Affordable Vegan Living: Top Tips for Eating Plant-Based on a Budget

You’ve made the switch, taken the plunge and decided to eat more vegan food. Awesome! But what about the financial impact? Isn’t it expensive to eat vegan? Absolutely not.  A wholefood plant-based diet is one of the most healthy and affordable ways of eating. Also, going vegan is the biggest single act individuals can take to reduce their impact on the planet. 

Decades of misleading animal agriculture marketing campaigns have successfully convinced billions of consumers that animal products are ‘natural’, ‘healthy’ foods. This couldn’t be further from the truth.

Animals reared for food are often kept in horrific cramped factory farms, fed antibiotics and forced to live short miserable lives. The impact of this industry is far reaching. Not only are the animals within this industry suffering, so is human health and our planet.

This article explores how you can eat like a king, without spending a fortune.
 
Where to shop? 
Budget supermarkets are your friend! Gone are the days when the likes of Aldi and Lidl lacked good vegan products. Today, many cheaper supermarkets have an abundance of vegan products such as sausages, tofu, yoghurts and cheeses.

‘Accidentally’ vegan products such as hummus, pastry, cereals and bread-based items are super affordable and are an excellent way of filling your cupboards.  Many vegan foods are not labelled as vegan, so make sure you always check the label for ingredients. Usually, allergens such a milk will be in bold which makes it easy to spot.

As tempting as it might be to fill your trolley with the impressive range of meat and dairy alternatives on display at the supermarket, doing so will undoubtedly make a big dent in your wallet. For example, a pack of two Beyond Meat burgers costs an average of £4 and Cathedral City Vegan Cheese is around £3.80, a few items like this soon add up. Now I’m not suggesting you avoid products like this completely, but if you are watching the pennies you may want to look for own-brand alternatives. Often, they are made from similar ingredients and have a comparable taste, but are much lower in price.

Cooking from scratch 

Cooking from scratch is a sure way to keep costs down. A quick search on social media quickly reveals thousands of vegan recipe creators from superfood health-conscious to indulgent junk food. For those who like printed recipes, the one and only Vegan Food & Living will be your one-stop-shop for vegan recipes. Each monthly magazine focuses on different recipe themes, as well as covering various topics surrounding vegan health and lifestyle.

Make your own ‘fakeaways’ 

Spending a fortune on takeaways? Then make yourself a fakeaway! Instead of forking out on calorific takeouts, try conjuring up a homemade homage to your favourite takeaway dish. Extravagantly battered tofish, sweet and sour tofu, butter ‘no’ chicken and even takeout style cheesy pizza can all be made in the comfort of your own home for a fraction of the cost of take out. Just search online for your favourite vegan dish and have fun in the kitchen making your own budget-friendly version.

Stock up on beans and lentils

A staple ingredient which should be in the cupboard of every vegan are beans and lentils. Cheap, high in fibre and protein and delicious, could they be the perfect vegan food?! These little beauties can be made into dips, added to soups, curries, burgers, pasta and salads. Not only are they highly versatile but they will keep you fuller for longer and help maintain energy levels. My top favourite bean recipes are tarka dhal, butterbean bowl and a classic vegan, falafel.

Sticking with the bean theme, I can’t miss an opportunity to plug one of my favourite ingredients, gram flour. Made from chickpeas, this gloriously yellow flour can be used to make onion bhaji batter and even pancakes.  Gram flour (otherwise known as besan flour) is a staple food in the Indian subcontinent but is still a relatively underrated ingredient in the West. I can’t recommend it enough. Try your hand at this simple recipe to find out what you’ve been missing!

Batch cooking  

Batch cooking is an excellent way to hone your meal planning skills as well as your spending habits. The concept of meal preparation is that rather than cooking enough food for one meal, you cook enough food for several meals. Once the food is cooked it can be portioned into containers and stored in the fridge or freezer for another day. This approach to cooking means precise quantities and ingredients can be purchased in advance, enabling better budgeting. Preparing meals in this way is likely to reduce unplanned purchases and reduce spending.  Look out for recipe websites that allow you to adjust the serving number, this a really helpful tool for batch cooking. Some of my go to meals for batch cooking include red lentil pasta sauce, butternut squash soup and chilli.

Use tinned and frozen foods  

Don’t forget that tinned and frozen fruit and vegetables are a healthy and convenient way to ensure you always veg food at home. Try to avoid products with added salt or sugar as these are less nutritious.

Check out the reduced section

If like me, you love a bargain make sure you check out the reduced section of your favourite supermarket. You’ll be surprised what fancy products go in the reduced section, I’ve purchased some expensive vegan food products for pennies because they were almost going out of date or had slightly damaged packaging. Go on check it out, you can thank me later.

Regardless of your budget, everyone can benefit from learning how to shop and cook more economically. Hopefully this article has given you a good insight into how vegan food can be affordable, nutritious and fun! Goodluck with your future cooking adventures.