Quick & Easy Vegetarian Meal Plan – Week 3

If you’re sick and tired of spending lots of money and time planning and cooking dinner each night, this Quick and Easy, Budget Friendly Vegetarian Meal Plan is for you!  Keep a look out for a new one each week.

Happy Saturday!  I hope you all are as excited as I am about these new Quick and Easy, Budget Friendly, Vegetarian Meal Plans!  Each Saturday morning I will send out the new meal plan that includes: 5 vegetarian dinner recipes that all take 30 minutes or less to prepare (sometimes I will add meals that may take a little bit longer but will provide tips on how to shorted that time) and a printable ingredient list that you can use to help with your shopping list.  For each recipe I will also give suggestions on optional side dishes and ways to make the meal even more budget friendly!

Budget Friendly Dinners

Grocery prices are insane right now, so I know I’m not the only one looking for ways to save money when I can.  There’s still a few things I won’t cut corners on, but for the most part these days I try to buy the cheapest versions of our grocery staples that I can find.  

30 Minute Dinners

Both my boys are in school now, and as much as I love my alone time, I still want to spend lots of time with them.  Dinners that take 30 minutes or less to prepare make it so I’m not stuck in the kitchen all evening and I can spend more quality time with my family.  

I hope you all can benefit from these meals and tips that I provide along with them!  Enjoy and have a great week!

MONDAY

Rice and Bean Taco Casserole

*This recipe does take longer than 30 minutes, but you can shave a bunch of time off by either cooking your rice a day or two before or using microwavable rice.  I have recently started buying frozen, microwavable rice from Trader Joe’s (I’ve seen it a regular grocery stores too).  Each box comes with 2 pouches and you just microwave for 3 minutes and it comes out perfectly every time. 

Serving Suggestions: I like to serve this taco casserole with a side of chips and salsa/guacamole and add quite a few fresh veggies as a topping.  You could also serve with a salad or add casserole filling to a taco or burrito.

Budget Modifications: This meal is already pretty budget friendly but it’s also a flexible recipe so you can swap similar ingredients that you might already have on hand.  For example, if you don’t have taco sauce in the pantry but you do have enchilada sauce or salsa, you can use that instead.  You can also use a packet of taco seasoning if you don’t have all the spices listed on hand.  Let me know if you need anymore substitution ideas!

 

TUESDAY

Peanut Butter Tofu

Serving Suggestions: I like to serve my peanut butter tofu with a side of rice or quinoa and vegetables.  You could do a single veggie, like sautéed broccoli, or a fresh/frozen stir fry mix.

Budget Modifications: If you don’t have many of the homemade peanut sauce ingredients on hand, you can buy a bottle of pre-made peanut sauce.  These days you can find a fairly good one at most grocery stores.

 

WEDNESDAY

Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto Pasta

Serving Suggestions: I usually eat this meal by itself, but it is also great with a side salad, roasted or sautéed veggies or garlic bread/breadsticks.

Budget Modifications: The sun-dried tomato pesto isn’t the most budget friendly homemade sauce, but most grocery stores sell a store-bought sun-dried tomato pesto.  If you can’t find a pre-made one, you could buy a jar of regular pesto and a jar of sun-dried tomatoes and then blend them together.

 

THURSDAY

Greek Chickpea Pitas

Serving Suggestions: Serve with a side salad or a side of chips or fries.

Budget Modifications: Feel free to use veggies you have on hand already rather than buying the specific ones from this recipe.

 

FRIDAY

Taco Pizza Bagels

Serving Suggestions: Serve with a side salad or side of tortilla chips!

Budget Modifications: Instead of making individual bagel pizzas, you could make one large pizza.  Pick and choose toppings based on what you have on hand.

 

PRINTABLE INGREDIENT LIST

This can be printed off and used to figure out what you already have at home and what exactly you need to buy.  Click here for the printable PDF Ingredient List.