Under $25 A Week: Vegetarian Grocery List Plus Recipes Pt. 2

By Alexis Frankel on November 19, 2016

If you are not a vegetarian, the words ‘cheap’ and ‘healthy’ do not sound right in the same sentence. For a meat eater like myself, cheap food meant fast food and healthy meant a salad. While both of these foods are arguably delicious in their own special ways, you can have a cheap, healthy, and filling meal by eating vegetarian.

You don’t believe me? I didn’t believe it myself at first until I put together this simple and inexpensive grocery list. Read on for proof. If you would like some more proof, check out part one of this wallet-friendly, vegetarian grocery list series and this eggy number.

Curried Sweet Potato Soup

Alexis Frankel

•½ a sweet potato

•½ an onion

•¼ cup of corn

•curry powder

•salt

•pepper

•1 can of vegetable broth

•sour cream

•oil/butter

•green onions (optional)

•cayenne pepper (optional, but highly recommended)

This recipe was adapted from Rachael Ray’s curried carrot soup recipe (another soup-er healthy and filling meal). This meal is packed with vitamins, about $3 for 3 servings, and leaves you with vegetable leftovers to make other tasty items on the grocery list.

1. Boil water in a pot, and in the meantime, cut a sweet potato in half and then that half into quarters.
2. When the water is boiling, put in the sweet potato with a pinch of salt.
3. While you wait for the sweet potato to cook, dice up half an onion.
4. After about 20 minutes (or when the sweet potato is soft), drain it.
5. On medium heat, drizzle about a tablespoon of your oil/butter of choice (I went with butter).
6. When the oil is heated throw in the onions and cook them until they are translucent.
7. When this happens, throw the cooked sweet potato in with a quarter cup of corn in the same pot, a quarter teaspoon of curry powder, salt and pepper to taste, and a dash of cayenne pepper.
8. After a couple minutes, pour in a can of vegetable broth and bring the mixture to a boil.
9. Reduce it to low and simmer it for about 15 minutes, covered.
10. Take your soup-to-be off the stove and let it cool off.
11. When cool, blend the mixture in a blender in batches till relatively smooth.
12. Transfer the soup into a bowl and put some sour cream into a plastic, sandwich/snack bag.
13. Cut off a bottom corner on the plastic bag and use this to create a swirl design on the soup.
14. Take your spoon/a toothpick and drag it from the outside to the inside on the swirl to create a petal-like effect.
15. Chop up some green onions and garnish.

Chile Lime Chickpea Salad

Alexis Frankel

•1/2 a can of chickpeas

•1/4 of a tomato

•1 lime

•1/4 a can of corn

•salt

•pepper

•chile powder

•oil

A salad does not always need lettuce! This healthy dish is about $2 per serving and is low-carb as well as low-fat for those of you on a diet. I used cherry tomatoes here, but you can easily replace it with a regular tomato. This recipe is perfect for vegans as well as meat eaters.

1. Cut up the tomato into tiny chunks and mix it in with the corn and chickpeas.
2. Add the salt, pepper, and chile powder to your liking. I like to gradually add in the chile powder until it tastes how I like it.
3. Add a 2:1 ratio of whatever oil of your choice (except butter) to lime juice. I opted for some olive oil I had in my pantry.
4. Chill the salad in the fridge for a stronger flavor, or eat it as if you’ve been living off of leftover Thai food for days (aka my eating style).

Tycho’s Grilled Cheese

Alexis Frankel

•Shredded cheese

•2 slices of bread

•oil/butter

Alright, so this recipe is not the healthiest, but I never said all vegetarian meals had to be healthy! It is, however, tasty, cheap (it is about a dollar to make one serving) and does not involve killing animals. Make it healthier by stuffing some other veggies from your grocery list inside.

1. Heat up oil/butter of your choice in a pan over medium heat (I went with butter).
2. Take two slices of bread when the pan is heated and grill them.
3. When one side of both slices are a golden brown, flip it to the other side to get some color on it, making sure there is enough oil in the pan so it will not stick or burn.
4. Move the slices over and drizzle a little more oil.
5. Take your shredded cheese and create an even circle of cheese that is completely filled in.
6. When the cheese melts, take a grilled slice of bread and place it on top, then put more cheese on top of the slice.
7. Top with another slice of grilled bread (just like how you would make a normal grilled cheese) and when the cheese in the middle is melted enough to stick the two pieces together, make another cheese circle. Make sure to put a little more oil down.
8. Flip the uncheesy bread side onto the circle (like how you did before) and wait about 30 seconds to transfer it to a plate.
9. The outside cheese should be golden brown like the photo.
10. My friend who came up with this recipe, recommends eating this the Dutch way with ketchup on the side. Live a little! Abandon the classic tomato soup side.

Below is the grocery list I used to come up with the recipes above. You can choose to purchase the items separately, or use this list to have under $25 of vegetarian groceries for the whole week. Everything on the grocery list is either from Publix or Winn Dixie.

Grocery List

•Raspberries: $3.49
•1 white bread loaf: $1.00
•Tub of vanilla yogurt: $1.99
•1 jalapeño pepper: $0.22
•1 green bell pepper: $1.29
•Small sour cream: $0.99
•Avocado: $1.50
•1 can of corn: $1.00
•1 can of chickpeas: $1.00
•Corn tortillas: $1.19
•1 bunch of green onions: $1.00
•4 bananas: $1.06
•1 sweet potato: $1.19
•1 onion: $0.80
•3 tomatoes: $0.86
•2 limes: $0.67
•Half a dozen eggs: $0.60
•1 pack of shredded sharp cheddar cheese: $2.50
•Curry powder: $1.00
•Chile powder: $1.00
•Vegetable broth: $0.89
•Instant grits: $1.00