Can you really feed a family for under $5?
It’s a question I’ve been asking myself more often lately, particularly as grocery prices continue to put pressure on household budgets.
And while I wouldn’t suggest that every family dinner can or should cost less than $5, I do think we sometimes underestimate how far a few simple ingredients can go.
A handful of pasta, a couple of eggs, some beans, seasonal vegetables or a small amount of meat can become a perfectly good family meal.
It doesn’t have to be complicated. It doesn’t have to involve a trolley full of ingredients. And it certainly doesn’t have to mean eating the same thing every night.
That’s why I’ve started my Under $5 Family Dinners series.
Real meals, made with everyday ingredients, designed to feed a family of four modest portions for less than A$5 in total.
Not $5 per person. $5 for the whole meal.
Veg First, Meat Second
One of the biggest changes we can make to our grocery spending is to rethink how we build a meal.
Rather than starting with the question, “What meat are we having tonight?”, I often start with the vegetables, grains and legumes already in the kitchen.
What needs using? What’s in season? What’s growing in the garden? What have I got in the freezer or pantry?
Then I think about what meat, if any, would complement it.
Half a chorizo can flavour an entire pan of rice or a saucepan of butterbean soup. A small amount of pork mince can become a meatloaf when combined with vegetables and breadcrumbs. A few chicken drumsticks can form the basis of a warming tagine.
Meat becomes part of the meal rather than necessarily being the largest ingredient on the plate.
It’s not about giving up meat. It’s about using it thoughtfully.
And there are nutritional benefits too. Including more vegetables, legumes and wholegrains can increase dietary fibre and the variety of plant foods in our diets.
Eat Seasonally and Let the Prices Guide You
One of the simplest ways to keep food costs down is to shop with the seasons.
When vegetables are abundant locally, they’re often cheaper, fresher and easier to find.
A courgette that costs very little in summer might be considerably more expensive in winter. Tomatoes can be plentiful during warmer months, while pumpkins, carrots and other storage vegetables may offer better value at different times of year.
Rather than planning a recipe around a particular vegetable and buying it regardless of price, I prefer to work the other way around.
Buy what’s good value, then decide what to cook.
If a recipe calls for capsicum but carrots are cheaper, use carrots.
If fresh tomatoes are expensive, use tinned.
If courgettes are growing faster than you can eat them, add them to pasta, soups, meatloaf or rice dishes.
And if you grow your own vegetables, even better. Although, as any gardener will tell you, homegrown food isn’t always free once you’ve accounted for seeds, compost, water and the occasional battle with the local wildlife!
Frozen Vegetables Are Absolutely Fine
Somewhere along the way, frozen vegetables developed an undeserved reputation for being inferior to fresh.
But nutritionally, frozen vegetables can be an excellent choice.
They’re often frozen soon after harvesting, helping preserve many of their nutrients, and they’re available throughout the year.
They’re also wonderfully practical.
A bag of frozen peas can be added to rice, pasta, soup or a casserole without any preparation.
Frozen spinach works beautifully in curries, pasta sauces and egg dishes.
Mixed vegetables can turn a handful of rice into a more substantial meal.
And perhaps most importantly, you only use what you need.
There’s no half-used bunch of spinach slowly turning into compost in the bottom of the fridge.
Fresh vegetables are wonderful when they’re affordable and available. Frozen vegetables are wonderful when they’re not.
There’s room for both in a healthy family kitchen.
Substitute What You Have
One of my favourite approaches to cooking is what I call Bitsa Meals.
A bit of this, a bit of that, and somehow dinner appears.
You don’t need to follow every recipe ingredient to the letter.
If a recipe calls for butterbeans but you’ve got cannellini beans, use those.
If you haven’t got fresh parsley but there’s dried thyme in the cupboard, try that instead.
If you’ve got leftover roasted vegetables, add them to a soup, pasta sauce or meatloaf.
And if the recipe asks for an expensive ingredient you don’t have, consider whether you actually need it.
Of course, some ingredients are essential to how a recipe works, particularly in baking. But everyday savoury cooking is often much more forgiving.
The aim is to become confident enough to adapt a meal rather than making another trip to the supermarket for one missing ingredient.
The Pantry Is Your Budget’s Best Friend
A few inexpensive pantry staples make an enormous difference when you’re trying to keep grocery costs under control.
In my kitchen, these include:
- Dried pasta, rice and other grains
- Tinned tomatoes
- Butterbeans, chickpeas and mixed beans
- Dried beans and lentils
- Stock cubes
- Garlic, herbs and spices
- Breadcrumbs or bread that can be turned into breadcrumbs
- Frozen vegetables
None of these ingredients is particularly glamorous on its own.
