3 Budget Meats + 30 Family Meal Ideas
This post is sponsored by Coles.
Modern family life can be expensive and one of the realities of working for myself is that at times (especially depending upon what else is going on in our family life) income flow can be a little on the inconsistent side. We are so blessed that I can work from home and contribute to our monthly household expenses but we do have to stick to a pretty tight budget to make it all work – especially when irregular incidentals like the need for new school uniforms, or music tuition and dance costume fees come due. The reality is, I have to think and plan carefully when it comes to our monthly meal plan and grocery shopping, that we eat pretty plainly, stick to cheaper meal options and make a lot from scratch to keep costs down and make it all work.
When Coles recently challenged me to create a collection of recipes featuring three products in their Down Down range I felt right at home – these are the meats and meals we eat in regular rotation on our meal plan. They are well priced and provide good value for money for families who need to stick to a budget. In fact just one packet of each of the RSPCA Approved Chicken Breast Fillets (approx. 500gm) at $6, 3 Star No Added Hormone Beef Mince (1kg) at $5 and Thin Beef BBQ Sausages (1.7kg) at $7 could feed our family of four for six nights. That is the meat for one day shy of a week of meals for just $18. And chicken, mince and sausages are easy family favourites that can be used to prepare a great variety of delicious family meals…that kids will actually eat!
I was happy to take the challenge and am excited to share with you 30 family meal ideas that won’t break the bank – your next monthly meal plan is sorted!
3 Budget Meats, 30 Family Meal Ideas
3. Oaty (Wheat Free) Chicken Patties
6. Fried Rice
8. Sweetcorn & Chicken Nuggets
9. Chicken Cacciatore
10. Teriyaki Chicken
12. Sausage & Cheese Rolls with Balsamic Onions
14. Scrambled Egg & Sausage Meatball Tortilla Wraps
15. Curried Sausages (this is one of my girls’ all time favourite dinners!)
16. Burrito Dogs
18. Cottage Pie
19. Cannelloni
21. Sang Choy Bow
24. Freezer Friendly Meatballs
25. Crunchy Topped Meatloaf
28. Beef Rissoles
29. Chilli Beef
30. Beef Enchiladas
What is your family’s favourite budget friendly recipe?
This is fantastic thank you Christie! I use these 3 meat products on high rotation at our place so was in dire need of some new ideas! Great prices too when you are trying to feed not only toddlers in the house but teenagers too.
I sometimes get stuck for inspiration too, Jode! Glad you found these useful 🙂
I love that Coles is making everything cheaper for our families. I also love the RSPCA proved brand. Good food at a reasonable price, with good animals ethics is really important to me. Great dinner ideas too, thanks Christie!
It’s important to us too, Penny 🙂 Thanks for stopping by.
What a great list of ideas! Pinning to use later!
Thanks, Chelsea 🙂
These are amazing idea and I use these 3 meat regularly it’s nice to know I can do a lil differently with my meals instead of the same old boring stuff. thank you so much for your fab interesting ideas I’m so grateful. What would b really good is if this was made into a recipe book I would really love that. I need it in my life lol. For now I will just have to go on each recipe and print it all off x
A recipe book is a great idea, Cherry 🙂
So many awesome suggestions in this list! Thank you!
Thanks, Louise, they are certainly all on high rotation here!
We eat a LOT of chicken, sausages and mince so this is super helpful! thanks!
Fantastic ideas thankyou.
I have 1 you might like. I have 4 kids and a very hungry husband and there is plenty for lunch the next day.
1kg mince, 1kg dry pasta (I use curly pasta), 2 onions, 2 capsicums, 2sml or1large zucchini, 2 carrots greated, 3 tins of Coles brand tomato soup, mixed herbs, generous salt and pepper (and chilli for the adults and brave kids)
1. Cook pasta and set aside.
2. Brown mince (it doesn’t need oil), drain excess moisture, add all veggies and cook untill they are starting to soften.
3. Add tomato soup, mixed herbs, salt and pepper.
4. At this stage you can add 100ml of cream if you are after a creamy version it is supper yummy.
5. Add pasta and mix untill well combined.
6. Pore into an oven safe dish with a lid.
7. Place in 150c for 1 hr.
You can remove lid and add cheese for the last 15mins
What a great recipe, Bron, thank you for sharing 🙂
I think ill have to ask my Mum if she had another daughter we didnt know about..,this could have been written by myself or one of my sisters. Other favourite recipes are anything chicken based..chicken curry with rice, stirfry with either rice or 2 min noodles (my kids actually prefer these) or my super quick easy meals- Spanish omelette, scrambled eggs on toast, chicken noodle soup- 1 large chicken can give us 3 meals of poached.
How resourceful! Thanks for the great tips Christe. People sometimes don’t realise that meal planning is not only a time saver but a major cost saver that minimises food waste too. Meal planning can also encourage you to see what you have in your fridge and use your creativity to plan a meal around those ingredients. It’s amazing how many recipes you have created just using those three simple meats. Comes to show that meals and portion sizes, when planned out properly, can go a long way. Many thanks.
Awesome recipes. And a list that I can actually see myself using in its entirety! Thanks for sharing. Looking forward to using it as my next meal plan!