After finally figuring out how to cook tofu and actually have it taste good (see my Sesame Tofu with Broccoli), I couldn’t wait to make more. I used the same easy pan fry method,...
Vegan Recipes
With over 150 delicious budget-friendly vegan recipes, you’re sure to find something to enjoy for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. We specialize in recipes that are enjoyed by all, no matter your eating style, so whether you follow a plant based diet or are just looking to work a few more vegetables into your diet, you’re sure to find something you love. From vegan dinners, to breakfast, lunch, meal prep, and snacks, we have a little something for everyone! (pictured: Vegan Creamy Mushroom Ramen)
I had a huge triumph today. I finally successfully made tofu. I’ve tried cooking with tofu in the past and could never really get it to be the right flavor or texture. When I cooked...
I prefer one-dish meals over the traditional “main and two sides” structure these days because I like to save time and effort. BUT sometimes you just really need a side dish, and when I...
I’m experimenting with a new grain this week, farro, and the first thing I wanted to make was a salad. Farro is a delightful chewy grain with a neutral flavor that will make any...
Grains are extremely versatile. They provide a blank slate upon which you can build any meal, savory or sweet. This week I decided to experiment with a new grain, farro. Farro is becoming more...
Hooray for easy soups! This is the type of recipe that saves the day. Very few ingredients, fast, and really delicious. Not to mention the fact that it’s super healthy, just happens to be...
This recipe was originally designed to be a balsamic vegetable kebab, served over seasoned rice, but at the last minute I thought, “Why bother with skewers?” Sure, they look pretty and making food look...
I had an “Ah-ha!” moment last week that I just had to share with you. I always thought frozen broccoli wouldn’t work well for roasting because it’s just too wet (it is blanched in...
So, I actually made this Hot and Sour Soup last week, but got so busy with Thanksgiving madness that I didn’t have a chance to post it until today. But that’s okay, I figure...
Let’s talk about greens for a minute. Hearty greens, like mustard greens, collard greens, turnip greens, and sure, kale too. These are some of the few vegetables that actually benefit from what would normally...
I’m a firm believer that side dishes should be kept simple. I like my main dish to be the star of the show, and who wants to make dinner more any more complicated than...
Today’s recipe isn’t anything amazingly creative, but that’s kind of the point. I think sometimes it’s easy to over think side dishes. Side dishes should be simple so they don’t compete with the carefully...
I’ll openly admit that I’ve tried to make paella on more than one occasion and failed miserably. It’s probably a combination of not having the right paella pan or not using the correct method,...
Ooooh we’re gettin’ fancy over here! This week I splurged on a fresh herb other than my usual parsley or cilantro (the cheap ones) so I could make this fabulous Minty Pea Salad. I paid a hefty...
Ahhh, tomato soup. It’s one of the few hot soups that’s light enough to eat during the summer months (it may only be April, but we’ve definitely hit summer weather here in New Orleans). I’m...
I really wanted to call these “OMG! They’re Crunchy!” Fries, but that doesn’t work very well for SEO purposes. My point is, I’m happy to have finally made some oven fries that are crispy and crunchy....
Discovering that you can cook grains in other liquids besides water was one of my favorite “ah-ha” moments in cooking. Using broths, juices, or other flavorful liquids to cook dry grains adds more flavor than...
It’s been far too long since I’ve had fresh green beans. Like, maybe since last summer and that, my friends, is a tragedy. I love a fresh, still slightly crunchy green bean. The flavor is...
If you’ve been a follower of this blog for a while, you may already know that I’m obsessed with roasted vegetables. Oven roasting vegetables makes their flavor sweeter and deeper, transforming them into something really...
I discovered Mujaddara probably about ten years ago at this little Lebanese lunch spot in Baton Rouge, called Serop’s Express. I didn’t know what the brown crumbly mixture was, but I ordered on a...
I’m a sucker for crunchy homemade granola, but I always wish there was a way to make it without loading in the oil and sugar. Well, when I made a batch of Pumpkin Spice Granola last...
