Total cooking time is around 90 minutes and the meal serves between 4 and 6.

You can easily add more veggies and pudding for a little extra!

Ingredients

1 Large Whole chicken (or a medium-sized turkey)
5 large Potatoes
4-5 Carrots
4-5 Parsnips
Knob of butter
Chipolata sausages, 2-3 per person
Bacon, one slice per 2 sausages
Stuffing mix
Stock cube

How to cook a budget Christmas dinner

Start by preparing the veg by peeling the carrots, parsnips and potatoes and cutting each into 2-3 large chunks.

Pre-cook the potato chunks in a saucepan of boiling water for 10 or so minutes until soft then drain.

Rub butter over the chicken and place in a large baking dish, surrounded by the veg.

Drizzle everything with oil and mix the veg to make sure they’re evenly coated. Season with salt and pepper to taste

Roast for 20 minutes at 220C/200C fan

After 20 minutes, remove and mix the veg around. Turn the heat down to 200 degrees/200 fan and roast until chicken is thoroughly cooked and the veggies are soft, about 50 minutes more.

Meanwhile, create the pigs and blankets and stuffing balls.

Start by making up the packet stuffing by mixing with boiling water per instructions and put aside to cool.

Cut the slices of bacon into two length ways and wrap them around the sausages and place on a baking tray.

Form the now-cooled stuffing mix into balls and add to the same baking tray.

Bake the sausages and stuffing balls for 15-20 minutes. You can do this together with the chicken if you have the room in your oven.

Once everything is cooked, plate up.

For a quick homemade gravy, add 1 pint of boiling water to the stock cube. Add in a couple of teaspoons of flour (more or less, to thicken) together with the juices from the bottom of the baking tray, and whisk everything together.

Add the gravy over the roast on the plates and tuck in!

Adapted from Student Eat’s Student Christmas Roast Recipe

Have any Christmas cooking advice or tips? Share them in the comments below!

Over the last few years its image has undergone radical change, becoming mainstream while shedding tired old stereotypes; one in particular – how much it costs.

So much so that 18% of students heading to University this year, according to a recent poll[1], are contemplating going vegan. This, in context, is a huge figure since it is estimated that no more than 1% of the UK population are current vegan. Given the same poll found that 90% of students worry about their budgets, how does going vegan and saving money go hand in hand?

As so many more people are making the transition, vegan-friendly options in supermarkets and eateries are becoming more widely available and, as a result, cheaper. Cheap enough to go vegan on your student loan? Absolutely.

Seven money saving Vegan recipes

Here’s a comparison of seven student staple dishes, listing the average price[2] of the meal or protein element.

1) Spaghetti bolognese v spaghetti bolognese with soya mince (vegan)
Beef mince (400g) £3.45 vs Soya mince (400g) £2.05

2) Chicken fajitas vs mixed bean fajitas
Chicken breasts (400g) £4 vs can of mixed beans 60p

3) Take away donner kebab (£2.45) v take away falafel wrap (£2.20)

4) Jacket potato, cheese and beans v Jacket potato and beans with nutritional yeast
Handful of grated cheese 33p v spoonful of nutritional yeast 23p

5) Chicken curry vs sweet potato, chickpea and spinach curry
Chicken breasts (400g) £4 vs one sweet potato, can of chickpeas and bag of spinach £1.85

6) Shepherd’s pie vs lentil shepherd’s pie
Lamb mince (400g) £3.75 vs red lentils (400g) 90p

7) Quarter pounder vs veggie burger
Quarter pounder (pack of 4) £2.65 vs spicy bean burgers (pack of 4) £1.70

Niki went vegan at University, going ‘cold-tofu’ as a fresher. She cut out all animal products from her diet “after a meat feast pizza with extra cheese”.

“I was always surprised at how much money my friends spent on meat, while still complaining that they didn’t have much money,” she said. “To their one steak or couple of chicken breasts which would only last one meal, I could buy enough food for few days.”

A favourite trick of budgeting vegans is to head to the fruit and veg stall at the local market just before closing, or a local supermarket at about 8pm to pillage the reduced section of the veg isle, and typically get a week’s worth of food for under a tenner.

