{"id":309023,"date":"2025-11-21T15:56:15","date_gmt":"2025-11-21T15:56:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/recipes\/category-a-b\/budget-food\/budget-meal-plan-with-lentils-and-chickpeas\/"},"modified":"2025-11-21T15:56:15","modified_gmt":"2025-11-21T15:56:15","slug":"budget-meal-plan-with-lentils-and-chickpeas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=309023","title":{"rendered":"Budget meal plan with lentils and chickpeas"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Looking for a cheap meal plan that\u2019s healthy, filling and easy to follow<\/strong>? This 7-day budget meal plan<\/strong> uses red lentils, chickpeas, bacon and everyday ingredients<\/strong> to create a variety of tasty, nutritious meals \u2014 all for around \u00a31.15 per person, per day<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Whether you\u2019re feeding one person or a small household, this plan is designed to save money without compromising on flavour or nutrition<\/strong>. It\u2019s perfect if you want to eat well on a tight budget, build up your store cupboard with versatile staples, and enjoy proper home-cooked food.<\/p>\n

This plan features easy, frugal recipes like Chickpea Crumble <\/a>and Lentil Soup with Bacon<\/a><\/p>\n

\"chickpea<\/p>\n

What Makes This Budget Plan Different<\/strong><\/h2>\n

This isn\u2019t just a list of cheap recipes \u2014 it\u2019s a full weekly menu<\/strong> built around a carefully chosen set of ingredients that work hard in multiple dishes. By combining lentils, chickpeas, vegetables and a little bacon<\/strong>, you\u2019ll make soups, bakes, crumbles and cakes that are filling, freezer-friendly and adaptable to your needs.<\/p>\n

The plan includes breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks<\/strong>, plus flexible tips for stretching meals, freezing portions, and swapping ingredients. You\u2019ll also find cost breakdowns, so you know exactly where your money\u2019s going.<\/p>\n

For meal plan 1<\/a>, as at 24th August 2025, you will need \u00a325.62 in your purse at the checkout, but the amount of food actually consumed (if you follow the plan fully) comes to \u00a320.69 or \u00a31.15 per person, per day,<\/strong> including the extra 8th and 9th days, using the bits and bobs left.<\/p>\n

This plan was first written in June 2013, and now, in 2025, 12<\/strong>\u00a0years later<\/strong><\/span>, I\u2019m delighted that it still adds up and that you can still eat for \u00a31\u2019ish a day.<\/p>\n

Would you like more meal plans? There are lots of other budget friendly meal plans, like this one using salted cashews, black olives and soft cheese<\/a>, celebration weeks, like a vegetarian Christmas week, packed full of seasonal flavours<\/a>, and some Valentines special meals<\/a> too.\u00a0 Have a look at the meal plan list for all the meal plans on Thrifty Lesley<\/a><\/p>\n

Weekly Shopping List<\/h2>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Ingredients for the 7-Day Budget Meal Plan<\/strong><\/h3>\n

This meal plan is built around a small, smart set of ingredients that work across multiple dishes. By buying in bulk where it makes sense and using versatile staples like lentils, chickpeas and flour, you\u2019ll keep costs low while still eating well.<\/p>\n

The column headed \u2018left at the end of the week\u2019 is what you can expect to have left in the cupboard. You can carry that over to next week, or use it for snacks etc, as you wish. The remaining potatoes can be used as jacket potatoes or oven wedges as a calorie top up when ever needed if required, or have a look at the optional 8th and 9th days.<\/p>\n

Swaps & Substitutions<\/h2>\n

\"Summer<\/p>\n

Swap the marmalade for another item, these options below are all more or less the same price. Bear in mind you will be using this in place of marmalade for the baked sponge and on toast. You could choose
\u25cf Smartprice strawberry jam
\u25cf Clear honey
\u25cf Asda Chocolate spread
\u25cf Lemon curd
\u25cf or a home made preserve if you have any<\/p>\n

You could get a litre pack of milk instead of the can of evaporated, currently 69p for smartprice. The evaporated gives a creamier flavour which is why I chose that. Or spend 64p more and get a 2 pint bottle of fresh milk if you prefer.<\/p>\n

