Budget Friendly Vegetarian Recipes

These vegetarian recipes can be made on a budget! The decision over what recipes to include here was subjective, but generally I consider recipes budget friendly if any or a few of the following criteria apply:

1. They use naturally low cost and easy to source ingredients.
2. They have some more expensive ingredients but I have personally tested them using cheaper alternatives and believe the recipe still works well. The details for the swaps will be in the blog post.
3. They do not require an excessive number of ingredients, especially if too many of the ingredients aren’t being entirely used up by the recipe.
4. They have a short list of ingredients which may include some convenience foods, but it can all be sourced from Aldi, Lidl or supermarket essential ranges.
5. They are cheaper than meat versions of an equivalent recipe.

I can not vouch for how affordability translates outside the UK. Some ingredients (I’m thinking especially of cheeses such as halloumi or fresh mozzarella) are available in budget ranges here but are more expensive in other regions.

My judgement on affordability does assume that you have a well stocked spice and dried herb collection, and I do include recipes that use instant pots, slow cookers or air fryers. These gadgets require an upfront investment which I appreciate not everybody could afford, but once bought can save on energy costs.