3 Valley Vegans recently held a cookery demo which showed how to make affordable, nutritious and tasty vegan food. With the plethora of new processed vegan food being rolled out by supermarkets and established brands, it’s worth remembering that homemade meals are cheaper and more nutritious than prepackaged alternatives.
Stocking up on a few ingredients will ensure you always have the basics to hand when planning a meal. A few essentials to keep in your food cupboard include:
- Dried beans/pulses
- Pasta
- Rice
- Wholemeal flour
- Tins of tomatoes
- TVP (dried soya mince)
- Nuts and seeds
- Dried herbs and spices
Most of the above are cheap to buy and can be purchased in bulk.
Measurement units: recipes that you come across might list ingredient quantities in units that do not relate to how you normally measure quantities. One useful guide to converting between different ingredient measurement units can be found here: https://www.saga.co.uk/magazine/homes/cooking-measurement-conversion-tables
Essential utensils for cooking at home:
2 sharp knives
Rubber spatula
Efficient peeler
Wooden spoon
Chopping board
Pots, pans, bowls, plates, cutlery etc..
Bulk buying is one way of saving money and reducing packaging waste but is only worth it if you actually use what you buy! One way around this is to club together with relatives, friends or neighbours and share out the order. Real Foods (amongst others) offer bulk buying on their website.
Food Co-ops are not for profit community ventures which exist to enable a group of people to buy produce they might otherwise not be able to afford direct from the suppliers. Suma is an obvious example for people living in or around the Calder Valley since it is strictly vegetarian, relatively local and offers a ‘Food Buying Group‘ service .
Asian supermarkets are often cheaper for many vegan food items such as tofu, peanut butter, jackfruit, pulses and beans. If there isn’t one local to you, there are many online stores that will deliver straight to your door.
Foraging is a good way to discover foods such as fruit and mushrooms and if you know where to go and what to pick, it’s hugely satisfying to use fresh ingredients that are truly local and totally free. Falling Fruit maps the location of fruit bushes and trees in local areas.
Incredible Edible is, of course, Todmorden’s very own contribution to the concept of growing food in public spaces for the benefit of the community. Their map is available to download here.
Love Health, Hate Waste is an online resource offering plenty of vegan food items at reduced prices. Their products are often past their ‘Best Before’ date which is how the company can sell at such low cost but that shouldn’t put you off as it is just a guideline and the food can still be enjoyed.
We have a few budget recipes for you to try and there are a wealth of other blogs and websites with recipes and tips for vegans on a budget. Here’s are a few worth visiting:
The Stingy Vegan
Minimalist Baker
Cooking on a Bootstrap
Vegan Society Budget Meals
Veganuary Budget Meals
One Green Planet Cheap Meals
Further reading
3 Valley Vegans 