Cheap no cook meals are something many people are now looking for. A combination of increased energy prices, the cost of living crisis and rising food costs is making more people try to avoid turning their cooker on at all. I should say: for those with a gas oven, or gas hob, so long as you’ve got gas available to you, it’s a very cost efficient way of cooking, cheaper than most other ways.

Looking at the wider issues though – there are many who are on pre-payment meters with low credit, or out of credit entirely, as well as those who can’t justify turning an electric oven on to heat up something quite smallish.

For when “meals” become “food”. A lot of these ideas can be used at other times too, such as for packed lunches, food on the go, picnics or camping food. It’s also often important that your choices won’t go out of date, but can be tucked into the cupboard.

There are plenty of foods available in the supermarkets that you can pick up, that require no cooking – but if budget’s a key factor then those foods aren’t available as an option. I love a quiche, which needs no cooking, but with £1-2 to your name you’re not browsing the ready meals sections!

What About Meals Using a Kettle?

If you’ve access to a kettle, the options widen a little – but I’ll ignore these for now and limit this list to foods that require no energy at all. No cooker, no hob, no slow cooker, no toaster, no kettle! Just food!

With a kettle you’ve the whole world of noodles, cup a soup, even flavoured mash!

10 Cheap No Cook Meals

The key phrase here is “cheap” – there are plenty of aspirational menus and recipes one can find, full of glossy images of fantastic lifestyles…. but if you’ve no money, if you’ve £1-5 to last you to the end of the week, you need good, available, affordable food!

1. Sandwiches.

Sandwiches are the first cheap no cook meal people think of. But you still need to keep to cheap ingredients and omit pricier add ins. Cheap sandwich fillings include: cucumber; salad tomatoes; salad cream; chickpea/hummus; budget range cheddar cheese; grated carrot & sultana; curried coleslaw & sliced peppers (although peppers might be out of budget!).

Pots of paste are marvellous, all the supermarkets do their own range of paste, starting at under 30p/pot. A pot will make two generous sandwiches. Why not try: Salmon paste & cucumber; Beef paste & tomato; chicken paste & crisps!

Sweet sandwiches are a treat not to forget: banana sandwiches, honey & banana sandwich – and one favourite from when I was a child, sugar sandwiches! Sugar sandwiches are simply two slices of bread, spread with margarine, then sprinkled with sugar! Jam sandwiches are another of my all-time favourites; supermarkets all carry a budget jam at < 30p these days, as well as marmalade. Then there’s the all time favourites of peanut butter sandwiches and chocolate spread!

Add crisps! If you can stretch to some cheap, own brand, crisps, added to a sandwich they are a great comfort food.

2. Potato Salad

You can make a simple potato salad without cooking by using tinned potatoes: Tinned Potato Salad. Replace the mixed herbs with mint for a minty potato salad if you prefer. There are many additions you can make to this basic and easy potato salad to jazz it up further if you wish, so just cast an eye over what you’ve got available! Curried potato salad might be an option, possibly with some sultanas!

3. Five Bean Salad / Mixed Bean Salad

A variety of tinned bean mixes are available from supermarkets – some are labelled as a five bean salad or mixed bean salad, others simply presenting as mixed beans.

Take a look at the shelves, see what’s there. A tin of mixed beans is a salad, perhaps add a spoon of mint sauce if you’ve got that and like minted bean salads! Asda sell a tinned mixed bean salad at 60p, Sainsburys have one at 70p, so look at what’s available in your shops.

You can eat these as they come out of the tin, or jazz them up a little by adding chopped onions, diced tomatoes, cubed cucumber – or keep those ingredients separate on the plate.

4. Tinned Meat You Can Eat From the Can

Canned meats are safe to eat from the can. Corned beef is a firm favourite, but might not fit with the mindset of being a “cheap no cook meal” as it’s become quite pricey in recent years!

However, there are a lot of other tinned meats to explore on the supermarket shelves. It should be noted that tinned meat is often a pricier option. But it’s there if you want it!

Everything from spam and cooked ham, to cooked chicken breast and luncheon meat.

And don’t forget hot dogs…. already cooked. If you can face them cold, load up!

5. Tinned Fish

Tinned fish ranges from sardines in tomato sauce, through to tuna chunks. Either can be used in sandwiches, or eaten straight from the can. Asda sell a 120g can of Sardines in tomato sauce for 40p (33p/100g) or their Smart Price range weighs the same, but is cheaper at 34p for (28.3p/100g); a single Asda Smart Price can of tuna chunks is 59p (57.8p/100g).

