These extreme budget recipes are four new ways to enjoy pasta for less than $1. I'm talking meals for under 50 cents! Just 10 minutes, very little clean up and so much flavor! These are dairy free and yummy. Let these be your new weekly dinner options or meal prep for a busy week.
Want to make these pasta dishes even more filling for just a couple more cents? Mix in a steamer bag of frozen vegetables! Many 12oz bags are 98 cents (24 cents per 4 servings!), require zero clean-up, and live in your freezer till you're ready to use them.
My favorite bag of frozen veggies is the Asian blends with bell pepper mixed in. So much flavor and a variety of textures 🙂
Vegan Lo Mein
Vegan Lo Mein Recipe - 42 cents per meal
This recipe is beyond simple. There are two ways you can make the sauce.
1.) Mix sesame oil, soy sauce, sriracha, and ginger powder together and pour over cooked noodles!
2.) Make a thick glaze-like sauce using the same ingredients. Simply add water and cornstarch to the mix and simmer the sauce till thick. This extra step takes less than 5 minutes to come together. This will smother your noodles in thick, rich flavors. I don't think you'll be disappointed.
- 1 lb pasta (92 cents)
Sauce ingredients:
- soy sauce - ½ cup / 4 oz ($1.58 bottle, 40 cents)
- sriracha - 1 TB ($3.87 bottle, 12 cents)
- ginger - 1 tsp (1 cent)
- sesame oil - 1 TB ($6.88 bottle, 22 cents)
- ½ cup cool water (FREE)
- 1 TB corn starch ($1.54 container, 3 cents)
Mix all the sauce ingredients together. Simmer on the stove until the sauce thickens (less than 5 minutes), stirring the whole time. *Consider doubling the sauce recipe for extra saucy noodles!
Pour sauce over 1lb of cooked pasta.
$1.70 total = 42 cents each (4 servings)
Vegan Butter Noodles
Vegan Butter Pasta - 42 cents per meal
Look how simple this recipe is! Yes, you can skip the step of making a buttery sauce. You're welcome to toss butter with hot noodles. But making a thick sauce will coat each bit of noodles with a thick buttery flavor!
- 1 lb pasta (92 cents)
Sauce Ingredients:
- 6 TB butter ($3.98 pack, 74 cents)
- 1 TB corn starch ($1.54 container, 3 cents)
- 1 cup water (FREE)
- salt (1 cent)
Melt six tablespoons of vegan butter in a large saucepan. Stir one tablespoon of corn starch into 1 cup of cold, cool, or room temperature water. Pour cornstarch water into the melted butter. Bring sauce to a simmer. Stir the whole time until it thickens (less than 5 minutes). Mix sauce with 1 lb of cooked pasta. Add salt to taste!
$1.70 total = 42 cents
Vegan Mac & Cheese
Mac & Cheese Recipe - 91 cents per meal
If you've never seen this recipe before then, I highly recommend clicking the link and checking it out. This recipe is genius! Why blend cashews or potatoes & carrots into a cheese sauce when you could skip the chopping, soaking, and cooking process.
This recipe by It Doesn't Taste Like Chicken has given us the frugal gift of dairy-free cheese powder mix! I made a giant batch and cooked it all up. She suggests making a jar of the cheese powder and using it in single servings. Again, GENIUS!
You could add vegan butter to this recipe, though I never do. However, I do add buffalo sauce over the top every time I eat it.
- 1 lb pasta (92 cents)
Sauce Ingredients:
- nutritional flakes ¾ cup - 62g ($5.89 bag, $2.57)
- flour - ½ cup - 80g ($2.12 bag, 5 cents)
- 1 TB paprika (2 cents)
- 2 ts salt (1 cent)
- 2 ts onion powder (2 cents)
- 1 ts garlic (2 cents)
- 1 ts lemon pepper (2 cents)
- ½ ts turmeric (1 cent)
- 2.5 cups water 24oz (FREE)
Mix dry ingredients together, then whisk into cool or room temperature water. Simmer sauce until it thickens (less than 5 minutes). Mix sauce with 1 lb of cooked pasta.
$3.64 total = 91 cents each (4 servings)
Vegan Lemon Pepper Pasta
Lemon Pepper - 71 cents per meal
Alright, folks, this is about as lazy as it comes. Pour a can of coconut milk over cooked pasta and season to taste. HA!! You're welcome to make a thick sauce by simmering coconut milk with 1 cup of water and a tablespoon of cornstarch. But it's great having such an effortless recipe, no simmering required.
The lemon pepper you see pictured is my absolute favorite. Some lemon pepper mixes are heavy in pepper, garlic or onion. I want my lemon pepper to have that strong tart flavor. I searched far and wide. This one is the winner. Salt and citric acid are the top ingredients.
- 1 lb pasta (92 cents)
- 1 can coconut milk ($1.82)
- 2 ts lemon pepper ($2.98 jar, 11 cents)
Pour one can of coconut milk (I used full fat) over freshly cooked pasta. Sprinkle lemon pepper to taste and mix well.
$2.85 total = 71 cents each (4 servings)
Want More Budget Recipes?
- 4 Budget Dessert Recipes - Vegan
- 4 LAZY Budget Meals (no cutting board!) - Vegan
- 4 Easy Budget Crockpot Meals (Vegan)
Leave a Reply