It’s a common myth that cooking vegan food is expensive. In fact, a vegan diet is often the cheapest and most sustainable way to eat, say the founders of The Vurger Co, Rachel and Neil
#1 Batch and bulk cooking
Cooking in large quantities is a great way to eat vegan on a budget, as the price per portion ends up much less than it would if you were cooking a new meal each night. It’s also a great way to save yourself time and effort during the week! We love to cook a big old stew or some sort of tray bake or casserole on a Sunday and then freeze or refrigerate the rest in individual containers for the coming week.
#2 Eat seasonal food
Food that’s in season tastes better and it’s also a great way of eating vegan on a budget. Check what’s on discount at the front of the fruit and veg section at your local supermarket — that’s usually what’s in season!
#3 Stock up on key cupboard ingredients
Oils, flours, seasonings, tinned ingredients and dry food like pasta and grains are all ingredients with a long shelf life and they’re great to keep in the cupboard for when you need to throw together a meal. Try to buy dry (rather than pre-cooked) rice, lentils and quinoa as this can be up to five times cheaper!
#4 Don’t waste the food in your fridge
If you’re aware you have a lot of food left in your fridge, pull it all together to cook what we like to call a ‘throw together’ meal! This is one of our favourite ways to eat vegan on a budget and we often look forward to these meals the most as they introduce you to combinations you may not have tried before. It also makes a change from your usual week-night recipe rotation.
#5 Put your freezer through its paces!
The freezer is literally our favourite piece of equipment when we’re eating vegan on a budget. Anything that’s nearing its expiry or you know you won’t eat soon, whack it in the freezer! You can freeze food items such as banana, spinach and kale for smoothies. You can also freeze sliced bread and, of course, your home cooked meals! Just check to make sure before you freeze anything to see if it’s freeze-able. Many items such as fruits and vegetables are often cheaper to buy frozen. They will have been frozen from fresh and so often contain more nutrients than vegetables that have been sat on the shelves for a while.
#6 Start using food waste apps to get free or cheap food
Apps such as Karma, Olio and Too Good to Go are an amazing way of getting your hands on free or ch
