Research disproves Tory MP’s claims about 30p meals

It came in at 63p per meal and 32p per person, rising to 41p when estimated power usage was added on.

The most expensive meal on the budget-friendly menu was sausage ragu which costs £4.50 per meal and £1.23 per person including energy costs.

READ MORE: Who is Lee Anderson? Meet the Tory MP who hit headlines with his food bank claims

MoneyTransfer’s chief executive Jonathan Merry said: “There will always be variables when estimating a food budget, but our research shows that it is very difficult to make a meal for less than 30p, even when that’s a group meal divided per person.

“That is especially true at a time when inflation is at a 40-year-high of 9% and people’s energy bills are going through the roof.”

The research was conducted by searching for popular recipes online and prices were sourced at the cheapest rate from Asda.

Other meals on the list included beans on toast, easy lentil curry and spaghetti and meatballs.

Merry added: “It’s certainly true that things like swapping supermarkets for better deals, batch cooking ahead of time and hunting out more cost-effective recipes can cut bills; but it’s also true that this isn’t always easy or even possible for busy families.”

In terms of energy costs, an electric oven uses about 0.87 kWh of electricity an hour which, when averaging costs from all UK energy providers, works out at about 14p an hour.

The cost of the UK’s 10 favourite meals and the research which went into it can be viewed here.