Our Top 10 Budget-Friendly Plant-Based Recipes from April 2024!

These budget-friendly vegan recipes mean you don’t have to break the bank to have flavorful, healthy, seasonal meals that are 100% plant-based.

We also highly recommend downloading the Food Monster App  — with over 20,000 delicious recipes it is the largest meatless, vegan, plant-based, and allergy-friendly recipe resource to help you get healthy! And, don’t forget to check out our Budget-Friendly Archives!

1. Caribbean Coconut Collards and Sweet Potatoes

Source: Caribbean Coconut Collards and Sweet Potatoes

Collard greens grow well in the South and they tend to be fairly affordable. This Caribbean Coconut Collards and Sweet Potatoes by Matt Frazier and Stepfanie Romine is based off the Callaloo-style collards, which hail from the Caribbean, this became a go-to recipe. To bulk it up, this recipe added beans. Serve over rice if desired.

2. Whole-Wheat Skillet Focaccia

Source: Whole-Wheat Skillet Focaccia

If you’ve always wanted to make homemade bread but have been overwhelmed by the idea, start with this Whole-Wheat Skillet Focaccia by Sheela Prakash. Focaccia is the most beginner-friendly bread there is and this one is infinitely so. That’s because all that’s required of you is to stir a few things together in a bowl. Let this tousled dough rest for a couple of hours, then toss it in the fridge to rest some more. Although most bread recipes come with a strict timetable, this one doesn’t. Leave it in the fridge for as little as 8 hours and as long as 48—it will be ready and waiting for you!

3. Braised Harissa Eggplant and Greens

Source:  Braised Harissa Eggplant and Greens

There’s a brief period between summer and fall where it seems that just about every fruit and vegetable is available in abundance at the farmers’ market. This Braised Harissa Eggplant and Greens by Sheela Prakash celebrates the seasonal overlap when tomatoes are still ruby red, deep purple orbs of eggplant are taut and smooth, and dark, leafy greens arrive in bunches. It’s just the thing to make when the weather starts to turn and your craving for cool, crisp salads is replaced by warmer, spicier things. If you’re the type that likes to squirrel away good things to uncover in the depths of winter, this is a wise one to double batch and freeze so you can reach for it when nothing but potatoes and onions seem to prevail.

4. Double Crunch Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Fudge

Source: Double Crunch Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Fudge

This Double Crunch Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Fudge by Bianca Slade is everything. Crunchy peanut butter, coconut oil, chocolate chips, and crushed peanuts come together to make a dessert experience that you’ll want to make again and again. It’s soft, crunchy, and chocolatey with an addictive melt-in-your-mouth texture.

5. Miso Soup with Shiitake Mushrooms and Ramen Noodles

Source: Miso Soup with Shiitake Mushrooms and Ramen Noodles

This Miso Soup with Shiitake Mushrooms and Ramen Noodles by  Jenn Sebestyen and Kelli Foster Kelli Foster is everything: cozy, comforting, healthy, easy, and so delicious. Make it when you feel yourself coming down with a cold. It’s soothing and nourishing.

6. Roasted Tomato Pizza Sauce

Source: Roasted Tomato Pizza Sauce

While many varieties of vegan pizza sauce can be easily bought off the supermarket shelves, the satisfaction of making your own version at home is unbeatable! Try out this Roasted Tomato Pizza Sauce by Namrata Edward Kshitij!

7. Fried Biscuits with Cinnamon and Sugar

Source: Fried Biscuits with Cinnamon and Sugar

Your family will eat these Fried Biscuits with Cinnamon and Sugar by Lydia Filgueras before they can be properly plated! Super easy and delicious, these fried biscuits are a wonderful sweet snack or dessert!

8. Rosemary Black Pepper Focaccia

Source: Rosemary Black Pepper Focaccia

Hello, bread lovers! Did you know it’s super easy to make your own crispy at the edges and fluffy in the middle focaccia? It’s true! Basically, it’s a simple yeast dough that’s been flattened out, dimpled, and topped with herbs and whatever else your heart desires. The combination of fresh rosemary and black pepper in this Rosemary Black Pepper Focaccia by Abby Thompson gives this focaccia a really hearty and fall-like taste to it. It’s perfect for pairing with soup or spreading with vegan butter and eating alone.

9. Speedy Vegetable Soup

Source: Speedy Vegetable Soup

Sometimes you have very little time to whip up a meal, which is when this quick soup comes to the rescue. By using mostly canned and frozen ingredients (which are nutritious!), you can make this Speedy Vegetable Soup by Toby Amidor MS RD CDN FAND in 20 minutes. Book and Recipe credit: Courtesy of Robert Rose Inc., by Toby Amidor © 2023 Reprinted with permission. Available where books are sold. Photography credit: Ashley Lima

10. Caribbean Mango Black Beans

Source: Caribbean Mango Black Beans

Sometimes you need something easy to make that’s good enough for company. These beans have a hint of sweetness from the mango with a layer of spiciness underneath. You can halve this recipe if you aren’t serving a crowd, or you can freeze the leftovers for another night. Serve this Caribbean Mango Black Beans by Kathy Hester over rice, in a burrito, or by themselves as a side.

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