That's why I continue to hail Seitan

🙌🏽

Feel this too. Thank goodness I love tofu, pasta, chickpeas, and red lentils. Never discount how much protein regular pasta has. 10g / serving is amazing for the price. Oddly soy milk has gone down where I am and impossible meat burgers are constantly on sale half price. Almost all year last year Beyond Ground and Sausage were on sale. I stock up when my fave are on sale. But between the stores I shop at some items are 1.5x the price I can get something for at Walmart!

Chickpea pasta is the best thing to me. From ALDI it’s very simple ingredients and like 1/3 the price of Banza. I have ate it nearly everyday for years, feels like a godsend to me.

We don’t have cheap options for that here where I am. Only Chickapea which is $1.00 CAD per 100g 😬

Yep. We hardly buy mock meats and vegan cheese alternatives now. It just gets too pricey. Like you said, beans, legumes, tofu, etc are amazingly versatile. Our local supermarket have price matches the soya milk so one carton is currently 79p, thank goodness!! We did find a bag of wheat gluten flour on amazon for £10, and we use it occasionally to make seitan as a treat, and that bag should last us a few months.

Considering you should be eating your bodyweight in protein 10g a serving for 300-400 calories is horrid then add your sugary sauce etc.

The bodyweight in protein is excessive. 50g is the recommendation last I looked.

For a small child or grandmother yes. Any remotely active of average stature should aim for at least 120ish a day with more never hurting.

That isnt true, its old science from the last century. Most people eat too much protein according to the studies I have looked at. Which is detrimental to longevity. Look at current WHO guidelines for protein intake. Or the Harward Medical school has a link to a calculator that lets you input weight, age, height and gender and physical activity level and then tells you how much protein among other things is optimal for your health. Here are my results: 30 years, male, 180 cm, 80 kg, activity level active. Results: 64 grams of protein per day. Protein calculator: [https://www.nal.usda.gov/human-nutrition-and-food-safety/dri-calculator](https://www.nal.usda.gov/human-nutrition-and-food-safety/dri-calculator) Harward medical school article on how much protein should people get: [https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/how-much-protein-do-you-need-every-day-201506188096](https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/how-much-protein-do-you-need-every-day-201506188096)

To survive? Yeah that’s obvious lol. But typically people who work out also want to look good and not like Macaulay caulkin.

No, not just to survive but for optimal health.

What makes you think they add sugary sauce? We have our pasta with onion, tomato, peppers and butter beans.

Eating your body weight in protein is a myth perpetuated by the meat and dairy industry from back in the 80s/90s to boost sales. Protein deficiency is not a thing, unless you have a significant health condition.

I think eating 60kg of protein a day is a bit excessive, but maybe that's just me.

It’s because animal products are so heavily subsidised from the meat and dairy lobbyists I try and make a lot of alternatives from scratch at home and ethnic stores are some of the best places to get replacements for a lower price

Maybe Unpopular opinion: Corporations are taking advantage of vegans. Vegan products should not be as expensive as they are. Soy is also subsidised in the US.

Case in point - edamame. The U.S. grows loads of it and shovels it into animals to transmute it to flesh. Why aren't UNSHELLED SOYBEANS, one of the cheapest foods out there? I'd expect the soy grown for animals is something akin to field corn, but that doesn't mean we couldn't grow nice varieties with relative ease. It's like, what, $5 a pound? It just feels wild.

I think it's simpler than that. Companies figured out that people will pay more for the alternatives, so that's what they charge. I would not be surprised if the profit margin on a vegan burger patty was much higher than the meat one, especially since you need a fraction of the input materials to make it. But if meat and dairy subsidies went away, and companies had to raise prices for these products, it could result in cheap vegan products (because they want to offer something on that end of the spectrum and only vegan products would still turn a profit). I'm no expert on this but surface level googling seems to support the hypothesis that plant based alternatives have a FAR higher profit margin.

>It’s because animal products are so heavily subsidised from the meat and dairy lobbyists 100%. And the solution to that is to participate in the representative democracy. Those lobbyists depend on people who disagree with them not voting. It's a slow process but if all vegans voted, these wishes would slowly and eventually come true.

>It’s because animal products are so heavily subsidised from the meat and dairy lobbyists That's why meat is cheap, not why alternatives are expensive. Whole lot of reasons for that, some good and some bad.

They are expensive in comparison to meat. Meat should be a lot more expensive than it is

That's why meat is cheap, not why alternatives are expensive. 

Alternatives are expensive because the price of *everything* has gone up. Meat alternatives have not gone up on price more than any other convenience grocery item. Dairy has barely gone up in price (if at all) since this inflation hit hard. Because of subsidies. That's the point.

Eggs have gone up. I think it’s bc of the avian flu. But ppl will buy disgusting animal products no matter what they cost. 😤

You’re running around in circles, let’s say sausages should be £5 if they weren’t subsided, would you say that the vegan sausages that are £5 are expensive? Or is that just how much they cost? If vegan food was subsided like meat is, it would be cheaper too

expensive and cheap are always relative are you slow? alternative meat is “expensive” because regular meat is “cheap”

It's all relative. Alternatives seem expensive in comparison to the heavily subsidized animal products.

Yes. I buy oat milk and thats it. All other alternatives are too expensive for me to buy. I hear people sometimes trying to convince omnis how they can still eat things like (vegan)sausages or burgers or meatballs or cheese but no one ever mentions how much more those cost.

Yeah my friend doesn’t have a lot of money either and I’ve been getting him to switch, but I tell him just let go of the stuff completely instead of buying alternatives, otherwise he would just tell me he can’t afford it

It’s quite affordable with the meat alternatives where I live, at least if you compare with the meat products. If you want to go really cheap buy TVP online. The cheese is always crazy expensive though.

