Budget Vegan Eating in London: Cheap and Filling Meals
Discover how to eat delicious, filling vegan meals in London for under £5. From market stalls to supermarket hacks, this guide shows you the real budget-friendly spots that locals swear by.
When you’re looking for cheap vegan meals, affordable plant-based food that doesn’t require a fancy label or a high price tag. Also known as budget vegan eating, it’s about smart choices, not expensive superfoods or organic labels. You don’t need to spend £20 on a bowl of quinoa to eat well in London. Real people—students, freelancers, families—are eating full, satisfying vegan meals for under £8 a day, and they’re not hiding it.
The city’s vegan scene isn’t just about trendy cafés with avocado toast. It’s also about busy street markets in Brixton, halal vegan stalls in Tower Hamlets, and community kitchens in Peckham that serve hearty lentil stews for £4.50. You’ll find vegan food London, a wide range of plant-based options available across neighborhoods, not just in tourist zones that are built for daily life, not Instagram. Places like the Vegan Food Hub in Camden or the vegan section at Borough Market aren’t just for visitors—they’re where locals grab their lunch on the way to work.
What makes these meals work isn’t magic. It’s beans, rice, seasonal veggies, tofu, and spices bought in bulk. You’ll see people packing lunches from Asian grocery stores where a kilo of dried lentils costs less than a coffee. Or grabbing a £3 falafel wrap from a family-run shop in Willesden that’s been serving the same recipe for 15 years. These aren’t outliers. They’re the norm for people who care about what they eat, but not about paying extra for the word ‘artisan’ on the menu.
And it’s not just about food. It’s about knowing where to look. The cheapest vegan meals often hide in plain sight—behind the counter at a Middle Eastern bakery, in the takeaway window of a Chinese restaurant that does tofu stir-fry without asking, or in the daily special at a pub that switched to plant-based options to cut waste. You don’t need a guidebook. You just need to ask: ‘What’s vegan today?’
Below, you’ll find real stories, real places, and real prices from people who’ve figured out how to eat vegan in London without draining their bank account. No fluff. No overpriced smoothie bowls. Just the kind of meals that keep you full, happy, and in the black.
Discover how to eat delicious, filling vegan meals in London for under £5. From market stalls to supermarket hacks, this guide shows you the real budget-friendly spots that locals swear by.