Budget-friendly, nourishing Persian meals for every day of the week

Cheap food doesn't have to be bland. Persian home cooking is full of dishes built on legumes, rice, eggs, herbs and a little meat that are filling and nourishing at the same time. Here is a menu from Saturday to Friday, plus three dishes to swap in. Most have a full recipe on Sabad, so you can add the ingredients straight to your shopping list.

What makes a meal cheap and nourishing

• Legumes do the heavy lifting. Lentils, split peas, beans and chickpeas are good sources of plant protein and fiber, and usually cost less per serving than meat. Rice and legumes complement each other's protein.
• Meat is for flavor, not the star. Most stews and rice dishes still work with less meat and more legumes or potatoes.
• Seasonal vegetables are cheaper and taste better. Pumpkin in autumn, eggplant and green beans in summer.
• Cook once, eat twice. Stews taste better the next day, and leftover rice becomes tomorrow's lunch.

The week

Saturday: adas polo. Lentil rice is one of the cheapest, most filling Persian rice dishes. The Sabad version comes with a ground meat sauce, raisins and dried apricots; halve the meat, or serve it with dates and fried onions, to make it cheaper.

Sunday: kuku sabzi. Eggs and fragrant herbs make one of the quickest Persian dinners, and it works with dried or frozen herbs too. Serve it with bread and yogurt; leftovers make a good sandwich.

Monday: gheymeh. Yellow split peas give this stew body and protein, so it still works with less meat. Cook a big pot and freeze half.

Tuesday: vermicelli soup. One chicken breast, carrots, potato and parsley make a big pot of light soup. For something heartier, try this chicken soup with brown rice and egg.

Wednesday: lubia polo. Green beans, ground meat and tomato paste: a family favorite. Stretch the meat with diced potato.

Thursday: ghormeh sabzi. Herbs and kidney beans make up most of this stew, so it stays rich with less meat. Sabad has versions from several cooks side by side.

Friday: abgoosht. The classic Friday lunch: chickpeas, beans, potatoes and tomatoes carry the bulk, and bone-in meat brings the flavor. The broth is eaten with bread and the rest is mashed into goosht-koobideh: one pot, two meals.

Three dishes to swap in

• Kadoo polo. Pumpkin is in season in autumn. The Sabad version layers rice with fried pumpkin, small meatballs, walnuts and barberries; skip the walnuts on a weeknight.
• Falafel. Made from soaked chickpeas, fresh herbs and cumin, it's popular street food in southern Iran. With bread, tomato and pickles it's a full meat-free dinner. The Sabad recipe is the Lebanese style with tahini sauce.
• Adasi. Lentils, onion, a little potato and spices: a warm, cheap breakfast or light dinner with bread and lemon juice.

Tips for spending less

• Buy legumes monthly and in bulk; they keep for months. See how to find the cheapest online grocery store.
• Cook legumes in big batches and freeze them in small portions.
• Freeze meat in single-meal portions on the day you buy it.
• Buy herbs in season, then wash, chop and freeze them.

For the rest of your week's shopping, use the weekly family grocery checklist.

From menu to shopping list

Every Sabad recipe lists its ingredients with quantities, and in the app they go onto your shopping list in one tap. In the app, change the servings to match your household and the amounts follow; you also see calories per serving. Things you probably have at home, like salt and oil, are listed separately so they don't land on the list for no reason. Then Sabad compares the list's prices across the online stores that deliver to you.

Browse more in the Sabad recipe collection, or import a recipe you saw on Instagram or YouTube.

Try it: get Sabad free, pick this week's meals and put all their ingredients on one list.