A practical £40 week, not five separate shopping lists
Planning five different dinners can easily create five disconnected shopping lists. This week is designed differently: useful ingredients are deliberately carried from one dinner into another, while chicken, pulses and eggs provide variety without requiring five separate main-protein purchases.
The £40 target refers to the expected checkout cost of representative complete packs for two people. The lower ingredient figure shows the estimated value actually used across the ten portions. Keeping both figures visible makes it easier to distinguish the food consumed from the cash likely to be needed at the supermarket.
This is a practical starting point rather than a fixed prescription. Brands, pack sizes, retailer, location and ingredients already at home will change the total. The substitutions below show how to adapt the week without losing its underlying cost-control structure.
Plan summary
Dinner target: £40.00 for five dinners for two.
Estimated ingredients: £25.35, about £2.54 per portion.
Expected checkout: £37.90 using full reference packs.
The five-night dinner plan
Monday
Paprika chicken and pepper traybake
Chicken, peppers, onions and potatoes roasted together with paprika.
About 40 minutes · £6.40
Keep half the chicken, one pepper and some cooked potatoes for later dinners.
Tuesday
Tomato and lentil pasta
A simple red-lentil tomato sauce with pasta and a little cheddar.
About 30 minutes · £3.75
Uses the same onions, garlic, tomatoes and cheddar needed later in the week.
Wednesday
Chicken and vegetable fried rice
Monday’s reserved chicken with rice, pepper, carrot and egg.
About 20 minutes · £4.80
Turns reserved chicken and vegetables into a quick midweek dinner.
Thursday
Loaded bean and potato bowls
Crisp potatoes topped with tomato beans, cheddar and yoghurt.
About 35 minutes · £4.20
Finishes the potatoes, tomatoes and cheddar without requiring another main protein.
Friday
Carrot, chickpea and spinach curry
A tomato-based chickpea curry served with the remaining rice and yoghurt.
About 30 minutes · £6.20
Uses the remaining carrots, spinach, tomatoes, rice and yoghurt.
Complete shopping list and cost calculation
The checkout column represents complete reference packs. The value-used column apportions only the quantity used across these ten portions. Adding the listed packs gives £37.90; adding the value used gives £25.35.
Protein
- Chicken breast: 800g required; 2 × 400g packs at £6.00; about £6.00 used. Used in Monday and Wednesday.
Produce
- Peppers: 2 required; 3-pack at £1.50; about £1.00 used. Used in Monday and Wednesday.
- Onions: 600g required; 1kg bag at £1.00; about £0.60 used. Used in Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.
- Potatoes: 1.5kg required; 2.5kg bag at £1.50; about £0.90 used. Used in Monday and Thursday.
- Carrots: 600g required; 1kg bag at £0.60; about £0.36 used. Used in Wednesday and Friday.
- Garlic: 1 bulb required; 3-bulb pack at £0.75; about £0.25 used. Used in Tuesday and Friday.
- Salad leaves: 200g required; 200g bag at £1.20; about £1.20 used. Used in Thursday.
- Lemons: 1 required; 2-pack at £0.60; about £0.30 used. Used in Monday and Friday.
- Spring onions: Half a bunch required; 1 bunch at £0.70; about £0.35 used. Used in Wednesday.
Chilled
- Cheddar: 300g required; 400g pack at £2.50; about £1.88 used. Used in Tuesday and Thursday.
- Eggs: 4 required; 12-pack at £2.50; about £0.83 used. Used in Wednesday.
- Natural yoghurt: 500g required; 500g pot at £1.50; about £1.50 used. Used in Thursday and Friday.
Cupboard
- Pasta: 300g required; 500g pack at £0.75; about £0.45 used. Used in Tuesday.
- Red lentils: 250g required; 500g pack at £1.00; about £0.50 used. Used in Tuesday.
- Chopped tomatoes: 3 × 400g tins required; 3 × 400g tins at £1.50; about £1.50 used. Used in Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.
- Rice: 400g required; 1kg pack at £1.50; about £0.60 used. Used in Wednesday and Friday.
- Beans: 2 × 400g tins required; 2 × 400g tins at £1.00; about £1.00 used. Used in Thursday.
- Chickpeas: 2 × 400g tins required; 2 × 400g tins at £1.00; about £1.00 used. Used in Friday.
- Curry powder: 20g required; 80g jar at £1.00; about £0.25 used. Used in Friday.
- Paprika: About 25g required; 40g jar at £1.00; about £0.62 used. Used in Monday and Thursday.
- Soy sauce: 30ml required; 150ml bottle at £1.00; about £0.20 used. Used in Wednesday.
- Vegetable stock: 2 cubes required; 10-cube pack at £1.00; about £0.20 used. Used in Tuesday and Friday.
- Tomato purée: 100g required; 200g tube at £0.70; about £0.35 used. Used in Tuesday and Friday.
