10 cheap and healthy foods that won’t break the bank

Lyndi’s Grocery shopping tips

• Skip the expensive powders and supplements and fill your kitchen with simple and affordable health foods.
• Buy from the imperfect picks or wonky produce sections to get big savings on your grocery bill.
• Meat is often the biggest contributor to grocery bills. Eating less meat and adding more whole grains to your diet is a simple way to save money and eat well.
• If you find a good discount on meat, buy twice as much as freeze half for when meat is more expensive.

1. Brown rice // Cost per serve: $0.27

• Brown rice is an incredibly healthy, versatile and cheap wholegrain to include into your diet daily.
• Brown rice is naturally gluten-free, a good source of fibre and nutrients. Brown rice is also naturally low in fat and sodium and has no added sugar.
• Add a cup of cooked brown rice to your meals for a nutritious serve of carbohydrates.
• Buy in bulk to get the most value for money.

2. Tinned tomatoes // Cost per serve: $0.40

• This pantry staple is an underestimated superfood. Tomatoes are a good source of fibre and vitamin C, key for your immunity, skin and eye health.
• Tomatoes contain high quantities of lycopene, an antioxidant that may boost heart health and wellbeing.
• Lycopene is actually the pigment that makes tomatoes and other foods red. Look for bright red tomatoes.
• It’s easy to add a tin or two of crushed tomatoes to your main meals. This trick will help you get more mileage from your meat and add plenty of nutrition – without the price tag.
• As tomatoes are seasonal, tinned tomatoes are far cheaper than fresh and nutritionally – they are similar.

3. Lentils // Cost per serve: $0.40

• Meat is often the highest cost ingredient in your shopping trolley. Add a tin or two of lentils to your bolognaise or shepherds pie and you’ll stretch your meat – and budget – further. Lentils are also a great source of fibre, helping to fill you up and keeping you satisfied for longer.
• While it’s cheapest to buy dried beans, even tinned options are very affordable.

4. Frozen berries // Cost per serve: $1.00

• Fresh berries are 2.5 x more expensive than frozen varieties.
• Berries are snap frozen meaning they return almost all of their nutritional value.
• Berries are an excellent source of antioxidants and contain fibre.
• Add frozen berries to your smoothies, stir through yoghurt or cook into a saucepan with chia seeds for a healthy homemade jam.

5. Frozen carrot, peas and corn // Cost per serve: $0.23

• All vegetables are good for you. Frozen vegetables are almost just as healthy as fresh.
• This healthy convenience food is a simple way to add nutrition to plenty of meals. It’s a wonderful ingredient to add to shepherds pie or a homemade fried rice.
• Dietitians often encourage you to eat the rainbow because different coloured foods give you different nutrients. In this tri-coloured mix of vegetables, you can add a variety of nutrients to add to your meals without much hassle at all.

6. Plain Greek yoghurt // Cost per serve: $0.39

• Plain Greek yoghurt is the best food source of probiotics. Probiotics are live, good bacteria that can help support a healthy gut.
• You don’t need to spend big money on supplements to get the health benefits of probiotics.
• Yoghurt is also a fantastic source of calcium which is important for healthy bones.
• Enjoy yoghurt as a snack with some frozen berries, as an ingredient in smoothies or for breakfast with some rolled oats and seeds.

7. Plain rolled oats // Cost per serve: $0.15

• Rolled oats is an affordable health food staple in my pantry.
• Plain rolled oats are naturally low in fat, sodium and sugar. Rolled oats are an excellent source of fibre.
• Oats is also incredibly versatile and can be made into healthy muesli bars or enjoyed for breakfast as hot porridge or bircher muesli.

8. Eggs // Cost per serve: $0.70 (for free range)

• While protein powders have become trendy, eggs are naturally high in protein and cost far less per serve.
• Eggs also have a longer shelf life than other fresh food so they’re also very convenient.
• Ignore outdated nutrition advice to only have egg white omelets. The majority of the nutrients in an egg are found in the yolk.
• Get the best value for your money by using the whole egg.
• Boil eggs a head of a busy week and enjoy one or two as a high protein and affordable snack.

9. Seeds // Cost per serve: $0.26

• A kilogram of sunflower or pumpkin seeds is half the price of a kilogram of almonds and other nuts.
• Swapping seeds for nuts works for many recipes.
• Sunflower seeds are also a good source of vitamin E, which helps support healthy skin.
• Like nuts, seeds contain plenty of heart-healthy fats and plenty of fibre to help support a healthy gut.
• Add seeds on top your salad or toast for a nutrition boost, include a serve on top of oats or in your smoothie. Make an affordable trail mix with your favourite dried fruit and a mix of seeds like sunflower, pumpkin and linseeds.

10. Sardines // Cost per serve: $0.65

• Salmon is well recognised as a health food thanks to it’s high quantity of healthy fats – however it can be too expensive for many.
• Sardines are another type of oily fish that are much more affordable than salmon. Tinned sardines are 1/3 the price of tinned salmon.
• Sardines are a very good source of omega-3 fatty acids, protein. Sardines are also an excellent source of selenium and b12.

Note: Lyndi used Woolworths Online to find the cost per serve for each ingredient

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