These budget family meal plans are designed with mid-week dinners in mind. All these recipes are quick and easy, using only a few ingredients that overlap in order to keep the weekly shopping cheap. Family-friendly dinners on a budget.
* This is also the last meal plan of the year and we'll be back on January 10th with a brand new series of meal plans!
Aldi Budget Meal Plan Like this recipe? Pin it to your Meal Planning pinboard! Follow SavvyBites on Pinterest
Whether you use every recipe listed or use these healthy dinner ideas as a starting point for designing your own meal plans, let these ideas guide you to having more inspiration and confidence in the kitchen.
Healthy family meal plan
Click to print the shopping list and meal plan
- Smoky aubergine pasta
- Cajun prawn tacos
- Sticky honey garlic pork belly slices
- Crispy Asian lemon chicken
- Easy beef lasagna for a crowd
Meal prep ideas
Meal prep can be a tremendous help to get dinner on the table on busy weeknights. Below, I've listed some of the quick shortcuts or meal prep you can do to get ahead of the game.
- Slow Cooker Chilli- you can make this chilli in advance and keep it in the fridge or freezer.
- All recipes- slice vegetables for the recipes to come throughout the week. Keep them in separate containers in the fridge until ready to use.
What to do with leftover ingredients
I really try and keep the ingredient list small and make sure to use all the items on it, however, as with most meal plans, there are often a few bits and pieces that are extra or leftover.
- This week you shouldn't have much in the way of leftovers.
Pantry Staples
If you're new to Aldi or new to the website I'll give you a quick rundown of the pantry staples and favourite fresh food that I always like to have on hand.
- olive oil
- brown rice
- white rice or basmati
- tinned beans- black beans, kidney beans and chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
- soy sauce- light and dark
- small flour tortilla- great for making tortilla chips or wraps
- coconut oil- please don't even ask me why coconut oil is so expensive everywhere else, but for some reason, in Aldi, it's a fraction of the price. It's also great for skincare, so it's a great pantry item.
- tinned tomatoes- or you can use passata which is a smooth tomato sauce Perfect for making this one-pot chorizo pasta.
- peanut butter- honestly, the smooth pb from Aldi is on par with any high-end brand name. And it's the key ingredient in these peanut butter cookies.
- Fresh vegetables, fruits and whole foods
ground beef (mince) - chicken breasts
- grape tomatoes
- green onions
- feta cheese
- cottage cheese or Greek yoghurt- I change it up weekly
- sour cream or creme fraiche
- Cheese- this usually depends on what types of cheese feature in that week's Aldi meal plan that I'm creating
About the budget meal plan
These simple budget dinner ideas are ever-changing and they feature a mix of both the Savvy Bites classics as well as new recipes every week. Each recipe has the number of servings it makes as well as the nutritional information for each recipe.
Most of the recipes in each plan are designed to serve a family of 4 and most will have leftovers. The exceptions will be the slow cooker recipes, like this special slow cooker meal plan, which will usually serve up to 6 people. Each recipe also gives tips on how to store and reheat leftovers.
With food waste such an important issue both economically and environmentally never has it been so important to be mindful of what we consume. But of course, it's still important to make delicious, creative, inspiring and healthy meals.
Join the Facebook group to share more recipe ideas and all your photos!
Need help with meal planning? You can find our (Aldi ingredients only) weekly meal plans here! Sign up to receive them free every week or take our quick meal planning course and grab the blank meal planner and use all these recipes to create your own meal plans.
THANKS SO MUCH FOR READING AND COOKING ALONG WITH ME! IF YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE OR HAVE A QUESTION, I’D LOVE IT IF YOU LEFT A COMMENT AND A RATING. YOU CAN ALSO FOLLOW ALONG ON PINTEREST, FACEBOOK, AND INSTAGRAM TO SEE WHAT WE’RE EATING, PINNING AND A LITTLE BEHIND THE SCENES TOO!
Leave a Reply