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Value & nutrition
The most health for your money
Cheap calories are easy. Cheap fibre, protein and veg portions are harder. We rank recipes where a £2 traybake with three veg portions beats a £2 beige plate - because nutrition per pound matters more than the sticker price alone.
A+→F
health grades
5-a-day
from ingredients
kcal/£
energy value
How we score “value”
40%
Health score
Protein, fibre, 5-a-day and UK-style limits on saturates, sugars and salt - per portion.
35%
5-a-day
Fruit, veg, pulses and juice portions from real ingredients - capped at three per serving in the score.
25%
Calories per £
Energy from the food actually used in the recipe, divided by per-portion ingredient value.
What we are not ranking
Shop top-up (full packs at checkout) is essential for planning your trolley - but it punishes recipes that share ingredients across the week. This leaderboard uses per-portion ingredient value so comparisons stay fair. Tie-breaks favour lower cost. Your cupboard toggles apply the same way as on recipe pages.
How health scores work
Per-portion vs shop top-up
Top value picks in the catalogue
Live ranking - refreshes as ingredient prices and health data load.
Top 18 by health, 5-a-day and calories per pound
80 min
One-pan salmon with roast asparagus
£1.25 per portion
Meal Pilot pick
Dinner
Fish & Seafood
Low Carb
Family
70 min
Chilli con carne recipe
£0.85 per portion
Meal Pilot pick
Batch Cook
Beef
Best Bean
Family
80 min
Minced beef & sweet potato stew
£0.97 per portion
Meal Pilot pick
Batch Cook
Beef
Comfort
Gut Friendly
70 min
Baked chilli & jacket potatoes
£1.69 per portion
Meal Pilot pick
Batch Cook
Beef
70 min
Smoky chilli con carne
£0.75 per portion
Meal Pilot pick
Batch Cook
Beef
Low Carb
35 min
Steamed trout with mint & dill dressing
£0.91 per portion
Meal Pilot pick
Fish & Seafood
Healthy
Pescatarian
Steamed
35 min
Gnocchi bolognese with spinach
£0.79 per portion
Meal Pilot pick
Batch Cook
Beef
Healthy
50 min
Melting meatball macaroni
£0.88 per portion
Meal Pilot pick
Beef
35 min
Chilli beef shepherd's pie
£1.18 per portion
Meal Pilot pick
Batch Cook
Beef
Comfort
50 min
Meatballs in tomato, cardamom & lime sauce
£0.82 per portion
Meal Pilot pick
Batch Cook
Beef
Family
Dinner
260 min
Next level spaghetti Bolognese
£0.89 per portion
Meal Pilot pick
Batch Cook
Beef
Pasta
135 min
The best spaghetti bolognese recipe
£0.94 per portion
Meal Pilot pick
Batch Cook
Beef
Family
Pasta
70 min
Healthier burritos
£1.11 per portion
Meal Pilot pick
Beef
Quick & Easy
Healthy
Fakeaway
12 min
Lentil & veg soup
£0.31 per portion
Meal Pilot pick
High Fibre
Batch Cook
65 min
Beef enchiladas
£0.76 per portion
Meal Pilot pick
Beef
Dinner
50 min
Healthy ragu
£1.56 per portion
Meal Pilot pick
Batch Cook
Beef
Family
Healthy
12 min
Red lentil dhal
£0.37 per portion
Meal Pilot pick
High Fibre
Vegetarian
Batch Cook
55 min
Soha's koftet roz (Egyptian rice meatballs)
£1.05 per portion
Meal Pilot pick
Beef
Family
Batch Cook
Quick wins
Rank by health score and calories per pound - not price alone.
Batch-cook high-value recipes and use overlap to spread cost.
Pair cheap staples with one or two higher-nutrition heroes per week.
Build a week around this advice
Trust & sources
Written for Meal Pilot by Dr James, MBBS - a practising NHS GP in the United Kingdom. The information below reflects UK public-health guidance (including NHS Eatwell principles and SACN reference intakes). It is educational, not a personal prescription: always follow advice tailored to you by your own GP, practice nurse or registered dietitian.
Author
Dr James, MBBS
Reviewed by
Meal Pilot editorial team with GP review
Last reviewed
June 2026
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