My last post on a $50 budget shopping list for Trader Joe’s was such a hit – I received so many messages to keep writing posts similar to this. Challenge accepted! I’m always trying to stick to a food budget.
I took it a step further than $50 this time and bought $25 worth of vegan food for the week at PriceRite – one of our best low-cost grocery stores (you can see a $50 shopping list for this store, here). I want to try and create posts like this for all budget types, because I truly believe that anyone can eat vegan. Honestly! It is totally doable. And after the list, I am also sharing meal ideas for this list – breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks.
Update April 2026: This post is nearly a decade old and things have certainly changed. It is hard to say if $25 will get you anywhere anymore with rising grocery costs. I am still maintaining the shopping list here and ideas (because they are still as cheap as it’s gonna get, if not $25 anymore). I have also updated below to include a section with 10 tips for eating plant-based on a budget. I hope these extra tips help. 💚
The cost on these items will vary depending on where you are located, but if you shop at a similar grocery store, you may be able to snag the same deals. If something is more expensive than on this list, swap out for something similar for the same price (this mostly goes for fruit and veggies, because these prices fluctuate daily no matter where you are shopping). You don’t have to follow it to a t, but I hope it still inspires your budget-friendly list!
Keep in mind, this is a budget for 1-2 people. I also eat leftovers a lot – so if I make a huge batch of lentil soup, I will usually get at least 5-8 servings out of it for the week.
Please note: I am choosing products while assuming you have the essentials at home already (you know, oil, vinegar, butter, spices, and various other condiments). I hope that makes sense… but of course, swap out items and add in anything you may need. This is just a template, and a little proof that it’s possible to shop frugal and eat well!
$25 VEGAN SHOPPING LIST
For a grand total of $25.67, you can get:
- 3 russet potatoes – $1.26
- 1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes – $1.09
- 1 can chickpeas – .$0.79
- 2 zucchinis – $1.39
- 1 large onion – $0.59
- 16 oz bag dough – $1.09
- 5 bananas – $0.75
- 1 lb bunch of spinach – $1.79
- 16 oz bag of lentils – $1.69
- 2 lb bag of brown rice – $1.39
- 42 oz container of quick oats – $2.59
- 32 oz carton of almond milk – $1.99
- 32 oz bag of carrots – $1.29
- Bag of celery – $1.39
- Loaf of whole wheat bread – $1.89
- 16 oz peanut butter – $2.69
- 3 mangoes – $2.00
TOTAL: $25.67
MEAL IDEAS
Breakfast:
- Whole wheat toast with peanut butter (and banana)
- Oatmeal made with almond milk and topped with peanut butter and banana
- Oatmeal made with almond milk and topped with mango (add cinnamon if you have it)
- Sautéed spinach with chickpeas, zucchini, onion, and spices you have at home
- Mango, spinach, banana, and almond milk smoothie
- Banana, spinach, peanut butter, and almond milk smoothie
Lunch:
- Mashed chickpea sandwich with spinach, carrots, and onion (use mayo with chickpeas like this recipe)
- Lentil stew using crushed tomatoes, onion, carrot, and celery
- Spinach salad topped with shredded carrot, chopped celery, and a squeeze of lemon juice (if you have lemons at home) and olive oil – add lentils for protein
Dinner:
- Stir-fry with zucchini, onion, carrots, and potatoes with a side of rice
- Minestrone soup with zucchini, onion, carrots, celery, spices, and rice
- Peanut lentil stew (omit red pepper) with a side of rice
- Veggie pizza with crushed tomatoes as sauce, spices, and veggies
- White pizza topped with olive oil (if you have already), potato slices, onion, and seasonings
(a lot of these dinner ideas could be lunch for the next day, too)
Snacks:
- Banana as is or with peanut butter
- Celery sticks as is or with peanut butter
- Roasted chickpeas
- Mango as is
- Baked potato with butter (if you have Earth Balance at home) or olive oil
10 Tips for Eating Plant-Based on a Budget
When I wrote this post initially 8 years ago, things were much cheaper. I know that $25 is probably not feasible for many of us anymore. I wanted to updated and share some tips that could help during these tough times.
#1: Focus on cheap vegan foods. Truth be told, there are A LOT of cheap vegan ingredients. Here’s an extensive list of frugal foods to get you started, as well as meals to make from this list.
#2: Shop seasonal produce. I always focus on what is in season because it tends to be much cheaper. When I make my grocery list, I usually never add any fruits/veggies on it unless I am making something specific. I go in with an open mind and really assess all pricing before choosing what we get that week. If grapes are usually 99 cents a lb, I am in. But sometimes they creep up to $1.99 or even 2.49 a lb and in that case, nope. Same goes with zucchini a lot of the time. Would I love avocado every single week? Yes! But the price is outrageous at times, so some weeks, we are sans avocado. There are items that are pretty constant, but beware of the produce that fluctuates in price and be choosy. Your list shouldn’t be the exact same from week-to-week.