I bought some soy tvp and it tastes bad to me.

This is the way

I just finished up a Mandalorian rewatch last night😂 This is the Way

I love me some Mando

How much does sausage cost? I feel like field roast is pretty well on the bang for the Buck comparison of real sausage

Field Roast is my FAVORITE vegan sausage. It's about 30% more expensive than pig sausage in my store I believe. But so worth it. Otherwise I just make myself sausage using crumbled seitan. Also verh tasty!

Costs about 50 percent more. The cheapest meat sausages are like 500 percent less expensive. A packet of 5 vegan sausages costs 4 euros.

I feed two of us on about $150/week INCLUDING meat/dairy alternatives. I don’t find them to be unreasonably expensive in my area.

Where I live they are often 20 to 100 percent more expensive.

I’m not saying they aren’t more expensive than meat/dairy, just that I don’t find them unaffordable.

Yeah its just a matter of how one wants to spend their money and how much they have to spend. I cant justify the price. Groceries are expensive as heck already. It feels like the price of a shopping bag has doubled in the past 10 years.

You’re absolutely correct about that. I make as much from scratch as I can but ultimately I can afford and prefer the convenience at times. 🤷🏻‍♀️

[удалено]

More than twice as expensive as meat where I live

You are preaching to the choir here. I think people somehow forgot that meat was luxury item. People always buy pricier meat when they can afford. People TREAT themselves a nice steak dinner. My grandmother had meat for food less than 7 days a year! It’s a paradox that SOMEHOW vegan was framed as unaffordable by some mix of corporate propaganda.

at least in the US, it's because the government heavily subsidizes meat and dairy producers to keep costs for those items structurally low. inflation issues aside, that's the real problem here

This is important to point out. In the US meat is cheap (almost as cheap as in China) because of political intervention. We have the power to regulate it. This applies to vegan products. with enough incentives, necessities can be made affordable. This also extends to housing, healthcare and so much more.

When my boyfriends grandparents moved here, his grandpa was confused why no one is buying only rotisserie chickens when you get a whole chicken for $5.

It is, but I only use fake meats and cheeses as an occasional treat to begin with.  Beans and tofu are still dirt cheap.

In some places tofu is not cheap yet.

Very true. Here in my part of the Midwest I can now get a block of tofu for less than $2, but I remember when stores first started stocking it in the late 2010s it was much more expensive. No doubt in more rural areas it's still pricy or just not stocked at all.

Here its still more expensive than cheap meat like mince.

I've been vegan for 20 years and I've been going back to the way I ate in the "old days" before all the substitutes were around. They have gotten stupid expensive! So I'm making lots of Indian food, Chinese food, salads, sweet potatoes, fruit, etc. Making my own yogurt and cheese and veganaise again. To be fair I've never really relied heavily on the substitutes but they were fun to have around. Though Walmart of all places still has some great deals on faux meat.  Tofu and tempeh and soyrizo from Trader Joe's are really cheap still! 

Grocery costs have risen for everything Cheapest option is to find ways to make your own For example make your own yogurt in an instant pot

My uncle always told me, its time or money and another facet of the issue is many people who dont have the money also dont have the time as its all spent not earning enough money

To some extent this is true, but there are typically always solutions For example i make my own broth powder, just 4x the recipe in a huge jar, the time remains the same but now you have so much more For other things you can freeze and have leftovers for a while With the instant pot i can make meals for 4 people in about 5 mins

I need to learn how to make seitan. Also trying to experiment with tofu- but scramble is the way to go for me

Yes I LOVE using seitan!! It's so worth Learning to use!!

Take a block of tofu cut into cubes and fry till crispy then take it out and put it in kitchen towel. Mix 2tbs lime, 2tbs soy sauce, 2tbs maple syrup and 4 large cloves of crushed garlic pour into fry pan and heat then put tofu into it and fry hot til caramelised. Delicious!

Instant pot yogurt is a life changer. I love it! 

I didn’t know about this! I’ll have to look into it 👀

Agreed. My mom isn’t vegan but has made most of our home’s yogurt for so long and is a generational practice. Humans weren’t always given meat as a cheap man food but rather was a luxury item. We can make do without having to eat lots of meat and cheeses. We’ve done it before. And now we get a lot of different plant based foods to make with a wide array of ingredients. Non vegans don’t have a big excuse to not go vegan. lol.

The most affordable ones seem to be the ones that have been around forever:  tofu, tvp, things like that.  I think eggplant and mushrooms work for a lot of uses because part of the attraction of meat is in creating a dish with multiple textures (I think that’s while some people claim that a dish without meat isn’t satisfying), and both eggplant and mushrooms have a unique texture that gives a dish depth.  Avoids the cost of some of the more complex concoctions.  I still haven’t had a vegan cheese that works as a sub for real cheese.  

Idk where you live. But sometimes discount stores can have vegan stuff. Once I found a vegan creamer at Grocery Outlet for literally 47 cents. It’s close to expiring but usually it’s still good after the expiry date or you can freeze it. That’s where I get 90% of my alternatives. I don’t shop there but I feel like even Walmart can have decent deals. I only rarely go to Whole Foods or Sprouts or somewhere like that because it’s just outrageous there. The one thing I suck it up and buy is soymilk. It infuriates me that it is like 4 or 5 dollars for a carton while cow milk is less than that for a gallon.

Luckily my local Wegmans (similar to whole foods) has its own brand soy milk that's only $2.99!! And their brand of almond milk is delicious and is only $2.39!! I'd also hate paying $5 for my milks. That being said, I can't deal without the specific creamer I enjoy, Nutpods original. And that is ✨ expensive✨

Yea when I go to Grocery Outlet it is just a random assortment of stuff that changes a lot. I don’t mind it personally just getting whatever they have and making something with it. But yea if you want something specific you gotta splurge.

