Budget vegan meal plan for one
Stretching grocery budgets and being smart with the weekly food shop can be tricky at the best of times. It becomes particularly challenging if you are cooking for one, when bulk buying and batch cooking might not be an option. Following a vegan diet adds another layer of complexity too: while basic ingredients can be inexpensive, it takes careful thought to achieve great flavour and texture. With this is mind, we asked one of our favourite food writers to put together a plant-based budget meal plan to serve one person. It promise a week's worth of dinners that are varied, use easy-to-find ingredients and don't require any specialist kit or techniques. 7 meals for under £1.60 per portion This plan includes recipes for seven main meals which cost less than £12 in total (it was under £10 when first published, but prices have continued to rise). It was developed by Saskia Sidey, a budget vegan cookbook author who understands how to create great flavours from basic ingredients. She has focused on recipes that make the most of naturally vegan produce as meat substitutes are often expensive. To make sure your grocery shop for the week stays under budget, the costing of these recipes has been done very carefully. For more information read our article to see how we are costing our new budget recipes and view the full store cupboard. Shopping list Tins, packets and jars □ 400g tin black beans□ 400g tin borlotti beans□ 3 tbsp linseeds (also known as flaxseed) □ 150g/5½oz long-grain rice□ 100g/3½oz dried penne Fruit and vegetables □ 1 sweetheart cabbage□ 7 spring onions□ 2 courgettes□ 1 lime, juice only□ small bunch fresh coriander (2 small handfuls)□ small bunch fresh flatleaf parsley (2 small handfuls)□ 2 onions□ 1 large bulb of garlic (11 garlic cloves required) Cooking ingredients □ 4 tbsp olive oil□ 4 tbsp vegetable oil □ 2½–3 tsp dried chilli flakes □ 2 tsp paprika□ 2 tsp ground cumin□ 400g tin chopped tomatoes□ 1 vegetable stock cube□ 2 tsp white wine vinegar□ 2 tsp yeast extract□ 2–2½ tbsp nutritional yeast□ 145g/5oz plain flour□ salt and freshly ground black pepper Chilled □ 349g pack silken tofu Frozen □ 150g/5½oz frozen sweetcorn□ 175g/6oz frozen peas Condiments □ 2 tbsp tomato ketchup□ 4 tbsp soy sauce Other □ 1 slice wholemeal bread Our meal plans for one were created on a strict ingredient budget of £10 for the week, which is on average just under £1.50 per dinner. And, as we wanted to make your food shop as practical as possible, we’ve costed these recipes slightly differently. Standard practice is to divide the cost of every ingredient by the number of potential servings, and then add all of those costs together. Instead, we’ve based most of our costs on the smallest available pack size, meaning even if you don’t use a whole jar or packet, the entire cost is still included in the budget. These costs are added to a store cupboard of common items like oil, salt, pasta and rice that you may buy regularly and use for several meals. These basics are costed according to the quantity you use. The items in this limited store cupboard tend to have long shelf lives, or are regularly purchased (bread, milk and potatoes). We’ve also made sure each plan uses as much of each ingredient you buy as possible, not only to keep costs down but also avoid waste. So, while you can easily pick and choose which recipes you want to make from across all three, the plans work best when you follow a specific one for a whole week. First published September 2022. Prices updated March 2023.