Cheap weeknight dinners for Australian households: meals under $5 per serve

Weeknight dinners are where grocery budgets are won or lost

The weeknight dinner decision — made when you are tired, possibly hungry, and pressed for time — is where expensive habits form. Takeaway, meal kits and convenience foods fill the gap when there is no plan and no quick option available at home.

The meals below use common Australian supermarket ingredients, are quick enough for a weeknight, and cost well under $5 per serve when made at home at current prices. Exact costs vary by brand, retailer and week.

This is general shopping and cooking information, not dietary advice.

Pasta-based dinners

Pasta with canned tomato sauce. A can of crushed tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, dried herbs and pasta is one of the cheapest meals available. Adding a can of lentils or half a tin of tuna takes three minutes and makes it more substantial. Cost per serve is very low.

Pasta bake. Cooked pasta, a jar of pasta sauce, whatever vegetables are in the fridge, and cheese on top. Bakes in thirty minutes and serves four generously. Made in advance and reheated, it works as next-day lunch too.

Spaghetti bolognese with lentil extension. Beef mince extended with red lentils — cooked down in the sauce so they are not noticeable — stretches the dish to more serves at less cost per serve. Our stretch meals guide covers this technique.

Rice-based dinners

Egg fried rice. Leftover cooked rice, two or three eggs, frozen mixed vegetables, soy sauce and sesame oil. Ready in ten minutes, cheap per serve, and uses up rice and vegetables that might otherwise go to waste.

Rice and lentil dal. Red lentils simmered with onion, garlic, canned tomato, cumin and coriander, served with rice. One of the cheapest meals per serve available and genuinely filling. Scales well to multiple serves with almost no extra effort.

Chicken and rice. Chicken thighs (cheaper per kilo than breast) baked or braised with rice in one pot. Simple, filling, and low cost when chicken thighs are bought on special.

Legume-based dinners

Lentil soup. Red or green lentils, onion, carrot, celery, canned tomato and stock. Cheap per serve, makes a large batch, and keeps in the fridge for several days.

Chickpea curry. A can of chickpeas, canned tomatoes, onion, garlic and curry spices. Ready in twenty-five minutes and costs very little per serve. Works with rice or bread.

Bean tacos. Canned black beans or kidney beans seasoned with cumin, chilli and garlic, served in corn or flour tortillas with whatever toppings are available. One of the quickest cheap dinners available.

Keeping the pantry stocked for these meals

The above meals require a short list of reliable pantry staples — pasta, rice, canned tomatoes, canned legumes, dried spices, oil and stock. Our pantry staples guide covers how to build and maintain this without a large upfront spend.

For the proteins you add to these meals — chicken, mince, tinned fish — run a search on TrolleyChecker before your weekly shop to see which chain has the better price this week.