But together, they give you options.
A tin of tomatoes and some beans can become chilli. Pasta and eggs can become carbonara. Rice, frozen peas and a little chorizo can become a Bitsa Paella.
The more confident you become with these ingredients, the less dependent you are on buying something new for every meal.
Six Family Dinners We’re Making for Under $5
Here are the recipes I’m developing for this series. Each uses affordable ingredients, simple cooking techniques and a little flexibility.
1. Proper Carbonara – Eggs, Not Cream
Pasta, eggs, garlic and a little bacon.
A comforting family dinner that doesn’t need cream or a long ingredient list.
[Read the Under $5 Carbonara recipe – link coming soon]
2. Spanish-Inspired Chorizo and Butterbean Soup
Half a chorizo, butterbeans, tomatoes, stock and seasoning.
A warming soup where the beans provide the substance and the chorizo adds smoky flavour.
[Read the Under $5 Chorizo and Butterbean Soup recipe – link coming soon]
3. Two-Bean Chilli Sin Carne
A tin of four-bean mix, another tin of beans, tomatoes and warming spices.
Add sweet potato or leftover vegetables if you’ve got them.
A meat-free family dinner that’s also useful for batch cooking.
[Read the Under $5 Chilli Sin Carne recipe – link coming soon]
4. Bitsa Pork Meatloaf
Just 250 g of pork mince, breadcrumbs made from two slices of bread, carrots, onion and herbs.
Serve with pasta or mashed potatoes, and add nuts or dried fruit if you’ve got some to use.
[Read the Under $5 Bitsa Meatloaf recipe – link coming soon]
5. Chicken Drumstick Tagine
Chicken drumsticks, warming spices, tomatoes and pantry staples.
At $3.75 per kilogram for drumsticks, it’s a useful starting point for a budget family meal.
Read my Chicken Drumstick Tagine recipe
The original recipe is available now; its under-$5 variation is being costed.
6. Bitsa Chorizo and Vegetable Paella
Rice, half a chorizo, frozen peas, onion, vegetables and stock.
A Spanish-inspired family dinner that turns a little meat and a few pantry staples into something delicious.
[Read the Under $5 Bitsa Paella recipe – link coming soon]
As more recipes are tested and costed, I’ll add them here.
A Word About Portion Sizes and Nutrition
These recipes are designed to make four modest portions, but every family’s needs are different.
Growing children, teenagers and active adults may need larger servings or additional sides.
And while keeping costs down is important, so is eating enough and enjoying a varied diet.
I don’t believe in labelling foods as good or bad, and I certainly don’t believe that every meal needs to be nutritionally perfect.
What matters is the bigger picture.
A variety of vegetables, legumes, grains, protein foods and other everyday ingredients across the week helps support a balanced diet.
Budget cooking should make family life easier, not create another set of food rules.
Make the Next Meal Easier
One of the best ways to save money is to think beyond tonight’s dinner.
If you’re chopping carrots and onions, prepare a little extra for tomorrow.
If you’re cooking beans, make enough for another meal.
If you’ve bought a packet of chorizo, plan two recipes that use half each.
And before you write your next shopping list, have a look at what’s already in the fridge, freezer and pantry.
Sometimes the cheapest dinner is the one you don’t need to shop for.
Good Food Doesn’t Have to Cost a Fortune
I started At Home with Mrs E because I believe good food should be practical, enjoyable and accessible.
Not everyone has the time, money or inclination to prepare elaborate meals every evening.
And frankly, when you’re juggling work, children, the garden and everything else that comes with family life, sometimes getting dinner on the table is quite enough of an achievement.
The Under $5 Family Dinners series isn’t about perfection.
It’s about making the most of what we have, eating seasonally, wasting less and learning how to turn simple ingredients into satisfying meals.
Veg first. Meat second. Use what you’ve got.
And hopefully, keep a little more money in the grocery budget for next week.
A Note on Recipe Costs
All prices are in Australian dollars (AUD) and are based on ingredient prices available in November 2026. Costs reflect the quantities used in each recipe, rather than the cost of purchasing full packets. Prices may vary depending on your supermarket, location, seasonal availability and special offers. Pantry staples, herbs and seasonings are included at their estimated usage cost unless otherwise stated.
Individual recipes will include ingredient cost breakdowns. Recipes are only confirmed as under $5 once their complete ingredient costs have been verified.