18 Plant-Based Meals on a Budget

By Healthy Helper
Updated on April 3, 2025
Posted on August 19, 2020
Comments 84 Comments

A roundup of healthy, wholesome meals that are 100% plant-based and easy on your budget! Plan a week of nutrition eats with this delicious roundup of cost effective, yet tasty recipes from around the web. Real food ingredients, creative dishes, and no animal products in sight!

As a follow-up to my very popular 10 Healthy Meals on a Budget roundup (still one of the most viewed posts on my site!!), I decided to create another roundup with only plant-based foods!

Healthy eating doesn’t have to be expensive and plant-based meals can be some of the most budget friendly options out there. Meat is EXPENSIVE and you won’t find it in any of these delicious, nutritious meals. In fact, my family has tried all these recipes and even the most stubborn of meat-lovers liked them!

In addition to the tasty recipes, I’ve also highlighted the budget-friendly foods that are in each one to give you some inspiration for other meals!

This week, menu planning is on me! ;)

18 Plant-Based Meals on a Budget | A roundup of healthy, wholesome meals that are 100% plant-based and easy on your budget! Plan a week of nutrition eats with this delicious roundup of cost effective, yet tasty recipes from around the web. Real food ingredients, creative dishes, and no animal products in sight!

18 Plant-Based Meals on a Budget

Easy Vegan Mac n' Cheese | The easiest, cheesiest vegan mac n' cheese you'll ever make! Tastes just like a classic boxed mixed but is dairy-free, gluten-free, grain-free, and 100% vegan. Easy Vegan Mac n’ Cheese Budget ingredients: pasta, coconut milk Vegan Slow Cooker White Chicken Chili Budget ingredients: beans, veggie broth, celery, carrots, garlic, onions Grain-Free Pasta and Bean Balls Budget ingredients: pasta, canned beans, tomato sauce 18 Plant-Based Meals on a Budget | A roundup of healthy, wholesome meals that are 100% plant-based and easy on your budget! Plan a week of nutrition eats with this delicious roundup of cost effective, yet tasty recipes from around the web. Real food ingredients, creative dishes, and no animal products in sight!

Vegetable Barley Soup | Watch What You Eat

Budget ingredient: barley

Oil-Free Vegan Lentil Falafel Budget ingredients: lentils, onion, garlic 18 Plant-Based Meals on a Budget | A roundup of healthy, wholesome meals that are 100% plant-based and easy on your budget! Plan a week of nutrition eats with this delicious roundup of cost effective, yet tasty recipes from around the web. Real food ingredients, creative dishes, and no animal products in sight! Easy Instant Pot Italian Veggie Soup Budget ingredients: frozen vegetables, canned tomatoes, veggie broth 10 Minute ‘Better Than Campbell’s’ Tomato Soup Budget ingredients: canned tomatoes, tomato paste, tofu, frozen veggies 2-Ingredient Butternut Squash Gnocchi Budget ingredient: butternut squash, flour 18 Plant-Based Meals on a Budget | A roundup of healthy, wholesome meals that are 100% plant-based and easy on your budget! Plan a week of nutrition eats with this delicious roundup of cost effective, yet tasty recipes from around the web. Real food ingredients, creative dishes, and no animal products in sight!

Black Bean Quinoa Chili | Eat Healthy Eat Happy

Budget ingredients: black beans, quinoa

Butternut Squash Stew with Tomatoes, Quinoa, and White Beans | Avocado Pesto

Budget ingredients: quinoa, beans, winter squash

Forbidden Black Rice and Mango Salad | You'll experience a taste and flavor explosion upon first bite of this incredible Forbidden Black Rice Mango Salad. Sweet, savory, crunchy, and chewy...this vegan and gluten-free side dish has everything you crave. Filling, nutrient dense, and so tasty!

Forbidden Black Rice and Mango Salad Budget ingredients: rice, avocados Easy Instant Pot Split Pea Soup Budget ingredients: split peas, broth, diced tomatoes Black Bean Salsa Burgers with Crispy Potato Rounds | Veggie Inspired Journey Budget ingredients: black beans, oats, potatoes

18 Plant-Based Meals on a Budget | A roundup of healthy, wholesome meals that are 100% plant-based and easy on your budget! Plan a week of nutrition eats with this delicious roundup of cost effective, yet tasty recipes from around the web. Real food ingredients, creative dishes, and no animal products in sight!

