Cheap Vegan Recipes

mckennajhardy
mckennajhardy Posts: 7 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I’m having the hardest time finding cheap vegan recipes. Especially for breakfast. I want to reduce my grocery bill to $25 a week and no more than $150 a month ($50 for longer shelf life foods in bulk like quinoa and coffee). Drop vegan recipes below that are cheap to make or buy!

Replies

  • mckennajhardy
    mckennajhardy Posts: 7 Member
    edited January 2019
    Here’s an easy pasta dinner:

    Boil Pasta. When almost done, add frozen peas. Mix hummus, nutrition yeast, cayenne, and lemon juice (or water or olive oil) into a sauce. Drain pasta with peas, mix in the hummus sauce. Easy dinner ready in 10 minutes with minimal clean up!
  • mckennajhardy
    mckennajhardy Posts: 7 Member
    Another super quick dinner:

    Boil water, add rice noodles(2 Oz dry is 1 serving size). They cook fast, so keep an eye on them. When almost done, add a frozen vegetable mix (I like the peas, corn, carrots, green beans, Lima bean mix and I add 1 cup), and drain when done. Add to a bowl. Add My Yoshida marinade sauce (2-4 tbsp). Optonal: add 1 tbsp of coconut oil or 1 tsp sesame oil. Done in 10 minutes.
  • mckennajhardy
    mckennajhardy Posts: 7 Member
    This burrito is good for road trips or long days away from home:

    Tortilla, hummus, (I like to sprinkle some nutrition yeast now so it sticks to the hummus), quinoa, shredded carrots, spinach, sun dried tomatoes, and shredded cucumber. It holds well with travel and is good hot (if you don’t add cucumber) or cold.
  • mckennajhardy
    mckennajhardy Posts: 7 Member
    Cheap snack I love. It’s also low carb but I’m not low carb:

    Cucumber, Tajin seasoning (salt, chili, lemon). I like a LOT of Tajin but it takes time to build it up without turning your stomachs sour from the salt and lemon I sometimes add cayenne pepper powder too. 🌶
  • mckennajhardy
    mckennajhardy Posts: 7 Member
    Nutrition yeast can be seen as an acquired taste but I love it:

    Home popped popcorn in coconut oil, nutrition yeast, salt, pepper, Tajin. Optional: cayenne pepper powder. 🌶
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,097 Member
    edited January 2019
    You seem to be cooking mostly from sketch scratch, using a minimum of convenience foods -- not sure what to suggest to get cheaper than that. You could make your hummus and tortillas yourself (neither is terribly difficult or time-intensive).
  • AmandaDanceMore
    AmandaDanceMore Posts: 298 Member
    Plant Based on a Budget has a meal plan that they say is about $25 per week (depending on where you live and where you shop). They have lots of great, albeit simple meals. May want to look into it.

    A lot of my cooking is done off the top of my head. When I’m working and living alone, it’s a lot of veggies (frozen or fresh) sautéed or roasted, some pasta, a baked potato, or rice, and maybe some tofu, tempeh, or seitan. Season to taste.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    edited January 2019
    Any rice and beans recipe that uses spices and ingredients that you already have on hand. Of course, buy the rice and beans in bulk. Latin stores should have especially good prices.

    @janejellyroll was it you who makes your own seitan? Maybe the OP would like to do that.

    For breakfast, if I had used vegan protein powder, my breakfast smoothie would be vegan. I got a giant container of Badia chia seeds from Walmart for a super cheap price per pound and I get the coconut from Ocean State Job Lot, which may be a regional chain.

    I just use Teeccino because I like the flavor - it's completely optional.

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  • pierinifitness
    pierinifitness Posts: 2,226 Member
    I’ve posted this before, check out High Carb Hannah on YouTube for some good recipes. Also, if you sign up at Dr. John McDougalls’ website, you’ll start receiving his e-newsletters than always include interesting recipes. I’m not a vegan but I find the above content expands my nutritional horizon and makes me think.
  • concordancia
    concordancia Posts: 5,320 Member
    I have falafel with veggies and yogurt with Bill and garlic powder. At $3.50 a box, my falafel itself comes to $0.35 a serving. You might be able to get it down further if you make your own.
  • TheTruthAtAnyCost
    TheTruthAtAnyCost Posts: 52 Member
    I don't know how cheap they are, but Thug Kitchen has awesome vegan recipes.
  • shaumom
    shaumom Posts: 1,003 Member
    My recommendation: try to start an herb garden. It's saved me a bundle of money, and added not only some great flavor, but also a great source to experiment with a lot of different herb based pseudo-pestos (just the chopped herbs, nuts, oil, and salt).
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    @kshama2001 Yes, I do make my own seitan. OP, if you live in an area where you can get vital wheat gluten, you can make a bunch of seitan for pretty cheap. I think I usually spend $5-7 dollars for a bag (depending on where I get it) and it makes pounds and pounds of seitan. You can boil it, steam it, or bake it. I've found steaming to be the most reliable.

