A vegan diet typically costs less than an omnivorous diet, not more. Research from Oxford University found that vegan diets in high-income countries reduced food costs by 21 to 34 percent compared to standard diets. How much you actually spend depends on whether you’re building meals around whole foods like beans and rice or filling your cart with plant-based meat substitutes and specialty products.
Average Weekly Cost for One Person
A large European study published in PMC compared weekly food spending across different dietary patterns. Omnivores spent the most at roughly €76 per week on groceries, while vegans spent the least at about €48 per week. That’s a 37 percent difference. Vegetarians and flexitarians fell in between, spending around €59 and €69 per week respectively.
In U.S. dollars, a practical whole-food vegan meal plan for one person can run about $63 per week, or roughly $9 per day. That figure comes from a detailed budget plan built around staples like oats, rice, beans, potatoes, frozen vegetables, and seasonal produce. If you’re willing to cook most meals at home and keep processed specialty items to a minimum, that range is realistic. Spending can climb to $80 or $100 per week if you regularly buy organic produce, plant-based cheeses, and meat alternatives.
Where Vegans Save Money
The biggest savings come from protein. Dried beans cost about $1.70 per pound in the U.S., according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data from early 2026. Ground beef costs $6.74 per pound, and boneless chicken breast runs $4.14 per pound. That means the cheapest vegan protein staple is roughly 75 percent less expensive than ground beef and 60 percent less than chicken. Lentils, split peas, and chickpeas fall in a similar range to dried beans and cook in under 30 minutes without soaking.
Tofu, another vegan staple, typically sells for $2 to $3 per pound at most grocery stores and packs around 40 grams of protein per block. A single block can anchor two or three meals. Rice, pasta, oats, and potatoes round out the base of a budget vegan kitchen, all costing well under $2 per pound.
Where Vegans Spend More
Plant-based milk is consistently more expensive than dairy. Regular cow’s milk averages about $0.03 per ounce, while almond milk runs around $0.05 per ounce and oat milk costs roughly $0.077 per ounce, according to Purdue University pricing data. Translated to gallons, that’s roughly $3.84 for dairy milk, $6.40 for almond milk, and $9.86 for oat milk. If you go through a couple of cartons a week, that adds $3 to $8 to your weekly bill compared to buying cow’s milk.
Plant-based meat substitutes carry an even steeper premium. Products like veggie burgers, plant-based sausages, and vegan deli slices cost 24 to 115 percent more than their conventional meat counterparts in most markets. A pack of plant-based burger patties can easily run $6 to $9 for four patties, while a pound of ground beef makes the same number of patties for less. These products are convenient, but they’re the single fastest way to push a vegan grocery bill above what an omnivore would spend.
What Drives Your Weekly Total Up or Down
The gap between a $50 vegan week and a $100 vegan week comes down to a few key choices.
- Cooking from scratch vs. buying convenience items. A can of chickpeas costs about $1. A bag of frozen plant-based chicken nuggets costs $6 to $8. Both provide a meal, but one stretches your budget much further.
- Buying in bulk. Dried beans, rice, oats, lentils, and nuts are all significantly cheaper per serving when bought in bulk bins or large bags. A 10-pound bag of rice can last a month and costs around $8 to $12.
- Seasonal and frozen produce. Fresh berries in January cost three times what frozen berries cost year-round, with nearly identical nutrition. Frozen vegetables like broccoli, spinach, and mixed stir-fry blends typically run $1 to $2 per bag.
- Store brand vs. specialty brand. Generic canned beans, store-brand plant milk, and basic tofu cost significantly less than organic or branded equivalents.
A Realistic Weekly Grocery List
Here’s what a budget-conscious vegan week looks like for one person, built around whole foods:
- Grains and starches: Rice, oats, bread, pasta, potatoes ($8 to $12)
- Protein: Dried or canned beans, lentils, tofu, peanut butter ($7 to $10)
- Vegetables: A mix of fresh (onions, carrots, cabbage, bananas) and frozen (broccoli, spinach, stir-fry mix) ($10 to $15)
- Fruit: Bananas, apples, frozen berries ($4 to $7)
- Fats and flavor: Cooking oil, soy sauce, spices, garlic ($3 to $5, amortized over several weeks)
- Extras: Plant milk, nutritional yeast, a snack or two ($5 to $10)
That puts the total between $37 and $59 for a week of home-cooked meals. Adding one or two plant-based convenience products (a pack of veggie burgers, a tub of vegan yogurt) bumps it closer to $65 to $75.
How Location Affects Price
Grocery prices vary significantly by region. The BLS data shows even modest differences between the U.S. national average and Midwest prices for the same items. In cities with higher costs of living like New York, San Francisco, or Boston, expect your weekly total to run 15 to 30 percent higher than national averages. Rural areas with limited grocery options can also be pricier for specialty items like tofu or plant milk, though staples like beans and rice remain cheap almost everywhere.
Access to stores like Aldi, Lidl, Trader Joe’s, or international/ethnic grocery stores makes a noticeable difference. Asian and Latin American markets often sell tofu, rice, dried beans, and produce at lower prices than conventional supermarkets. If you have one nearby, it’s worth checking for staples.