5 Cheap Dinners for Two, With One Shopping List

Five cheap weeknight dinners for two that share their ingredients: curry, pasta, tortilla, chilli and dal, with the combined shopping list worked out.

By the Matlaro teamPublished 7 min read

Five budget dinners for two on a table: bean curry, arrabiata pasta, tortilla, chilli and dal

The cheapest week of dinners for two is built on ingredients that appear in more than one recipe: tinned tomatoes, kidney beans, onions, garlic, eggs and a few spices you buy once. Here are five weeknight dinners that do exactly that, each ready in under an hour, and the single shopping list they add up to.

All five are real recipes from Matlaro's catalogue, with their real cooking times. Three of them are written for 4, so we halved them for two; the amounts below are already worked out.

Why these five work together

A cheap week is rarely about cheap recipes. It is about waste. A bunch of coriander bought for one dish and thrown out on Friday is money in the bin, and so is a jar of spice used once.

🥫

3 tins of tomatoes

Shared by the curry, the pasta, the chilli and the dal.

🫘

2 tins of kidney beans

One for the curry, one for the chilli.

🌿

2 bunches of coriander

The curry, the tortilla and the dal all use it, so none of it goes off.

🧂

Spices bought once

Cumin and garam masala do double duty in the curry and the dal.

The five dinners

Monday: Kidney Bean Curry

Kidney Bean Curry
From the Matlaro catalogue

Kidney Bean Curry

  • 25 min
  • Serves 2
  • Indian
  • 3 steps

Ingredients

  • Vegetable Oil1 tbsp
  • Onion1
  • Garlic2 cloves
  • Ginger1 part
  • Coriander1 pack
  • Cumin1 tsp

+ 5 more

Cook it step by step in Matlaro

  • Get it on Google Play

Recipe data and imagery: TheMealDBOriginal recipe

25 minutes, serves 2 as written. A tin of tomatoes and a tin of kidney beans with onion, garlic, ginger, cumin, paprika and garam masala, eaten with basmati rice and coriander. The spices are the only real outlay, and the dal on Friday uses them again.

Tuesday: Spicy Arrabiata Penne

Spicy Arrabiata Penne
From the Matlaro catalogue

Spicy Arrabiata Penne

  • 25 min
  • Serves 4
  • Italian
  • 3 steps

Ingredients

  • penne rigate450 g
  • olive oil60 ml
  • garlic3 cloves
  • chopped tomatoes1 tin
  • red chilli flakes½ tsp
  • italian seasoning½ tsp

+ 2 more

Cook it step by step in Matlaro

  • Get it on Google Play

Recipe data and imagery: TheMealDB

25 minutes. Written for 4; for two it is 230 g penne, 30 ml olive oil, 2 garlic cloves, half a tin of chopped tomatoes and ¼ tsp each of chilli flakes and Italian herbs. Parmesan is optional and the most expensive thing on the plate, so it is fine to skip.

Wednesday: Spiced tortilla

Spiced tortilla
From the Matlaro catalogue

Spiced tortilla

  • 25 min
  • Serves 4
  • Spanish
  • 2 steps

Ingredients

  • Sunflower Oil1 tbsp
  • Onion1
  • Red Chilli1
  • Curry Powder2 tsp
  • Cherry Tomatoes300 g
  • Potatoes500 g

+ 2 more

Cook it step by step in Matlaro

  • Get it on Google Play

Recipe data and imagery: TheMealDBOriginal recipe

25 minutes. Halved for two: 4 eggs, 250 g potatoes, 150 g cherry tomatoes, half an onion, half a red chilli and 1 tsp curry powder. It is just as good cold, so any leftover goes into Thursday's lunch.

Thursday: Vegetarian Chilli

Vegetarian Chilli
From the Matlaro catalogue

Vegetarian Chilli

  • 45 min
  • Serves 2
  • British
  • 4 steps

Ingredients

  • Roasted Vegetables400 g
  • Kidney Beans1 can
  • Chopped Tomatoes1 can
  • Mixed Grain1 pack

Cook it step by step in Matlaro

  • Get it on Google Play

Recipe data and imagery: TheMealDBOriginal recipe

45 minutes, serves 2. Four ingredients: 400 g frozen roasted vegetables, a tin of kidney beans, a tin of chopped tomatoes and a pouch of mixed grains. This is the night you do not want to cook.

