McDonald’s vs. My Fridge: Can I Feed a Family of 3 for 72 Hours on the Price of One Takeaway?

I recently asked my family what they would want from a McDonald’s if we were ordering a takeaway. The total came to a whopping £31.57 for three large meals.

It made me think: I know I spend money differently on takeaways than I do on my weekly shopping. But could I feed my family of three for three full days on that same amount of money—and would the food be healthier, with more plant points?

I decided to put it to the test with a simple shopping trip to Aldi.

The Challenge: My £31.57 Takeaway Bill

My family's order for a single Friday night meal was:

• Big Arch Large Meal: Big Arch burger, large fries, large Coke Zero (£10.59)

• Big Arch Large Meal: Big Arch burger, large fries, large latte (£9.69)

• Large McPlant Meal: McPlant with extra patty, large fries, large latte (£11.29)

• Total: £31.57 (for one meal, for three adults)

The Solution: A £30.69 Aldi Shop

With a budget of just over £30, I set out to buy ingredients to feed us for the weekend. The total shop came to £30.69.

I knew this would require more work, but I wanted to see if I could create meals that we all loved, including a homemade version of the takeaway meal we missed out on. I also knew that because we were batch cooking, a lot of what I bought would be left over for the week ahead.

The Results: 72 Hours of Food with Leftovers

For just £30.69, here's what we ate over the weekend:

• Friday Night: We recreated the burgers we missed out on! Homemade burgers on ciabatta buns with chips and a simple salad. We made a ‘burger sauce’ from gherkins, mustard, and ketchup, and fried onions for the buns.

• Saturday: A lazy brunch of Welsh rarebit pizza bread topped with toasted seeds. For dinner, a delicious chili with kidney beans, topped with yogurt and cheese, served with mini jacket potatoes.

• Sunday: For breakfast, a mixed-veg frittata with cheese. Lunch was a fresh salad made with roasted sweet potato, mozzarella, chickpeas, onions, and tomatoes. Dinner was a mixed-veg and bean Bolognese with cheese and wholewheat spaghetti.

• Monday: Breakfast was Greek yogurt with toasted seeds and honey. Lunch was minestrone soup made with the leftover mixed veg and spaghetti.

By the end of the 72 hours, we were full, happy, and had a lot left over—including eggs, seeds, honey, fruit and nuts, half a pack of spaghetti, and a lot more.

Plant Points and the UPF Reality Check

The biggest win from this exercise was the nutritional value of our food. The Aldi meals delivered a total of 31 plant points across the 72 hours. This included a variety of vegetables, beans, legumes, seeds, nuts, and herbs.

I also wanted to be honest about the Ultra-Processed Foods (UPFs) that crept into my shopping list.

• Sourdough & Ciabatta: These were both lovely and were not UPF, but they did cost more than their UPF counterparts.

• Grated Cheese: This was coated in potato starch to stop it from clumping. We’re still figuring out if this makes something a UPF, but I would ordinarily buy a block of cheese to grate myself.

• Mustard & Stock Cubes: The mustard had unnecessary xantham gum, and the stock cubes were UPF. While I wouldn’t use them again, adding them to a highly nutritious meal doesn't "ruin" it. If it helps you enjoy a meal with lots of vegetables, then that's a win.

This isn't about being perfect—it's about being cognisant. As I like to say, think of each meal you have as the weather, whereas what you eat long-term is the climate. It's the consistency of eating nutrient-dense foods that matters most.

The Honest Truth: Effort vs. Money

It’s important to acknowledge that this took more work and more organization than picking up a takeaway- obviously! And this challenge was far easier to do with a household of three (including a hungry 18-year-old!) due to economies of scale. It would be harder with a smaller family, easier with a larger one.

But the point wasn't to say that having a McDonald's is bad—it’s not. There’s no problem with enjoying a takeaway now and then. The point was to prove that for the same amount of money we'd spend on one takeaway, we could be fed for a full 72 hours with delicious, nutritious, and minimally processed food.

And we did it!