Freezer
- Spinach: 300g required; 2 × 250g packs at £3.40; about £2.04 used. Used in Friday.
- Frozen peas: 300g required; 500g bag at £1.20; about £0.72 used. Used in Wednesday.
- Frozen mixed vegetables: 500g required; 1kg bag at £1.50; about £0.75 used. Used in Wednesday and Friday.
Preparation and leftovers
Prepare once, use again
- Before cooking on Monday, divide the chicken between Monday and Wednesday so the second portion is clearly reserved.
- Chop the onions, carrots and peppers needed across the week in one session, keeping each dinner’s quantity separate.
- Measure the rice, pasta and lentils before cooking so the remaining dry ingredients stay available for another week.
What remains after the week
- The reference basket leaves useful dry goods, spices, eggs and some vegetables after these five dinners; these remain part of the checkout cost but not the value used.
- Cool reserved cooked ingredients promptly, refrigerate them, and follow current food-safety guidance when reheating.
- If plans change, prioritise fresh salad leaves, yoghurt and opened produce; unopened cupboard and frozen ingredients can support a later dinner.
The shopping strategy behind the week
Buy one main chicken pack and divide it between Monday’s traybake and Wednesday’s fried rice. Cook and reserve Wednesday’s portion promptly rather than treating it as an accidental leftover.
Use one bag each of potatoes, onions and carrots across several dinners. These ingredients are inexpensive, flexible and less likely to leave an unusable remainder than several specialist side dishes.
Open tins and longer-life packs later in the week. Lentils, beans, chickpeas, pasta and rice provide budget resilience if a fresh ingredient becomes unavailable or needs replacing.
Cheddar and yoghurt are supporting ingredients rather than the centre of a dinner. Small quantities add flavour across several nights without requiring a separate topping or sauce for each dish.
How we kept the plan under £40
- One chicken purchase, two dinners: Chicken is used twice, reducing the need to buy another higher-cost main protein for Wednesday.
- Three pulse-led dinners: Lentils, beans and chickpeas keep the week varied while protecting the overall target.
- Repeated vegetables with different roles: Peppers, carrots, onions, potatoes and tomatoes appear in different combinations rather than as identical leftovers.
- No promotional price dependency: The plan does not require a loyalty-card offer, multibuy or temporary reduction to remain below its stated reference target.
How ingredients are reused
- Onions and garlic: The traybake, pasta sauce and curry.
- Peppers and carrots: The traybake, fried rice and curry.
- Potatoes: Monday’s traybake and Thursday’s loaded bowls.
- Rice: Wednesday’s fried rice and Friday’s curry.
- Tomatoes: The pasta sauce, loaded beans and curry.
- Cheddar and yoghurt: Small amounts across Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.
Practical substitutions
- Replace chicken with an extra tin of chickpeas and 250g mushrooms. Creates a vegetarian week and should reduce the reference estimate.
- Use frozen spinach and mixed peppers. Can reduce waste and may cost less than buying several fresh packs.
- Use brown rice or wholewheat pasta already at home. Keeps the plan structure while avoiding an unnecessary new pack.
Make the plan work in different circumstances
If you already have rice, pasta or spices
Mark those items as already in stock when personalising the plan. The expected checkout estimate should fall because no new pack is required.
If you are cooking for three or four
Increase the household size in Plan My Week. Quantities will scale, but complete-pack rounding means the total will not always rise in a perfectly straight line.
If you shop at a different supermarket
Keep the dinner structure and compare equivalent standard packs. Treat £37.90 as the reference-basket estimate rather than a promise from a particular retailer.
If you want a vegetarian week
Replace the chicken with chickpeas and mushrooms and apply the vegetarian rule before generating alternatives.
How this plan was selected
The plan repeats useful ingredients across five different dinners to reduce disconnected purchases and food waste. It is not guaranteed to be the mathematically cheapest possible basket.
Read the ingredient-pricing methodology, see how dinners are selected or understand the wider UK food-cost picture.
Questions about this £40 plan
Does the £40 target include full supermarket packs?
Yes. The expected checkout figure uses representative complete packs; the lower ingredient figure shows only the estimated value used by these dinners.
Can I make the plan vegetarian?
Yes. Replace the chicken with chickpeas and mushrooms, then apply vegetarian preferences when personalising the plan.
Will my actual checkout be exactly £37.90?
No. Retailer, location, availability, substitutions, promotions and ingredients already at home will change it.
Are cupboard basics included?
Every priced item used in the calculation is shown in the shopping list. Salt, pepper and cooking oil are treated as cupboard basics and are not included in the £37.90 reference basket.
Can I scale this plan for a larger household?
Yes. Increase the household size when personalising the plan. Complete-pack rounding means the checkout estimate may not increase in a perfectly straight line.