Cheap healthy breakfasts and lunches you can make in ten minutes

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Breakfast and lunch are where budgets quietly leak. A coffee and pastry on the way in, a meal deal at lunch, and the daily cost adds up quickly. The good news is that most cheap, healthy options take ten minutes or less, especially if you do a little preparation once or twice a week. Here are ideas that use ordinary ingredients and need no special equipment.

Principles that keep it quick and cheap

Base meals on starchy foods, ideally wholegrain, as the NHS Eatwell Guide suggests: oats, wholemeal bread, rice, pasta and potatoes.
Add protein such as eggs, beans, yoghurt, cheese, tinned fish or peanut butter, which helps keep you full.
Add fruit or vegetables every time. Frozen and tinned ones count towards your 5 A Day.
Prepare components, not whole meals. A pot of cooked grains and a tray of roasted vegetables can become several different lunches.

Breakfasts

Porridge. Oats cooked with milk or water in the microwave or on the hob take only a few minutes. Top with frozen berries, a sliced banana, grated apple or a spoon of peanut butter. Overnight oats. Mix oats with milk or yoghurt in a jar the night before, add fruit, and it is ready to grab in the morning. Eggs on toast. Scrambled, poached or boiled eggs on wholemeal toast, with tomatoes or spinach on the side, are quick and filling. Beans on toast. Choose reduced sugar and salt baked beans and wholemeal bread. Yoghurt bowl. Plain yoghurt with fruit and a handful of oats or seeds. Plain yoghurt is usually cheaper than flavoured and lets you control the sugar. Breakfast wrap. Scrambled egg, a few beans and some cheese in a tortilla, which is handy if you eat on the go.

Lunches

Grain bowls. Cook a big batch of rice, pasta or other grains early in the week. Each day, add a protein, some vegetables and a dressing. Examples include rice with chickpeas, grated carrot, cucumber and a lemon dressing, or pasta with tuna, sweetcorn and peas. Soup and bread. A big pan of lentil, vegetable or bean soup costs little and freezes well. Portion it into containers so lunch is a matter of reheating. Jacket potato. Microwave a potato until soft, then top with beans, tuna and sweetcorn, cottage cheese or leftover chilli. Loaded toast or sandwiches. Hummus with grated carrot, mashed sardines with lemon, egg mayonnaise with cress, or peanut butter with sliced apple. Leftover makeover. Last night's curry over rice, chilli in a wrap, or roast vegetables tossed with pasta and cheese. Egg fried rice. Fry cooked rice with frozen peas and mixed vegetables, then push it aside and scramble an egg in the pan. Finish with soy sauce.

A sample week of prep

Sunday: cook a large pot of rice or pasta, make a pan of soup, boil six eggs and chop some raw vegetables such as carrots and peppers.
Monday to Wednesday: grain bowls and soup, rotating proteins.
Wednesday evening: top up with a tray of roasted vegetables or a batch of chilli.
Thursday and Friday: jacket potatoes, wraps and leftovers.

Food safety for packed lunches

Keep perishable food cold. Use an insulated bag with an ice pack if you do not have a fridge at work.
Cool cooked food quickly and keep it in the fridge. Eat leftovers within two days.
Cooked rice needs extra care. NHS advice is to cool it quickly, keep it in the fridge for no more than a day and reheat it only once, until steaming hot.

Drinks

Tap water is free. If you like coffee, a flask from home costs far less than buying one daily. Watch sugary drinks and juices; the NHS suggests no more than 150ml of fruit juice or smoothies a day. What is your go-to cheap breakfast or lunch? Share your ideas or questions in the comments.