Be £/100g aware to make your budget stretch!

6. Pouch Rices

Pouch rice has been cooked/sealed and can be eaten straight from the pouch, without any reheating. The downside of these is that they can, sometimes, taste a little bit ‘hard’ – and this hardness and texture varies across the ranges. Personally, my favourite cheap pouch rice is the 35p range from Tesco, I prefer the texture of those.

Eat pouch rices as they come, or add extras to them if you’re able to. A rice salad can be made by adding some pieces of mandarin and sultanas, or adding some tuna and sweetcorn.

7. What Can be Eaten Cold From the Can?

If you’re really strapped for cash then don’t forget those foods that can be eaten straight from the can.

Cold baked beans – also good as a part of a salad; Cold peas – one of my favourites, a tin of marrowfat peas, sprinkle of vinegar, eaten from the can with a spoon!

All tinned vegetables, from carrots and peas, through to mixed beans and sweetcorn – can all be eaten cold from the can. They don’t need cooking.

Rice pudding is another of my favourites – at just 20p for a full sized can, half a can is usually enough + add 2-3 spoons of budget range jam, at < 30p/jar from all the major supermarkets and budget shops.

Hot dog sausages – not nice cold, but they are food and can be eaten straight from the can. They might be served better by chopping them up and adding to some rice as a hot dog salad.

8. Fruit

Fresh fruit and tinned fruit, need no cooking! Dried fruit is a great no cook food too!

Tinned fruit can be quite pricey, so keep an eye on the cost; peaches and mandarin segments tend to be cheapest tinned fruits available.

For fresh fruit, keep an eye on that £/100g and supermarket weekly or fortnightly deals. As a rule of thumb, apples and bananas are most often the cheapest – if you’re buying apples, compare all the ranges and look at what you’re getting – prices can be tricky to compare as they’re often sold by the number of items in the bag without any weight being evident. If the store has weighing scales, don’t be afraid to use them! Of course, not all supermarkets do have weighing scales.

Aldi’s cheaper range apples work out at 16p each, whereas the next level up costs 25p each!

Some fresh fruit has a short shelf life, so can often be found in the reduced section if you’re lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time!

Be lead by the price/weight, not by “what you fancy”.

Dried fruit’s a good cupboard staple; I’ve always got either dried mixed fruit, or sultanas, in the cupboard – at the moment I’ve got dried cranberries (blame the out of date food warehouse for that as they worked out cheaper than Aldi sultanas!). They’re a healthy and handy no cook food – either to nibble on their own, or as a snack – or to add to other foods.

9. Vegetables That Need no Cooking

There are many vegetables that need no cooking – and are cheap!

Carrots fall into this category – simply peel and eat a carrot, or turn it into batons. Grated carrots are great as part of a salad too. Less well known is grated parsnip – these are sweet and, grated, can be eaten.

You could make a coleslaw, using raw cabbage, carrot and onion. Add in some mayo, or salad cream, or any flavoured sauce you’ve got and fancy!

Other vegetables that need no cooking are mushrooms, peppers, onions, broccoli and beansprouts. Fresh peas are available seasonally, but are likely to come at a premium price, but you can spot mange tout sometimes in the budget supermarket special offers when they’re in season; I used to love eating raw peas straight from the pod in the garden when I was growing up!

10. Breakfast Cereals, Energy Bars, Nuts & Seeds

I’m a big fan of dry breakfast cereals – I don’t use milk. I eat the cereal as it comes in the box. This makes it a great cupboard staple that’s tasty and needs no cooking.

My favourite is Honey Nut Cornflakes, bought from Aldi a 500g box costs 85p and contains 10 portions. I’d also look for supermarket own brand versions of Cocoa Pops and Sugar Puffs. Cheap, portable, tasty, a treat – and need no cooking!

Energy Bars are a variation on this theme – and can make a healthy option if you choose the right ones! These can tend to be pricey though, a premium product. If you’ve an out of date warehouse available locally you can pick these up for a fraction of the price!

Supermarkets also stock a wide variety of nuts and seeds. From salted peanuts to sunflower seeds!

Keep Your Eyes Open to Ideas

I hope the above have given you some ideas, for some people it’s not a choice is it 🙁

As you’re looking around the shelves, you’ll start to see new items to add to your repertoire. We’re all different, with different shops and budgets available to us; we all like/dislike different things … but sometimes we just need “food” that needs no cooking.

There’s so much out there – even Angel Delight, or raw jelly cubes can be eaten without cooking!

I’ve not even mentioned peanuts! Pouch fruit! Vacuum packed naan breads!