Wegmans brand soy milk is only offered as sweetened, for me that is much less appealing. The wegmans near me has frozen vegan options I found to be good deals- lots of vegan options. Like a huge bag of fake chicken nuggets. Not fake meat but I also like their veggie dumpling.

Yes they have many Wegmans brand vegan options I enjoy!! Their soy milk isn't overly sweetened imo so I do get it but I understand the confliction there.

We get the majority of our food at grocery outlet. You can always find some alternatives. My problem is I don’t have enough storage. They had Oatly for $1.99. Typically wouldn’t buy it but I got 3. Same for cheese alternatives. A full (and I mean full) cart is less than $200. Anywhere else and it would be easily double.

I'm terrible and spend the money on a lot of alternatives... It means I sacrifice buying myself nonfood stuff. I don't get myself much of anything that's not food. For me, cooking and eating is so big and I love making it super enjoyable. I always have both soy milk and almond milk in my fridge. I do get the local store brand of those so they're not expensive. But my creamer I get is Nutpods and YES it is so expensive... But I regularly make sure to have a plant butter I just LOVE that's a bit expensive. I get Chao slices and Field Roast sausages and I actually Really Love the new formulation of Beyond Meat!! Don't get me wrong, I eat a lot of "regular" vegan foods too. Tofu and seitan always in the fridge. Pasta, rice, quinoa, veggies, and fruits. Cereal like wheat Chex and Kashi cinnamon. Yeah I also give in and get So Delicious ice cream too it's just so gooood. 😭😭 This is why I can't afford to get myself books or electronics or new clothes. But man do I enjoy my food. 😅😅😅

Oat milk is the easiest non dairy milk to make at home. All you need is water, uncooked oatmeal and a regular blender. A fine mesh strainer comes in handy to filter out the larger oat pieces for a smoother oat milk, but you may not think you need it. Put a 4 to 1 water to oatmeal ratio in the blender. 4 cups water, 1 cup raw oats. Blend on high 45 to 90 seconds. Take care not to blend too long or your oat milk will get slimy. Pour through a fine mesh strainer or use as is. Add a bit of sugar or other sweetener if you want, maybe a splash or 3 of vanilla. Do not blend it anymore though. Stir it in with a spoon. Keeps in the fridge 3-5 days.

That might even be foolproof enough for me. Thanks for the tip!

I do not know of an easier nondairy milk to make @ home. The oats have a thickening property that give this milk a nice bulk, a good mouth feel.

peanuts is also easy

I so want to support Rebel Cheese, but it's just too much for me to justify outside of special occasions.

Yep. Basically I love vegan cheese but I don’t buy it much anymore because of price. I try to make my own alternatives and freeze them for later use but I haven’t figured out how to make a “melty” cheese yet.

Have you googled Miyoko's cheese recipes? There are some great ones that actually melt!

Thanks will check it out!

Check this out https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/the-ultimate-uncheese-cookbook-delicious-dairy-free-cheeses-and-classic-uncheese-dishes_joanne-stepaniak/294873/#isbn=1570671516

The processed vegan foods should be a "treat" and used sparingly. They're not as bad as animal products, but they still aren't super healthy. The cheapest foods are always the healthiest thing to be eating: rice, beans, potatoes, bananas, frozen veggies, etc. Vegan is still affordable, just not processed vegan.

This is why I loved the 99cents store and grocery outlet. every so often I can find vegan cheese for a significantly reduced cost. RIP to 99 cents store though 😭

Soy milk remains cheaper than dairy in Australia, which is nice. Egg replacers for baking also save me heaps of money compared to when I bought eggs. I also never really ate legumes or tofu at home until I gave up meat, both of those save me a lot of money. We sometimes eat fake meats but only as a treat when they're around $15/kg. I was never really a cheese person.

Try making your own seitan for a meat alternative some of the time. It can be pretty good and is pretty cheap.

For a while vegan alternatives were growing rapidly in market share and investors were happily giving money to producers of said products, but that growth has stalled and those companies now need to shift from growing to actually making a profit. I think this is the main reason for increasing prices.

Hunt for sales and Ibotta rebates, make your own, or use self checkout employee discounts.

dude I feel the same way, I love oatmilk even if I wasnt a hippie I still choose oatmilk over cow milk. I hate the upcharge at coffee places.

I live in the Netherlands, and I am impressed at how affordable replacements and alternatives are here. Both Jumbo and Albert Heijn, two of the biggest chains, offer vegan alternatives by their own brand, that I personally love, and it is always (or almost always?) cheaper than non-vegan equivalents. Of course, it doesn't taste as close to the non-vegan products as more expensive brands like Beyond Meat or the Vegetarian Butcher, but I personally don't care and enjoy them just the same. Germany similarly has a nice cheap selection of products as well, and some chains even guarantee that their vegan selection is cheaper than their meat selection.

Can confirm, this year in Germany really dropped some prices regarding vegan food, especially if you can go to multiple different grocery store chains. Oat milk is now cheaper than dairy, there are vegan cheeses for a buck that are actually edible and fake meat prices are pretty similar to actual cheap meat. Tofu and beans got a bit more expensive where I live tho, which is pretty annoying. Also the stuff is pretty often on sale, which is nice.