I haven’t baked any bread in a long time, mostly because I don’t eat bread very often lately. I do love to bake, though, so when I came across this recipe for No Knead English Muffin...
I ‘ve been making so many “one pot” or “skillet” meals lately that I’ve barely made any traditional side dishes. I get a lot of questions about side dishes, though, so I’ve decided to...
This recipe for Curried Lentils is a spin off of the ever popular Quick Curried Chickpeas. It always amazes me how a recipe with so few ingredients can have such big flavor! For this...
Earlier this week I got an email from a reader, Katie, telling me about how she used my homemade red enchilada sauce in her favorite tortilla soup recipe and how amazing it was. That whole...
I get a lot of emails from readers with recipe suggestions and I love them all, but don’t get the opportunity to make many of them. Every once in a while, though, an email...
Remember that head of purple cabbage from week one of the SNAP Challenge? Well, to my surprise, it still hadn’t gone rotten. Sure, it was a little discolored on the open/cut surface, but I...
If there’s one thing I knew right away starting the SNAP Challenge, it was that I was going to have to bulk out my meals considerably with inexpensive beans and grains to stay under...
I love black bean soup like I love chili. It’s great on its own, but it’s also fun to get creative with toppings and turn it into a bowl full of fun (okay, maybe...
Tahini (sesame seed paste) is something that has grown on me over the years. I first used it to make my own homemade hummus, then soon found myself sneaking a taste straight off the spoon while...
You may be looking at that picture and thinking, “But where is the falafel?” Well, it’s not a salad with falafel, it’s a salad made out of falafel ingredients. Falafel Salad, get it? You see, I was...
I gotta give a big shout out to Neil, whose tweet inspired me to try again with a recipe that I completely failed with the first time around. Neil tweeted about an amazing vegetable...
If you don’t live in Louisiana, you might not know that we’ve got a big carnival going on right now. Parades, marching bands, crazy costumes, and (of course) beads are daily sightings for the...
I’m always looking for ways to streamline my breakfast routine. While I am the type to get up an hour early just to give myself time to enjoy breakfast, I don’t want to spend any...
I’m having fun finding new ways to use my homemade chili seasoning and potatoes were the first item on my list. I mean, tender roasted potatoes coated with savory chili spices? YES PLEASE.
OMG… This Chunky Lentil and Vegetable Soup is my new all-time favorite soup! I’ve already eaten two bowls since I made it today at lunch and I don’t think I’ll even need to freeze...
When I finished cooking these Curried Chickpeas with Spinach I took a look at my notepad to make sure I had written down all the ingredients. I looked it over a good three or...
Whoever discovered beans gets a big fat medal of appreciation from yours truly. They’re just incredible. Incredible and cheap. And so is this Slow Cooker White Bean Soup. This soup is thick, warm, comforting,...
I got an email from Megan last week asking if I could recreate her favorite frozen noodle bowls from Costco. There isn’t a Costco in New Orleans (yet), so I wasn’t familiar with that...
You know how I love kale. You know how I love lentils. You know how I love sweet potatoes. This salad has them all together in one bowl! Yes! It has everything you need...
If you’ve never had gazpacho before, it’s basically a soup for people who, like me, would like nothing more than to eat salsa with a spoon. Okay, maybe that’s just my definition of it,...
I have a little confession to make… last week I impulse bought a tub of hummus at the grocery store. I almost never buy hummus pre-made because it’s so cheap and so easy to make...
Baked potatoes are amazing, right? They’re yummy, filling, super inexpensive, and a blank slate for whatever flavors you want to add. The only problem is that they take forever to cook and I never...
Sometimes, when I’m suffering from a creativity block, all I need to do is take a stroll through the freezer aisle. Yesterday, as I was perusing the freezer goods, I saw a frozen dinner...
I’ve been eating these Black Bean and Avocado Enchiladas for lunch all week and the fact that I only have one serving left almost makes me want to cry… I might have to make...