Friday: Dal fry

Dal fry
From the Matlaro catalogue

Dal fry

  • 50 min
  • Serves 4
  • Indian
  • 7 steps

Ingredients

  • Toor dal240 ml
  • Water600 ml
  • Salt1 tsp
  • Turmeric¼ tsp
  • Ghee3 tbsp
  • Chopped tomatoes240 g

+ 10 more

Cook it step by step in Matlaro

  • Get it on Google Play

Recipe data and imagery: TheMealDBOriginal recipe

50 minutes, plus soaking. Halved for two: 120 ml toor dal, a third of a tin of tomatoes, 1½ tbsp ghee and the spices. Split pulses like toor dal cook more evenly after soaking, so put them in a bowl of water before you leave in the morning and the evening is mostly waiting.

The combined shopping list

Worked out from the five recipes at two servings each. Where a pack is bigger than you need, the note says what is left.

ItemNeeded this weekBuy
Chopped tomatoesabout 1,120 g3 tins of 400 g
Kidney beans2 tins2 tins of 400 g
Onions1½2
Garlic4 cloves1 bulb
Fresh ginger1 piece plus 1 tsp1 piece
Coriander1 pack, 1 bunch, 1 tbsp2 bunches
Red chilli, green chilli½ each1 each
Cherry tomatoes150 g1 pack of 250 g
Potatoes250 gthe smallest bag
Eggs46, two left for breakfast
Penne230 g500 g, half left
Basmati ricefor 21 bag
Mixed grains1 pouch1 pouch
Toor dal120 ml1 pack, most left
Frozen roasted vegetables400 g1 bag, about half left
Ghee1½ tbspor use butter or oil
  • Check you have: vegetable or sunflower oil, olive oil, salt, sugar
  • Check you have: cumin, paprika, garam masala, curry powder, chilli flakes, Italian herbs
  • Dal only: turmeric, cumin seeds, mustard seeds, a bay leaf

We have left prices out on purpose. They differ by shop, region and week, and a number that is wrong by the time you read it is worse than none. The list is built so the expensive items are few and the leftovers are useful.

Five ways to keep it cheap

  1. 1

    Buy the own brand for tins and dry goods

    Tinned tomatoes, beans, pasta and rice are the easiest swap to the shop's own brand: there is little a brand can change about a tin of beans.

  2. 2

    Use frozen vegetables

    Frozen roasted vegetables, spinach and peas do not go off by Friday.

  3. 3

    Plan the leftovers

    Half a pack of penne and two eggs are next week's Monday, not this week's waste.

  4. 4

    Buy spices loose or in big bags

    In Asian and Turkish grocers, cumin and garam masala often come in larger bags than the small supermarket jars.

  5. 5

    Cook the order above

    The fresh herbs and cherry tomatoes are used early in the week, the frozen and dried things last.

Turning recipes for 4 into dinners for 2

Three of these recipes serve 4. In Matlaro you set the servings to 2 and every amount halves, rounded to something you can measure: half a tin stays half a tin, ¼ tsp of chilli flakes stays ¼ tsp, and eggs stay whole. If you want to know how that rounding works, or why baking does not halve as neatly, read how to scale a recipe.

Spicy Arrabiata Penne set to 2 servings: 230 g penne, every amount halved. Photos: TheMealDB
Spicy Arrabiata Penne set to 2 servings: 230 g penne, every amount halved. Photos: TheMealDB
Kidney Bean Curry, step 3: the 15 minutes in the step is your timer.
Kidney Bean Curry, step 3: the 15 minutes in the step is your timer.

Want to cook the week in one go instead? Meal prep for beginners has a 90 minute session and the fridge times to follow.

Frequently asked questions

What is the cheapest dinner to make for two?

Dishes built on dried or tinned pulses, eggs and pasta, like a bean curry, a dal or a potato tortilla, are among the cheapest, especially when they share ingredients across the week.

How do I make a cheap meal plan for the week?

Choose recipes that share ingredients, write one combined list, use frozen vegetables for the end of the week and plan what to do with half packs.

Are vegetarian dinners cheaper?

Often, because beans, lentils and eggs cost less per portion than most meat. All five dinners here are meat-free.

Can I make these dinners for one?

Yes. Set the servings to 1. Tins round up to half a tin, so freeze the rest of an opened tin for another meal.

Photo credits

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