Budget meal plan: a week of cheap, healthy meals
This budget meal plan keeps a week of meals cheap by building them on low-cost staples, lentils, chickpeas, eggs, oats, rice, potatoes, frozen vegetables and canned fish, and by cooking once to eat twice.
Prices vary too much by country and shop to quote, so instead you get the habits that save the most, plus one day worked out with calories and macros from USDA data.
Updated October 22, 2026
Sample day
1,890 kcal
Protein
73 g · 15%
Carbs
306 g · 64%
Fat
45 g · 21%
How to eat well on a budget
- Build meals on cheap protein: eggs, lentils, beans, chickpeas, canned tuna or sardines, and chicken thighs instead of breasts.
- Buy frozen and canned. Frozen vegetables and fruit, canned tomatoes and canned beans are cheap, keep for months and cut waste.
- Cook once, eat twice. A pot of curry, chilli or soup covers dinner and the next day's lunch.
- Plan around what you have. Check the fridge and cupboards before writing the shopping list, and use up leftovers first.
Your 7-day budget meal plan
Day 1 is the sample day worked out below.
Day 1
- breakfast
- Porridge with milk and a banana
- lunch
- Egg fried rice with frozen peas and carrots
- snack
- An apple
- dinner
- Red lentil and chickpea curry with rice
Day 2
- breakfast
- Toast with peanut butter and banana
- lunch
- Leftover lentil curry with rice
- snack
- Carrot sticks
- dinner
- Pasta with tomato, tuna and frozen peas
Day 3
- breakfast
- Porridge with milk
- lunch
- Leftover tuna pasta
- snack
- Apple
- dinner
- Chicken thigh tray bake with potatoes and onions
Day 4
- breakfast
- Boiled eggs and toast
- lunch
- Leftover chicken in a wrap with salad
- snack
- Yogurt
- dinner
- Bean chilli with rice
Day 5
- breakfast
- Porridge with frozen berries
- lunch
- Leftover chilli in a baked potato
- snack
- Banana
- dinner
- Vegetable and egg fried noodles
Day 6
- breakfast
- Toast with eggs
- lunch
- Lentil and vegetable soup with bread
- snack
- Orange
- dinner
- Sardines on toast with a tomato salad
Day 7
- breakfast
- Pancakes made with oats and banana
- lunch
- Leftover soup
- snack
- Popcorn
- dinner
- Spanish omelette with potatoes and a salad
A sample day with calories and macros
Day 1, weighed ingredient by ingredient. Rice, pasta, beans, lentils and meat are cooked weights.
Breakfast: Porridge with milk and a banana
450 kcal| Ingredient | Amount | kcal | Protein | Carbs | Fat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rolled oats, dry | 60 g | 227 | 7.9 | 40.6 | 3.9 |
| Milk (2%) | 250 g | 125 | 8.3 | 12.0 | 5.0 |
| Banana | 110 g | 98 | 1.2 | 25.1 | 0.4 |
Lunch: Egg fried rice with frozen peas and carrots
580 kcal| Ingredient | Amount | kcal | Protein | Carbs | Fat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| White rice, cooked | 200 g | 260 | 5.4 | 56.3 | 0.6 |
| Eggs | 100 g | 143 | 12.6 | 0.7 | 9.5 |
| Peas, cooked | 80 g | 62 | 4.1 | 11.4 | 0.2 |
| Carrots | 60 g | 25 | 0.6 | 5.7 | 0.1 |
| Vegetable oil | 10 g | 88 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 10.0 |
| Soy sauce | 10 g | 5 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 0.1 |
Snack: An apple
90 kcal| Ingredient | Amount | kcal | Protein | Carbs | Fat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apple | 150 g | 95 | 0.3 | 22.8 | 0.3 |
Dinner: Red lentil and chickpea curry with rice
770 kcal| Ingredient | Amount | kcal | Protein | Carbs | Fat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lentils, cooked | 150 g | 174 | 13.5 | 30.2 | 0.6 |
| Chickpeas, cooked | 120 g | 197 | 10.6 | 32.9 | 3.1 |
| Canned crushed tomatoes | 150 g | 48 | 2.5 | 10.9 | 0.4 |
| Onion | 60 g | 24 | 0.7 | 5.6 | 0.1 |
| Vegetable oil | 10 g | 88 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 10.0 |
| White rice, cooked | 180 g | 234 | 4.8 | 50.7 | 0.5 |
Day total: about 1,890 kcal, with 73 g protein, 306 g carbs and 45 g fat. To fit your own target, multiply every amount by your daily calories divided by 1,890; the macro calculator gives you that target.
Estimates from per-100 g values in USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy). Brands, recipes and cooking change the real numbers.
Cheap staples to keep in the cupboard
- Dried or canned lentils, chickpeas and beans
- Rice, pasta, oats and potatoes
- Eggs and canned tuna or sardines
- Canned tomatoes, onions, garlic and a few spices
- Frozen vegetables and fruit
- Bananas, apples, carrots and cabbage
Where budgets leak
- Food bought without a plan that goes off before it's eaten.
- Pre-cut, pre-marinated and single-portion products.
- Lunches and coffees bought out; batch cooking covers lunch for far less.
- Brand loyalty: own-brand staples are usually the same product for less.
How Meal Planner Pro handles it
- Choose Budget-Friendly in the quiz. Your plan then leans on affordable staples such as lentils, eggs, canned tuna, rice, bread and frozen vegetables, and avoids expensive proteins like steak and salmon.
- Ingredients are reused across the week, for example a batch of lentils cooked one day and used again two days later, to cut waste.
- Your whole week becomes one grocery list, grouped by category, so you buy only what the plan needs.
- Your country is used to choose ingredients that are easy to buy where you live.
Get your own budget week
Meal Planner Pro builds a 7-day plan from a short quiz, sized to your calorie target, with recipes and a grocery list.
Create My Meal PlanPlans from $8.99/week. No free plan or trial. See pricing
Frequently Asked Questions
Usually dried lentils, beans and chickpeas, then eggs, canned fish and chicken thighs. Prices vary by country, but legumes are among the cheapest almost everywhere.
They're frozen soon after harvest, so they hold their nutrients well, and they cut waste because you use only what you need. They're a staple of budget cooking.
Check what you already have, plan meals that share ingredients, cook in batches for leftovers, and shop from a list. A plan with a built-in grocery list does most of that for you.
Sources: USDA FoodData Central records used
- Rolled oats, dry: Cereals, oats, regular and quick, not fortified, dry (FDC 173904)
- Milk (2%): Milk, reduced fat, fluid, 2% milkfat, with added vitamin A and vitamin D (FDC 171267)
- Banana: Bananas, raw (FDC 173944)
- White rice, cooked: Rice, white, long-grain, regular, enriched, cooked (FDC 168878)
- Eggs: Egg, whole, raw, fresh (FDC 171287)
- Peas, cooked: Peas, green, frozen, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt (FDC 170017)
- Carrots: Carrots, raw (FDC 170393)
- Vegetable oil: Oil, corn and canola (FDC 169867)
- Soy sauce: Soy sauce made from soy and wheat (shoyu) (FDC 174277)
- Apple: Apples, raw, fuji, with skin (FDC 167793)
- Lentils, cooked: Lentils, mature seeds, cooked, boiled, without salt (FDC 172421)
- Chickpeas, cooked: Chickpeas (garbanzo beans, bengal gram), mature seeds, cooked, boiled, without salt (FDC 173757)
- Canned crushed tomatoes: Tomatoes, crushed, canned (FDC 170501)
- Onion: Onions, raw (FDC 170000)