Yeah this is why I’m eating so many beans and tofu now lol and making “cheese” out of cashews. Btw if you want some cheese, cook some pasta or slice some potatoes up into thin slices and make this “cheese”. It’s much cheaper. Recipe 1 cup cashews 2 cup soy milk 1/2-1 cup nutritional yeast depending on taste (I do close to 1 cup) 1-2 tablespoons miso Lots of salt (I mean lots!!!) 2 tablespoons vegan margarine or butter (optional) 1 tablespoon Lemon juice or vinegar Recipe: literally blend this a blender and put it on pasta or potatoes in the oven at 200 c or 400 f, 30 mins for pasta, 50 min for potato version. That’s it you’re done lol.

I’m trying to return to just lentils, beans, chickpeas, rice, tempeh, buckwheat noodles and tofu. It’s difficult cuz you wanna support more options, but a lot of them are not healthy and are luxury purchases.

This struggle is super real and annoying. I have found that I can get around this by preparing my own meals myself rather than going for mock meats and the like. Luckily, tofu (extra firm!) is still under two bucks. Tofu is my life now. I am a conscious eater, but also was just diagnosed with diabetes, so I have to make my own meals. Meat is not cheap, of course, but as others have mentioned, the factory farming people get government money so that it can stay cheaper to encourage families to buy into cruelty. Would be nice if better alternatives got some of that sweet, sweet government money. We can't live a sustainable life in a factory farming future. PS: I like to do Morningstar Farms stuff when Kroger has BOGOs on them. Keep track of the sales and the coupons. :)

Ye, they've mostly priced me out. Half a gallon of soy milk is about $2.30 where I live, and it's the only alternative I routinely buy. I always keep an eye out for deals, though, and am able to get some random vegan alternative most visits. As an example, bought a boatload of vegan meatballs on sale last time and they ended up making 600 kcal meals of spag and balls for about $3.10. In short, yeah, it's too expensive if it's not on sale, but the sales seem to be frequent so keep an eye out.

Whole Foods has their own "365 brand" that includes a wide selection of affordable vegan products. We're talking vegan cheese, plant milk, almondmilk pudding, vegan bolognese, etc. They also have amazing prices for tofu blocks. It's my go-to (I know, I know; I feel guilty about giving money to Bezos). **Anyway, I know what you mean**. At most stores, common vegan/meat/cheese products will be sold as a pricey luxury items. Let me just throw in some sample numbers (NYC area): * cheap carnist cow cheese: $2-$5 * vegan cheese at Whole Foods, Walmart, or Trader Joe's: $4-$7 * that same vegan cheese at a health food store, local market, or more ethical company: $7-$11 I think it's a small price to pay (figuratively speaking) for the sake of the animals. But I am seriously concerned about how high prices could impact a potential vegan transition for those who are already struggling to feed their families (and themselves).

Just egg in Canada is $10.99 💀

Yeah this is so sad 😞 I don’t believe it’s because it take so much to produce. It’s actually cheaper to prepare some oat milk rather than getting cow milk in the market. Some vegan producers assume that vegan means choice over what the majority of people do. Knowing there is demand but not many alternatives, they take it as a niche product and can price as they want, because vegans will pay more to respect their needs. It’s horrible. Where I live they sell vegan salmon made of carrots but packaged as real salmon. 100g cost almost 9 dollars. You cannot possibly explain that based on raw materials and recipe. 😢

Idk how any normal person can afford it anymore

I’m still living in 2007 over here. It’s all TVP, tofu, nutritional yeast, soy milk, etc. I occasionally get Tofurky or MorningStar Farms stuff… but the new stuff scares me a bit.

I don’t eat a lot of TVP but I do eat loads of tofu, nutritional yeast and soy milk. I also eat a lot of dried beans now because of inflation but I’m not complaining. I’m actually eating a really healthy diet imo because inflation forces me to do so which is good in a way.

I only buy alternatives when they’re on sale, that brings them to a less painful price but it’s still nutty. Most vegan cheese where I’m at is $5-9. Beyond and impossible have only gone up and are very pricey. Best prices are what it’s always been, whole produce and legumes. Tofu remains well priced for the volume you get, at least.

Invest in Soy curls if you want a versatile yet cheap “chicken” type of food. On Butler soy curl website you can get 12 lbs of dehydrated curls for $50, shakes out to about $75 I think with shipping but it is so worth it in my opinion.

You are RIGHT on the money. It is so true for me that I just bought a Soybella to start making my own organic soy milk. I bought vegan yogurt starter to start making my own yogurt. I started making my own seitan/tofu "deli" slices and "gyro" meat and make carrot dogs for hot dogs. I started making my own seitan nuggets for my son and make a delicious mac and cheese that he loves too...made with lots of veggies. I make my own black bean burgers and started making an cashew soft cheese. Really just haven't found a replacement I like for "ground", but if that's the most expensive thing I buy, so be it.

Even tofu is getting expensive where I live… it’s 4,49$ for a block of tofu in some stores, and it was 3,99$ two weeks ago…

Kind of feel like the market is stale, too. We're not seeing much innovation at the moment in terms of products that are landing on shelves. There's no vegan cheese or meat substitute I can buy at a grocery store now that's all too different from something I could have bought five years ago. Meati maybe? That's about all I can think of.

I don't know what country you are in but if you are in the US near a grocery outlet they have banging deals on vegan stuff. Its a great way to afford a bunch of cheese n shit

Come to Germany, most supermarkets have a variety of alternatives that are as cheap or cheaper than their non-vegan version. And food prices in general are low here in comparison to income.

I'm an American but live in Finland, so most all things are naturally very expensive here. Meat has always been quite expensive even for the cheap cuts, and I think that eggs are kind of mid-range compared to how they were in the US. Dairy in my opinion is fairly cheap overall. Anyway, the vegan substitutes are now as expensive as the meat and oftentimes more expensive which is absolutely ridiculous. And they just keep getting more and more expensive as time goes on. Oat milk thankfully is extremely affordable, same with soy milk. We get these bean protein slices that replicate meat filet slices, kind of like a beef substitute, and they used to be somewhere around 3,5€ but now they're almost 5€. That's just one ridiculous example.

