Are you craving a delicious pasta dish but worried about breaking the bank? Well you’ve come to the right place! I have a delightful array of vegan budget pasta recipes that satisfy your taste buds and your wallet. With a little creativity and some wallet-friendly ingredients, you can whip up a mouthwatering pasta dishes that won’t drain your bank account. Best of all, these recipes are made with ingredients likely in your pantry, which means fewer trips to the grocery store for you! Starting with a classic dish of vegan penne vodka, and ending with a mushroom and spinach pasta, these recipes will help inspire your weekly meal prep since you can really make them stretch!
Budget Recipe 1: Vegan Penne Vodka
Let’s start with a classic favorite: Vegan Penne Vodka. This simple yet flavorful dish requires just a handful of ingredients: Pasta, tomato paste, cashew cream, and some vegetable stock. It’s a harmonious symphony of flavors that just gives you those classic, but much healthier Italian Restaurant sensation.
This vegan penne vodka dish is healthy enough and quick enough to be integrated into a weekly meal if you have your ingredients prepared right away. With 16g of protein and 5g of fiber, this dish is packed with nutrition and ready in a just about fifteen minutes. While the spinach is optional, it does help add some extra nutrition like iron and potassium. If you prefer more fiber and protein, you can use whole wheat pasta for extra nutrition. With a few plant based ingredients, this penne vodka can become a regular part of your weeknight meals.
Budget Recipe 2: Vegan Bolognese with Spaghetti
Meat sauce appears in many beloved dishes that often serve as comfort food staples ranging from pasta to lasagna. Unfortunately, those aren’t always the healthiest, although they are very hearty! We’ve created a vegan bolognese sauce with mushrooms and cauliflower for a nutritious spin to meat alternatives.
Most meat sauces use some form of ground meat, typically lamb or beef. However, both of these are large contributors to carbon emissions. This is a common measure to compare the environmental impact based on different types of emissions. By using vegetables and fungi, we are drastically reducing the CO2E impact from this dish and the resources needed to produce it!
Most importantly, this meal provides excellent nutrition with its high source of protein, fiber, and vitamins and minerals. You won’t get this kind of dish at your local Italian restaurant, so try it out yourself!
Budget Recipe 3: Lentils and Elbow Pasta
Pasta and Lentils are a great way to incorporate protein and fiber into your meals, and most importantly, at a low cost. Budget-friendly meals seem more important than ever before, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be good for you, good for the planet, and most importantly, tasty.
Lentils are small, but mighty legumes. They have the ability to replenish nitrogen in the soil, and help promote biodiversity. Lentils are a key plant based protein, and use 8x less water to manufacture than animal protein. To learn more, check out this article from UC Berkley.
All in all, this recipe costs $7.07 for the entire meal (not including spices or oil) or $1.18 per serving. This budget-friendly vegan lentil and pasta recipe is sure to help keep you satisfied and full for hours. Best of all, lentils are a great source of nutrients. They are high in protein, fiber and micronutrients. This recipe is designed to keep you full with 7g of healthy fats and 24g of plant based protein in just one serving!
Budget Recipe 4: Vegan Mushroom and Spinach Pasta
This vegan mushroom and spinach pasta recipe I’m sharing with you today is a go-to weeknight meal for me. It’s so fast and easy to make, and loaded with just the right nutrition to keep you feeling full and energized. Over twenty grams of protein and seven grams of fiber, you’ll want to start adding this into your weeknight meals too!
This vegan mushroom and spinach pasta is chock-full of sustainable nutrition. Mushrooms are a great addition to a dish that provides an excellent source of fiber, protein, and micronutrients. Mushrooms are part of the fungi family and can grow all year round in varying climates, making this a year-round, climate friendly treat.
Budget-friendly vegan pasta recipes offer a world of flavors and possibilities without emptying your wallet. From the earthy delights of mushroom and spinach pasta to the comforting goodness of vegan bolognese, and the creamy indulgence of penne vodka, there’s a dish for every palate. Don’t forget the protein-packed goodness of lentils and elbows, which adds simplicity and nutrition. With these budget vegan pasta recipes at your disposal, you can savor every bite without sacrificing your bank account!
