Eating well for less

Dive into our top tips for eating healthy vegan meals for less

The current cost-of-living crisis is not news to most, with many of us looking for ways to make our money stretch that little bit further. Having a healthy vegan diet is often seen as expensive, but this doesn’t have to be the case. Here I will highlight some top tips for eating well for less.  

Stick to the basics 

When people tend to think about healthy eating, it can be tempting to buy everything marketed as ‘healthy’. This may include specialist supplements and food products which are often overpriced and not necessary for general health. Our Vegan Eatwell guide on vegansociety.com/nutrition highlights the nutrients needed for a balanced vegan diet and where you can find them. This includes information on selective supplementation to ensure we are getting all the nutrients our bodies need, including nutrients that are less abundant in plant foods.  

Meal planning  

Planning your meals and writing a shopping list can be helpful for saving money and hitting nutritional targets. When planning meals, you can also coordinate recipes, so you cook in a way that uses your kitchen appliances most efficiently. For example, using the oven to make roast veg, potatoes and homemade seitan all at the same time can save on energy bills. 

Meal planning limits the risk of returning home from a food shop without all the ingredients needed for your meals. It’s also helpful to go food shopping after you have eaten, as shopping when hungry can lead to overspending on unplanned snacks, leaving less money for more nutritious foods. Food waste can also be reduced when meal planning, ensuring that all food bought is eaten and not thrown away. 

Home-cooked food  

Rather than buying takeaways, or convenience ready meals high in fat and sugar, it can often be cheaper to cook meals at home. Replacing a consistent stock of your usual herbs and spices means you’ll always have what you need to make tasty dishes. Batch cooking is another cost saving method, as you will often get more servings from a home-cooked meal than you would from a takeaway or ready meal bought in the supermarket.

Stocking up on essential store-cupboard ingredients are helpful for home cooking. Buying foods in bulk such as kidney beans, lentils and chickpeas can be cheaper in the long run compared to buying smaller amounts in the supermarket. Beans, peas and lentils are excellent sources of protein and can be so versatile, used to make ‘burger’ patties (as you can see on the next page!), stews, sauces, curries, soups, dips and sandwich fillers. Online stores often have better deals than those found in the supermarket. This can be the same for nuts and seeds.  

Top tips for fruit and veg  

Fruit and veg doesn't have to break the bank. Here are some tips to reach your 5-a-day. 

• Utilise ‘old’ veg in soups and stews – these can even then be batch cooked and frozen and reheated later.  
• Aim to have a variety of fruit and veg daily and don’t be afraid to use canned and frozen fruit and veg. When buying canned fruit and veg, be sure to choose those in fresh water or natural juices to avoid added salt or sugar.   
• Buy produce that’s in season. You will often find that produce is cheaper when bought in season, and taste better too! 

 Spicy Bean Burger

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 1 medium red onion
• 2 garlic cloves
• ½ red pepper
• 1 tbsp rapeseed oil
• 1 medium grated carrot
• 2 tbsp tomato puree
• 1 tsp chilli powder (can add more or less according to taste)
• 2 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• 2 tsp onion powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• Black pepper to taste
• 60g porridge oats
• 1 can red kidney beans (drained)

Directions

1. Finely chop the onion, garlic and pepper.
2. On a medium heat, add 1 tbsp of oil and when hot sauté the onion, garlic and pepper. After about 7 minutes, add the grated carrot and sauté for another 7 minutes or until the vegetables are all soft. Then add the tomato puree, chilli powder, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper. 
3. Preheat the oven to 180° Celsius.
4. Add the mixture to a food processor/blender along with the oats and the beans. Lightly pulse so that the mixture is slightly blended but still has some texture. You should be able to mould these into burger patties.
5. Separate the mixture into four equal pieces and form burger patties with your hand and place on a tray. Chill in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.
6. Once the burger patties have chilled, place in the oven for 10 minutes, turn the patties over and leave them in for another 10 minutes (20 minutes in total).
7. Leave the burgers to cook for about 5 minutes before removing from the tray.
8. Create your burger with the lettuce, tomato, BBQ sauce and gherkins. Serve and enjoy!

Nutrition per portion

Article and recipe by Chantal Tomlinson

This article was first published in 2023 Issue 3. The Vegan is our quarterly in-house members’ exclusive magazine featuring interviews, reviews, recipes, deep dives into veganism, and more! To receive your copy, please join us to support our work to help people go and stay vegan, and protect the rights of existing vegans.

Check out our nutrition and health resources to get lots of tips about getting the most out of your vegan lifestyle. Search through our recipe hub and explore a variety of delicious vegan dishes that cater to every taste and occasion.