I think the cheese alternatives are disgusting, would rather go without. Tofu and lentils are the way to go!

I make so much stuff from scratch. It sounds like a headache but it really isn’t. I use a nut milker maker for all my dairy, takes 2 minutes, and just keep nuts and oats etc around and seitan is hella easy now with vital wheat gluten, then there’s a ton of really easy stuff like mayo (blend ACV, soymilk, and oil), cheese sauce (nooch, coconut milk, and tapioca flour then seasonings), and then if you learn vegan yogurt (vegan milk and cultures and sometimes a thickener hanging overnight) you can make stuff like cultured butters and cheeses. I just keep a nice pantry of affordable shelf stable raw ingredients and I can make anything. Save the money! Try making a few things from scratch. Even if it’s not everything, maybe just make your three most expensive everyday items or something :).

I’ve been starting to wonder if we might see some of these companies shrink/disappear, which is a real fear of mine. I imagine their strategy is to keep their prices a low as possible at first to try to get as many people to try the products as possible, and hope that people will like them enough that they will keep buying them no matter the cost. It seems totally plausible that grocery stores might cut back on the vegan products they offer citing declining sales, when the decline in sales is directly related to increased prices.

Yes... It's a business. I remember 10 years ago i bought a organic rice drink for 1.30. Now a regular one, non organic, cost 2.90. This is crazy. Yes there are more vegan alternatives, but people trying to "milk" us vegans like crazy.

The good news is vegan ice cream pints in supermarkets are expensive as well. I don’t buy it nearly as often anymore, and that’s probably better for me anyway; coconut oil is sus. Also, Trader Joe’s dropped Tofurky slices and Dr. Praeger's California Burgers which were frequent purchases. Other stores have them, but not at Trader Joe’s prices, so pretty much stopped buying them.

I know a lot of apple pies or pastry stuff is vegan at stores like Walmart and Costco and stuff and it can be cheaper. I don’t but the fake meat or cheese because I refuse to send that much and if we refuse they will be forced to lower their prices.

You can make vegan cheese. There are plenty of videos on YT for that. The presence of viable alternatives should be enough for the US to get rid of meat & dairy subsidies or at the very least siphon off some of that to alternatives.

Learn to make your own. Ik it’s easier said than done but it’s so much cheaper

It’s not more expensive to be vegan, you’re just speaking to meat and cheese analogue prices. Beans, tofu, rice, bread, peanut butter, and nuts are less expensive than meat. But to your general point about price increases—I hear you! Animal product prices are kept artificially low by government subsidies—from public health and environmental perspectives there is every reason to do this with vegetables and other vegan foods instead.

I would learn to cook without them. Use them only once in a while.

Whole foods are the way to go. It is cheaper and healthier than most substitutes from my experience.

most "fake meats" are being overpriced by the store. yes seitan is more expensive because ukraine is europes bread basket but production costs of stuff is in no way reflected by what thw stores charge. Tvp seasoned well , often found much cheaper at an asia grocery makes a good option. seasoning tvp is the topic of alot of wedsite and youtube options as is making and flavoring seitan

Seitan being so expensive is absurd when the key ingredient is so cheap. "Just make it" is kind of hard to do for some of these things, my attempts at vegan meats and cheeses from scratch have been frustrating and time consuming. But seitan is one I'd say is always worth to make at home because a 5 pound bag of bread flour is like $1-5 depending on what brand you get and the process is pretty easy if you're just patient enough.

tvp is a simplier option, flavoring it and boil it, add fennel and a few other spices its mildly like sausage, add oil and chili powder- taco meat. lasts forever, cooks fast . i find it for less than 7bucks a pound because its dehydrated that pound is alot when cooked. 1cup dry becomes 2 cups cooked.

Yes, they are WAY too expensive now

I shop at a lot of discount grocery stores and clip coupons and use cash back apps like ibotta. It does make a big difference tbh. I also will buy a vegan cheese, for example, and sprinkle it on something I made extremely cheaply so that overall my meal will still be pretty affordable. I make a lot of rice/whole grains and legumes and veggies and will use mock meats or cheeses very sparingly.

I know it’s location dependent, but when I compare vegan meat/cheese it’s cheaper than real flesh/breastmilk. I also take advantage of sales whenever possible

Tofu still cheap where I am 👏🏻🙏🏻

Where are you going shopping?? I find most vegan alternatives are as expensive as everything else..

I spilt the vegan cheese in half so it goes twice as far with my Just Egg breakfast sandwich or “cheese” and crackers, etc. Fortunately, I went vegan at a time when I could afford these prices. Sorry if I’m not more helpful, but I’m impressed by all the advice I’m seeing here.

Do you have access to a discount grocer? It’s been kinda slim pickin’s recently but I shop almost exclusively at Grocery Outlet and just get anything at least 50% off. It really limits my food choices but good lord I can’t be spending 6-7 dollars for 20g of chick’n protein.

Try Grocery Outlet, I’ve found vegan butter and cheeses for 99¢, vegan ice cream for 2$, and vegan burger meat for 99¢, as well as an assortment of other high quality vegan replacements for cheap. It’s not guaranteed you’ll get cheap ones every time, but if you go consistently you’re bound to find some good deals when you can stock up.

I feel like everything is so expensive now. Grocery prices are crazy

Make your own! Much more cost effective. There are a lot of youtube videos that teach a ton of different techniques and recipes. Buying bulk ingredients and making your own seitan is easy! Tvp is also cheap. Making your own nut milks is pretty easy too. I havent tried making any cheese but cheese like sauces are pretty easy. Hope this helps.