I’m calling this one “Nature’s Candy” because my first thought upon tasting it was, “OMG, WHO NEEDS CANDY WHEN THIS EXISTS?!” … Yep, I thought it in all caps and everything. This recipe comes...
Shhhhhh…. They’re VEGAN! I decided to experiment a little more with vegan food in 2013. Now, before you get your panties all in a bundle, hear me out. I’m an omnivore and probably always...
As much as I love my myriad of baked oatmeal recipes, I’ve wanted to shake things up a bit lately and try something other than oats for breakfast. Enter quinoa. If you’ve never had...
It’s soooo cold here! (read: below 75 degrees) So, I’ve been really into soups lately, if you can’t tell. Earlier this week I got an email from Lindsay with a red lentil soup recipe...
Enchilada sauce is one of my very favorite things, ever. I love when it soaks into tortillas while baking and makes everything all tangy, spicy, and good. Mmmmm. 🤤 But when the selection of...
I’m in love. The dressing alone on this Apple Dijon Kale Salad was enough to make me swoon. It’s just a very simple Dijon vinaigrette, but it’s so good that I kept dipping my...
That’s “keen-wah tab-ooh-lay.” Don’t let the name scare you away from this incredibly simple and refreshing salad! I’ve been obsessed with tabbouleh since I first tried it as a child. It’s full of texture...
One of my all-time favorite, easy side dishes is coconut jasmine rice. So, I started thinking that if cooking rice in coconut milk was so good, maybe cooking lentils in coconut milk would be...
I never really understood why people say that chocolate is better than sex. Chocolate? Chocolate?! No ma’am. If any food is even going to come close, it’s gonna be this sriracha hummus. Okay, so...
Okay, so this little gem really deserves a post of its own, rather than being hidden in the Chili Lime Shrimp Bowls recipe post. This easy pineapple salsa is SO good that I could...
Okay, I’ll admit, this recipe is a re-post. Savory coconut rice is one of the first recipes I made for the blog and it has been a staple in my house ever since. I...
Every winter, after weeks of eating hearty soups and stews, I start craving something really light and fresh. I just get sick of all of the super cooked down hot food. I want bright,...
Fresh cranberry sauce is one of my all-time favorite Thanksgiving foods. I love the tangy-sweetness and how it juxtaposes all of the other savory Thanksgiving dishes! I eat it on my turkey and on...
I’ve made a few variations of red sauce for Budget Bytes, but this Slow Cooker Marinara is definitely the best of the best. I don’t like using my slow cooker for everything, but for...
Cauliflower was on sale! YAY! It’s a rare occasion when the price of cauliflower is what I consider to be reasonable, so when it happens, I take advantage. Roasting cauliflower is, IMHO, one of...
So, back when I lived in Baton Rouge, there was a Mexican restaurant (Ninfa’s) that kept jars of pickled carrots and other vegetables on the tables as an appetizer. Practically every time I went...
I’ve made pizza sauce before but I wanted one that was even thicker and richer because I had some big plans to dip things in it (and by “things” I mean pizzadillas). Dipping sauces...
Sambal might be my new favorite sauce. There are a million different kinds, some sweet, some salty, some vinegary, but almost all are spicy. I recently bought a small jar of sambal oelek made...
I’m always trying to work beans into my diet because they’re just so good for you, and I happen to think they’re delicious. These quick marinated white beans are one of my favorite side dishes because they’re so...
I’ve been craving pasta salad lately so onto the menu it went. In effort to up my vegetable intake, I packed this Summer Vegetable Pasta Salad as full of as many veggies that I possibly...
I know it sounds weird, hummus on a pizza? Well, back in the day when I was slingin’ pizzas at Whole Foods, we made a special vegan pizza using hummus as a replacement for...
This recipe comes courtesy of one of my wonderful readers, Diana. I was intrigued by this recipe for multiple reasons. I remember when I was a teenager I had found a recipe similar to...
It’s time for another installment of delicious no-knead bread! One of my favorite breads to buy fresh from the bakery is olive bread. I’m crazy about olives to begin with so when they’re baked...
