Open omelette with mushroom and cheese

41 budget vegetarian recipes

loading...

Get 5 months for £5 when you subscribe today

Try our selection of budget vegetarian recipes which don’t break the bank. We have plenty of crowd-pleasing curries, warming stews, gooey pasta bakes and much more

Going meat-free has never been more accessible, thanks to these budget vegetarian recipes. If you’re looking to cut down on your meat consumption while keeping to a budget, or simply looking to expand your midweek repertoire without breaking the bank, we’ve got a range of nourishing and exciting meat-free recipes for you to get stuck into.

Ad

Cabbage is a brilliant, affordable ingredient that often gets overlooked—why not explore our collection of cabbage recipes for even more ways to make your meals both budget-friendly and delicious?

Find more budget meal inspiration here with our best budget vegan meals, budget healthy recipes and best budget recipes catering to all diets. We've also shared our top 10 money saving hacks to use up food leftovers.

Vegetarian budget recipes

Chilli, cheese and garlic mushroom omelette

A comforting and low-cost meal which helps clear the fridge of leftovers, check out our chilli, cheese and garlic mushroom omelette. It’s super easy, vegetarian and ready in less than 30 minutes.

Chilli, Cheese and Garlic Mushroom Omelette Recipe

Butternut squash and chickpea curry

If you're looking for a healthy, filling midweek meal, this easy curry features classic Indian spices as well as plenty of storecupboard staples.

Butternut squash and chickpea curry in a blue frying pan

Spinach chigirtma (Azeri spinach and eggs)

Experience a taste of Azerbaijan with this simple celebration of spinach and eggs, flavoured with sea salt and dried chilli flakes.

Azeri spinach and eggs with flatbreads on the side

Vegetarian carbonara

You’ll likely have most of the ingredients for this veggie carbonara already, with the addition of crunchy asparagus and frozen peas. It will be ready in just 20 minutes.

Vegetarian Spaghetti Carbonara Recipe

Carrot and orange soup

Blitz six simple ingredients together to make this vibrant carrot and orange soup.

Orange and carrot soup

Spicy Mexican rice

This vegan rice dish can be eaten on its own or, if you want to add some protein, it’s good with beans, crumbled feta, cooked chicken or prawns stirred through.

Spicy Mexican rice

Vegetarian lasagne

Try our low-cost veggie lasagne for a plant-based alternative to a classic family dish. You can swap the fresh pesto for a jar, if you like, to make it even more budget-friendly.

Vegetarian Lasagna Recipe for kale, ricotta and leek lasagne

Vegetarian mushroom chilli

Check out this simple, healthy twist on chilli con carne with mushroom and lime soured cream. This version keep costs – and calories – low and it’s gluten free, too.

Vegetarian Chilli Con Carne Recipe

Mushroom and cheese omelette

Clear out the fridge with this quick and simple grilled omelette, topped with garlicky mushrooms and soft melted taleggio.

Easy Omelette Recipe with Mushroom and Cheese

Baked tortellini with spinach and chilli

You can cut corners here with a pack of filled tortellini tossed into a baking dish with spinach and a simple tomato sauce spooned over. Then bake!

Baked Tortellini Recipe with Spinach and Chilli

Kale pasta sauce

If you’re looking for a restaurant-quality meal on a budget, look no further than this kale pasta from Italian restaurant, Manteca. The earthy kale sauce is made from just three cheap ingredients.

A white plate topped with rigatoni pasta coated in a vibrant green sauce and sprinkled with chilli flakes

Vegetable stew

Make this easy vegetarian stew with cheap everyday ingredients: three beans, chopped tomato and spinach. Perfect for a warming family dinner, it’s also high in protein and low in calories.

Vegetable and bean stew in a pot with bread

Easy macaroni cheese

A comforting bake which makes the most of kitchen cupboard staples. Mac ’n’ cheese is always a winner and this one with its crispy top is number one of on our list. Simply omit the ham to make it veggie.

Crisp Baked Macaroni And Cheese Recipe

Vegan aubergine curry

A handful of spices, tinned tomatoes and aubergine come together to make this hearty yet healthy aubergine dhansak to feed the whole family. Enjoy with pilau rice.

Vegan Aubergine Curry in a Large Dish with Naan Bread

Cheese and onion quiche

A handful of cheap everyday ingredients, such as spring onion and ready-made pastry, cuts down the cooking time so you could bake this classic vegetarian tart midweek.

Cheese and Onion Quiche Recipe

Quick courgette lasagne

Mix courgettes, garlic and chilli with ricotta, add a shop-bought tomato sauce and lasagne sheets. Dinner will be on the table in less than 30 minutes.

Courgette lasagne in a white rectangular baking dish with a spoon next to it

Sweet potato and miso soup

Velvety, wholesome and packed with plenty of umami flavour, this simple soup is made of cheap, easy-to-find ingredients.

Sweet Potato Soup Recipe with White Miso

Baked feta pasta

Put your jar of black olives to good use with this cheap-to-make pasta bake, packed with creamy feta and tomatoes.

Baked feta pasta with tomatoes and olives, in a baking dish

Vegetarian burritos

Give these baked veggie bean burritos a try. The filling is a mix of beans and rice in a spicy tomato sauce and the burritos are served with a homemade fresh tomato, coriander and lime juice salsa (you can use ready-made salsa, if you like).