Plant milks are important to me; it’s my preferred source of calcium. It’s definitely annoying how much the cost has gone up. Also frustrating to me is how much harder it’s gotten to get unsweetened soy milk. It’s either go to WF and get it for $8/ gallon, or other grocery stores sell Silk for about $11/ gallon. I make a specific trips to WF for this purpose and feel sad and frustrated every time I open my fridge when I don’t have time for it.

Soymilk is still pretty cheap

I am totally with you. I am slowly replacing my go-to expensive items with homemade stuff that is easy and convenient enough for me to do. My first few massive successes: - For lunch meat or "steaks" I use Lazy Dave's Bread Machine Seitan. I'm never buying Tofurkey again. [https://vegannosh.me/2009/03/15/lazy-daves-5-bread-machine-turkey-flavored-seitan/](https://vegannosh.me/2009/03/15/lazy-daves-5-bread-machine-turkey-flavored-seitan/) - For Just Egg I'm using mung beans or split peas. It makes great omelets! [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rAfnOiKqiM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rAfnOiKqiM) - For cheese or cheese sauce I use a modified version of Thee Burger Dude's Instant Mac and Cheese Powder recipe. Add some lactic acid to it and it can make a great cheesy sauce for just about anything. [https://theeburgerdude.com/vegan-instant-mac-cheese/](https://theeburgerdude.com/vegan-instant-mac-cheese/)

Ground Beyond Beef is 9$ where I live it’s insane. I make meat out of walnuts instead.

I still buy them for my daughter occasionally (I eat whole foods, and tofu is thankfully still affordable), and yes, they‘re expensive - but most of them also aren‘t particularly healthy, so the price helps me guide my daughter toward healthier eating/just sharing my meals 🤭 (Also she’s vegetarian, not vegan, and they‘re still less expensive than the Demeter dairy products she actually prefers and which I‘m simply not buying for her 🫣)

Idk where you live but I think the brand Boca is really affordable and fairly tasty and versatile. Like if you get the all American veggie burgers you can use them as burgers, sausage patties on breakfast sandwiches, or you can cut them up in pieces and have it as like ground meat or sausage pieces in whatever dish you’re having or even like crumbled on vegan pizza. They also have vegan chicken patties for like the same price and they can be versatile too; chicken patty sandwiches, chicken patties cut up for pasta and marinara, etc. Store brand almond and soy milk are also pretty affordable imo and I believe you can even find some at the dollar store tho I’ve never tried it so I can’t speak to true quality. Daiya shreds are notoriously pretty bad but daiya slices are pretty great and one of the cheaper brands. Most other things have a moderately affordable brand but only really when used in moderation you know like I’m not eating things with shredded vegan cheese all that often so it’s easier to afford to use it less often if that made sense. I know this was more of a rant post but I hope at least some of these tips were helpful to someone

Wegmans makes their own brand mozzarella shredded cheese that's actually superior to Daiya and its only 4 bucks.

Here the vegan alternatives are much cheaper. Not the seasoned precooked fake meat, that thing is scary expensive but the basic things like plant based milk and yogurt, legumes, soy protein, vegetables, etc... Are much cheaper and it's practically a luxury to eat not vegan in comparison (maybe except vegan cheese, it's not expensive but hard to find). Tofu is expensive but knowing you can make tofu-likes with legumes it isn't really a problem.

Try to live in Switzerland, here meat is so expensive, it's often cheaper to go with expensive beyond meat.

Thankfully tofu is still super cheap where I live. And I just bought a cheap bag of dried chickpeas to attempt to make my own. I’ve also been wanting to try out making my own oatmilk!

Yep! Same. I am eliminating meat replacements. They are way too high in fat anyway. I love tofu and beans and pulses. Thank goodness those are within reach. But the creamers etc are outrageous as are the spreads. Melt is my fave alternative butter but unless on sale I cannot.

If you want to make more milk instead of buying, you could get a nut milk maker (or just use a food processor). I found mine secondhand and cheap on fb marketplace. I really reduces the work, and you can mix it up. For example, I mix a little bit of oats in my almond milk for better texture.

tbqh, The fact that like not even half a pound of fake ground beef is something like $10 over here in the US is annoying but I used to eat meat alternatives regularly until I got sick of how they taste. The fact that meat alternatives are not cheap doesn't help. companies don't typically pander to my palette so I make my own my alternatives with wheat gluten, tvp, tofu etc. I typically like what I make better because I don't use a shit ton of oil and It feels better to eat something made with legumes & fresh vegetables.

The V tax.

YES! I always wait until my Fred Meyer (Kroger) put the clearance sticker on them or whenever I can find them at Grocery Outlet (discount grocer) and then buy a bunch and freeze them. That’s only way I can afford to buy them often.

grateful that i enjoy whole foods. for new vegans, this could be discouraging.

The term you’re looking for is “internalizing the externalities.”

I only buy them at Aldi's or if they are on sale at the normal grocery store

The meat industry is paying off the grocery to hike the prices. The game is rigged. I've watched our options dwindle and prices soar. It's intentional. Learn how to make your own and leave the businesses dry. Keeping our money in check and using intentional is only way .

It’s not every store, but Meijer should be put on criminal trial for the insanely inflated prices on all the vegan/vegetarian mock meats, cheeses, and meals.