It’s of course not just the financial saving. Going vegan can’t make hangovers any more manageable, but it can improve your health. Dr Terri Holloway, a qualified nutritionist, said: “Vegans, on average, have lower rates of obesity and lower BMIs than any other dietary group, and are also less likely than meat eaters to suffer from chronic diseases such as heart disease, strokes, several cancers, arthritis and type 2 diabetes.”

Then there’s the environmental impact of going vegan. Animal farming, according to the UN, generates more greenhouse gases than all transport in the world combined. And, of course, going vegan is the best possible thing any individual can do for animals.

Why not follow fresher’s week with a vegan month, on a budget? Try The Vegan Society’s 30 Day Vegan Pledge (www.vegansociety.com/pledge) for daily emails of advice, information and some delicious (and affordable) recipes.

[1] Study conducted by www.VoucherCodesPro.co.uk, polling 2,196 respondents
[2] Price average taken from mid-range products from a number of leading supermarkets

Photo by Food and Drink/REX

A study by the BBC Good Food magazine found that those in 16-24 year old age bracket spent more than any other age group with an average weekly bill of £63.65, compared to the national average of £57.30

Students also spent the most on takeaways with an average of just under £20 a week compared to an average of £11 for older adults and just £3.65 for OAPs.

A further £30 a week is spent on dining out and things like coffees and sandwiches.

The research found that less than 1 in 5 of us bother to cook from scratch despite it being quicker, cheaper and healthier.

In all, the average students is said to be able to cook just four recipes from scratch, although whether that includes things like beans on toast we’re not too sure.

In reality spending £60 a week seems ridiculous especially when you actually feed yourself pretty well for less than£ £10.

3 top tips to saving money on food

Cook yourself and PLAN

Don’t waste money on things like ready meals, prepacked sandwiches or takeaways. Check out these student lunch ideas for University and plan your meals ahead of time.

Buy fresh and be smart with ingredients

The same fresh food and raw meat you can be turn into a variety of meals. A microwave ready meal won’t change but a pack of mince can be turned in to Shepherd’s pie, burgers, lasagna, bolognese, chilli con carne, meatballs and even curry.

Buy and cook together

Cooking together is more social and cheaper. Try classic, homemade dishes like hot pot, lasagna, toad in the hole and pasta bakes to share.

If you’re a 2015 fresher you may have just had your first student loan payment hit your bank account, and for a brief few minutes it feels like you’re the richest person around.

But quickly comes the rent, bills, books and all those Freshers nights out – before you know it you’re dangerously close to going into the red.

When it comes to budgeting at University, how much can you live on?

Student food budget: How much do you need?

Looking at a weekly budget then as a worst case scenario just £5 will provide more than enough instant noodles to keep you alive, if on a rather boring and unhealthy diet.

But you don’t actually need much more to enjoy some proper food – you can eat for just £10 a week if you buy wisely and carefully plan meals ahead of time. And no, you won’t be living off beans on toast.

At £20 or so per week your student food budget can enjoy a little more variety and more expensive dishes while at £30 or over you should consider yourself pretty privileged.

So much do you need? We’d say £15-25 per week is enough to give you a nice, balanced and varied diet – if you put the effort in. More than that and you really shouldn’t have any problems.

Student food budget tips

Here’s just how to make living off £15-25 a week doable as at first it may not sound that much at all.

Cook yourself and PLAN

Don’t waste money on things like ready meals, prepacked sandwiches or takeaways. Check out these student lunch ideas for University and plan your meals ahead of time.

Be smart with ingredients

Buy fresh food and raw meat that you can turn into a variety of meals. A crispy chicken dipper will always be that but a pack of mince can be turned in to Shepherd’s pie, burgers, lasagna, bolognese, chilli con carne, meatballs and even curry.

Use budget supermarkets

Aldi and Lidl are great for cheap stuff and also Iceland for freezer products.

Go veggie

Meat is pretty expensive and can be substituted in many cases for cheaper alternatives, try things like beans, quinoa and eggs in some vegetarian student recipes.

Buy and cook together

Cooking together is more social and cheaper. Try classic, homemade dishes like lasagna, toad in the hole and pasta bakes to prepare and share.

