In light of escalating living costs, one savvy mum has revealed her secret to creating budget-friendly, scrumptious family meals at just £1 per serving.

Meal planning is an everyday challenge, from sourcing supermarket ingredients to cooking and ensuring variety while sticking to a budget. Amid the financial squeeze, this mum has succeeded in crafting four tasty, nutritious meals that are a hit with the entire family.

Grace Mortimer, a Sunday Times bestselling author and celebrated online food guru, enjoys helping parents whip up easy yet delightful dishes using economical products. On her latest shopping trip at Aldi, she impressively transformed £18.78 into 20 delectable meals.

With a substantial following of 638,000 on Instagram under the username @_myfirstmeals, Grace shared her enthusiasm: "I'm so excited to bring you five, delicious, budget-friendly meals for less than £5 to help you keep a handle on the purse strings. All meals come to £1 per serving."

Among her recipes, she highlights a cream of broccoli soup garnished with Parmesan croutons. This dish is not only cost-effective at £3.47 or 87p per portion but also versatile enough for lunch, dinner, or as a convenient reheatable snack.

Grace recommends creating a pizza-inspired jacket potato with salad, featuring toppings like peppers, ham, and mozzarella. The beauty of this dish is its quick oven time and cost-effectiveness, coming in at just £1.01 per serving or £4.02 for a family of four.

She's also whipped up a roasted cauliflower curry for her family using Aldi ingredients, costing a total of £3.84 for four servings. Another budget-friendly meal she enjoys is fish finger sandwiches with chips and salad, priced at 97p per serving.

Her go-to easy-prep dish is a three-vegetable pasta bake, which costs her 89p per person for all the ingredients. She uses one tin of chopped tomatoes, one tin of drained sliced carrots, one jar of grilled peppers in oil, 500g penne, and one ball of mozzarella.

Here's how she prepares this delightful dish: Boil the pasta as per packet instructions, then drain and set aside. In a food processor or blender, combine the chopped tomatoes, sliced carrots and grilled peppers (oil included).

Blitz until you have a creamy, smooth sauce - season to taste if desired. Combine the cooked pasta and sauce in an ovenproof dish, mixing well. Top with roughly torn chunks of mozzarella and bake for 20 minutes, until the cheese has melted and the sauce is bubbling.