Need some budget-friendly meatless meals? Here are 20+ plant-based dinners that you can make from your pantry!
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Okay, who’s working through their pantry and avoiding the grocery store like the plague?
Like the literal plague?
For some of us, we can’t find meat at the store. Or maybe we’re just trying not to go to the store.
No matter the food situation where you are, I hope this list empowers you to save money, eat well, reduce food waste, and use what you have!
Why Go Meatless?
There is so much research out there about the benefits of eating less meat – both for our bodies and for the planet. At our house, we generally try to eat vegetarian during the day, and then half of our dinners are meatless or at least have meat as an option.
This helps keep our meals budget-friendly and plant-based.
Plant-Based Dinners
Keep in mind that plenty of food is meatless. These egg-free brownies, for example, are not only meatless, but they’re also vegan. That doesn’t mean they’re healthy! They’re still brownies.
When my family eats meatless dinners, we try to keep the word plant-based in mind. This means that while pizza is technically meatless, it’s also not loaded with plants – unless we make it one of those pizzas that only moms like.
Instead, our plant-based dinners are loaded with vegetables, with the option of adding more as needed, depending on your diet needs (and picky eaters).
Family-Friendly Meatless Meals
I found 3 ways to make meatless meals for family-friendly.
3 Ways to Rock Meatless Meals
We all know that meatless meals save our budget and the planet. Let’s embrace them and find ways to make them better.
1. Cheese It
I’m not claiming this is the healthiest idea, but if the people at your table (or maybe just you) are rebelling, try adding a little cheese. Not only does it make everything better, but it makes a meatless meal feel more filling.
2. Find Your Favorites
You don’t need a wide variety of meatless meals. Find 3-4 favorites and sprinkle them in throughout the month. No one complains when they get to eat their favorite food.
3. Make it “Mostly” Meatless
A little bit of meat goes a long way. Most of these recipes can handle a sprinkle of diced chicken, ground beef, or crumbled bacon. Make it work for you.
Meat-less Meals
Got someone in your family who doesn’t think dinner is dinner unless something died? (I hate that joke.)
Everyone’s diet needs are different, so most of these dinners are flexible! You can add as much or as little meat as you need.
Usually, I try to keep both make-ahead chicken and make-ahead beef in the fridge, then I’ll make dinner and add what we need to that mostly meatless meal. This helps us eat more plants and keeps our meals budget-friendly.
It’s also one of the many ways we afford quality meat on a budget.
Dairy-Free Meatless Meals
If you’re dairy-free, many of the recipes below that use cheese have dairy-free alternatives!
Obviously, meals like Macaroni & Cheese are hard to pull off (although you can find plenty of vegan recipes elsewhere online) but don’t skip a meal in the list below just because it has cheese in the title. We were dairy-free for many years, and I try to find dairy-free alternatives for many of our meatless meals!
20+ Meatless Meals
Need some budget-friendly meatless meals? Here are 20+ plant-based dinners that you can make from your pantry!
This fast, easy dinner costs around $4 and feeds 4-6 people. It’s flavorful, filling, a little spicy, and you probably have most of the ingredients in your cupboards. Leave out the sausage for a meatless option.
If you’re a frugal cook, you need a Hamburger Vegetable Soup recipe. Easy to adapt to any eating-style: vegetarian, paleo, Whole30, gluten-free, dairy-free. And it’s loaded with inexpensive but flavorful ingredients. Instant Pot, Slow Cooker, Stovetop, and Freezer instructions included!
A cheesy, tomato-y vegetarian main dish. Simple to make, extremely frugal (thank you, lentils), and completely delicious.
Frugal, Easy, Healthy Filling for Tacos, Nachos, Burritos, Taquitos & More - 5-minute crockpot or slow cooker recipe.
Need a hearty, flavorful, meatless dinner? Lentil Shepherds Pie is simple to make (one hour start to finish!), made with real food, and you can make it vegan or add some meat and use the lentils to stretch it!
This delicious recipe is gluten-free and taught my family to love a bowl of beans. Cumin beans are easy to make on the stove top, in the slow cooker, or with your Instant Pot. You can feed 6 people real food for around $3 and 5 minutes of work. This recipe is a great vegetarian meal option!
