I started eating a vegan diet about two weeks after I graduated. I’d been thinking about it for a few months, but didn’t know how I could do it with my limited resources at uni. I couldn’t get to a supermarket, so all of my food came from a Tesco Express (for three years). In my final year, I had two hob rings and no oven and, obviously, I was very short on cupboard and fridge space. But I know that veganism has moved on a lot in the time since then, and I wanted to try and make some student friendly vegan recipes for those who are already vegan or just wanting to cut down.
Recipe Criteria
The criteria for these dishes are as follows; recipes have to be cheap, easy, still taste good (obviously) and not require equipment. I’ve done some posts on budget friendly meals in the past, but a lot of them need a food processor or blender. The average student probably doesn’t have access to those things. I’m going to leave those posts below just in case you want to take a look, but the recipes in this one won’t require any appliances.
Some of these recipes are simplified versions of other things that you could add more to if you wanted. I’ve kept them basic to try and keep them as cheap and easy as possible. However, if you do have a little more room in your budget, some of them contain additional options that could make them better.
All of these recipes serve at least two, so you can prep a couple of days food at once. Most of these recipes are new, but a few are older. This post would be crazy long if I included all of the instructions here, so I’ve opted to include a summary and cost breakdown for each, but the full recipe will be linked.
I know you won’t have room for an extensive spice cupboard, so I’ve used the same 4/5 basic spices in each recipe. You’ll need chilli powder, cumin, turmeric, paprika and some mixed Italian herbs. That should cover everything you need.
Cost Breakdown
A while ago I did a post on budget friendly recipes and I said in that post that cost breakdowns in recipe posts really annoy me. If the recipe requires half a pepper, they work the cost of half a pepper. But you still have to buy the whole pepper. I’ve worked out the prices in this post the same way; if it’s fresh produce, it will be the cost of the whole thing, even if you don’t need the whole thing. However, things like frozen vegetables and grains will be worked out as cost per serving as they’ll keep and can be used again.
As spices aren’t a weekly purchase, I’ve added around 10-15p to each recipe for the cost of the spices & herbs used.
Student Friendly Vegan Recipes
Moroccan Couscous
Traditional versions include almonds, dried fruit, and a lot of seasonings. This is a simplified version keeping the main flavours and ingredients. Couscous, chickpeas, some vegetables and spices.
Cost:
- Couscous – 21p
- Chickpeas- 40p
- Pepper – 50p
- Carrots – 22p
- Courgette – 21p
- Vegetable stock – 15p
- Spices – 15p
Cost per recipe £1.84
Cost per serving £0.46
Basic Chickpea Curry
A basic chickpea curry with minimal fresh ingredients. Perfect for making in bulk batches or freezing.
Cost:
- Tomatoes – 30p
- Chickpeas – 40p
- Pepper – 50p
- Vegetable stock – 15p
- Onion – 18p
- Spices – 15p (approximately)
Total cost of recipe £1.68
Cost per serving £0.84
Mexican Bean Rice
a healthy and filling dish, rice and beans make a whole protein so this is a great budget friendly dish in terms of nutrition. Easy to make in bulk and reheat when necessary.
Cost:
- Beans – 50p
- Rice – 38p
- Sweetcorn – 13p
- Pepper – 50p
- Carrot – 11p
- Onion – 18p
- Spices –15p
- Stock – 15p
Cost per recipe £2.10
Cost per serving £1.05
Simple Veggie Stir Fry
A micronutrient dense dish that can be adapted whatever the budget. Can be made in less than 15 minutes, so great for busier periods.
Cost:
- Stir fry veg – 75p
- Rice – 10p
- Edamame – 24p
- Spices – 10p
Cost per recipe – £1.19
Cost per serving – £0.60
Spicy Lentil & Bean Bowl
The perfect student friendly recipe. It’s quick, cheap, doesn’t require any fresh ingredients. Easy to make and still fairly healthy. Stock up on these ingredients when the loan comes in, it’ll keep you going at the end of term.
Cost:
- Tomatoes – 30p
- Taco beans – 65p
- Microwave lentils – £1.35
Cost per recipe £2.30
Cost per serving £1.15 (at most)
Bean ‘Quesadillas’
A vegan twist on a classic Mexican dish. Great for lunches or dinner.
