Sometimes, people think it’s expensive to go vegan. When I first tried to adopt a vegan lifestyle, it was really important for me to stick to a tight budget, and I did! I mean, when you think about it, potatoes, whole grains, sweet potatoes, black beans, and other whole foods are not more expensive than animal products.
Vegan food is just food! It doesn’t have to be expensive meat replacements, dairy swaps, or fancy options from vegan exclusive restaurants. It does, however, take a little bit of forethought, and that’s why meal planning is so incredibly helpful.
If you’re looking to go vegan and try new recipes without spending much money at the grocery store, I am here for you. All of these recipes use simple ingredients that are easy to find, affordable, and totally cruelty-free! Here I’ve rounded up some of my favorite delicious recipes for cheap vegan meals.
How to meal prep?
If you’re new to meal prep, or to being vegan, start small! Don’t pick a different recipe for each meal, cause you’d probably get super overwhelmed and have too many days worth of food. My favorite strategy to recommend is picking one meal a week to prep at first, generally whichever you struggle with most. Do you have super busy mornings and always forget to feed yourself? Or do you need lunch so you can save money while you’re working all week? Whatever it is for you, pick one, start with that, and add more as you build your meal prepping routine and habits.
Usually, 1-2 breakfast recipes, 1 lunch recipe, and 1-2 dinner recipes can last me an entire week. All of the links below are great make ahead recipes so you can cook once and eat all week! And be sure to leave some space for spontaneity; I don’t prep every single meal, so if I end up going out, getting takeout, or just feeling like peanut butter and crackers for dinner, it’s ok and there isn’t a meal wasted.
And of course, there are many different ways to do your meal prep, and this isn’t a complete guide, but the basics are:
- Decide how many meals you need in the week
- Check your fridge and pantry to see what you already have or need to use (we’re not trying to spend a ton of money, so shop your pantry first!)
- Choose 2-5 recipes for the week
- Make a grocery list
- Go shopping and get your groceries
- Clean your kitchen
- Read through all your recipes so you know how long different parts of each meal take
- Start cooking!
It’s best not to do this all in one day as well. Set aside a few minutes over the weekend to break up each task. I’ll get into specific details in a future post, as well as dive into how you can best utilize a small kitchen, different small appliances like an Instant Pot, slow cooker, or (my favorite) an air fryer. But for now, dive into this list of easy vegan meal prep ideas, let yourself be inspired, and get ready to do some meal prep!
Notes:
Not all of these are my original recipes, but if I’ve made any important swaps I will note it right below the link.
Don’t have fancy meal prep containers? Making big batches and eating ‘buffet style’ is an easy way to hack the need for those beautiful matching glass containers.
The best vegan diet is made up primarily of whole, healthy food. That being said, for me, being vegan is not a weight loss program. I don’t count calories, macros, or eat restrictive quantities. I also don’t need an especially high protein or low calorie diet, but as all needs are different, feel free to adjust accordingly.
List of Vegan Meal Prep Ideas; Fall Edition
Breakfasts:
- Overnight Oats or Instant Oats by The Traveling Chickpea
Sweet and cinnamon-spiced, you can’t go wrong with oats for a vegan breakfast! These can be made as overnight oats and eaten right out of the fridge on rushed mornings, or, add boiling water and have instant hot oatmeal without the more expensive store bought packets.
2. Morning Glory Muffins by Workweek Lunch
Muffins are one of my favorite breakfasts, and these are hearty, packed with apples, carrots, and more, to make a delicious and filling breakfast or snack. Be sure to read to the end to see how to make vegan. It’s a simple swap of flax or chia for the eggs, but if you just look at the recipe and see eggs you’ll think I’m crazy! Talia at Workweek Lunch is amazing at having vegan swaps noted in all her recipes.
3. Homemade Granola by Love and Lemons
Making your own granola is 100 times easier than it sounds. I’ve successfully tweaked this recipe to be even more fall-themed by substituting pumpkin butter in place of almond butter. If you do, reduce the amount of maple syrup by about half. Apple butter would probably work too! Serve with a sliced banana and your favorite dairy-free milk for a delicious, cheap, and healthy take on traditional breakfast cereal.
Lunches:
4. Spring Rolls by Cookie and Kate
I have to admit, spring rolls were one of those things I wasn’t sold on until I made my own. The best part about these is you can swap ingredients in and out with ease. I’ve used rice ramen noodles, but I’m sure any thin noodle would work. Angel hair spaghetti would probably even be fine! And feel free to switch up the veggies or add thin strips of crunchy tofu. As for prepping, you can wrap them all ahead of time and store them in the fridge for a few days, or, just prep the ingredients and roll them up fresh when you’re ready to eat.
