The Thrifty Family Table – 20 Budget Batch-Cook Dinners (PDF Ebook)

Feed the family well on a tight budget, and cook only twice a week. The Thrifty Family Table is a 31-page cookbook of 20 classic family dinners rebuilt for today's prices, at about €0.85 to €1.40 a serving. Every recipe serves four to eight, freezes or keeps well, and is built on cheap staples: onions, carrots, potatoes, tinned tomatoes, lentils, beans, eggs and modest amounts of meat.

On every recipe page

• A full-colour photo of the finished dish
• An estimated cost per serving, so you can plan the week to a budget
• Calories, protein, carbs, fat and fibre per serving
• Fridge, freezer and reheating notes
• "Batch it": how to double the recipe or turn leftovers into a second meal
• Metric measurements with US cups and ounces in brackets, plus swaps and a money-saving tip

Also inside

• Two-week dinner plan for a family of four: 14 dinners from two shops (estimated at about €84 in total), with eight portions left in the freezer
• Batch-day schedules: step by step, about 2 to 2½ hours each
• Two aisle-by-aisle shopping lists with tick boxes
• The budget strategy: how to batch-cook, stretch meat with lentils and beans, freezer rules and pantry staples
• Freezer guide for all 20 recipes, plus oven, volume and safe-temperature charts

The 20 recipes

Soups & stews: Chicken and Herb Dumpling Stew · Beef, Barley and Lentil Stew · Hungarian Pork, Potato and Bean Goulash · Smoky Bacon and Lentil Soup · Old-Fashioned Chicken Noodle Soup

Pies & bakes: Cottage Pie Stretched with Lentils · Chicken, Leek and Pea Pot Pie · Family Fish Pie with Boiled Eggs · Toad in the Hole with Onion Gravy · Hidden-Veg Macaroni Cheese

Pasta, rice & grains: Beef and Red Lentil Lasagne · Pasta e Fagioli with Bacon · Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya · Kedgeree with White Fish and Eggs · Red Lentil Dal with Spinach

Suppers & traybakes: Mild Beef and Bean Chilli · Sausage and Butter Bean Casserole · Oaty Meatloaf Traybake with Roast Potatoes · Spanish Potato Tortilla with Peas · Paprika Chicken Traybake with Cabbage

Format

Instant download: a 31-page A4 PDF in English. Read it on your phone, tablet or computer, or print the pages you cook from most.

Costs are estimates based on typical German discount-supermarket prices in autumn 2026 and will vary by country, store and season. Nutrition figures are close estimates calculated from standard reference values; brands vary. This is general cooking information, not medical or dietary advice. The food photographs are AI-generated images showing how each finished dish looks.