Best budget conscious vegan cookbooks
I've been vegetarian for many decades - in fact I've never cooked a non-vegetarian meal - and I'm cooking more vegan meals, so I thought it would be useful to share some vegan cookbooks to suit anyone cooking on a budget - no fancy ingredients or equipment needed.
Read on to find out!
As Jack is known for her budget friendly recipes, this is what you get here - Vegan(ish) by Jack Monroe - 100 budget recipes!
There are some more expensive ingredients in this book (saffron and jackfruit, for example) but a little does go a long way and you can sometime find jackfruit in a budget supermarket.
Jack makes the point that by cutting out the expensive ingredients such as meat and dairy, you can include a few of these more luxury items.
You'll find a useful introduction section on kitchen equipment and ingredients - I haven't seen many other beginner vegan cookbooks talk about aquafaba, which is the liquid that canned pulsed are stored in - don't throw this away.
I like the sandwich section - it can sometimes be a struggle to put together a vegan sandwich for fussy eaters and this has lots of suggestions.
Recommended for the new vegan on a budget!
Vegan One Pound Meals is another 'vegan on a budget' book, with over 85 recipes, each one under £1 per portion.
With some of the recipes you could be left over with some ingredients (such as half an onion) but I batch cook these recipes or use the leftovers in one of the other recipes.
There are photos for every recipe and while there aren't any desserts, there are plenty of tasty meals in here.
Recipes are for 1 serving, so ideal if you're living on your own or just need to cook 1 vegan portion.
Recommended for the new vegan on a budget!
LIV B's Vegan on a Budget ticks a few boxes:
it's suitable for beginner cooks and new vegans
the recipes are mainly straight forward with easy-to-follow instructions
most are reasonably low cost
112 recipes to see you through the day
There's isn't much groundbreaking here (does there always have to be though?), not every recipe has a photograph and you will need some measuring cups.
Hamlyn All Colour Cookery is a no-nonsense cookbook with 200 recipes, using every day ingredients, with a photograph of every recipe.
In this little book, there's breakfast, snack, main meal, bread and dessert recipes - it's a good no fuss, no nonsense, every day vegan cookbook at a bargain price.... not much more to say on this one!
BOSH! are known for their exciting take on vegan cooking and BOSH! on a Budget is no exception.
Other reviewers say that the recipes aren't budget friendly but the book does say that recipes are £1-£2 a portion, so some recipes could turn out more expensive than others.
Some of the ingredients lists are long - this is because you're cooking from scratch rather than using ready made ingredients, this is what keeps the cost down.
If you're keen to try this sort of thing, there's instructions for creating your own 'staples' such as pasta and bread - buying flour is much cheaper than buying fresh bread or fresh pasta.
There's also focus on buying in season and buying in bulk to keep costs down as well as reducing environmental impact.
I particularly like the table of vegetables and how to cook them 5 different ways - think about what you could do with a sack of carrots!
This isn't a 'fast and easy' cookbook but if you're prepared to spend some time on your cooking and want some fresh ideas try BOSH! on a Budget
Plant based on a Budget offers simple recipes and some great tips for cooking on a budget, such as:
- buy in bulk/farmers market
- cook in bulk
- buy imperfect
- cook from scratch
- search the whole aisle in supermarkets - the true bargains aren't always those at 'special offer price'
- buy own brand
- check the clearance section
- freeze leftovers and fresh ingredients going out of date
There's no fancy ingredients or equipment but some recipes might need food processor/blender though - this is my favourite blender (it's the most used equipment in my kitchen) and you will need some measuring cups.
The recipes tend to be simple and might be more suited to the new vegan who is on a budget and looking for ideas.
Fast Easy Cheap Vegan ticks a lot of boxes and delivers on what is says.
It offers 100 simple, easy, quick, budget friendly recipes without fancy ingredients or equipment.
To save time, Sam suggests creating 'mixes' that you can dip in to later, such as a standard cake mix or sauce mix.
As in some of the other books reviewed here, Sam also makes suggestions for budget cooking such as bulk buying, avoiding pre-made items and asking for kitchen equipment as presents.
Ingredients are in cups and imperial (no metric) so you will need some measuring cups.
The recipes tend to be simple and there aren't many desserts or side dishes. This might be more suited to the new vegan who is on a budget and looking for ideas.
I love Broke Vegan.
You'll find over 100 recipes alongside advice on pantry staple ingredients and batch cooking.
Recipe measurements are in metric, imperial and spoons, which is great for the UK.
There's some desserts in here (aquafaba chocolate mousse is good) and a stunning cheats sourdough loaf recipe but this does need at least 2.5 hours to make plus an overnight prove.
If you can find a Used copy, it's a bargain.
Highly recommended for new vegans and those on a budget.
We hope these short reviews have helped you - we'll add more items as we try them - please let us know what else you'd like to see.
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