30+ Cheap and Easy Vegan Dinner Recipes

Whether you are trying to incorporate more whole foods into your diet, cut back your expenses, or add more vegan dinners to your rotation, I have created the Ultimate list of Cheap and Easy Family-Friendly Vegan Dinner Recipes to add to your meal plan!

These cheap and easy vegan meals prove that you don't need hard-to-find ingredients or a lot of time to make flavorful, satisfying, family-friendly vegan dinners.

Collage of vegan dinners with title text overlay that reads cheap and easy vegan dinner recipes.

While there tend to be endless options for vegetarian dinners, finding vegan-friendly dinner recipes can be a bit more challenging. Often plant-based dinner recipes are made with an extensive list of ingredients that can be expensive or hard to find. Or worse yet, they are an afterthought and lack flavor and substance.

While all of my plant-based recipes are made with simple, wholesome, easy-to-find ingredients, these dinner recipes deserve to be the star of the show!

Why You Will Love These Vegan Dinners

Filling and Satisying. Thanks to the plant-based proteins, like beans and lentils, these recipes will leave you feeling full and satisfied.
Affordable Vegan Ingredients. Every recipe in this collection is made with common ingredients that you likely keep on hand or can find at any grocery store, leaving you with money in your wallet.
Easy Vegan Recipes. You don't need to make multi-step, complicated recipes if you want to make more plant-based meals. Most of these vegan dinner recipes come together in under 30 minutes, leaving you time to enjoy things other than cooking!
Family-Approved. It can be really hard to get picky eaters to adapt to adding more veggies or plant-based meals to their dinner rotations. However, these vegan dinners are made with simple ingredeints that help to win over the pickiest of eaters.
Variety. From pastas to soups to tacos to stir-fries, you are sure to find a vegan dinner recipe to try that is packed with flavor, nutrition, and plant-based protein.

Cheap & Easy Vegan Dinner Recipes

Browse through these recipes to find a simple, wholesome plant-based dinner to add to your meal rotation.

Mixture of portobello mushrooms and onions and peppers for Vegetarian fajitas in cast iron skillet.

1. Vegetarian Fajitas

From the sweetness of the onions to the char of peppers to hearty, earthy portobello mushrooms to the bold fajita seasoning, this simple vegan dinner comes together in under 30 minutes and is full of incredible flavor and texture.

Sweet Potato Black Bean Quinoa Chili dished up with minced cilantro.

2. Black Bean Sweet Potato Chili

This hearty vegan chili will quickly become a new favorite. Packed with nutrients, flavor, and plant-based fiber, this vegan dinner recipe is one of my all-time favorite 30-minute meals!

Bowl of Instant Pot Cabbage Soup next to hearty rolls.

3. Instant Pot Cabbage Soup

Made with humble ingredients, this plant-based soup delivers big flavor with ease. Paired with some crusty bread, Instant Pot Cabbage Soup is the perfect cozy vegan dinner for a cold winter night.

Large skillet with pasta, white beans, tomatoess, and spinach topped with parmesan.

4. White Bean Pasta

Talk about a flavorful vegan meal idea! Made with seasoned white beans, wilted spinach, and blistered tomatoes this pasta dinner is insanely delicious and ready in under 30 minutes.

flour tortilla filled with sweet potatoes, black beans, and guacamole.

5. Sweet Potato Tacos

You won't miss this meat in this easy vegan meal! Sweet potatoes and black beans are sauteed together with peppers, onions, garlic, and a blend of southwest seasoning, creating a hearty, flavorful filling for tacos.

Bowl of Cauliflower Chickpea Tikka Masala

6. Vegetarian Tikka Masala

Made with cauliflower, chickpeas, and a flavorful spiced tomato sauce, this vegan dinner is ready in less than 30 minutes. And you can find ALL the ingredients for this Indian dish at any grocery store!

Bowl of Instant Pot pasta fagioli topped with parmesan cheese.

7. Instant Pot Pasta Fagioli

Pasta Fagioli translates to pasta and beans, which are both staples for cheap vegan meals. Put them together in a flavorful broth, and you will be turning to this Italian soup again and again!

Quinoa and Veggie Stuffed portobello mushrooms on baking tray.

8. Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms

Made with meaty portobello mushrooms that are stuffed with a flavorful veggie and quinoa mixture, this simple vegan dinner recipe is hearty, wholesome, and delicious.

Bowl of Instant Pot Vegetable Soup next to instant pot.

9. Instant Pot Vegetable Soup

Everyone raves about this super simple, wholesome soup! This flavorful vegan recipe calls for basic ingredients you likely have on hand along with vegetable of choice, yet the flavorful is unbeatable!

Bowl of curry with butternut squash, chickpeas and kale.

11. Butternut Squash Curry

Made in just one pan, with only a handful of ingredients, this simple vegan meal is incredibly easy to make and insanely flavorful. We are talking a bit of dicing and simmering and a super hearty vegan dinner is DONE!

Skillet with tofu taco meat with seasonings

12. Copycat Sofritas

Chipotle is famous for its vegan sofritas and you won't believe just how easy (and affordable) it is to make a copycat version at home. This vegan meal idea comes together fast, has incredible texture, and is SO flavorful.