Cost
- Beans – 50p
- Onion –18p
- Pepper –50p
- Wraps – 90p for 8 (more if GF)
- Spices – 15p
Cost per recipe – £2.23
Cost per serving – £0.74
Basic Pasta Sauce
Pasta is one of the most basic student staple meals, but don’t waste money on a sauce in a jar. This recipe is for a basic sauce, with the options to add in additional fresh ingredients if wanted.
Cost:
- Tomatoes –30p
- Onion – 18p
- 200g pasta – 22p
Recipe total – 70p plus spices
Cost per serving – approximately 45p including spices
Ultimate Vegan Chili Recipe
This recipe costs more than the others if you follow the serving sizes in the post. However, those servings are based on eating a bowl of chili alone. If you were to serve it with rice, it would go a lot further and reduce the cost per serving. It makes a large batch that would keep in the fridge for a few days, or you could freeze and have at a later date.
Cost:
- Tomatoes –30p
- Onion – 18p
- Carrots –23p
- Celery – 65p (a bunch)
- Kidney beans –35p
- Black beans – 50p
- Pepper – 50p
- Stock –15p
- Spices – 15p
Cost per recipe £3.01
Cost per serving £1
Pearl Barley Risotto
Another one that doesn’t require many fresh ingredients, serves four and will keep for a few days refrigerated.
Cost:
- Onion – 18p
- Pepper – 50p
- Pearl Barley – 33p
- Chilli – 65p (for 3)
- Chopped Tomatoes – 30p
- Beans – 50p
- Olives – 55p
- Vegetable stock –15p
- Spices – 15p
Cost per recipe £3.31
Cost per serving £0.83
Lentil Dal
Probably the easiest recipe ever to make, one pan and a little bit of chopping. I love lentil dishes as I find lentils are really good at taking on the flavour of a dish and they’re really filling too!
Cost:
- Lentils – 46p
- Onion – 18p
- Vegetable stock – 15p
- Chilli – 65p (for 3)
- Spices – 15p
Cost per recipe £1.59
Cost per serving £0.80
For anyone starting uni, I hope this helps. Which were your favourites?
Until next time,
Sophie
I love couscous but I never really know what to mix it with. The Chilli looks delicious as well, I’ll try a few of those next week! Thank you for sharing
Love this! I’m a student and was wanting to try vegan/veggie foods so a perfect blog post for me and my flatmate!
These are some great, budget friendly ideas and even though I’m not a student I’ll definitely be trying some of these! I make vegan chilli quite a lot but now I really want to try the chickpea curry and Moroccan cous cous. Thanks for sharing! x
I could honestly devour everything on this list right now. I’ve never tried lentil dal but it’s something I’d absolutely love so I will be making the effort to cook it for myself when it gets a little colder! The chickpea curry and moroccan cous cous also sound super dreamy, obviously it’s won’t be as budget friendly but I always love adding pomegranate seeds to a cous cous of this kind!
Alice Xx
Those bean quesadillas look amazing, I love Mexican food but haven’t made a vegan alternative before! My sisters been vegan for a while but is at uni at the minute so I’ll send her this- I think it’s really helpful for affordable options!
Soph – https://sophhearts.com x
These look amazingly yummy! I want to try like all of them! I am always looking for new dishes to try and me and my partner are trying really hard to consume less meat – these recipes look LUSH! ♥ Thank you for the inspo!
This is definitely really easy and require such little ingredients! I’m really interested in trying the Moroccan couscous and the bean quesadilla! I’m actually going back to uni so budget friendly food is what I’m looking for. Thanks Sophie!
Geraldine | https://geraldinetalks.com
Chickpeas and beans are the absolute best, they bulk out all the meals and taste so bloody good!
Love, Amie ❤
The Curvaceous Vegan
The bean quesadillas look so delicious!
Katy | http://www.katystephenson.com
As someone who is officially not a student, but still doesn’t have all that much money, I LOVE this. I have bookmarked that Moroccan couscous and am trying it as soon as possible because it looks AMAZING.
Jas | https://thoughtsfromjasmine.co.uk
Love the Moroccan Couscous! Looks delicious.
