Recipe costs

Updated 16 January 2026

5-ingredient dinners with real prices

Simple 5-ingredient dinners that cost $2-5 per serve. Real prices from Australian supermarkets. No fancy ingredients.

1. Pasta with garlic butter and parmesan

Butter, garlic, pasta, parmesan, and spinach. That's it. The sauce comes from the starch water and melting butter. It's proper Italian, and it costs almost nothing.

Pasta (500g)	$1.50
Butter	$0.50
Garlic (3 cloves)	$0.30
Parmesan (100g)	$2.00
Spinach (200g frozen)	$2.00
Total	$6.30 (4 serves)
Per serve	$1.58

Cook the pasta. Melt butter in a big pan with minced garlic. Toss the pasta and spinach in. Finish with parmesan. Done in 15 minutes.

2. Chicken stir-fry with rice

Chicken thighs are cheaper than breasts and way tastier. Frozen stir-fry veg are pre-cut, which means less waste and less time.

Chicken thighs (700g)	$5.00
Frozen stir-fry vegetables	$3.00
Soy sauce	$0.30
Rice (200g)	$0.80
Garlic (3 cloves)	$0.30
Total	$9.40 (4 serves)
Per serve	$2.35

Cook rice first. Cube the chicken and fry in a hot pan with garlic. Add the frozen veg and soy sauce, stir for 5 minutes. Serve over rice. 25 minutes start to finish.

3. Baked beans and eggs on toast

Tinned baked beans are one of the cheapest proteins you can buy. Eggs are basically free. Toast, cheese, butter. Breakfast for dinner, and it's under a dollar a head.

Tinned baked beans (425g)	$1.50
Eggs (4)	$1.00
Bread (4 slices)	$0.50
Cheddar cheese (80g)	$1.00
Butter	$0.30
Total	$4.30 (4 serves)
Per serve	$1.08

Toast the bread and butter it. Heat the beans in a pan. Fry the eggs however you like. Pile everything on toast and cover with cheese. 10 minutes. Cheapest dinner on this list.

4. Sausage and mash with peas

Sausages are reliable. Potatoes are dirt cheap. Frozen peas are clean and taste fine. Gravy mix brings it all together for about $2 a head.

Pork sausages (6-pack)	$4.00
Potatoes (800g)	$1.50
Butter	$0.30
Frozen peas (300g)	$1.00
Gravy mix (packet)	$0.80
Total	$7.60 (4 serves)
Per serve	$1.90

Boil the potatoes while the sausages fry. Mash the potatoes with butter. Heat the peas. Make the gravy. Everything comes together at the same time. 30 minutes.

5. Tuna pasta bake

This is comfort food that stretches one ingredient across four people. Tinned tuna, tinned tomatoes, pasta, cheese. It's been keeping Australian families full for 40 years.

Pasta (500g)	$1.50
Tinned tuna in brine (3 cans)	$3.00
Tinned tomatoes (400g)	$1.00
Cheddar cheese (150g)	$2.00
Frozen vegetables (mixed)	$1.50
Total	$9.00 (4 serves)
Per serve	$2.25

Cook the pasta. Mix cooked pasta, drained tuna, tinned tomatoes, and frozen veg in a baking dish. Top with grated cheese. Bake at 180 degrees for 15 minutes until golden. 30 minutes total.

6. Omelette with toast and ham

Eggs are the fastest protein. Ham adds flavour without adding time. Cheese makes everything better. This is 20 minutes from hungry to fed.

Eggs (8)	$2.00
Cheddar cheese (120g)	$1.50
Ham slices (200g)	$2.00
Bread (4 slices)	$0.50
Butter	$0.30
Total	$6.30 (4 serves)
Per serve	$1.58

Toast and butter the bread. Beat 2 eggs per person and pour into a buttered pan. When it starts to set, add ham and cheese. Fold and slide onto a plate. Serve with toast. 15 minutes.

7. Beef tacos

A taco kit has the seasoning and shells. Beef mince is straightforward. You just need lettuce, tomato, and cheese to finish. This one costs a bit more but feeds 4 hungry people.

Beef mince (500g)	$5.00
Taco kit (12 shells plus sauce)	$3.50
Lettuce (1 head)	$2.00
Tomato (3 medium)	$1.50
Cheddar cheese (150g)	$1.50
Total	$13.50 (4 serves)
Per serve	$3.38

Brown the mince in a pan. Add the taco seasoning from the kit with a splash of water. Heat the shells for 30 seconds. Shred the lettuce and dice the tomato. Grate the cheese. Everyone builds their own. 20 minutes.

8. Fried rice

The magic of fried rice is that it comes together in 15 minutes and tastes like takeaway. Use leftover rice if you have it. If not, cook fresh and it'll cool while you prep the other bits.

Rice (200g)	$0.80
Eggs (3)	$1.00
Frozen mixed vegetables	$1.50
Soy sauce	$0.30
Chicken thigh (250g)	$3.00
Total	$6.60 (4 serves)
Per serve	$1.65

Dice and fry the chicken first. Push it to the side. Scramble 3 eggs in the same pan, then break them up. Add cold rice (it separates better), frozen veg, and soy sauce. Stir constantly for 5 minutes. Done.

What you're really saving

These eight dinners range from $1.08 to $3.38 per serve. If you cook five of them a week, you're spending somewhere between $20 and $67 on weeknight dinners for four people. That's $80-270 a week.

Takeaway for four people is $40-50 a meal minimum. Five nights a week is $200-250. A single week of these recipes saves you $130-200. That's $520-800 a month. That's a holiday. That's a car repair fund. That's just breathing room.

The only trick is knowing what things cost. That's where Pinch comes in.