Their suggested basket centres on around 10 supermarket staples chosen for value, nutrition, shelf life and flexibility.
A whole chicken is better value because it can work across multiple meals – and don’t forget to make stock from the bones.
The basket
Protein: Whole chicken (with frozen cheapest); beef mince; eggs; canned beans
Vegetables: Frozen mixed vegetables; carrots; cabbage
Carbohydrates: Wholemeal wraps; wholemeal pasta
Pantry support: Canned tomatoes
If budget allows: Cheese; spinach
What did it cost?
To estimate cost, we priced one representative online shopping basket using common supermarket products. Because households and portion sizes vary, prices are intended as a guide rather than an exact meal plan.
Core basket: about $52–$69
With cheese and spinach added: about $68–$87
(Prices collected online and exclude delivery fees.)
What makes a food item worth putting in the basket?
Price matters – but it wasn’t the only consideration.
Henderson says the most useful foods for this kind of challenge are affordable, versatile, nutritious and able to be used repeatedly across different meals.
Sekula says versatility would rank above almost everything else.
“A food that can be used in five different meals is often better value than a cheaper food that can only be used once.”
After versatility, they prioritised foods that are filling, have a good shelf life and minimise waste. The sweet spot, they say, is finding ingredients that tick all those boxes while still fitting within budget.
How do you actually turn 10 ingredients into a week of meals?
The dietitians sketched out a rough example of how ingredients could stretch across lunches and dinners:
Day 1 – Egg wraps; beef and tomato pasta
Day 2 – Leftover pasta; beef and bean burritos
Day 3 – Quesadillas; one-pot tomato pasta
Day 4 – Leftovers; chicken and vegetable soup
Day 5 – Soup; chicken wraps
Day 6 – Leftovers; okonomiyaki-style cabbage pancake
Day 7 – Leftovers; use-up chicken pasta bake
Okonomiyaki, or a simpler cabbage “pancake”, elevates this veg to mouth-watering heights.
The biggest supermarket mistake? Buying ingredients instead of meals
Trying to cut spending aggressively can sometimes backfire.
Henderson says common mistakes include chasing specials, underbuying and ending up with ingredients that don’t combine into proper meals.
Other traps include overbuying packaged snack foods that may seem cheap but often provide less fullness and less nutritional value than whole-food staples.
A more effective approach is planning a handful of simple meals built around the same core ingredients.
Which foods become non-negotiable?
If the shopping basket gets smaller, there are three categories the dietitians would be reluctant to lose: protein-rich foods, vegetables and carbohydrate staples.
Protein becomes particularly important because it contributes fullness and helps meals feel substantial.
If protein was the priority, Sekula and Henderson say they would focus on mixing animal and plant sources – such as chicken, eggs, canned fish, tofu, peas and legumes – and stretching meat further with cheaper cuts and larger roasts that can be reused across several meals.
If fibre was the priority, they would increase legumes and make simple swaps towards higher-fibre grains where practical. Vegetables such as cabbage, carrots and potatoes also offer strong value.
Mussels can be a budget shoppers best friend – an inexpensive treat that’s both delicious and nutritious.
The supermarket MVPs
Sekula and Henderson highlighted these staples as consistently offering strong nutritional value for money: eggs; canned lentils and beans; canned fish; frozen vegetables; rolled oats; rice and pasta; potatoes; canned tomatoes and corn; milk.
Five foods that stretch further than people realise
Not all budget-friendly foods are obvious.
Cabbage made the list because of its high yield, long fridge life and ability to move between slaws, soups and cooked meals. Red lentils were highlighted because they cook relatively quickly and can bulk out soups, curries and stews at very low cost.
Mussels also made the cut – an unexpected inclusion, but one the dietitians describe as nutrient-dense and often affordable for people who eat shellfish. They note that mussels can create a flavourful broth that stretches simple ingredients further.
Dry soup mixes were another overlooked option because they often combine ingredients such as split peas and barley into a ready-made base for batch cooking soups and stews, while canned tomatoes remain one of the cheapest ways to add flavour, volume and versatility across multiple cuisines.
What gets missed when the basket becomes too small?
One of the biggest nutritional risks of an overly restricted shopping basket is loss of variety.
Over time, that can make it harder to get enough nutrients like fibre, iron, calcium and zinc.
But the experts point out that dietary quality is built across weeks and months rather than any single shopping trip.
Their advice is to think less about finding one miracle budget food and more about building a small collection of ingredients that can become multiple meals.
Herald contributor Nikki Birrell has worked in food and travel publishing for nearly 20 years.