I know as much as any other college student how difficult it is to eat healthy on a low budget. At the beginning of this semester, I decided that I wanted to go abroad next semester. As exciting as it is, I have to be extra cautious with spending at the grocery store. Below are some of my favorite budget-friendly vegan meals:
1. Chickpea salad
This recipe is the perfect replacement for chicken salad sandwiches. The way I make it is with a can of chickpeas, celery, onion, vegenaise, salt and pepper! You can also add anything else that you would typically use for chicken salad. When I use this for sandwiches, I like adding a lot of lettuce on top for more crunch!
2. Creamy Sauce and Pasta
I often crave a cheesy alfredo sauce and this is my favorite alternative. For the base, I use raw unsalted cashews. These can be expensive, so another option is using potatoes, onion and carrots as the base. Boil the vegetables until soft and then blend them in a blender. If you use the cashews, soak them in warm water for a couple hours beforehand unless you have a powerful blender. Add the cashews in the blender along with your favorite plant based milk (add based on how thick or thin you want the sauce), nutritional yeast, garlic powder, salt and pepper! I usually pour this sauce over lentil pasta or regular pasta, and add broccoli and spinach with it for some extra veggies. If you want to avoid pasta, this is great for just dipping veggies or poured over a salad!
3. Roasted Veggies
A simple vegetable roast is super easy and delicious! Just cut up your favorite veggies, I like using potatoes, carrots, onion, red pepper, brussels sprouts, and broccoli, and toss them on a baking sheet. Drizzle some olive oil and then add whatever spices you like! I usually add salt, pepper, and garlic powder. This can be served with rice a vegan meat or beans for protein, or even with the creamy sauce above!
4. Tacos
There are many ways to make vegan tacos. For the base you can use cauliflower, beans, lentils, quinoa or a beefless crumble. I like the crumbles by Gardein and Beyond Meat because they are the most realistic to ground beef, but the other options are perfect if you want more whole foods. Just mix in taco seasoning to your preferred base and then the rest is up to you. I like my tacos with guacamole, Daiya cheddar shreds, lettuce, and tomato. Make it your own!
5. Pizza
I think we can all agree that anything with bread is delicious. This one is pretty self explanatory, just make your favorite pizza without cheese, or use a vegan cheese alternative. I personally love just a garlic oil sauce with a bunch of veggies on mine!
Don’t forget dessert! In my opinion, FoMu has the best vegan ice cream that I’ve tried.
I hope these ideas were helpful to anyone in search of meat or dairy alternatives, or just to try new recipes!