Why cooking from your kitchen is cheaper
Cook the fridge, not the shop
The generator starts from your ingredients, so the cheapest meal is the one you already paid for.
Leftovers become dinner
Half an onion, cold rice and a tired carrot are a starting point, not rubbish. Enter them and get one dish that uses them.
Staples that stretch
Lentils, beans, eggs, oats, cabbage and frozen vegetables cost little per serving and carry most cuisines.
Portions that scale honestly
Set the number of servings and quantities, timings and pan sizes adjust with it, so nothing gets over-bought.
Fast enough to skip takeaway
Most budget recipes here land under 30 minutes, which is the real competition for a cheap dinner.
Nutrition per serving, free
Calories and macros on every recipe, so cutting cost does not quietly mean cutting protein.
The cheapest ingredients to build meals around
These keep well, cost little per portion and work across almost every cuisine. Keep a handful in the cupboard and almost anything in the fridge becomes a full dinner.
- Eggs
- Lentils
- Dried beans
- Rice
- Pasta
- Potatoes
- Cabbage
- Carrots
- Onions
- Oats
- Frozen peas
- Tinned tomatoes
- Tinned fish
- Peanut butter
How to cook cheap meals in four steps
- 1
List what you have
Fridge, freezer, cupboard. Anything near its date goes first.
- 2
Add a staple or two
Rice, lentils, eggs or pasta to turn scraps into a full plate.
- 3
Get one recipe
Quantities, steps and nutrition per serving in about ten seconds.
- 4
Plan the second meal
Scale servings up and reuse the remainder tomorrow.