During my student years I made the decision to go vegan. Oh it was quite an effort to survive. My meals mostly included rice or potatoes. If only this was available then. Thanks for sharing
This is such a helpful post! Even though I’m not a student I do have my own flat and cheap food is always a must in my house. I really like the sound of the bean quesadilla and the pasta sauce because I could truly eat pasta everyday! X
These recipes look delicious, I’ve actually cooked a few similar recipes when I was at uni myself 🙂 Like that chickpea curry for instance. Bean quesadilas look absolutely delicious. Thanks for sharing these, even though I’m not at uni anymore (WAHHHH!) I will still benefit from these recipes x
Laura / https://www.laustworld.com/
Oooh thank you so much for these recipes! Though I may not be a student, I love cooking up things that are both a) delicious and b) on a budget, so this selection would be perfect for my work lunches! Thank you so much for sharing. Which one is your favourite?
I’m glad you can still benefit from them! That’s a hard one, I really enjoyed the couscous dish, that one would be great for work lunches too because it doesn’t need reheating. I really like the Mexican rice too! Thanks for reading! x
I’m very far away from still being a student (sadly) but these look amazing, and perfect for the week before payday. As a big fan on Mexican food I love the look of the quesadillas and Mexican rice. I’m definitely going to give these a shot when I get the chance!
Beth x
Very good ideas for this new season ❣
oh wow these look like amazing vegan recipes! I really need to make the basic chickpea curry, I love chickpeas!
Mel | Moonlight Mel
Wow, these are making me drool!
In general, I think it is easy for students to stop eating well and get into the habit of eating out or prepackaged food. These ideas are simple and nutritious, and it is so satisfying to cook for yourself. If you wanted to go Organic, it would be a little more expensive but still worth it! 🙂
I’m not vegetarian but these recipes look delicious. I do have my meatless moments so these are some great ideas!!
These meals look so yummy I’m going to try the bean quesadilla. I love finding new things to try
I feel like this would be a really good resource for people who might not have a lot of money or time in general, like people on food stamps, government assistance, low-income families, and just single parents. 🙂
Oh yes, exactly what I’ve been looking for! Easy, healthy, budget friendly and quick recipes for everyday♥
xx
Selina | Selinas Inspiration
Wow this looks delicious!
xx- Nina
Wow! These are great recipes! I’m always look for cheap delicious meals. I really like how you laid out this post too and gave a thorough breakdown.
I love that you’ve costed it for a whole pepper even if only using half! That’s always irritated me on budget tv cooking shows too; there was one when I was a student and it was like, a clove of garlic 3p and I used to shake my head because you can’t buy a single clove of garlic!
Totally agree, it’s so unrealistic compared to the price of an actual food shop, especially when it comes to fresh produce that won’t last if you don’t use it straight away. That always annoys me too. Thanks for reading x
You always have the best vegan recipes to try out!
http://www.sundaydahlias.com
All of those look and sound amazing. I wish I had your blog when I was at uni.
Thanks for these great recipes. Beans are indeed good as staple.
check out my post
http://www.alyinwanderland.com/2019/09/day3-and-day-4-tour-in-singapore.html
I’m not even a student anymore but I have saved all these dished to give them a go as they all just sound so easy and nutritious to make. Thanks for sharing x
Kayleigh Zara http://www.kayleighzaraa.com
Though I don’t follow a vegan lifestyle, I do enjoy eating vegan meals. These all look great, and very simple and budget-friendly to make. I will be giving these ones a try.
Nice! Thanks for sharing!
Carina | https://carinazz.blogspot.com
I’m not really familiar with all of these except for the basic pasta. I wonder how that first moroccan food tastes like! Thanks for sharing all of these! 🙂
xoxo,
SHAIRA
Blog: http://www.missdream-girl.blogspot.com
I’m not a student but I’d love some of these x
These are all perfect for new students! I love a good chickpea curry, so affordable but filling and comforting at the same time xx
Tiffany x http://www.foodandotherloves.co.uk
I can imagine this post coming in super handy for Vegan uni students. I bet it can be really hard to be Vegan at uni. The bean quesadillas and chilli would definitely be my go-to!
I don’t care if I’m not a student anymore…I’m eating majority of these! These sound perfect for someone who lives on their own and I’ve been told to introduce a new recipe once a month so I can have variation!
Thank youu!
I definitely want to try and make some of these x
The chickpea curry is top of my list!