I was SO HAPPY to see asparagus selling for $2.49 per bunch at the store last weekend. Yeah, that’s still pretty expensive but as far as asparagus go, that’s about as low as they...
Oh, the controversy! The recent roll out of McDonald’s Fruit & Maple Oatmeal has sparked quite a debate all over the internet. Is it healthy? Is it the devil? Does it really have as...
I used to be really intimidated by Indian food. The flavors are deep and complex and the recipes often call for ingredients that are foreign to even a foodie like me. Despite this, I’m...
After making my first batch of tortillas the other day, I decided to try another recipe. I chose a recipe that uses vegetable oil (and very little of it) instead of lard because, lets...
I was so excited, so drawn in, so salivating when I saw this recipe for falafel from Living The Pie Life a few weeks ago. The only problem was that I didn’t have a food processor....
Oh the fascinating world of flat breads… Although the ingredients for this Homemade Pita Bread are different from my Homemade Naan, the execution is almost exactly the same. The only difference here is that you...
I know, man can not live on bread alone. So I’m a little obsessed with baking bread lately… humor me. There will be more “real food” soon, promise. You may remember this video that...
Once again, I thought last year’s cranberry sauce couldn’t be topped and so I was just going to remake it again this year… until I remembered that I had some red wine stored in...
Breakfast for me is usually one of two things: some sort of oatmeal if I’m feeling like a sweet breakfast or some sort of egg sandwich if I’m in a savory mood. Since discovering...
Singapore noodles. They didn’t originate in Singapore (theory is they’re Cantonese) and they were popularized by Chinese restaurants in Europe. How is that for a hodgepodge history? Well, I’m going to blame this one...
What would life be like without salsa? I don’t know and I don’t care to imagine it that way. I’m a salsa lover through and through. I could eat it straight with spoon, I...
Why serve plain white rice with your meal when you can sneak in some veggies and a ton of flavor? I was originally going to make this dish a coconut (not) fried rice but...
Peach season is finally here! If you follow Budget Bytes on facebook then you know that I’ve been looking for a new, spectacular peach recipe to top last year’s Balsamic Glazed Peache Sundae. A...
One of my favorite things to order when I go to Mediterranean restaurants is Stuffed Grape Leaves or Dolmas. I’ve always shied away from making them at home because they seemed like they would...
I love the summer. The sun is warm and the vegetables are fresh (and cheap!). I’ve been waiting for the produce market to be flooded with all of the summer goods so that I...
DING! DING! DING! We have a WINNER! (that means I really really like this recipe) Avocados have a wonderfully unique flavor and texture and are for that reason one of my favorite fruits (it...
This recipe was one of those wonderful happy accidents. Last week I decided to make another batch of my Indian Spiced Oats with Coconut Milk but got lazy when looking for the brown sugar...
I’ve been off the steel-cut oats bandwagon for a while because I’ve been addicted to my little breakfast egg quesadillas (I’ll post that soon because they’re too good to keep to myself). But, this...
I’m going to admit right now that I have never made Baba Ganoush before today so if you have any suggestions or recipe variations, please share! If you have never heard of Baba Ganoush,...
I’ve been really digging Asian food lately. As I was deciding on my main entree and side dish for this week, I decided to give Thai peanut sauce a shot. I had never made...
This recipe was inspired by a dish that I saw at Whole Foods Market. I don’t have their recipe so I made this up based on what I thought theirs was. It turned out...
I had a hankering for some balsamic marinated mushrooms the other day but after searching for recipes, I decided to try a batch of regular marinated mushrooms before trying the balsamic variety. There were...
This was one of the first ever Budget Bytes recipe experiments. After browsing the internet looking for ideas, I saw this Spicy Red Lentil and Tomato Soup by Andrea Meyers and it piqued my...
After being treated to a wonderful Italian dinner at a local restaurant last week, I was inspired to finally try to make my own marinara sauce. I’ll admit, usually I’m too lazy and I’d...