    This is similar to the recipe I use: http://plantbasedjane.com/2018/01/homemade-seitan-my-favorite-way-to-use-it/

    Once you get the hang of it, you can switch up the seasonings to make it exactly to your taste.

    Other tips for cheap eating:

    1. Dried beans are your best friend. I will cook up an entire bag at once and freeze what I don't plan on using right away.

    2. Don't be afraid of frozen vegetables. For some vegetables and/or times of year, the frozen will be much cheaper than fresh and you're still getting all the nutrition.

    3. If you're not already making your own hummus, start! It's much more affordable.

    4. In some instances, making your own plant milk will be more affordable than buying it. Oat or rice milk can be especially cost-effective. For nut milks, you'll probably pay less to buy it pre-made (depending on your location).
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    janejellyroll wrote: »
    @kshama2001 Yes, I do make my own seitan. OP, if you live in an area where you can get vital wheat gluten, you can make a bunch of seitan for pretty cheap. I think I usually spend $5-7 dollars for a bag (depending on where I get it) and it makes pounds and pounds of seitan. You can boil it, steam it, or bake it. I've found steaming to be the most reliable.

    This is similar to the recipe I use: http://plantbasedjane.com/2018/01/homemade-seitan-my-favorite-way-to-use-it/

    Once you get the hang of it, you can switch up the seasonings to make it exactly to your taste.

    Other tips for cheap eating:

    1. Dried beans are your best friend. I will cook up an entire bag at once and freeze what I don't plan on using right away.

    2. Don't be afraid of frozen vegetables. For some vegetables and/or times of year, the frozen will be much cheaper than fresh and you're still getting all the nutrition.

    3. If you're not already making your own hummus, start! It's much more affordable.

    4. In some instances, making your own plant milk will be more affordable than buying it. Oat or rice milk can be especially cost-effective. For nut milks, you'll probably pay less to buy it pre-made (depending on your location).

    @janejellyroll is $5-7 dollars for the 22 oz bag? I see it for $5.39 on https://primenow.amazon.com/dp/B000QSL51E?m=ANOZNJWOJO2HN&psc=1 and it is about $7.50 a bag on regular Amazon if you buy 4. https://primenow.amazon.com/dp/B000QSL51E?m=ANOZNJWOJO2HN&psc=1 I haven't checked locally yet. There's a close out chain near me - Ocean State Job Lot - that always has good prices and selection of Bob's products.

    Thanks for the recipe! I liked seitan when I had it at the yoga center but the ready-to-eat stuff is so expensive I haven't bought it much since.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    janejellyroll wrote: »
    @kshama2001 Yes, I do make my own seitan. OP, if you live in an area where you can get vital wheat gluten, you can make a bunch of seitan for pretty cheap. I think I usually spend $5-7 dollars for a bag (depending on where I get it) and it makes pounds and pounds of seitan. You can boil it, steam it, or bake it. I've found steaming to be the most reliable.

    This is similar to the recipe I use: http://plantbasedjane.com/2018/01/homemade-seitan-my-favorite-way-to-use-it/

    Once you get the hang of it, you can switch up the seasonings to make it exactly to your taste.

    Other tips for cheap eating:

    1. Dried beans are your best friend. I will cook up an entire bag at once and freeze what I don't plan on using right away.

    2. Don't be afraid of frozen vegetables. For some vegetables and/or times of year, the frozen will be much cheaper than fresh and you're still getting all the nutrition.

    3. If you're not already making your own hummus, start! It's much more affordable.

    4. In some instances, making your own plant milk will be more affordable than buying it. Oat or rice milk can be especially cost-effective. For nut milks, you'll probably pay less to buy it pre-made (depending on your location).

    @janejellyroll is $5-7 dollars for the 22 oz bag? I see it for $5.39 on https://primenow.amazon.com/dp/B000QSL51E?m=ANOZNJWOJO2HN&psc=1 and it is about $7.50 a bag on regular Amazon if you buy 4. https://primenow.amazon.com/dp/B000QSL51E?m=ANOZNJWOJO2HN&psc=1 I haven't checked locally yet. There's a close out chain near me - Ocean State Job Lot - that always has good prices and selection of Bob's products.

    Thanks for the recipe! I liked seitan when I had it at the yoga center but the ready-to-eat stuff is so expensive I haven't bought it much since.

    Yes, I get the 22-ounce bag, the brand is Bob's Red Mill. There may be even cheaper options than that brand, but it has already worked well for me so I haven't tried another.

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