Sometimes, like Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears, you’re broke. We all either have been or will be there. And when there is a worldwide pandemic that has decreased income and increase prices, more than just a few folks have ended up broke.
A limited budget can be a deterrent to making the choice to go vegan, or sometimes people believe that you can’t do it – or maintain it – on a budget. It’s true that there are rarely amazing sales, loss leaders, or coupons for fresh nutritious food. But, eating vegan and maintaining a budget-friendly diet are not an impossible combination. You don’t have to live on ramen noodles!
Some general thoughts to decrease costs and increase vegan goodness:
Eat in season when you can – If you can get to a farm stand or a farmers’ market that is open now, you’ll find the best deals on fruits and vegetables (unless you want to plant a garden, in which case the deals get better).
Plan your starches – Don’t eat white rice or white pasta every day, even though they are really inexpensive options. If you try that, you’ll get bored and unhappy and end up spending $20 on a Papa John’s pizza or binging on Doritos.
Cook ahead when you can – If you are cooking for 1 or 2, it’s far more cost effective to cook ahead and freeze or eat the item across the week. You can always repurpose or reseason things to make them seem different the second or third time. Waiting until the last moment will lead you to more pricey choices like ordering from DoorDash.
Protein is important, but we don’t need as much as the beef industry wants us to think we do. You’ll notice a lot of beans in the recipes below because beans are good, cheap, and I love them. But, you have other options. In fact, you will probably find it’s just not that difficult and you can even get it in your desserts and without eating soy or nuts.
Buy in bulk, and generic, where it makes sense, and, when you can’t, compare prices! That’s harder right now, but as stores begin to open up more fully, it will be available again.
When something that doesn’t go bad is on *super* sale (like dried spices, sea salt, or hot sauce), get a few. You’ll spend a little more now and save later. But, don’t let the 10 for $10 sales fool you into buying things you won’t use (or buying things that would actually be less on a daily basis).
Pick one “luxury” ingredient to buy each week. One week it might be a nice bottle of olive oil (not super pricey, maybe $8). One week it could be a container of dark cocoa for cooking and baking. You’ll build your pantry supplies without spending a fortune at once.
Skip the takeout or limit it to once a week. Even if you are splurging at a large fast food “inexpensive” national taco chain, you’ll spend more than you would making your food and you’ll get less nutrition out of it.
Avoid prepared food, except for an occasional splurge on something you really love. Everything that is in a package and sold as super easy to grab and eat (breakfast pastries, protein bars), or “just reheat” (frozen dinners, meals in a can) is much more expensive than making it yourself and is often full of crap you don’t need.
When in doubt, “a grain, a green, a bean.” This idea, sometimes called a vegan bowl, and referred to by the No Meat Athlete as AGAGAB, is exactly what it sounds like. Cook a grain; add a green; add a bean; season. The end.
So, with that having been said, some ideas for cheap eats!
Oatmeal! Old fashioned oats can be had for about 20 cents a serving for the oats* and it’s so good for you. That’s cheap, right? Go ahead, add a banana for 20 cents, some almonds for 40 cents, or raisins for 20 cents. The choices of what to put in are almost endless and can depend on what you have a bunch of or what was cheap this week. If you make a pot of oats on Monday, you can mix it up however you want it all for several days. Oats are not only tasty, they are full of fiber, magnesium, and vitamin B1 and have a significant amount of protein, and if you add some blueberries, yogurt, chia, or walnuts, you’ll add an extra punch of goodness for gut and heart health.
Black beans and rice Cheap and delicious eats. A basic pan of black beans with some onion, jalapeño, celery, chili powder, and cumin, plus enough rice to have a cup for each serving of beans, can be pulled together for under 70 cents a serving. And, these are not little servings. I’m talking a cup of rice and a cup of beans! You can check out a full recipe here.
Pasta bake with protein Who does not love pasta? I don’t know anyone like that, actually. Buy pasta when it’s on sale and stick it in the freezer and it lasts a long time. Add some texturized vegetable protein (buy in bulk) or chickpeas for protein. Squashes, tomatoes, and maybe some kale give you your veggies. The carbs are obvious! And all of this is low in fat. A no-nonsense pasta bake with diced zucchini and summer squash, diced tomatoes, onion, garlic, and texturized vegetable protein comes in at a whopping $1.50 per serving! You can find a couple of additional recipes here and here.
Bean and carrot soup We ate quite a bit of bean soup when I was a kid. It had ham in it, but I don’t miss that when I make it now. One bag of beans, a pound of carrots, an onion, a few celery stalks, and some vegan broth powder will set you back around $5-6, but provide at least 6 servings of hearty soup. Throw in a little corn or rice if you wish. And, it’s an easy meal to put on and let simmer and not need to fuss with.
Tofu wraps Tofu cooked slowly for a long period takes on an interesting chewy texture that really gives a good mouth feel, enhancing that sense of satiation. Make your tofu not-jerky ahead of time and slice it into narrow strips. Use burrito sized tortillas to wrap up the tofu, romaine lettuce, diced onions, shredded carrot, and diced tomatoes, with your choice of dressing or hot sauce. You can make 8 large wraps from 1 block of tofu for only about $1.50 per wrap.
Chili People have been making chili as a cheap and delicious meal for ages, and vegan chili is no exception. If you cook your chili starting with dried beans, it is darn inexpensive! A large pan of basic chili with pinto beans, jalapeños, onions, celery, tomatoes, and carrots can be cooked up for under $9 and will provide at least 8 servings (and those are servings for hungry people). Pull up some low-cost tortilla chips or store brand saltines and you are set. This recipe makes almost double that and reduces the cost even further!
