8 Ideas for Cheap, Healthy, and Quick Dinner

When I talk to friends about my diet, at some point two issues arise (always!). The first is time and the second is money. It’s time to dispel any doubts.

People who are used to traditional meals often think that a vegetable dinner must be very complicated, sophisticated, and thus expensive. So today some practical ideas.

Here I am sharing my healthy simple recipes for dinner that will convince you or your friends that cooking without animal ingredients does not cost much time and money — sometimes on the contrary, and vegan cooking (even gluten-free) does not have to cost a lot.

Do you want to learn the rules of composing cheap, healthy, and quick dinners? Be sure to go through my food blog section: How to eat and cook healthily? After reading it, you will know how to go about simple and nutritious food preparation.

Bet on Seasonal Vegetables

If you try to compose meals based on seasonal, currently available vegetables, you can save a lot. I love one-pot dinners based on a variety of vegetables. Soon we will be able to enjoy many of them: national delicacies such as cauliflower or green beans. As long as they are not there, frozen foods come to the rescue. Sometimes you can also get them at quite good prices.

1. Potato Casserole with Green Beans

Simple, fast, and based on generally available ingredients. I don’t have to convince you that it tastes best in season? :-)

2. Greek Cauliflower

Best for Christmas, but also every day you feel like it.

Prepare a traditional dish in a meatless form

Nobody will tell me that a meal without meat costs more than one with meat. Legumes and semi-finished products made of them can be found at really good prices. If you visit supermarkets and hypermarkets, it is worth paying attention to promotions and buying more of them at bargain prices.

3. Vegan Baked Beans

As a child, I always dug out a sausage from baked beans. Now I don’t have to. If you want its flavor to be close to traditional baked beans, you can use a spice called: smoked paprika. It is a great spice — if you like the aroma of smoked meat or if you are serving such a dish to someone who is a fan of smoked products.

4. Prepare a Simple Pasta Sauce — Economical and Simple

Simple pasta sauces are quick to cook, and at the same time very economical and healthy. You can use everything for them, for example, vegetables that are leftover from cooking vegetable stock, but you can also make “pesto” for pasta very cheaply (sunflower is one of the cheapest grains). In my blog, you will also find this type of proposition.

5. Pasta with Tomato Sauce

I recommend this banal, but a wonderful recipe to everyone in the crowd. It’s just great in its simplicity.

If you do not want to make a sauce of fresh tomatoes, because, for example, in the off-season, you do not like it too much, an option is also to simply use, for example, tomato pasta. Choose one without artificial additives and sugar. I like taking my pasta on trips because lunch is made expressly then.

6. Pasta with Arugula and Sunflower Seeds

Do you like eating pesto? This is the recipe for you! They are made simple and quick. And for trips or situations when you don’t have even 5 minutes to “twist” the pesto, a healthy ready-made meal is a great option. From time to time I buy a vegan, aromatic pesto in a jar and keep it for trips.

7. Tomato Millet Groats with Red Beans

I simply adore millet in dry versions. It is amazing.

8. Millet and Rice Cutlets

This is a recipe that proves that you can make something special out of inconspicuous ingredients. Use your inspiration and compose one-pot dishes with the addition of legumes.

Based on lentils, you can make a very quick and healthy sauce for rice or pasta. If you take care of soaking and cooking chickpeas in advance, preparing a filling and valuable dinner based on it will also not take much time.

A tasty, quick, and healthy dinner recipe. Isn’t that a perfect kitchen?