Here are our top 5 tips for Freshers (and current students) on feeding yourself at University.

Cheap takeaways

A takeaway or meal out is the easiest option but (for what you get), generally the most expensive. It needn’t be however, so be sure to read our guide to cheap fast food for ways to save yourself cash!

Cook for yourself with easy recipes

Most students going off to Uni will have probably never really cooked for themselves before and this is something you’ll want to change. Not only is cooking for yourself a great life skill and far cheaper than ready meals, it’s much more healthier and you can make exactly what you want the way you like it.

GET EASY STUDENT RECIPES HERE!

Avoid food waste and keep all leftovers

If you’re throwing food away it’s money in the bin so STOP IT. Keep an eye on use by dates, especially for fresh stuff, and make sure you eat it before then. Most things you can freeze so if you’re not going to be able to eat it, keep it for later rather than letting it go off.

Also don’t throw away leftovers, from pizza to bolognese, you can eat it later (and also avoid having to prepare cook again!)

Don’t say no to a free meal

Grabs opportunities for a free meal or free food and drink by the hand! You can spend the money you save when you go out at the weekend

Become a smart shopper

Finally, know how to get your weekly shop in the supermarket done without blowing your budget with our top money saving shopping tips.

But healthy eating doesn’t have to be expensive! There are several meals you can make that will keep your wallet and stomachs full. Here are 5 healthy, and delicious breakfast ideas you can make for less than £1.50.

1. Greek Yogurt Parfait

Price per serving: £1.48

This delicious recipe will help boost your protein intake with 20 grams of protein and satisfy any sweet cravings you have! It takes about 5 quick minutes to prepare and is a great snack you can bring a long to school. Here’s the full recipe.

2. Baked Banana Blueberry Oatmeal

Price per serving: £0.96

Oats are a great breakfast option to keep you full throughout the day, as it’s full in fibre and other nutrients. They’re also a go-to ingredient for cheap meals! You can make pancakes, protein bars, and tons of different things using oats. You can view the full banana blueberry oatmeal recipe here.

3. Wheat Pancakes

Price per serving: £0.09

This is a great recipe to keep you full throughout the day and satisfy that pancake craving of yours! It takes about 25 minutes to prepare from start to serving. Check it out here.

4. Mexican White Bean Soup

Price per serving: £0.63

If you’re more of a soup person for breakfast than this is for you! It takes a little longer to prepare but is definitely worth it. Full of healthy nutrients and vegetables, check out the recipe!

5. Mediterranean Breakfast Sandwich

Price per serving: £1.24

This ones perfect for egg lovers! Takes only 20 minutes to make from start to finish and is full of protein and essential nutrients. Look at the full recipe here.

There you have it. 5 easy, delicious breakfast meals for under £1.50, that’s one less excuse for you to not start a healthy diet!

We’ve put together a shopping list that totals less than a tenner that can produce some 28 meals.

And no, they’re not all beans on toast.

The ingredients

One tin of baked beans – 24p
Four tins of chopped tomatoes – £1.24
One tin of kidney beans – 23p
One tin of garden peas – 21p
One tin cream of chicken – 39p

Loaf of bread – 36p
Pasta – 29p
15 eggs – £1.00

500g Mince – £1.79
Onions (1kg, packed) – 55p
Carrots (500g, packed) – 25p
Peppers (three, packed) – 95p
Banana (one, loose) – 12p
Mushrooms (button, packed) – 79p
Cheese – £1.55

Total = £9.96

Prices from Aldi as of July 2015

What’s not included

There are some ingredients we’ve not included in the list, cupboard basics like oil, spices, seasoning, butter, sauces and stock. We’ve done this simply because the quantities needed for one week cannot be brought individually (eg. a sprinkle of chilli powder or a teaspoon of oil).

Top buying tips

When it comes to buying on the cheap here are our top tips:

Use budget supermarkets: Based on MySupermarket, the contents of our £10 shopping at Aldi would have cost up to twice as much at other shops.

Compare loose v packaged: Pricing of fruit and veg can be complicated. Sometimes it’s cheaper to buy loose (e.g. onions), other times it’s cheaper to buy packaged (e.g. peppers). Compare the price per unit, get out your calculator app on your pone if you have to.

