The Budget Kitch: 11 Essentials I Always Have in Stock
While I’m dreaming of sun-ripened tomatoes and home grown potatoes, Tesco is still very much a huge part of my life, as it is everyone’s! To keep the Kitch running without breaking the bank, these are the 10 low-cost items I always have in my cupboards.
This is that in-between season, the transitional month if you wish. The garden isn’t ready for fresh home grown ingredients, while the veg in the shops can look a little sad. There are two of us in the Middleditch household, so we like to keep the weekly shop below £50, while still choosing the best products possible.
I do most of my shop at Tesco. It’s nearby, reliable, and I know exactly where everything lives (when they finally stop moving the aisles around). For baking bits like flour, sugar, and butter, I usually go to Lidl because it’s just cheaper. Eggs are the best from local farm shops or butchers.
So while I wait for the garden to start pulling its weight, this is what’s actually keeping the Kitch going.
The Kitch Core: Starting XI
These are the ingredients I rely on each week. The ones that turn into meals when I haven’t really planned anything.
1. Tomato Paste - £1.40
The base of most “figure it out” dinners.
Go-to: Quick Tomato pasta
Reality: I don’t like running out.
2. Dried Pasta - £0.75
Cheap, easy, and always the fallback.
Go-to: Pasta with garlic, tomato paste and whatever else I can find in the cupboard
Note: Rigatoni is a favourite in our house, and we have multiple bags of the same type of pasta open at all times (Ha!).
3. Rice (usually basmati) - £1.79
For when I want something filling and quick.
Go-to: Simple chicken and rice bowl
Tip: For sticky rice without a rice cooker. Don’t wash the rice before use, have a 1:1 ratio of rice to water (1 cup rice to 1 cup of water), boil for 20 minutes and use the saucepan lid to steam it.
4. Reduced Salt Soy Sauce - £0.55
The ingredient that makes everything taste like an actual meal.
Go-to: Fried rice, soy chicken
Note: Adds salt (even when reduced), depth, and that rich savoury flavour that makes simple meals feel super fancy.
5. Cornflour - £2.55
One of those quiet essentials.
Go-to: Thickening sauces or coating meat for frying
Bonus: Cornflour and Chinese five spice is the secret to a yummy Chinese fakeaway
6. Onions - £0.95
Every meal starts here.
Reality: I always put them on the list, even when there’s 5 in the cupboard already.
7. Lazy Chopped Garlic (jarred) - £1.95
No effort, no mess and no smelly fingers. Just throw them straight into the pan.
Honesty: I know fresh is better, but this is what I actually use because, well, it’s in the name.
8. Baking Potatoes - £1.85
Not exciting, but always there when I need them.
Go-to: Mash potatoes
Bonus: Boil em, Mash em, Stick em in a stew (iykyk)
9. Eggs - £2.85
Quick, filling, and make anything feel complete.
Go-to: Mixed with milk for French toast or used in coatings and batters (katsu, anything crispy)
Why I love them: Eggs are an eggscellent (hehe) ingredient in almost every meal and they provide extra protien.
10. Broccoli - £0.82
Not always planned, not always impressive, but always yummy.
Go-to: Thrown into whatever I’m cooking
Bonus: Broccoli goes with EVERYTHING, well it does in this house anyway...
11. 50% Less Fat Crème Fraîche - £0.85
Always in the fridge. Another one of those, ‘it’s in the basket, but do I already have one at home?’
Go-to: Stirred into sauces, pasta, or anything tomato-based
Note: Makes things creamier, takes the edge off acidity, and brings everything together without much effort.
3 Meals I Make on Repeat From This List
Chicken Katsu Curry
Rice, chicken breast, eggs, flour, cornflour, panko breadcrumbs, soy sauce, garlic, onion, potato, carrot, ginger, sesame oil, golden curry paste and seasonings.
This one sounds like a lot written down, but it’s actually so simple once you’ve done it a couple of times. It’s one of those proper, wholesome meals we come back to week after week. It’s crispy, comforting, and always worth it.
(even Reggie wants a try)
Orange Chicken
Oranges, cornflour, eggs, Chinese five spice, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, rice, chilli flakes and seasonings.
Light, citrusy, and exactly what I make when I can’t decide what I’m in the mood for. It feels fresh but still comforting, which is a rare combination.
Pesto Pasta
Pasta with either a jar of pesto or a quick homemade version (basil, pine nuts, olive oil, garlic, parmesan).
This is the easiest meal. Sometimes I’ll add tomatoes or pancetta if I have them, but even on its own it’s low-budget, simple, and always good.
A final note before we say our goodbyes
If it makes meals quicker, easier, or taste better then it stays.
There is no pressure to be perfect, no overcomplicated plans. Just food that works.
Soon enough, the garden will (hopefully) start giving something back. Whether it’s fresh herbs, tomatoes, potatoes or onions. I’m very excited to make meals straight from my garden. But for now, this is the reality of the Kitch. Simple ingredients from tesco. Meals that come together without too much thought.
And honestly? That’s more than enough.
