My Vegan Grocery Shopping for the Week! (Price Breakdown & Budgeting Tips)

[@UnnaturalVegan]

Apologies for the magnet black clicking and clacking sounds.

[@tudormiller887]

Hello Swayze, great vegan grocery shopping video. I wish we had cartons of soya milk and boxes of oatmeal that size here in our stores in 🇬🇧 P.S. Do you grocery shop at Aldi ?

[@hottoast7880]

Thank you for this! I was in desperate need of new meal/groceries ideas. The cost of food rn is batshit crazy so I really appreciate vegan shopping lists on the cheaper side.

[@zepzour7391]

i can't even imagine what I would think if I was 6 and my mom started speaking into a small object as if it were a human, ik they know what it is by now by imagine the first time lool

[@8jaime8]

I don’t think it would be too surprising. We all grew up with people talking like that into the phone and it wasn’t a big deal.

[@UnnaturalVegan]

They know I "record," but were still surprised lol

[@jillianm8958]

I live in Hawaii and when you said the price of soy milk I almost crieddddd. In Hawaii, Silk soy milk is over $6. It's like around $6.06. I miss the days when it was in the $3 range! Food here is SO expensive. RIP ☹️

[@hannahc2939]

I live in the UK me my husband my 2.5yo and my nearly 1yo we spend £45-50 per week we shop at Aldi and have a mixed of processed and "fresh" stuff honestly gobsmacked at the price of American food shopping

[@jennoscura2381]

The British KZbinr Atomic Shrimp does budget food challenges. I am blown away by how cheap stuff is in the UK. I wish I could get baked beans that cheap. Atomic Shrimp has a vegan budget grocery challenge. He made something kind of like a pasty. It looked great.

[@zoeeubanks4715]

@@jennoscura2381 I backpacked across Europe this summer, and I was shocked at grocery prices in most places. Groceries are so much cheaper in France / Germany / Austria than in the states.

[@RiannAlexandra]

@@zoeeubanks4715mostly proportional to income which is significantly higher in the US

[@cristiane5859]

Thank you for showing a reasonable grocery vegan budget . Grocery prices are insane in Canada. I’m deeply considering to growing my own food and making my own bread.

[@raspberryleaf3741]

@MdoubleHB I don't agree with some of the foods, but it's a bit much to accuse her of child abuse! Feeding kids full raw would definitely be harmful.

[@Rialagma]

@@raspberryleaf3741 Don't bother. That user is a troll that comments nonsense on all her videos.

[@NANA-su5ql]

Making your own bread is actually quite simple, I highly recommend it

[@nicolek.6776]

Would love to see a video about what your kids eat in a week. My friend just had a baby and I got her that plant based baby and toddler book you recommended.

[@katherinecompton6768]

I am so jealous of you all that have Grocery Outlet.

[@SpinningSideKick9000]

This kind of content is much appreciated. Grocery prices are insane and this gives me some ideas for budget meals. Also, glad to hear someone else loves the Morning Star Meatlovers patties. For some reason they don't sell well in stores around me, so they stopped stocking them.

[@pollysshore2539]

I do not blame you for picking up instant rice to feed your family of 5. That’s why shortcuts exist and there is not a thing wrong with it. I haven’t bought prepared tomato sauce in a long time. I checked a few different grocery stores and found some really good canned, bottled and boxed tomato purée, crushed tomatoes and whole tomatoes. All were recommended to make a variety of sauces by Eva on the Pasta Grammar channel and she was right. Cento, Mutti or … I’ll have to look up the other. It comes in a box/carton. Pomi! That’s what it’s called. All 3 products are from Italy and just have the tomatoes, water and maybe a pinch of sea salt. They are incredibly customizable. You can make any and every type of sauce with them. My only problem has been with Cento. The product is excellent. It’s a nice bright, bolder flavor than Mutti or Pomi (which are freaking fantastic, and the Mutti purée is delicious milder base) but I can only find it in ginormous cans. I don’t need that when I’m making something for 2 or 3 people. I was having a harder time with most prepared sauces and even the cans of tomato products I typically buy were tasting off. I swear some foods keep getting sweeter and sweeter. What’s up with breads? 😖 *My phone battery is low and my autocorrect goes rogue every time it drops below 40% Pardon the edicts. I’m leaving that one 😂

[@lekiscool]

I’m doing HelloFresh to help me with vegetarian recipes. Plus I tend to be someone that would just eat crackers without having a meal kit. 😂

[@aubrey8673]

I worked at Kroger and they do carry store brand sweet potato fries. They fly off the shelves real quick so that’s probably why you can’t find them

[@nuabioof83]

It always amuses me as a frenchman to see the prices, but omg are dates expensive in murica. Here a kilo of the stuff can go for 2/3€ at supermarkets (not mehjoul but deglet Nour). But I envy your tofu prices omg

[@Darmok_onthe_ocean]

Nour dates are cheaper here, as well, by only a dollar or so. The problem is that they’re impossible to find. People like the medjool dates so it may not make sense to sell any other. Personally, medjool are too sweet.

[@Emily46314]

We eat primarily aldi and Walmart. Lots of Canned beans,etc. 2 kids and partner are vegetarian and I am vegan. We spend about 100-150 per week on food (not including toiletries, etc)

[@jennisjams372]

Loved this breakdown. We are a vegan family of 6 (4 kids aged 2-16). We only have a Kroger near us and I struggle to keep our bill down to $250-300 per week. I’m usually taking things back out of the cart to keep it that low.