5. Buffalo Chickpea Bowls by This Mess is Ours
Who doesn’t love the contrast of warm, spicy buffalo sauce with a creamy, cool ranch and the crunch of fresh veggies? This recipe can easily be made into a wrap as well, just pile all the bowl ingredients into a large tortilla and wrap it up burrito style. And if you’re not up for making a homemade dressing, use whatever you have on hand. If you’re a new vegan and still have a bottle of buttermilk ranch sitting in the fridge, there is absolutely no shame in using it up. Unless you have a severe dairy allergy, then don’t do that.
6. Vegan Fall Pasta Salad by Rabbit and Wolves
I don’t have a photo to share here, but it’s worth it to click on the link above! Perfect any time of year, this recipe brings pasta salad into fall with a dish you can enjoy warm or cold. And again, you can switch up the veggies to whatever is in season or on hand!
Dinners:
7. Creamy Red Lentil Soup by The Traveling Chickpea
This is, hands down, the best lentil soup you will ever eat. It probably sounds like bragging, but maybe I’m ok with that. It really is so good. And it’s cheap, easy and tastes even better the next day! One of those recipes that is perfect to make and just store in a big old pot in the fridge and scoop out as you eat it.
8. Quick Homemade Ramen by Pinch of Yum
Literally one of the most comforting comfort foods in existence. Don’t worry though, it’s a far cry from the instant noodle powder packet we’re all familiar with. The easy homemade broth elevates your bowl to another realm.
A couple of important notes for this recipe in particular: Some of the photos include eggs, but it’s not written in the recipe anywhere. As long as you use vegetable broth and throw out the seasoning packet, the recipe is vegan. If you can’t find dried mushrooms, any variety will do. I almost always use fresh baby bellas.
And for meal prep, this is important; don’t add the noodles to the broth. They will get waaay too soggy by the time you eat them in a few days. Follow the recipe to make the broth, slightly undercook noodles in a separate pan of water, drain and rinse, prep your toppings, and store all three in separate containers. Then heat noodles and broth together when you’re ready to eat, and pile high with toppings. In addition to hers, I love thin sliced red onion and a handful of chopped cilantro. *heart eyes!*
9. Red Beans and Rice by Simple Vegan Blog
A New Orleans classic usually filled with smokey sausage and cooked for hours, this quick and easy recipe is vegan and perfect for meal prepping! Of course, if you want to make it even cheaper, you can opt to cook your beans from scratch instead of starting with canned ones. Just google ‘vegan red beans and rice recipe’ and you’ll be sure to find one.
10. 15 Minute Vegan Burrito Bowl by A Simple Palate
You might think that you’d get sick of rice and beans, but really, when you can change up the flavors so much, it rarely happens. I mean, non-vegans eat meat and potatoes all the time in different varieties, why do rice and beans have to be so different? 🙂
11. Pasta and Vegan Bolognese by The Traveling Chickpea
Make the bolognese if you want to get fancy and pack in a ton of veggies/use up veggies in the fridge. If you just want a quick and easy meal prep, buy a jar of marinara (check for cheese ingredients) and a box of pasta. Cook the pasta, toss it together with the sauce, cool, seal in airtight containers, and move on with the rest of your week! Add a fresh salad and some garlic bread and you’ve got the easiest meal prep of all time.
12. Sun-dried Tomato and White Bean Soup by One Lovely Life
I tell my husband every time I make this soup that if I had come up with the recipe, we would be rich! It’s a silly thought, but that’s how good the soup is. It’s one of those “darn, why didn’t I think of that?” creations that you can’t help being a little envious of. But, Emily got to it first and I’m just happy to have found it and be able to share it with you!
The only reason it’s at the bottom of my list is that the sun-dried tomatoes can be a little more spendy ($3-5 for a jar) but one jar makes two batches, so I still consider it ‘budget friendly’ even if it’s not quite ‘dirt cheap!’ It’s totally worth it when it comes to the flavor though. So good. I can’t express it enough, apparently. Give it a try and tell me you’re not obsessed too.
That’s it for today folks! If you have any questions about meal prepping, or if you try any of these recipes, comment below and let me know! Or find me on Instagram, @traveling_chickpea, and shoot me a message. I’ll be happy to answer any questions you might have about getting started in vegan meal prep!