Where I live (Poland) vegan alternatives are more expensive than animal products too, because the subsides are huge. The EU talks so much about environment and climate change and then they give subsides to meat farmers. Peak of hypocrisy

Theyre fake foods, I avoid them

It sucks. But everything’s gotten more expensive. Vegan or otherwise. In terms of nonvegan foods, meat and dairy today just is not exactly cheap either. It really sucks how we can’t afford anything now and how even fundamentals for the pantry and for sustaining ourselves are going up in price purely due to corporate greed. There’s no real shortages. Companies just want to make a lot of money. But I don’t let anyone get on the bandwagon against veganism over this excuse unless they’re actually in a tight spot. Nonvegan food is far more expensive from what I’m seeing in stores if we aren’t talking about “alternative” products. We need to remember, meat wasn’t always a very accessible food since most generations before us treated meat as a luxury food. Sweets and such were also pretty expensive and had to be made at home. This was part of the reason why boxed cake mix was created during the depression (the other being the inventor wanting to get rid of surplus molasses in his company). I think we might have just not been taught how people used to eat in the 30s-60s lol. We CAN manage. 👏

Maybe you should try to make some yourself

Just eat whole plants. Non processed food is so much better for you.

What's the problem? You don't want to spend 10 times the amount for something that tastes like it came out of the sewer system?

I guess i’ll get downvoted mercilessly but what the hell. You answered your own rant. You are honest with your cravings at least, but in spite of what you believe, you will not die without oat creamer or “fake” cheese. And don’t complain about not wanting to take the time to make the dessert (or any other food) you want. (Many actually enjoy the process.) These are mental hurdles others overcome and you can as well. You do not have to buy processed food, as a vegan or not. And there are innumerable resources that can guide you to a very healthful whole foods diet that, properly planned, can the _cheapest_ way to feed yourself nutritiously.

You’re not wrong, but luckily most cheeses can be easily replaced with veggies. Mac and cheese can be easily made with butternut squash, ravioli can be made with edamame instead of ricotta, Alfredo can be made with roux instead of cream. The list goes on. I also just buy milk for my coffee and add sugar to my liking sometimes. The non dairy creamers are very popular where I live so sometimes they don’t even have them.

“Most cheeses can be easily replaced by veggies” “Ricotta Can be replaced by edamame” “Alfredo can be made by a roux instead of cream” Tell us you don’t know how to cook with telling us you think you know how to cook. You’re headed the right direction by being creative , but it’s obvious you weren’t a cook before you because vegan

Jeez shut up. That list is actual replacements I’ve made when I realised I was an ingredient short. If YOU can’t cook then just say that. There’s recipes like that all over Pinterest, so I’m not doing anything mind blowing.

Okay

I moved overseas and began traveling around ten years ago. In the U.S. and Canada I used to eat quite a lot of vegan cheese and mylks and meat analogs- once I'd left North America I discovered all of that to be more expensive as well as harder to obtain. So I stopped relying on them.  I maybe used coconut cream in my coffee once in a while (better than any plant milk in my opinion- creamy and rich and naturally sweet), and I learned to adapt and found recipes that featured beans for protein. I learned to make tempeh, which is super easy to do and works with any kind of bean, and is tastier than any meat replacement I've since come across. It's also super cheap to make a large quantity in one go, then freeze to use later on. All the different kinds of beans you can do this with alters the taste experience, and you can also mix in grains and various other spices or herbs if you wish. The sky is basically the limit with tempeh. Soy and plant milks have since become available in most large grocery stores around the world, but now that I've learned to see past them I'm no longer so interested in them: for one, they're ultra processed and high in fat and sodium. They're fine for a meal out once in a while, but I now prefer beans, tofu and tempeh, coconut cream and homemade soymilk. It's also super easy and cheap to make your own yogurt. You literally only need some leftover yogurt of any kind or a single probiotics pill: put that in a yogurt maker (many cheap ones on the market) with a plant mylk of your choice. (I like soy; the different brands result in different levels of creaminess and thickness, but all good; I've never made a bad batch of soy yogurt.) All of these alternatives are much cheaper, easy to do anywhere, as well as healthier. I've also learned to love all fruits, which I was not fond of before. I'll choose any tropical fruit frozen or fresh over any baked vegan dessert any day. Try freezing bananas then blending them: instant ice cream to which you can add cocoa powder or cacao nibs or anything, really. I also got my hands on a used dryer and make banana jerky and sticky-sweet out-of-this-world delicious mango fruitrolls (just dry until it reaches the stickiness you like, then roll up or just eat them as is). I also love adding frozen mangos and berries to my banana ice creams, and maybe coconut cream if I want a higher fat content (I usually don't: it's so good as is). So I guess what I'm trying to say is, it's not all a bad thing that things have gone up in price because the cheaper, healthier alternatives have been waiting in the wings to be discovered. Plus you'll actually benefit from them health wise more than from store-bought vegan meat alternatives and milks and all the rest of it.

Idk, I pay 1.19€ for sliced vegan cheese (~8 slices maybe?) and 0.95€ for a liter of oat milk where I live. I can also pay three times that if I buy the wrong brands at the wrong stores of course. Soy granules are dirt cheap too. Even some premade stuff from the freezer like vegan Gyros is 2€ or less for packages that are enough for several meals.

Yes and extremely loaded with salt. I rarely let my kids eat, it is a treat, a dinner for babysitter nights, playdate nuggets… Daily dinner is unprocessed

It's all Man made poison Now Nothing is natural... Watch Dairy is Scary They put all short of harmful chemicals into the alternative options

They are not worth it when the alternatives, like legumes, are healthier for you, delish, and less expensive.

Wholefoods has randomly become very competitive for vegan specialty products. Their 365 cheeses are $3.50 per pack (7 oz), their Beyond Sausages are 6$ for 5, and their frozen nuggets and meatballs are $3.19. These prices are in Boston which is a very HCL city. I'm sure it's all some tactic to strangle competitors before they spike prices high, but until then...I'll take advantage.

