Thrifty recipes: 7 fab family meals for £33

How we worked out the price

Where a dish needs vegetables to go with it, we've included them in our costings. Each recipe is plenty for a family of four, and we didn't stint on quality. It's all about shopping wisely, cooking ahead where you can and making clever use of leftovers.

Price check

Prices quoted in each recipe are from Sainsbury's, which came out cheapest in our costings, done during the week of 22 June 2009. We compared online shopping prices at Asda, Sainsbury's, Tesco and Waitrose, using budget ranges where available. Asda total: £33.31; Sainsbury's total: £32.71; Tesco total: £34.81; Waitrose Deliver total: £44.54.

The recipes:

Sunday: Gammon with parsley sauce

Monday: Gammon and sweetcorn parcels

Tuesday: Spicy sheperd's pie

Wednesday: Sausage and bean hotpot

Thursday: Salmon fishcakes and mango salsa

Friday: Anything-you-like pasta

Saturday: Tortilla stacks

Here is the shopping list for the week's recipes:

Meat, poultry and fish

■ 1.1kg (2½lb) gammon joint

■ 450g (1lb) lamb mince

■ Smoked streaky bacon

■ 8 sausages

■ 200g (7oz) smoked salmon

Fruit, vegetables and herbs

■ 2 carrots

■ 6 onions

■ 1 leek

■ Curly parsley

■ 198g tin sweetcorn

■ Celery

■ Garlic

■ Root ginger

■ 8 spring onions

■ 1 red pepper

■ 1 chilli

■ Coriander

■ 4 medium tomatoes

■ 1 mango

■ Basil

■ Chives

■ Potatoes

■ Coriander

Dairy and chilled

■ Semi-skimmed milk

■ 250g (9oz) shortcrust pastry

■ Eggs

■ Plain yogurt

■ Milk

■ Parmesan

■ 250g (9oz) cooked chicken

■ 150g (5oz) each gruyére and

strong cheddar

■ Guacamole

■ Sour cream

Store cupboard

■ Light muscovado sugar

■ English, Dijon and

wholegrain mustard

■ Clear honey

■ Butter

■ Nutmeg

■ Bayleaf

■ Sunflower oil

■ Ground coriander

■ Garam masala

■ Chilli powder

■ Fennel seeds

■ Dried oregano

■ Caster sugar

■ Plain flour

■ Tomato purée

■ Lamb stock cubes

■ 3 x 400g tins chopped tomatoes

■ 2 x 400g cans mixed beans

■ Sunflower and olive oils

■ Sweet chilli sauce

■ Loaf of crusty bread

■ Dried pasta

■ 8 soft flour tortillas