Vegetarian Burritos Recipe

Creamy tomato pasta bake

Check out this creamy pasta bake which heroes storecupboard ingredients and everyday spices. Filled with tomatoes and mozzarella, it’s an easy mid-week filler for all the family.

Vegetable Pasta Bake Recipe with Tomato and Basil

Thai green tofu curry

This vegan Thai green curry is ready in just 25 minutes, perfect for a speedy weeknight meal packing plenty of veg. It calls for just a few cheap everyday ingredients.

Vegan Thai Green Curry Recipe

Vegetable pasta bake

A Mediterranean-inspired freezable pasta bake packed with summer veg – use frozen if not in season.

Vegetable pasta bake topped with feta in a baking dish

California scramble

Try this California scramble for a quick and easy veggie brunch or midweek meal for one. Leave out the avocado to keep costs down, if you like.

Californian tofu scramble

Vegetarian shepherd’s pie

Our veggie shepherd’s pie serves up to six people, so the cost-per-meal is great value.

Vegetarian Shepherd's Pie Recipe With Spiced Lentils

Vegan burrito bowl

You only need a handful of cheap ingredients to throw together this meat-free burrito bowl, delivering all the big flavours you’d want without using the oven.

Vegan burrito bowl

Vegetable risotto

Our versatile green vegetable risotto is packed with peas, baby spinach and asparagus but remains cheap to make. You can forgo the chives or mint if they don’t fit your budget, or make it vegan by leaving out the pecorino.

Vegetarian Risotto Recipe with Leeks

Sweet and sour lentil shakshuka

Jazz up your weekend brunch and make this veggie shakshuka with lentils and punchy spice. This simple egg recipe is not only easy to make it's low in calories, too.

Baked Eggs Shakshuka with Lentils

Quick tamarind potato curry

Use up an affordable bag of potatoes with this simple vegan tamarind potato curry. Bursting with bold flavours, it’s low in calories and generously serves four—perfect for a warming family meal.

Potato Curry Recipe with tomatoes, coriander, chilli and ginger. With sides of rice, naan bread and cold beer

Spanish omelette

The ultimate budget comfort meal which clears out the fridge, too. Try our best Spanish omelette recipe with red onion, red pepper and new potatoes.

Spanish Pepper and Potato Omelette Recipe

Broccoli pasta

Ideal for an easy midweek meal on a budget, this broccoli pasta requires just five simple ingredients.

Bowl of linguine with broccoli

Veggie fajitas

Fajita night doesn’t have to cost a lot with this speedy veggie recipe. You can swap the homemade avocado salsa for regular shop-bought salsa, if you like.

Veggie fajitas with beans, peppers, avocado, coriander and lime, on a chopping board with lime wedges and a knife

Mutter paneer

Chances are you’ll have most of these ingredients already to hand. This filling curry is ready in just 30 minutes – simply serve with naan or rice.

Best curries - mutter paneer

Vegetarian lentil bolognese

This puy lentil bolognese calls for cheap, healthy ingredients. It makes for a great meat-free option that’s easy to cook.

Lentil Bolognese Recipe

Quinoa and black bean chilli

Once you have your spices – ground cumin and smoked paprika – this black bean chilli makes an inexpensive midweek meal to feed a crowd. You can leave out the avocado to keep costs down.

Easy Vegan Chilli Recipe with Quinoa

Sweet potato and lentil curry

If you already have cumin, ground coriander and turmeric in your cupboard, this vibrant vegan curry becomes a brilliant budget dish.

Sweet potato and lentil curry in two bowls

Vegan Thai red curry

This vegan curry cuts corners using shop-bought vegan curry paste mixed with ginger, mangetout, red pepper and vegan Quorn.

Vegan Thai Red Curry Recipe

Spinach, chickpea and potato curry

Make the most of the cheap ingredients lurking in your cupboard. Potatoes, chickpeas and chopped tomatoes are the stars of this lightly spiced vegan curry.

Spinach, chickpea and potato curry in a skillet with some naan breads

Singapore noodles

This speedy vegan dinner features cheap everyday ingredients, including ginger, garlic, chilli and soy sauce, while frozen stir-fry veggies keep prep to a minimum.

Two bowls of noodles with sliced chilli, alongside two pairs of wooden chopsticks and two glasses of water with a white background

Red Thai butternut squash soup

If you like punchy Thai curry flavours, check out this easy winter warmer which doesn’t break the bank.

Thai Butternut Squash Soup Recipe

Vegetable omelette

An omelette is a staple budget meal, and we’ve jazzed it up with plenty of grated courgette, kale, frozen peas and chilli flakes. Serve alongside cherry tomatoes simply dressed with white wine vinegar.

Ad

Omelette Filled with Green Veg on a Plate with Tomatoes

Curried celeriac

Celeriac, like all root veg, is cheap, robust and versatile. Use it in a number of delicious dishes, like this vegan curry – the roasted cubes soak up the spicy, fragrant flavours.

A dish filled with cooked celeriac in a turmeric coconut milk sauce

Authors

Helen Salter

Comments, questions and tips

Choose the type of message you'd like to post

Choose the type of message you'd like to post

CommentQuestionTip

Ad

Ad

Loading...

Ad

Loading...

Want to see this content?

This page contains olivemagazine content provided by Google reCAPTCHA. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as Google reCAPTCHA may use cookies and other technologies. To view this content, choose 'Accept and continue' to allow Google reCAPTCHA and its required purposes.

Accept and continue