You could buy 4 tins of chickpeas instead of the dried pack, or 4 tins of different things eg 1 x chickpeas, 1 x kidney beans, 1 x butter beans, 1 x green lentils. Tins will cost a bit more. 2 tins value kidney beans and 2 tins chickpeas would just be a few pence more. Or you can get all kinds of things at 60p-80p a tin.<\/p>\n

The packs of potatoes have been reduced to 2kg from 2.5kg. If you are really careful, you could use a 2kg bag. If you need a little more, perhaps a tin of potatoes would fill the gap for something.<\/p>\n

Tip:<\/strong> Some items (like passata, oil, and tins) don\u2019t halve neatly for singletons using this plan. Store leftovers in the fridge\/freezer or use them across the week. Most recipes are freezer-friendly, so nothing goes to waste.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s how a typical week looks. Each day includes breakfast, lunch, dinner, and a small treat<\/strong>, all made from the ingredients below. You can easily stretch meals to cover more days by freezing portions or enjoying leftovers the next day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n<\/colgroup>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Meal Plan 1<\/strong><\/td>\nyou will need<\/strong><\/td>\nleft at the end of the week<\/strong><\/td>\nAug-25<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
can evaporated milk<\/td>\nall of it<\/td>\n\n\u00a30.56<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
6 medium free range eggs<\/td>\n6 eggs<\/td>\n\n\u00a31.75<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
500g cooking bacon<\/td>\n500g<\/td>\n\n\u00a31.00<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2kg onions, red ones<\/td>\n2kg<\/td>\n\n\u00a31.96<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1kg carrots<\/td>\n1kg<\/td>\n\n\u00a30.69<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2.5kg potatoes, Essentials<\/td>\n2.3kg<\/td>\n\n\u00a31.35<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1kg frozen peas<\/td>\n1kg<\/td>\n\n\u00a31.54<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
value range tin sweetcorn<\/td>\nthe tin<\/td>\n\n\u00a30.58<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Asda SP 400g passata or tomatoes<\/td>\nthe tin<\/td>\n\n\u00a30.45<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Asda SP 500g mixed fruit<\/td>\n500g<\/td>\n\n\u00a31.72<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1.5kg value sr flour<\/td>\n1.4kg<\/td>\n\n\u00a30.78<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
800g value wholemeal loaf<\/td>\nthe loaf<\/td>\n\n\u00a30.75<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1kg granulated sugar<\/td>\n500g<\/td>\n500g, 54p<\/td>\n\u00a31.09<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
500g Asda red lentils<\/td>\n500g<\/td>\n\n\u00a32.00<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Asda SP 200g salted peanuts<\/td>\n220g<\/td>\n\n\u00a31.33<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1 litre veg oil<\/td>\n855ml<\/td>\n145ml, 29p<\/td>\n\u00a31.99<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
500g Brilliantly Buttery<\/td>\n205g<\/td>\n45g, 11p<\/td>\n\u00a31.24<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1kg value Oats<\/td>\n860g<\/td>\n\n\u00a30.89<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Good and balanced 500g dried chick peas<\/td>\n500g<\/td>\n\n\u00a32.00<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Asda SP tomato ketchup 550g<\/td>\njust a bit<\/td>\n\u00a30.60<\/td>\n\u00a30.93<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Asda marmalade<\/td>\n270g<\/td>\n\n\u00a31.02<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Total<\/strong><\/td>\n\u00a320.69<\/strong><\/td>\n\u00a30.94<\/td>\n\u00a325.62<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
9 days<\/strong><\/td>\n\u00a31.15<\/strong><\/td>\n\n\n<\/tr>\n
Nutrition<\/strong><\/td>\n\n\n\n<\/tr>\n
2000 plus 2500 calories per day<\/td>\n\n<\/tr>\n
11% protein, 35% fat, 54% carbs, 28g fibre pppd<\/td>\n\n<\/tr>\n
Govt. recommendations 10-35% protein, 20-35% fat, 45-65% carb, 25g fibre pppd<\/td>\n\n<\/tr>\n
Current recommendations have moved from 5 a Day for fruit & veg, to 7 a Day.<\/td>\n\n<\/tr>\n
This plan has, per person, a total of 2.5 portions of red, 21 orange, 6 green and 34 white and 12 purple. This gives a total of almost 11 portions of fruit and veg a day each<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"lentil
All the recipes in this budget meal plan<\/a><\/p>\n

Flexible Swaps & Tips:<\/strong><\/p>\n