Bell Pepper and Chickpea Tacos | Veggie Inspired Journey

Budget ingredient: chickpeas

Creamy Instant Pot Vegan Beef & Shells Budget ingredients: pasta, grape tomatoes, frozen meatless crumbles, marinara sauce 18 Plant-Based Meals on a Budget | A roundup of healthy, wholesome meals that are 100% plant-based and easy on your budget! Plan a week of nutrition eats with this delicious roundup of cost effective, yet tasty recipes from around the web. Real food ingredients, creative dishes, and no animal products in sight! Vegan Instant Pot ChickPEA Noodle Soup Budget ingredients: pasta, chickpeas, carrots, celery, kale Creamy Raw Tomato Avocado Pasta Budget ingredients: tomatoes, avocados, pasta

Quick Curried Vegetable Brown Rice Bowls | Eat Healthy Eat Happy

Budget ingredients: brown rice, frozen vegetables

What are your favorite budget friendly foods?

Do you plan out a budget for food shopping every week/month?

What meal from above do you most want to try?

Talk soon,

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84 Comments

  3. Frozen veggies + lentils are my go-to on busy nights when I need to throw something together! I also love frozen fruit — especially berries — because they’re SO much cheaper than their fresh counterpart (even if they’re in season!). Great round up!

    Reply

  5. This is an awesome list! Those sweet potato nachos are especially calling to me <3 I'm terrible about budgeting for food, why must fruit be so expensive darn it!? But potatoes are definitely my favorite bang for your buck food!

    Reply

  7. This is so great Kaila. Please do more posts like this! I’ve been trying to plan my meals for the week so I don’t go overboard at the supermarket.

    Reply

  8. I really want to try the lentil burgers and the carrot noodles! We also like a curried lentil recipe that we eat with rice for a meatless, budget friendly dinner. My kids like tofu so we’ll have to check out the tofu recipe too.

    Reply

  9. Yummm! This made me feel hungry… and I just ate! Haha. I’ve tried chickpea burger in the past. I’ll try it with lentils next time. Thanks for sharing! :)

    Reply

  15. Yummy! I’ve been a vegetarian for 20 years and appreciate anyone who shares great plant based recipes. I am going to try a few of these, but I already know they will be great.

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  17. Answering your questions in reverse order, because I remembered the last one first: I most want to try that vegetable barley soup. It looks absolutely pure and refreshingly light. Beans, lentils and grains are my favorite budget-planning foods. So many ways to use them! As for a monthly food budget, no, we don’t do that now, but after retirement, we will probably have to, so I’m gearing up for the change.

    Thanks for providing this list and all the links. An excellent resource.

    Reply

  19. Hi Kaila,
    What a great array of budget friendly recipes that all look so healthy and tasty. Thanks for sharing on Real Food Fridays. Pinned & tweeted!

    Reply

  21. Awesome roundup! Such great healthy options. The Asian carrot noodles look delish! Thank you for linking up with us at Funtastic Friday. Hope to see you back next week.

    Reply

  29. We do a lot of plant based meals. And there are several here that I want to try! Eggs, potatoes and veggies are some of the foods that we use often, they are inexpensive and you can work with them in many ways. Thanks for putting these together, pinned them to come back to time and time again!

    Reply

  31. This is such a great list you out together Kaila – the Barley soup looks so good and yes, black beans are so good for you and budget friendly:)

    Reply

  32. I LOVE this post. Not only are these awesome sauce recipes budget-friendly, but they all sound like they are fairly simple & come together quickly. This will help make menu planning easy for me, especially for lunches.
    I especially like the sound of the Sweet Potato Nachos!!!
    Thank you for posting this Kaila =)

    Reply

  34. Loved it!! I especially love how the stuffed peppers look…and I have never tried them Vegan before, but defintely will now! Thank you for sharing your wonderful creativity with us at Friday Favorites! I hope you will join us again this week! Hugs- Christine at Must Love Home

    Reply

  35. Great list. It’s so true that plant based meals don’t need to be expensive yet so many people think they are. #freefromfridays

    Reply

  41. My boys are big fans of whole wheat pasta with frozen mixed veggies and pesto sauce. It’s tough to have vegetarian meals when you have picky eaters! I sure do try but typically I’m the only one who eats them.

    Reply