Use counters: For things like Cheese, Bread and Meat, buying via the respective counters (if available) can lead to savings on cost. Not only are options sometimes cheaper you can buy JUST the amount you need so you won’t be paying more than you have to.

Look out for deals: When researching this post, Asda had their budget chopped tomatoes priced at 31p a tin however premium chopped tomatoes, while more expensive individually, were 4 for £1.

The £10 a week budget recipes

In all we have a total of 18 recipes here which make up a total of 26 servings/meals, that’s five more you than actually need, WIN!

Breakfast

For breakfast we’ve got eleven possible things to try from our ingredients. This is obviously more than you need so you may wish to incorporate the ingredients you don’t use into another recipe for a bigger serving.

Plain toast and butter (or other spread you have available) (1 slice of bread)

Eggy bread / French toast or sweet cinnamon toast (1 egg, 1 slice of bread)

Boiled egg and soldiers (2 eggs, 1 slice of bread)

Scrambled egg on toast (2 eggs, 1 slice of bread)

Baked beans on toast (Beans, 1 slice of toast, grated cheese)

Poached or fried egg on toast (1 egg, 1 slice of bread)

Banana pancakes or banana bread (2 eggs, 1 banana)

Cheese omelette (2 eggs, grated cheese)

Lunch & Dinner

For main meals we’ve racked up some 18 meals from 10 unique dishes. A number provide two servings which you can split across two meals (e.g. dinner then lunch the next day).

Veggie omelette (2 eggs, half green pepper, mushrooms, grated cheese) – Enough ingredients to make two of these

Baked beans on toast (Beans, 1 slice of bread, grated cheese) – you can make this a lot less boring with onions and spices – see how to make beans on toast more interesting.

Chilli Con Carne (1/4 mince, chopped tomatoes, kidney beans, 1 onion, pasta/bread) – Makes 2 servings. Can eat on its own or with pasta or toast.

Veggie Pasta sauce (chopped tomatoes, mushrooms, 1 onion, 1 yellow pepper, pasta/bread) – Makes 2 servings. Could eat with either the pasta or toast (or just on its own)

Spaghetti bolognese… with pasta (1/4 mince, chopped tomatoes, mushrooms, 1 onion, 1/2 red pepper, pasta) – Makes 2 servings

Pasta with cheese (Pasta, grated cheese) – Stir in a knob of butter to make it nicer!

Veggie Fajita pasta (Pasta, 1/2 onion, 1/2 red pepper, grated cheese)

Mince curry (1/4 mince, tomatoes, 1/2 tinned veg, onion, carrots) – Makes 2 servings

Cream of chicken pasta bake (pasta, cheese, cream of chicken soup) – Makes 2 servings

Mince & veg (1/4 mince, 1/2 tinned veg, 1/2 onion) – Makes 2 servings

Conclusion

If you plan well enough in advance, you can quite easily eat off around £10 a week without resorting to microwave pots of noodles.

Veggies are ridiculously cheap and can be used to make dishes fuller with ease, while using ingredients that make lots of different recipes – such as eggs, mince and chopped tomatoes – can give a varied menu from a tiny budget.

Sausage and bean cheese melt

A very cheap student meal: A super simple sausage and bean cheese melt that can be easily scaled up and down for one person to ten.

> Sausage and bean cheese melt recipe

Homemade apple crumble

This super cheap apple crumble recipe is a real easy one to cook and has just a handful of cheap ingredients.

Apple pie for students

Tomato and mushroom sweet jacket potatoes

Mix up a batch of this tasty tomato and mushroom sauce that goes great with a baked sweet potato, although can also be eaten with any normal spud, pasta or even on toast.

Tomato and mushroom sweet jacket potatoes

Sausage lasagna

A classic student dish with a sausage twist: This easy and simple lasagna recipe for students is hopefully fool proof and SUPER cheap.

> Sausage lasagna recipe

Pizza baguettes

A cheap, student friendly 10 minute method to make your own mini pizza baguettes when you’re feeling just a bit peckish!

