Vegan Pantry Essentials on a Budget (Affordable Plant-Based Staples)
Building a vegan pantry can feel overwhelming at first, but it comes down to a handful of powerhouse ingredients. Master these and you'll never be stuck at dinner time.
The Rich Base Every Vegan Kitchen Needs
Vegan Butter
I often reach for Smart Balance for plant-based butter as it’s widely available and usually sits in the mid-tier price range for vegan butter, making it a solid everyday option. You can also get Earth Balance, but that one’s more expensive.
Plant-based butter brings real richness and mouthfeel that neutral oils often lack, since it carries flavor, browns food beautifully, and makes pasta sauces and baked goods feel more complete.
The Dairy-Free Workhorse
Oat Milk
Oat milk is one of the most versatile vegan milk options. It has a naturally mild, slightly sweet flavor and a creamy texture that works in both savory and sweet recipes.
Use it in: Coffee, pancake batter, smoothies, and desserts.
Pro tip: Choose unsweetened oat milk for cooking to avoid accidental sweetness in savory dishes. For extra richness in coffee, look for “barista” versions with higher fat content.
The vegan umami bomb
Nutritional Yeast
Nutritional yeast is a deactivated yeast with a naturally cheesy, nutty, savory flavor. It’s rich in B vitamins (often fortified with B12) and adds umami depth to plant-based dishes without dairy.
Use it in: Vegan cheese sauces, popcorn, pasta, scrambled tofu, and on top of chili.
Recipes using this
The secret to creamy everything
Cashews
Raw cashews, when blended, produce one of the most convincing dairy substitutes in vegan cooking. They have a neutral flavour and smooth texture that forms the base of vegan cheeses, cream sauces, and desserts.
Creamy richness without dairy
Coconut Milk
Full-fat canned coconut milk is a game changer for vegan cooking. It provides the rich, creamy body that dairy cream would in traditional cooking. I often use it in curries and desserts.
Liquid gold for sauces & dressings
All Purpose Flour
All-purpose flour is the backbone of vegan baking. Its balanced protein content provides structure for breads, pancakes, cookies, and doughs.
The base of a hundred meals
Crushed Tomatoes
I recommend Tuttorosso canned tomatoes and you can get them crushed, diced, or whole peeled. They’re cheaper and the same flavor as real Italian brands, but at a fraction of the cost (and are easier to find in American grocery stores). Tuttorosso means “all red”. For chili, pasta sauce, etc, I use Tuttorosso. Sometimes, you can find tuttorosso in a pack of 6, and they’re usually around $1 a can!
Hearty foundations that keep you full
Pasta
Pasta is great on a weeknight for a low effort meal. We often have pasta once a week because of how quick it is to make and it’s easy to make a larger portion to set aside some for meal prep later in the week and have the base for fast weeknight meals all week long.
The Savory Flavor Base
Vegetable Bouillon
Vegetable bouillon is a concentrated seasoning made from dried vegetables, herbs, and salt. It dissolves quickly into water to create broth and adds instant umami to soups, grains, and sauces. I often reach for the Better than Bouillon vegetable base bouillon. You can also get Knorr Vegetable bouillon cubes as well.
Use it in: Soups, stews, rice, quinoa, lentils, sauces, and sautéed vegetables.
Recipes using this
A Nutrition-Packed Superfood for Cooking
Spinach
Spinach is an easy way to add fiber, iron, and volume without adding heaviness in vegan recipes. It cooks down quickly, blends smoothly into sauces, and works raw or sautéed.
Use it in: Pasta, soups, curries, smoothies, and tofu stir fries.
Pro tip: Stir fresh spinach directly into hot pasta or soups at the end of cooking. The residual heat wilts it perfectly without overcooking.
Liquid gold for sauces & dressings
Tahini
Made from ground sesame seeds, tahini is one of the most versatile ingredients in the vegan kitchen. It's rich in healthy fats, calcium, and iron, with a slightly bitter, nutty flavour that plays well with both sweet and savoury dishes. I often use Lebanon Valley’s tahini, but any tahini is fine.
Use it in: Hummus, desserts, salad dressing, and noodle sauces.
Salt with complexity
Soy Sauce
Soy sauce adds saltiness plus umami, fermented depth, and colour to dishes. Tamari is the gluten-free alternative, with a slightly richer, less sharp flavour. Both are essential for Asian-inspired dishes and work brilliantly as a general seasoning tool. I often reach for Kikkoman (regular salt content), and that works really well to add depth of flavor to Asian-inspired dishes.
Use it in: Stir-fries, marinades, fried rice, noodles, dipping sauces, and soups.
The High-Protein Vegan Staple
Tofu
Tofu is one of the most versatile and affordable plant-based proteins. It absorbs marinades well, crisps in the air fryer, and works in both savory and sweet recipes. I use firm tofu for almost all my recipes on cheapquickvegan since I don’t usually feel like spending extra time pressing the tofu.
Use it in: Stir-fries, curries, tacos, scrambles, sandwiches, and baked dishes.
Instant protein, zero effort
Frozen Peas
Frozen peas are an affordable, nutrient-dense staple that add plant protein, fiber, and natural sweetness to meals. They cook in minutes, require no chopping, and keep for months in the freezer.
Use it in: Pasta, fried rice, and curries.
Pro tip: Stir frozen peas directly into hot dishes during the last 2–3 minutes of cooking. They thaw quickly and stay bright green with a little bite to them over being mushy.
Your vegan pantry
Keep them on hand. Make anything.
These ingredients are the foundation of almost every vegan recipe on this site. Get them in your kitchen and you'll always have something great to cook.