White Bean Chili is comforting, inexpensive, simple, and full of real food. Instructions for Instant Pot, Slow Cooker, and Stovetop included.
Add chicken to make white chicken chili, and the recipe includes gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan, and freezer storing tips!
Need a budget-friendly dinner idea that helps you use what you have and prevent food waste? This soup tastes like potato soup, but it’s made with the scraps! Real food and delicious.
This recipe is perfect for the instant pot and is a great meatless option for those winter, rainy days!
This East African inspired dinner is frugal, easy to prepare, and loaded with real food. It's also vegan, vegetarian, freezer-friendly, dairy-free, and gluten-free.
Inspired by The Cultured Chef (affiliate link)
Our go-to salad is a combination of the vegetables we love best and the ones that cost the least amount of money. Get our budget-friendly salad formula below!
How to fall in love with spring mix salad greens!
Simple, inexpensive tomato soup ready in 10 minutes and full of real food ingredients you can find at any store. Dairy-free version too!
These easy egg muffins refrigerate and freeze well, making them an ideal make-ahead, protein-packed breakfast.
These stuffed tomatoes are an easy, beautiful, budget-friendly summertime dish made with melty cheese, whole-grain bread, and summer produce! Use this recipe for a frugal side dish or even more frugal main dish! Includes a dairy-free and vegan option.
This recipe is super flexible - use what you like, use what you have.
Simple, Versatile Greek Salad with Quinoa - with frugal tips!
Need a simple, classy budget-friendly way to serve guests? This Meze Platter is the perfect summertime meal for entertaining!
Easy, delicious, garlicky pizza crust that you can make with white flour or whole grain. It's not loaded with plants but you can serve it with a salad!
Creamy, Homemade Macaroni & Cheese only 25 cents a serving, made in 20 minutes, and full of ingredients you likely already have on hand. Works great with gluten-free pasta too!
This quick, frugal dinner is loaded with the good stuff – vegetables, pasta and chicken (or steak). Or leave out the chicken for a delicious meatless option!
Need an easy, budget-friendly, real food dinner? Burrito bowls are an allergy-friendly, plant-based pantry meal that even help you reduce food waste (who doesn’t love taco leftovers?!).
Budget-Friendly Plant Based Side Dishes
Choose one of these plant based sides to go with your meatless meals or to just add some extra veggies to your dinner!
These healthier home fries are baked, not fried. They’re drizzled with healthy fats, tossed with garlic and paprika, and work perfectly for breakfast as well as dinner.
Our favorite, simple recipe for yellow rice – with no artificial colors! Perfect with chicken, beef, fish, or vegetable curry – a savory, flavorful bed for any Meditteranean or Eastern-inspired dish.
An extra-flavorful, easy way to make baked sweet potatoes even better. Whole30, paleo, dairy-free, gluten-free, CHEAP, and just plain good. The best baked sweet potatoes I’ve ever had.
Our go-to salad is a combination of the vegetables we love best and the ones that cost the least amount of money. Get our budget-friendly salad formula below!
This spring mix salad is perfect for the cooler seasons and is one of my favorites to serve guests and family. Dress it up with chicken or salmon to make it a full meal!
It’s just a Caesar salad. But the dressing makes all the difference. It takes about 3 minutes to shake together. If it makes my brothers and dad will eat a mixing bowl of salad, it’s worth the extra effort to me. I think it’ll be the same for you.
Whether you decide to try meatless meals in order to stretch your budget, avoid the grocery store, or save the planet, these plant-based ideas will help you do that!
What You Can Do Now:
What are some of your favorite meatless meals?
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If anyone has to do “cheesy” for any reason (allergies, vegan, whatever…) – two options I found that work for me – Daiya products (it’s vegan cheese – they make SO MANY different kinds (I have all of them) – and they’re really good :); 2) Bragg’s Nutritional Yeast – i use this instead of parmesan cheese in my recipes – and it tastes really good – besides which, nutritional yeast itself has Vitamin B12, – it’s a great product for vegans – and for those who have candida issues (this is not a candida yeast – i’ve already done my research – and I have candida…..)
Awesome! I loved nutritional yeast when I was DF. And I’ve heard great things about Daiya!