#3: Buy dried beans/legumes vs. canned. I will usually have a 2-3 cans of beans on hand for those “in a pinch” moments but we always prefer dried beans. As long as you can remember to soak the night before (set a phone reminder if you need to) you can do pretty much anything with them. I love to prepare in the crock pot (recipe here) so I can dump everything in and forget about them until later. Your money goes a long way when you buy dried!
#4: Focus on budget-friendly proteins. There’s a lot of vegan protein talk all the time, but I’m not here to talk about your intake… let’s talk about price. A Beyond Meat burger is going to cost a lot more for 1 meal than a bag of lentils that can extend to multiple meals. Same with dried beans (see above). Instead of buying mock chicken to make a chicken salad, use some chickpeas or white beans (recipe here). There are plenty of ways to get your protein that does not involve a mock meat product. You can even make your own high-protein veggie burgers!
#5. Don’t focus on superfoods. I watch a lot of vegan YouTubers and read a lot of posts that focus on superfoods – think green powders, wheatgrass, goji berries, spirulina, acai packs, maca powder, etc. These all have a place, but if you are on a budget, it can add up very quickly to purchase on a regular basis. Eating whole foods is superfood enough, honestly. I feel like the only exceptions for me personally would be flaxseed and chia seeds because I use these for baking and they go a long way.
Instead of acai packs, just grab a bulk bag of frozen blueberries. Instead of green powders, just add extra kale to your smoothies. I know these things would be nice to have around, especially if you are partial to them, but they are not necessary if it’s not in the current budget. This was the first category of foods I cut back on when we started a stricter budget and it has helped immensely.
#6: On that same note, don’t focus on specialty items. By specialty items, I mean mock meats, mock cheese, vegan-specific dips, vegan bagged snacks, etc. Again, there is a time and place and sometimes we will choose 1-2 per week to treat ourselves with, but I don’t go crazy buying these things. Instead of mock meats, we get creative with tempeh and tofu. Instead of special cheesy products, we grab a bulk bag of cashews to make our own cheesy sauces and dips. Instead of packaged vegan snacks, we opt for popcorn kernels and fruit. It’s not only better for your wallet, but for your waist and overall health. If you love these kinds of products, try giving yourself 1-2 choices each week.
#7: Try to forget about branding. We get pretty caught up in branding sometimes. We believe we might be sacrificing something if we buy the generic brand. This won’t go for everything, but a good idea of what I am talking about is peanut butter. There are a lot of “special” peanut butter brands out there… some that are just way more expensive than peanut butter needs to be. You know what you need to look for? A label that reads like this: Ingredients: dry roasted peanuts
Sometimes it may also list salt. Okay, two ingredients. The end. That’s probably a good peanut butter to buy, name brand or generic. It’s the long lists you want to be weary of, but it certainly does not have to be Justin’s Peanut Butter or even Earth Balance Peanut Butter. While I love both of these brands to pieces (trust me, they are great), they are not the cheapest option for us at the moment. Once our girls are in school and I am back to work someday, we can upgrade our PB game, but for now… this is what is working for our budget. If something isn’t name brand but the ingredients are identical, chances are it is a good bet.
#8: Browse the frozen produce. Not everything has to be fresh all the time, especially when it comes to frozen fruit and vegetables. Truth be told, these foods are harvest when ripe and then frozen, so you are still getting nutritional value here. It may not be as tasty as fresh, but it is not bad for you and there’s always a place in your kitchen for frozen. Frozen peas, green beans, and broccoli work awesome in stir fry. Frozen berries, cherries, and peaches are lifesavers in smoothies. They will always be cheaper than fresh and have a longer shelf life. I find this tip really helpful in the winter months when our produce section is not as lively and prices shoot up.
#9: Freeze leftovers. If you make more soup than you need for the week or even a sauce, freeze for later. Sometimes I’ll make way too much Italian gravy than necessary, so into the freezer it goes for later. Not only are you saving instead of wasting, but will be so happy when you are too tired to cook something and have a meal ready to defrost.
#10: Make cheap recipes. Cheap doesn’t mean boring. It doesn’t mean bland. It means you are making frugal foods the star of your meal and building around that. There are so many budget-friendly dinners (i focus on dinners, because these tend to be the most expensive to make). Some of my favorite frugal dishes for the week are: lentil stew, lemon chickpea pasta, lazy pad thai, and escarole and beans.
** Bonus tip: Drink water from the tap. Invest in a water filter and make water the official drink of your home. If you came to my house, you’d only see non-dairy milk in our fridge in terms of beverages. Sometimes there may be the occasional seltzer water (also cheap) or orange juice. But other than than, we do not buy fancy beverages. Water is best for you, anyway!
I hope this gives you some cheap and easy vegan shopping and meals ideas. Eating vegan isn’t always a luxury… it just depends on how creative you can be in the kitchen with few ingredients.
For more information on how to save money on a plant-based diet, download my eBook: My Budget-Friendly Plant-Based Kitchen.
From grocery lists to quick tips to recipes, you’ll find 90+ pages of inspiration.