Split pea soup Much like chili, split pea soup is inexpensive, filling, and goes a long way. It can also be frozen and reheated easily. This easy pressure cooker split pea soup comes in at between $8-9 and provides at least 10 servings of soup. You can certainly make it without the pressure cooker, but they are amazing, so it might be worth it to watch out for a super sale, put one on your list for Santa, or check out your local yard sales.
Tavoor dal (yellow lentil curry) and rice Lentils are really good and really good for you. Lentils are exceptionally high in protein and have good amounts of iron and potassium too. This yellow lentil curry recipe packs some flavor punch and is easy to pull together and very inexpensive. You can serve this over rice for less than 70 cents a serving!
Baked potatoes and all the things! Do you know how cheap a baked potato is? Seriously, DO YOU? You can buy 5 pounds of russet potatoes for $2.50. That’s a lot of food. Now, grab a roll of generic foil and bake the potatoes you want. And then throw whatever leftovers you have on top of that potato! Chili – yes! Lentils – indeed! Black beans – jump on it! Any green veggies you have handy to sauté – affirmative! Oatmeal – no, probably not. So many things go on a baked potato and taste good. Don’t forget about them when you are thinking about your starch options.
Spaghetti You know this one. I know you do. Go with it. Toss some al dente spaghetti with sesame oil, soy sauce, hot sauce, and edamame = dinner. Make a basic spaghetti with marinara sauce (in fact, go ahead and get a couple of jars when it’s on super sale for times you are really in a rush). Throw some olive oil and nutritional yeast into a bowl of spaghetti and toss it with some sea salt and have it with a little salad on the side. Easy peasy and wildly cheap.
These are just a few ideas for eating simple vegan on a budget. Of course there are many more! Here are some additional links to peruse at your leisure:
We love bagels. We love them. My kids are amazed that I didn’t have my first bagel until college. What can I say?
This is, of course, a sourdough twist on standard bagels. It wasn’t hard to make, requiring little active time. This recipe is a bit of a conglomeration of various sourdough recipes that I read online. All props to those who have gone before me!
Ingredients
200g active 100% hydration starter at its peak
315g cool water
30g agave syrup
750g all-purpose flour (or 400g APF and 350g bread flour)
10g fine salt
Semolina or fine cornmeal
Additional Ingredients for Boiling
1 tablespoon baking soda
1 tablespoon brown sugar
The first afternoon…
Whisk together your starter with the water and agave syrup until the starter has dissolved.
Add in the flour and salt and mix with a stand mixer and dough hook. Knead on the lowest setting for about 6 minutes. This may make your mixer unhappy because it is a VERY stiff dough. Take breaks as needed. By the end, the dough should be smooth and pliable but firm. If you need to add a couple of extra tablespoons of water, do so, just do it slowly. You can knead this by hand. Get some Icy Hot first.
Cover the mixing bowl with plastic wrap and let it rest for 30 minutes.
Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces. I weighed them because that’s how I roll (get it). They were about 163g each. Shape each piece into a ball then cup the dough in your palm and roll on the countertop. *Do not use flour for this.*
Cover the dough balls with plastic wrap and rest another 15 minutes. They will get a tad more soft.
Select the dish/pan that you’ll use for proofing. An extra-large cake pan with a lid or cake carrier works well. I didn’t do this and had to make a whole tent system out of thin glasses and plastic. Don’t be a Lorin.
Place a sheet of parchment paper in the pan or sheet and sprinkle generously with fine cornmeal or semolina.
To shape the bagels, poke a hole with your finger directly through the centre of the dough ball. This works better if you don’t have any length on your fingernails. If you do, use the handle of a wooden spoon. Once you have a small hole through the center, insert your index fingers – one from each side – into the hole and circle them around each other to stretch the hole until it’s about the diameter of a quarter. It’s sort of fun. Do not fret if they are a little imperfect and wrinkled.
Place the shaped bagels in your proofing container, leaving ¾-1 inch of space between them to allow for rising. Let them proof in a warm place for 2.5 – 4.5 hours, or until they get puffy. They might take a little less or more time. You can check by taking one bagel and placing it in a bowl of cold water. If it floats, they are done!
Once proofed, you could proceed to day 2 instructions if you want less sourdough flavor. Otherwise, cover the pan or put the lid on and refrigerate 12 – 24 hours.
The next morning…
Preheat oven to 450°F.
Prepare your baking sheet(s) by adding a layer of cornmeal and then a sheet of parchment paper. The cornmeal will absorb some of the heat and prevent your bagels from getting overdone on the bottom before the top is cooked.
Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil and add the baking soda and brown sugar.
While the oven is heating and the water is getting to a boil, prepare the toppings on plates or in shallow dishes. You can use dried garlic, everything seasoning, sea salt, sesame seeds, poppy seeds, an egg wash if you are making them for non-vegans, and so on, or just have yours plain!
Place the bagels into the boiling water two at a time. Boil for 30-40 seconds on each side.
Remove the boiled bagels with a slotted spatula to allow them to drain.
Once the excess water has drained away, you can dip the top of each bagel into desired seasoning. Then place each bagel on the baking sheet.
Place the baking sheet into the center of the oven and turn it down to 400°F.
Bake for 20 – 25 minutes or until the level of golden that you prefer. Cool on a rack for at least 15 minutes before serving.