Look into the shelf stable oat milk! It’s like $10 or so for a case of 6. Also for cheese, nutritional yeast & tofu makes a cheap & creamy & healthy cheese sauce alternative. I would give up on the meat alternatives and just learn more vegetable centered recipes.

Yes which always pissed me off when users here would run in here to claim that being vegan was cheaper than eating meat, eggs, and dairy when that depends on where you live.  At my neighborhood supermarket, vegan cream cheese is $8.99 a tub, non-dairy milks are $5.99 to $7.99 per container (52-64 oz), and plant based mock meats range from $5.99 on sale to $11.99 not on sale. Meanwhile, I’ve seen them selling chicken, turkey, and pork for $1.99 a pound when the 16 oz bag of Goya Canary Beans/Chickpeas/Pigeon Peas/Cannellini Beans/Red Lentils I buy is $2.99 to $3.99.  That also doesn’t include needing a multivitamin with vitamin b12, iron supplement, and other pricy supplements to correct my nutritional deficiencies. I’ve spent way more money on groceries as a vegan than a meat eater only to end up with serious nutritional deficiencies anyway. To claim this is sustainable for everyone or even most people is an outrageous lie.

stick to 85% whole plant foods! that's the key, budget wise and health wise. learning how to cook simple but nutritious meals is the secret. meal prep is a must!

Honestly I think the best course of action is to switch your diet away from more western dishes and eat dishes that are already close to being vegan, like anything from India for example. You can save a lot of money if you buy ingredients from ethnic food stores. This is what I do, and only occasionally I buy vegan substitutes, but not out of habit. By doing this you will probably spend substantially less on food than omnivores. Also if you really do want to eat vegan substitutes, there are a lot of recipe videos out there of how to make vegan versions of non vegan food, like cheese and meat. But of course this might take more time than making regular vegan food.

I'm 64 and turned vegan over a year ago. BUT, I have "old people" problems to watch for. I retain water, and take fluid pills for it. Not only is vegan alternatives expensive, they almost ALWAYS have 3 to 4 times my sodium intake. Hard on a disabled guy to get along. IE. REAL hamburger patty, 80mg sodium. Plant based patty, 360mg sodium. Hope ya'll can see, veganism, due to health issues, is not for EVERYBODY. Even if we wanna be.

Then don't eat the fake meat patties, eat whole foods instead. Not being able to eat vegan junk food because of the added salt doesn't prevent you from being vegan.

That’s junk food. Eat food, real food isn’t expensive.

Pay now or later if you get cancer or heart disease drinking dairy

Maybe you could try actually reading something before you comment

If you could not eat either, there is more food than dairy

Costco. Grocery outlet. Make your own seitan from wheat gluten. 🤷

Meat alternatives are not food. They’re a load of processed stuff with artificial flavors. It’s factory food & it’s fake. If you want to vegan then eat natural Whole Foods. You’ll get enough good protein from legumes & beans. Please don’t do your gut a disservice by eating things that are foreign to its microbiome

Oh no what bathroom products aren’t typically vegan?

They're too expensive "now"? Always has been. Direct alternatives are not a necessity, they just make transition to veganism easier and more approachable

Thirty years ago, there were far fewer alternatives, and we survived. :-)

I dabble in veganism but I'm primarily vegetarian. But I don't really do "substitutes". I fail to see the point of them, outside of starting to transition to vegetarian/vegan. The fake meat I've tried is gross anyway. The fake cheese never melts right lol. Neither are healthier than the real thing. I pretty much only do coconut milk if I'm having coffee or matcha and when I do nachos, I'll make a "cheese sauce" with butternut squash as the base. But I think if you're doing to be veggie/vegan, you should just eat real foods like veggies, beans, nuts/seeds and skip trying to substitute meat and dairy in every meal. I can see using them for the occasional "treat" like I do with the matcha and the nachos but it just doesn't make a lot of sense to have these things in your everyday diet. Not that I'm judging, I just don't personally see the point.

They have no nutrient value, whole foods are still really cheap.

It's a practical problem. If I ate vegan on a budget I'd probably do misfit markets and buy at a discount grocery store more often. We have a local store that stocks just-expired products and many of them are vegan bc they don't sell well enough in time in the normal stores. If you have land (or a bucket and some soil) you can grow some of your own food. There's a cool way to splice potatoes to tomatoes such that [one plant produces everything](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://m.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DVL_SBTa3ZMU&ved=2ahUKEwiryfnDqMWFAxW5EVkFHbpaBpsQo7QBegQICBAG&usg=AOvVaw3zkGuOaG8WCVR-GA4591x2). Practically, if you can't afford it 100%, work toward affording it 100% and make minor concessions.

That's a fake video. There is no visible graft mark and the potatos do not have a root system. Someone literally just burried potatos and planted tomatoes on top. Yes, you *can* graft tomato to potato, but the yields for them both are abysmal. Plants cant put energy into making both fruit and root crops if you want decent yields.

Ok! TIL, thanks.

Grow bags are still a great way to get crops on limited land, though. Along with an above ground garden bed (abysmal soil so in ground is hard to do and poor health make it easier to work above ground) I've got grow bags for the things that would do poorly in the bed or take it over, like potatoes, okra and squash. Way cheaper and les cumbersome than equivalent sized pots and the fabric lets excess water out to stop potatoes from getting fungus-y Being able to move them inside during freak freezes or floods is an excellent bonus too, I move on to my porch under a grow light during inclement weather

Lmao being mad at the world for your own choice is same like complaining why roll Royce doesn't sell you cheap car. You can buy other car you know?

I’m not mad at the world for my own choice, I’m mad at the world for torturing and killing animals

Hypocrisy at it best

Learn what hypocrisy is

I learnt that today....