How can we save on our shopping bills? don't worry! It's Sorted!

To help consumers reduce their food bills amidst the rising cost of living crisis, Sorted Food – the social media movement dedicated to cooking and inspiring millions of people to get joy from food, is launching the first weekly meal planning tool that will enable home-cooks to save at least 30% on their food bills and enjoy up to six delicious yet easy-to-make meals created by chefs. 

Research undertaken by Sorted Food learned that a staggering 93% of shoppers are spending more on food than they’d planned to and 70% of consumers feel their large food shops don’t stretch as far as they’d hoped. 

With food prices soaring and people’s lives busier than ever, the new tool is perfectly timed to take the stress out of cooking tasty meals on a budget.

The research also revealed over half of shoppers (52%) who are spending more on their food shop are annoyed but feel there’s nothing they can do about it, whilst a third of shoppers (35%) worry about how they will afford other items throughout the week. 

To help tackle this and support the growing number of home-cooks who want to enjoy delicious and nutritious food whilst on a tight budget, the YouTube stars have redeveloped their revolutionary meal planning app Sidekick, so users can now choose six meals per week for no additional fee (£4.99 per month, first month free). 

The first of its kind, Sidekick features the innovative ‘Recipe Pack’ tool. Each week it publishes a wide choice of ‘Recipe Packs’, that contain three awesome recipes, all cleverly designed to share ingredients between them and leave users with no food waste.

The team of Sorted Food chefs have designed smart recipes packed full of money-saving hacks to help take the strain out of everyday meal planning and shopping. 

Subscribers can now choose up to two Recipe Packs to add to their planner for the week ahead (previously it was one pack) and the App creates one simple combined shopping list, which helps users save over 20% on their food shop in the first month of using Sidekick, increasing to over 30% in subsequent months as their store cupboard grows, plus they learn new skills to help them ‘cook like a chef’.

Jamie Spafford, Sorted Food Co-Founder said “Even with the best meal planning intentions, when most of us go shopping we have a list of ingredients to buy that we use across individual dishes or recipes, but often this means we still end up with leftover food that ultimately ends up in the bin, from that half bag of spinach to the spoonful of sour cream, it just wastes our money, and that’s not to mention all the supermarket ‘special offers’ that tempt us into buying food we don’t need! 

"Our unique Recipe Packs help home-cooks plan each of their meals for the week ahead and ensure every perishable item they buy is completely used up, so not only can they eat delicious and nutritious food, but they also save on their grocery shopping by cutting out food waste.”

The meals in each Recipe Pack share fresh ingredients across each dish mixed with budget store cupboard ingredients found in most kitchen cupboards (ie olive oil, pasta, stock cubes), this allows users to get the most out of every ingredient they buy, helping them to save on their food bills and ensure none of the food they buy goes to waste. Once users have chosen their Recipe Packs for the week ahead, the App combines the six dishes to create a single shopping list of ingredients for them to buy and they choose where from - whether it be online, a convenience store or local farm shop.

Jamie went on to say, “We have been hearing lots from our community about how worried they are about rising food prices, how they’d like to learn how to shop smarter and how stressful cooking meals on a budget can be. 

"With lives busier than ever, we believe the solution is one simple tool to help people with their meal planning, shopping and cooking – helping us all to become awesome home cooks. We’ve created Sidekick to be like the ‘chef in your pocket’, helping everyone to be the hero of their kitchen no matter what their skill level or budget.”

The Sorted Food chefs have used their culinary expertise alongside feedback from their 2.6 million strong community, to create a range of recipes that use twists on classic dishes and seasonal favourites. Featuring classic comfort dishes, new inspiration from cuisines around the world and ingredients that change with the seasons so home cooks need never get stuck in a mealtime rut.

Sorted Food was launched by four school friends in 2010; it has grown to become one of the world’s largest online food communities with 2.6 million YouTube subscribers. The YouTube channel has had over 850 million views, with two to three new videos uploaded each week – from learning basic cooking techniques to investigating new food trends and taking on ultimate cooking challenges.

Sorted Food: https://sortedfood.com (usually £49.99 per year/£4.99 per month)

Sidekick users looking for a wide range of weekend treats, ultimate baking challenges and so much more can also or use their exclusive access to the Cookbook App which includes 500+ recipes from a range of unique titles - from ‘Cooking to the Beat’ to ‘Desserts in Duvets’, and the Feast Your Ears podcast library where the co-founders discuss and debate current food trends.