Budget Food Ideas

[bobsacamano]

A tin of fish on a baguette with a few leafy greens then a banana and an orange. Finish off with a couple of brews and a supermarket pan au chocolate/chocolate bar accompaniment. Easy and does the job for the morning.

 

Add in the £6 meals and the odd visit to the Hare Krishna tent and you can get by on £10 per day food.

[MilkyJoe]

Tins are pretty heavy , pot snacks are okay but they’re take up a lot of packing real estate. If you have a stove buy a small pan and take packet pastas, rice etc. plenty of cereal bars to carry you through the day.

Edited June 12, 2025 by MilkyJoe

[brendan84]

I used to always bring a few john west "light lunches" tuna and pasta salad sealed up and not too bad.

Also smoked sausage (mattersons) in a packet

Belvitas and breakfast bars for cheap breakfasts or snacks on the go. 

 

[Skip997]

57 minutes ago, bobsacamano said:

A tin of fish on a baguette with a few leafy greens then a banana and an orange. Finish off with a couple of brews and a supermarket pan au chocolate/chocolate bar accompaniment. Easy and does the job for the morning.

 

Add in the £6 meals and the odd visit to the Hare Krishna tent and you can get by on £10 per day food.

This is expert advice, no need to be spending £30 - £60 a day 

[phillyfaddle]

+1 for Hare Krishna tent. Join in the chanting and singing too. You’ll feel great afterwards. A proper mood lifter.

[Simsy]

A friend once took a loaf of bread and a jar of marmite. Security confiscated the marmite (because of the glass rather than any love/hate for the product), so he was just left with dry bread for lunch every day 😂

[K2SO]

3 hours ago, Simsy said:

A friend once took a loaf of bread and a jar of marmite. Security confiscated the marmite (because of the glass rather than any love/hate for the product), so he was just left with dry bread for lunch every day 😂

 

I actually have a plastic tub of Marmite from Costco so this might be an idea 😂😂

[Fred Zepplin]

We are taking a stove and planning on having breakfast at the tent. Taking tea and coffee with us and a load of sausages and rolls. Will freeze a few packs and put them into a cool bag so hopefully they will last us till Sunday. We normally come bad to the tent in the afternoon so will take a few pot noodles as well for an afternoon snack 

[Arnaud]

Hi there,

Baked beans could work if you keep them in a good cool bag with ice packs, but they’re bulky and cans add weight. For a hearty breakfast, consider instant oatmeal packets (just add hot water from your stove), peanut butter with shelf-stable tortillas, or pre-made hard-boiled eggs if you eat them fast. Dried fruits and nuts are great for extra calories and keep well. For lunch, Belvitas are solid, maybe add some jerky for protein.

[WillyVWade]

In the spirit of packing volume, budget and reducing waste: These noodle pots are reusable (I'm sure other brands are available, but I can't vouch for the sturdiness of their pots)

 

 

You can then just buy the same noodles in regular packets for cheaper and without throwing away the plastic tub.

[ceetee]

On 19/06/2025 at 08:23, Arnaud said:

Hi there,

Baked beans could work if you keep them in a good cool bag with ice packs, but they’re bulky and cans add weight. For a hearty breakfast, consider instant oatmeal packets (just add hot water from your stove), peanut butter with shelf-stable tortillas, or pre-made hard-boiled eggs if you eat them fast. Dried fruits and nuts are great for extra calories and keep well. For lunch, Belvitas are solid, maybe add some jerky for protein.

 

Knowing that there are people on site who refrigerate baked beans has ruined the festival for me. 

[Ryan1984]

Granola bars are always a good option. The maple ones are tasty as well.

 

Fruit like bananas and apples used to be fairly cheap on site. There was a stall near the Other Stage that raised money for a local school (?) where you could get a banana or apple for 50p/a quid and also a juice for similar.

[El Matador]

53 minutes ago, ceetee said:

 

Knowing that there are people on site who refrigerate baked beans has ruined the festival for me. 

This was my first thought as well! Are there really people that keep tins of beans in the fridge?

[pie_and_a_pint]

Denela's Bakery near Acoustic / Kidzfield has fresh bread every day, and the pastries and sausage rolls from there are decently priced and very tasty.

 

If you're really stuck and/or sick of Hare Krishna food, Buddhafield in the Greenfields will usually feed you handsomely in exchange for an hour or so of washing up.

[The Nal]

1 hour ago, ceetee said:

 

Knowing that there are people on site who refrigerate baked beans has ruined the festival for me. 

 

Knowing that there are people anywhere who still eat baked beans has ruined 2025 for me. 

[cheesey_toastie]

I take a bag of muesli - a few bananas for the first couple of days, apples for the last to cover breakfast. 

 

Buy a pint of milk on the way back to the tent (or bring powered milk). Make a brew, quick bowl of muesli and that's not just a cash saving but also avoids the morning queues when you're hanging and just need something to eat. 

Whilst out and about I carry a big bag of peanuts - protein and salt when you need it. But I buy lunch and my tea - can never face missing something to go back and eat. 

The pasty stand does some pretty filling stodge for not much money... we all ate that a lot last year because it was filling and on the way.

[balti-pie]

20 minutes ago, cheesey_toastie said:

I take a bag of muesli - a few bananas for the first couple of days, apples for the last to cover breakfast. 

 

Buy a pint of milk on the way back to the tent (or bring powered milk). Make a brew, quick bowl of muesli and that's not just a cash saving but also avoids the morning queues when you're hanging and just need something to eat. 

Whilst out and about I carry a big bag of peanuts - protein and salt when you need it. But I buy lunch and my tea - can never face missing something to go back and eat. 

The pasty stand does some pretty filling stodge for not much money... we all ate that a lot last year because it was filling and on the way.

Got to be honest, i feel like you're letting your username down a bit here! But cheese toasties are never cheap - the cheese toastie fella opposite the Truth stage in shangri-la is absolutely magnificent, sourdough and great cheese with a bit of sauerkraut - wonderful stuff. but £££

Edited June 20, 2025 by balti-pie

[The Nal]

You could take a few lobsters in an icebox and whenever you're hungry you could just boil one of them up.

 

Not sure the thermidor butter would last as long though so maybe not so practical on 2nd thought.

[clarkete]

2 hours ago, The Nal said:

 

Knowing that there are people anywhere who still eat baked beans has ruined 2025 for me. 

 

Their post was helpful and informative, but of course my favourite bit was the beans, plus the russian roulette with the eggs if the temps are too toasty. 

 

 

[Ben7amin_]

Home Bargains do these absolute chonky individually wrapped flapjacks with various toppings not really a meal in the traditional sense but they were incredibly filling and cost about 29p  Great for a Im hungry but for last night related reasons unable to move from my tent exactly now moments.