Nutrition · Budget cooking

High-protein meals on a budget

Eating more protein doesn’t have to mean expensive steaks and tubs of powder. Most of the best-value protein in a UK supermarket is in tins, cartons and the frozen aisle.

By the Fit Fit City team · Updated 17 October 2026 · 4 min read

The budget protein list

Prices change all the time and vary by shop, so we won’t quote them. These are the foods that usually give you the most protein for your money, especially in supermarket own-brand or “basics” ranges:

• Eggs: about 12.6 g of protein per 100 g, and quick to cook.
• Dried red lentils: about 24 g per 100 g dry. They cook in 15–20 minutes without soaking.
• Tinned beans and chickpeas: about 7 g per 100 g drained, plus fibre.
• Tinned tuna, sardines and mackerel: tuna is about 25 g per 100 g drained. Oily fish also count towards the NHS advice to eat at least one portion of oily fish a week.
• Frozen chicken breast or thigh: often cheaper than fresh, and you only defrost what you need.
• Low-fat mince: about 21 g per 100 g for 5% fat beef or turkey mince. Stretch it with lentils.
• Milk, Greek-style yoghurt and cottage cheese: large tubs are usually better value than small pots.
• Oats: about 11 g per 100 g, and very cheap. Make porridge with milk for more.
• Frozen edamame and peas: easy protein for stir-fries and rice.
• Firm tofu: about 13 g per 100 g.

Values are typical; check the label on what you buy.

Ten meal ideas

Breakfast

1. Porridge made with milk, topped with a spoon of Greek-style yoghurt and some frozen berries.
2. Scrambled eggs on wholemeal toast, with spinach or tomatoes.
3. Overnight oats with milk and yoghurt, made the night before.

Lunch

4. Tuna and bean salad: a tin of tuna, a tin of cannellini beans, red onion, lemon and whatever salad you have.
5. Egg fried rice: leftover rice, two eggs, frozen peas and edamame, soy sauce.
6. Baked potato with cottage cheese or beans, and a side salad.

Dinner

7. Red lentil dal: onion, garlic, curry spices, dried red lentils and a tin of tomatoes. Serve with rice. It freezes well.
8. Chilli with half mince, half lentils or beans: the same protein for less money, and more fibre.
9. Tray-bake chicken thighs with potatoes, peppers and onions.
10. Tofu and vegetable stir-fry with noodles or rice.

Five ways to save money

• Cook once, eat twice. A big pot of chilli or dal is four meals.
• Use the freezer. Frozen vegetables, fish and chicken waste less than fresh.
• Compare price per kilogram, not price per pack. It’s on the shelf label.
• Bulk out meat with pulses. Lentils and beans are far cheaper than meat per gram of protein.
• Plan the week. A shopping list based on a few meals stops impulse buys.

A simple shopping list

Enough for the meals above, for one person for most of a week:

• 12 eggs
• 1 kg porridge oats
• 2 litres semi-skimmed milk
• 500 g Greek-style yoghurt
• 300 g cottage cheese
• 500 g dried red lentils
• 2 tins mixed beans or cannellini beans
• 2 tins tuna
• 500 g frozen chicken thighs
• 500 g 5% mince
• 1 block firm tofu
• Frozen peas and edamame
• Rice and wholemeal bread
• Potatoes, onions, garlic, peppers
• Tinned tomatoes
• Frozen berries
• Seasonal vegetables and salad

A sample day for under-budget cooking

Breakfast: porridge made with milk and a spoon of yoghurt. Lunch: leftover lentil dal with rice, made the night before. Snack: a boiled egg or a pot of cottage cheese. Dinner: chilli made with half mince and half beans, with a baked potato. Every part of that day uses the cheap staples on the list above, and the dal and chilli both make enough for later in the week.

Batch cooking that keeps

• Dal and chilli keep in the fridge for up to two days and freeze well. Cool them quickly and freeze in single portions.
• Cooked rice needs care: cool it within an hour, keep it in the fridge and eat it within a day. Reheat until steaming hot, and only reheat once.
• Cooked chicken should go in the fridge within two hours, and be eaten within two days.
• Hard-boiled eggs are a good grab-and-go snack for a few days in the fridge.

If in doubt, follow the storage advice on the pack.

Flavour without cost

Cheap protein can taste of nothing if you’re not careful. A few low-cost things make a big difference: garlic, onions, a stock cube, dried chilli flakes, cumin, smoked paprika, soy sauce, lemon or vinegar, and a jar of curry paste. Buy them once and they last for weeks.

Keep it balanced

Protein is important, but so are fruit, vegetables and wholegrains. The NHS Eatwell Guide is a good guide to how a balanced plate looks. If you eat red or processed meat, the NHS advises cutting down to about 70 g a day if you eat more than 90 g.

If you’re unsure how much protein to aim for, read how much protein do you need? first.

Allergies

Several foods here contain common allergens, including eggs, milk, fish, soya and gluten (in bread and some oats). If you have a food allergy, check every label, every time. Recipes change.