Orecchiette pasta with chickpeas and kale in white dish

13. Kale Pasta

With vibrant greens, creamy chickpeas, and a bright light sauce, this pasta is a quick and easy vegan dinner idea!

Bowl of lentil soup topped with fresh parsley next to sliced bread.

14. Instant Pot Lentil Soup

With the addition of fresh onion, celery, and carrots, this vegan dinner recipe uses ingredients that you likely have on hand in your pantry right now, making this delicious, hearty soup extremely affordable.

White Bowl filled with peanut noodles topped with fresh vegetables and limes on the side

15. Thai Noodles

Ready in just 15 minutes, these Thai noodles make a delicious vegan meal! They are made with everyday ingredients and insanely flavorful. You will love this simple recipe.

16. Minestrone Soup

Rich in fiber, nutrients, and plant-based protein, Minestrone Soup is a complete meal in a bowl. Made in the crockpot or pressure cooker, this vegan-friendly soup makes a hearty and cheap dinner.

3 tortillas topped with roasted cauliflower and avocado cream next to avocados and limes.

17. Cauliflower Tacos

Made with seasoned, roasted cauliflower and finished with avocado cream, cauliflower tacos make a surprisingly hearty and flavorful dinner idea.

Lentil Meatballs served with pasta on a white plate

18. Lentil Meatballs

Made with tender lentils and spiced to perfection, these vegan meatballs are not only a cheap and easy vegan recipe, but they also win the approval from meat-eaters.

Bowl of sweet potato quinoa chili topped with sour cream and corn chips.

19. Instant Pot Vegetarian Chili

This hearty vegan-friendly chili is made with simple ingredients, to create a simple, hearty vegan dinner that is filled with plant-based protein.

20. Easy Ratatouille

Transorm humble vegetables into a spectacular stew packed with flavor. Ratatouille is a simple vegan dinner idea that is a great way to use up fresh summer vegetables like eggplant and zucchini.

Instant Pot Lentil Chili in white bowl topped with diced avocado and cilantro.

21. Lentil Chili

Full of flavor, nutrients, and plant-based protein, you can make this vegan meal on the stovetop or in the Instant Pot. It comes together with minimal effort to deliver a hearty and healthy meal that is perfect for busy nights.

Veggie Enchilada on white plate topped with avocado and cilantro.

23. Vegetarians Enchiladas

These are one my family's favorite vegan dinner recipes. Made with zucchini, kale, corn, beans, peppers, and onions, these Vegetarian Enchiladas are bursting with flavor and texture.

Bowl of Instant Pot White Bean and Kale Soup next to bread and pressure cooker.

24. Instant Pot White Bean Soup

This vegan dinner idea takes humble ingredients and turns them into a comforting soup loaded with nutrients and flavor in just over 30 minutes.

25. Italian Baked Vegetables

Made with hearty root vegetables, squash, peppers, and fresh tomatoes, this simple vegan casserole eats like a gourmet meal. The simple seasoning and roasting technique turns simple ingredients into a memorable vegan meal.

Close up of vegetable potsticker on chopsticks.

26. Vegetarian Potstickers

This vegan recipe is a great way to clean out your produce drawer, and while they do require a bit more hands-on prep, these vegan-friendly potstickers are actually rather easy to make AND make eating your vegetables.

Lentil Taco meat on tortilla topped with avocado and cabbage.

27. Lentil Tacos

Ready in under 30 minutes and made with simple, affordable ingredients, this Lentil Taco Meat is perfectly seasoned and creates a delicious family-friendly vegan recipe.

Butternut Squash Chili in dutch oven stockpan next to chili seasoning

28. Butternut Squash Chili

Featuring tender butternut squash, creamy white beans, and a rich, thick, and spicy broth, this chili is a cozy and wholesome vegan dinner idea.

Bean Burrito Cut open to show rice, cheese and refried bean filling.

29. Refried Bean Burritos

These burritos are one of cheapest and easiest recipes to make when you are looking for a flavorful family-friendly vegan dinner reicpe.

Cold noodle salad in bowl topped with sesame seeds.

30. Asian Noodle Salad

Made with fresh veggies and a light sesame dressing, this plant-based recipe is hearty enough to make a delicious vegan dinner option.

Burrito filled with black beans, sweet potaoes and avocado.

31. Sweet Potato Black Bean Burritos

The subtle sweetness of the sweet potatoes plays off the earthy black beans to create a simple vegan dinner that is creamy, hearty, sweet, and robust.

Egg Roll with bite out of it showing vegetable filling

32. Vegetarian Egg Rolls

Despite the word egg in the name of this recipe, this recipe is not made with eggs or any animal products. Instead, it is filled with crisp tender veggies to create a fun and delicious vegan-friendly dinner recipe.

Bowl of quinoa spinach salad with lemon wedges and fresh green beans.

33. Spinach Quinoa Salad

Quinoa Spinach Salad is a simple, protein-packed, refreshing vegan salad that is hearty enough to make a light, yet filling vegan dinner.

I hope you find a few new vegan-friendly dinner recipes to try here! Please leave a comment and let me know your favorite or send a request my way!