How to Feed a Family of 5 on a Budget (UK Weekly Meal Plan)

Quick Summary

• A family of 5 can eat well for around £50 a week in the UK with planning — roughly £1.40–£1.60 per person per day
• Aldi and Lidl prices as of mid-2026; swap freely between the two
• Batch cooking two or three base meals does most of the heavy lifting
• The extra person vs a family of 4 adds about £10–£15 a week, not a whole extra shop

Short Answer: You can feed a family of five in the UK for around £50 a week by shopping at Aldi or Lidl, planning meals that share ingredients, and batch cooking. That's three meals a day plus snacks for roughly £1.50 per person per day. The trick isn't extreme couponing — it's buying a small number of versatile staples in slightly bigger quantities and cooking once to eat twice.

Feeding five people on a budget is its own challenge. Most "family meal plan" guides are built around a family of four, and that missing fifth portion is exactly the bit that tips a tight weekly shop over budget — especially when two or three of the five are growing kids (or teenagers, who eat like adults). This plan is built for five from the ground up.

If you're feeding four, our £30-a-week family meal plan is the better starting point; this one scales the same approach up to five.

How much does it cost to feed a family of 5 per week?

Realistically, £45–£55 a week covers three meals a day plus snacks for five people, shopping at Aldi or Lidl. That's about £1.40–£1.60 per person per day.

You can go lower (£40) if everyone eats the same meals with no special requests, or if a couple of your five are young children with smaller portions. It creeps toward £60 if you've got teenagers, want more fresh fruit, or include more meat. The plan below targets the middle: around £50.

The key insight: going from four to five people doesn't mean a 25% bigger shop across the board. Staples you already buy (oil, flour, tinned tomatoes, spices, porridge oats) don't change. You're mostly adding one more portion of the protein and carbohydrate per meal — roughly £10–£15 a week on top of a family-of-four budget.

The weekly shopping list (around £50)

Approximate Aldi/Lidl prices, mid-2026:

Category	Items	Approx cost
Protein	2kg chicken thighs, 1kg beef mince, 1kg dried lentils/2 tins, 18 eggs, 1 block cheese	£16
Carbs	2 bags pasta, 5kg potatoes, 2kg rice, 2 loaves bread, large porridge oats	£8
Veg & fruit	Onions, carrots, frozen mixed veg (2 bags), tinned tomatoes (4), bananas, apples, seasonal fruit	£12
Dairy & basics	6 pints milk, butter, natural yoghurt (large)	£6
Store cupboard	Beans (4 tins), stock cubes, oil, basic spices (top-up)	£4
Snacks/treats	Crackers, own-brand biscuits, popcorn kernels	£4
Total		~£50

Buy the protein and bread to portion and freeze — that's what stops a five-person shop turning into daily top-up trips that wreck the budget.

The 7-day meal plan for five

Dinners (the meals that share ingredients are grouped):

Day	Dinner	Built from
Sun	Roast chicken thighs, roast potatoes, veg	Batch: cook extra chicken
Mon	Chicken & veg pasta bake	Sunday's leftover chicken
Tue	Beef & lentil bolognese (half the mince + lentils to stretch)	Batch: cook double sauce
Wed	Chilli (rest of mince + beans), rice	Tuesday's base sauce idea
Thu	Jacket potatoes with beans, cheese, tuna/egg	Cheap, fast
Fri	Lentil & veg curry, rice	Store-cupboard
Sat	Homemade pizza or egg fried rice (use-it-up night)	Leftovers/odds

Breakfasts: porridge with banana, or toast and eggs, or yoghurt. Around £0.20–£0.40 per person.

Lunches: packed lunches from leftovers, eggs, beans on toast, or sandwiches. Cooking dinner in slightly bigger batches covers most weekday lunches.

How to stretch meals to feed five (and six)

The portion maths is where families of five save or sink:

• Bulk meat with lentils, beans or extra veg. Half a kilo of mince plus a tin of lentils feeds five as easily as a full kilo of mince feeds four — and it's cheaper and higher in fibre. See our calorie-friendly approach.
• Carbs are your cheapest filler. Potatoes, rice and pasta cost pennies per portion — lead with them and treat meat as a flavouring, not the centre.
• Cook once, eat twice. Every batch-cooked base (bolognese, curry, chilli) should make at least two dinners or cover lunches.
• An extra egg or handful of frozen veg is the cheapest way to add a fifth portion to almost any meal.

To stretch to six, add roughly £8–£10 a week and one more portion of carb and protein per meal — the structure doesn't change.

Batch-cook plan (about 90 minutes on Sunday)

1. Roast a big tray of chicken thighs — half for Sunday, half shredded for Monday's bake.
2. Make a large pan of bolognese/chilli base — splits across Tuesday and Wednesday.
3. Boil a batch of rice and a few extra potatoes to reheat midweek.

That's the week's hardest cooking done in one go, which is what makes the budget survivable on busy or shift-work days.

Where the savings actually come from

• Aldi/Lidl over the big four — typically 20–30% cheaper on a like-for-like basket.
• Own-brand everything — the premium for branded staples is pure waste at this budget.
• Frozen veg — as nutritious as fresh, zero waste, far cheaper.
• Lentils and beans — the single biggest lever for feeding more people for less.
• A written plan — the meal plan above is what stops the £50 shop becoming £50 plus three £12 top-up trips.

Related Articles

• How to Feed a Family for £30 a Week (Family of Four)
• The £20 Weekly Meal Plan
• Healthy Meals Under £5
• Aldi Healthy Meal Plan Under £25
• Freezer Meals on a Budget

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does it cost to feed a family of 5 a week in the UK?

Around £45–£55 a week covers three meals a day plus snacks for five people if you shop at Aldi or Lidl, plan meals that share ingredients, and batch cook. That works out at roughly £1.40–£1.60 per person per day. Teenagers, more fresh fruit, or more meat push it toward £60.

What are the cheapest meals to feed a big family?

The cheapest filling meals for a large family are built on potatoes, rice, pasta, lentils and beans, with a small amount of meat for flavour: lentil bolognese, chilli with beans, jacket potatoes, lentil curry, and pasta bakes. These come in well under £1 per portion and stretch easily from five to six people.

How do you feed a family of 5 on a tight budget?

Plan a full week before you shop, buy own-brand staples from Aldi or Lidl, bulk meat dishes out with lentils and frozen veg, lead meals with cheap carbs, and batch cook two or three base meals at the weekend so leftovers cover lunches. The written plan is what keeps the shop to one trip instead of several.

Is it cheaper to cook in bulk for a family of 5?

Yes. Cooking larger batches of base meals (bolognese, curry, chilli) cuts the cost per portion, reduces waste, and means leftovers cover weekday lunches and second dinners — which is exactly what makes a ~£50 weekly budget realistic for five people.