> Pizza baguettes student recipe

Sausage Pasta Bake

This yummy Sausage Pasta Bake recipe makes for a cheap and super tasty student meal.

> Sausage Pasta Bake recipe

Spicy crispy sweet potato fries

This one really is as cheap as chips: Ditch the standard oven pack chips with these easy to make hot and spicy crispy sweet potato fries on the cheap .

You can easily make these in advance and freeze them to oven cook when you’re hungry.

> Sweet potato fries recipe

Potato and cheese pie

A basic and fool proof cheese and potato bake that is trivial to make and is perfect for budget conscious students.

> Potato and cheese pie recipe

Keep celery in foil

You can keep many veggies for longer by wrapping them in foil, such as celery and broccoli. Related tip: Storing apples with potatoes can prevent them both going off as quick.

Get more juice from your fruits

Microwave fruits like oranges, lemons and limes to make them easier to peel, squeeze and to get more juice out. A quick 20 second blast on a high heat will do!

Give foods a second chance

Make those stale crisps crunchy again but laying them out on a paper towel and giving them a 30 second blast on a high heat.

Turn stale bread into pudding

Don’t ditch stale bread, it’s perfectly fine for all sorts such as toasts (just plain old toast, french toast, cinnamon toast and more) plus tasty desserts like bread and butter pudding – pictured above!

Turn overripe bananas into cakes

Similarly, brown bananas can be used up easily in all sorts of recipes too, such as yummy banana loaf cake!.

Freeze fruit and veg

Don’t let fresh fruit and veg go off! Peel, cut up and freeze fruit to make yummy iced smoothies or cocktails whenever you so desire. Freezing veg requires a little more work, check out this guide here!.

Keep onions and garlic in holey bags

Store Onions and garlic in bags with holes in them to allow them to ‘breath’ and stay alive!

The last of the Nutella becomes decadent hot chocolate

Turn the ends of your Nutella into a decadent hot chocolate by adding warm milk to the jar.

And leftover Mayo becomes salad dressing

Similarly, you can mix the remains of your mayo with a little olive oil and some herbs to make a delicious salad dressing.

Keep bananas for longer with clingfilm

Wrap the tops of bananas with clingfilm to keep them from browning for longer.

Add a paper towel to your lettuce

Store a paper towel with your lettuce leaves to keep them fresher for longer. Breathing on it (the CO2) also helps, but we think most people will find that a bit icky.

Store leftover pizza the RIGHT way

Take your time to store your leftover pizza to get the most out of it: Double wrap in cling film with a kitchen towel between each slice.

Make soups and smoothies from leftovers

Keep off cuts of fruit and veg for use in smoothies and soups. Look online for recipes or just experiment yourself. Bonus points if they actually taste nice.

Learning to cook and generally feed yourself at University is rather fun, especially when often on a tight (to non-existent) budget. Here’s our ways to cheap, homemade food for students…

Buy in bulk

You can save cash by buying lots of cupboard staples in bulk, especially things that will keep well such as pasta or tins. Other foods that you could consider buying in bulk include sauces and oil, chocolate and sweets and crisps. Plus kitchen roll!

Make use of spices, herbs and seasoning

A few cheap spices and herbs can turn even the most boring meal into something more interesting and tasty. You can also buy ready made spice mixes that require you just to simply add them to your food as is.

Plan ahead

Plan your meals in advance to save money by avoiding waste and by making sure you buy only what you need. It’s possible to live off just £10 a week with a tight weekly meal plan. Make use of cheap food that you can use in various meals such as pasta, potato, onions, peppers and mushrooms.

Love your freezer

You can store a lot more foods than you think in your freezer so make use of it! Top freezer tips include freezing food as soon as possible after purchase and dividing into meal sized portions.

> 8 surprising foods you can freeze to keep longer

Don’t waste good grub

Know the difference between Best Before and Use By dates: The former foods can still be eaten after the date shown! Use your common sense (and nose) to judge whether or not something’s gone off. Although it’s probably better to be safe than sorry with high-risk foods like meats, eggs the dairy.

Even if food has begun to turn it can still be used: For example, overripe bananas make for a great banana loaf while stale bread can be fine for toast or for desserts like bread and butter pudding.