomatoes and spices to use as a filling for tacos the next night.

Slowly does it
When you’re trying to cook healthy food on a budget, the slow cooker is your friend. Cheaper cuts of meat, and simple, budget-friendly ingredients can be made delicious by cooking them gently for a long period of time. This slow-cooker Sausage stew has only six main ingredients, plus a few storecupboard dried herbs – and the result is rich and delicious.

Waste not
Throwing away food is not only terrible for the environment, it’s also terrible for your budget. Make every ingredient count by freezing any leftovers for another day, or trying to work what you have left into other dishes in a creative way. Stews, one-pots and curries all make brilliant and interesting toppings for jacket potatoes. And make a leftovers soup once a week with any cooked veg that has gone into the fridge – fry an onion and some garlic gently until soft, then add a little dried thyme. Add chopped potatoes and pour in a litre of stock, then simmer for 15 mins until tender. Add any leftover cooked veg you have to hand, a squeeze of lemon, then heat up and whizz with a stick blender until smooth.