Getting Salad Down to Under 36p per Portion

A question about : Getting Salad Down to Under 36p per Portion

Hi

I was making a salad, and worked out roughly how much it cost me for a single portion - 36.5p. Would like to try and get this lower, but might be a tough challenge.

Here is what was in one salad portion:

Wild Rocket - 8.5p
Red Onion (reduced) - 1.5p
Cherry Tomatoes (Tesco) - 15p
Courgette - 11p
Splash of Chilli sauce (giant bottle) - 0.5p

Total - 36.5p

At present the only thing I could probably do to beat the above is buy all the ingredients from Aldi/Lidl, and shave a few pence of the total.

Any tips on how to make it cheaper would be appreciated!

Cheers
PennyPincher3562

Best answers:

• I sometimes grate a carrot in mine to make it go a bit further per portion
• Last year I bought two trays of young lettuce plants at a nursery. There were 12 green.lettuces and 12 red lettuces, and they cost Ј4.00 in total. That was our salad veg sorted for the entire summer, just adding cucumber, tomato or whatever you have in season. Worth considering if you like salad.
• I find Asda have similar prices to Aldi for salad but bigger produce. I buy an iceberg lettuce (49p), cucumber(49p) OR cherry tomatoes(99p) and red peppers (3 for 99p) every week. I use the peppers for other meals too. I occasionally add grated carrot. This makes around 12 portions of salad I reckon so if you take 49p lettuce +49p cucumber + 49p peppers (1/2 pack) + 25p (2 carrots)/12 portions = 14p per portions or if I buy tomatoes instead of cucumber then = 18.5p per portion. I don't like rocket or onions though.
• Swap it all.
  the rocket for iceberg/romaine/round lettuce and the cherry toms for salad ones. Yellow onions are cheaper than red, and carrot is cheaper than courgette too.
  Ill let you off with the chilli sauce, but id prob water it down and use as a liquid dressing to coat it all
• I'd ditch the poncy, short-lifespan lettuce and use grated carrot as a base. Tastier, cheaper - and actually provides "food" - I've never seen the point of lettuce at all.
  If I wanted to ditch the courgette and chilli sauce I'd see what price radishes come in at - and grate that too if it turns out they're cheaper (no idea how much they cost).
  Then there's beetroot... that's probably cheap. Although it might cost more in clothes replacement if you're careless with it.
  You can also use grated cabbage. Celery's cheap (and nasty imho)
• Thanks for the ideas, I will play about with substituting parts of my salads (which I eat all the time.)
  In recent years I've always gone for the more expensive rocket over lettuce (taste and healthier), but the odd lettuce won't harm me. It might be my imagination, but rocket seems to last quite a long time lying in the fridge. If I come up with a super cheap salad solution, I will post the results in here.
  I like beetroot, and see I can get 500g of Everyday Value Beetroot for 49p, as opposed to 3 courgettes for 99p. I've checked Mysupermarket.co.uk, and I've also noticed I can get salad tomatoes at almost half the price per kg compared to cherry tomatoes - so it looks like I can get price per salad portion even cheaper now :-)
  Cheers
  PennyPincher3562
• Another cheap salad idea - grated cabbage (red or white), a little grated or finely sliced onion (red or white), a little grated apple, a little grated carrot. Dress with salt and loads of lemon juice and chill in the fridge till ready to eat. Really crunchy and fresh-tasting. A spoonful of mayonnaise turns it into a coleslaw.
• I would consider adding sweetcorn and replace the courgette with cucumber?
• there has just been a post on Aldi's new super six - that would give you some items for your salads at a low cost, for two weeks (or even three if you buy on last day of offer as well)
• I use 'little gem' lettuce. I bought 2 x 2 packets at 49p per packet from Aldi and we are still eating them over 3 weeks later.
  I also buy celery from aldi and this has lasted over 3 weeks as well.
  I buy my tomatoes from Tesco at Ј1 per pack, which again have lasted over 3 weeks.
  I paid 39p for a whole cucumber and I still have over half left in the fridge.
  I wrap all the above produce in foil (except for tomatoes)and keep in the fridge and it usually lasts up to 4 weeks.
  At the moment the following produce is only 39p at aldi
  Spring Onions
  - Celery
  - Cherry Tomatoes (300g)
  - Cucumber
  In the spring/summer I grow my lettuce in our cold-frame.
• If you eat salad regularly then you won't have a problem with keeping it fresh but for those that do:
  I buy baby spinach instead of salad leaves at this time of the year then I can always stir it into casseroles/curry/Bolognese to use it up rather than waste any.
  I'm happy to spend on tomatoes, peppers and spring onions as I can always cook with those. I get all of mine in Aldi.
  Iceberg is about the best lettuce for keeping IMO but it's also pretty tasteless!
  Another tip I read (not tried it myself yet) is to buy those growing salads that they often have in Lidl and plant out the plants in pots where they'll keep growing.
  I've certainly grown my own leaves from seed and that works if you've got some outside space later in the year.
• I'll try a few variations based on the above ideas, and post the cost here later.
  Thanks
  PennyPincher3562
• Iceberg = 50-60p a head (about 400g)
  Cucumber 60p per stick (about 400g)
  Radish = 60p for 200g
  Celery = 60p for about 400g.
  They are the price in lidl. Not sure how the other super markets compare.
  My local market
  500g of cherry tomatoes = Ј1
  500g of sweet long peppers = Ј1
  Total = Ј4.40 for 2.2kg.
  I spread this out 5 days at work. While it costs more than your, my portion size is going to be bigger.
  Generally Iceberg and cucumber are cheaper vegs that can be used to bulk out a salad.
• Thanks Stephen77, I pretty much like the ideas suggested by everyone. Probably my least favourite is Iceberg lettuce - years ago used to eat it all the time, then realised it was tasteless, and read somewhere it has little nutritional value....
  I've looked at mysupermarket.co.uk, spinach is a good bit cheaper than rocket, and supposedly has nutrients in it - though I never thought it much taste to it either.
  List of nutrients in spinach:
  https://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?t...dspice&dbid=43
  Cheers
  PennyPincher3562
• Broccoli & Apple with a lemon mayo dressing is a favorite of ours
  mix raw broccoli, diced apple, grated carrot and a half finely sliced onion I add in a handful of raisins ( but then I add a handful of raisins to most things ) toss in mayo mixed with a good slug of lemon juice not sure of exact costings as it's stuff I always have to hand so it will be less then a Ј1