[@TobiasBalk]

In Germany the prices have also gone up a lot, I think I spend around 40€ a week just for myself. The are some Turkish street markets here in Berlin that are much cheaper than the supermarkets though. I can get dates for less than 2€ a kg. And they're delicious dates.

[@april4657]

Yes! The bugs in the broccoli! My husband is not as observant about those things so I told him he HAS to look at the brocolli before he starts cooking it.

[@theshunnedBandersnatch]

I found some (worse than aphids - a worm 🤢) in a bag of frozen broccoli from Aldi once. I haven't eaten as much broccoli since, and stopped shopping at Aldi for several years.

[@april4657]

@@theshunnedBandersnatch when I have found them, they're these little worm caterpillar things. They're very small but it has made me stop buying brocolli for a bit too. Bugs just freak me out.

[@erinh9267]

Isn't okay if it's cooked long enough?

[@april4657]

@@erinh9267 it's probably safe for consumption, but my mind says NOPE

[@alexandriasanders9499]

Turned this on as I’m going through coupons. Perfect timing

[@lizcofano3000]

The morning star meat lovers are my favorite but everyone stopped carrying them almost 2 years ago. It's heartbreaking

[@taylor3342]

Is there a Costco near you? Produce prices are BEYOND worth it for the price of entry - especially for a fam of 5 vegans.

[@lizmccaleb577]

I was addicted to milk and now being vegan can honestly say I feel so much better. Milk messes with your hormones and brain chemistry flooding it with tryptophan. I love being vegan. It took about three weeks to get my body hormones on track, but I love how clean I feel now. More energy, better bowl movements, and less up and down in my whole being.

[@snowranger19]

Curious why you don't use Costco? I feel like with the amounts you buy it might be worth the cost for a lot of things. They have the Belvita biscuits in bulk !

[@PeiPeisMom]

We have multiple Grocery Outlets in Sacramento, and we've noticed that even between stores a few miles away from each other, prices can vary wildly. A pound of fresh jalapenos at one can be $149, and at another 3 miles away it can be $1.19

[@MadelineBoughner]

I have noticed this too, even the products can vary a lot from store to store.

[@KatBurnsKASHKA]

dude you need an instant pot. I make rice in it all the time and it takes about 12 mins from start to finish, even brown rice.

[@effie8760]

Yes! I love mine for rice we use it a lot!

[@KatBurnsKASHKA]

@@effie8760 it's the best I use it for everything like daily lol

[@KatBurnsKASHKA]

​@@mdoublehb4571 cooked food is the reason humans probably have survived?

[@DitaKruger]

Get thee to a WinCo! Groceries are generally more expensive here (I guess winding, 2 lane freeways, are hard for trucks to navigate or something), but my bill at WinCo is usually at least $10-15 less than Safeway (Caveat: I can only go at like... 8 pm on a Tuesday, otherwise there are too many humans and it's a sensory nightmare). Plus, ours always has tiny bananas. As much as I love GroceOut, they're too inconsistent to base my shopping off of (good for creamer, non-dairy ice cream (Brave Robot!), and for a while, Miyoko's Butter).

[@TheStrawberrySeason]

I’m in Canada. Bell peppers are $2-$5 per POUND any given day (changes daily to weekly). Similac is $30-$40/800g but I haven’t been able to get it for over a month now and similac does not send us coupons even though I signed up months ago. Silk is $4-$5 each. Vegan meat is $10 and up, sometimes Beyond is on sale, but where I am there’s not much selection and it’s insanely expensive. Even tofu blocks are $3-$4 each. Not to mention we’re gluten free as well…hahaha $6-$8 for a small loaf. Basically we buy our veggie on discount and stock up when silk and beyond go on sale.

[@MarlowMayhem]

Today I learned formula is extremely over priced and that price for a necessity is boggling

[@lcat9b549]

Yes the rice thing. I've learned to just cook like 3-4 cups at the beginning of the week and keep the leftovers in a Tupperware.

[@andreahamann4818]

I really enjoyed this video and your channel in general! I started this year eating mostly vegan. It’s really tough for me to stay vegan because I have so many food intolerances, but your videos inspire me to keep going and find new ways to eat vegan as much as I can!

[@saywhaaaaat6464]

US food prices are shocking! I can get a huge pack of dates here in UK for 2.49

[@BethAge95]

Used to have a 50€ a week budget for groceries in Helsinki, Finland. It was definitely manageable since I mostly shopped ad Lidl and used their app and very, very rarely ate out or bought ready made food. It was hard to fit in fresh greens on that budget, though. Now I don't have a strict budget any more but still try to apply the same principles, just "splurge" on things like fresh spinach and rocket. I do spend less money in the grocery store now and more in my work cafeteria which has always pretty good vegan options and the vegan meal is always 10ct cheaper than the other ones, so that's nice. Getting a decent lunch for 5,45€ is not the cheapest option but very convenient and that also counts for something.

[@jennoscura2381]

How easy is it to vegan in Finland? I have Finnish ancestry (I am a Pellinen) and would like to visit some day. Unfortunately I didn’t get to go with my dad before he passed away. But I do have a picture of him in Finland standing in front of a sign for the town of Pellinen. My Mexican. I am a Mexifin or as I imagine you would say in Finnish; suomeksikolainen. LOL

[@BethAge95]

@@jennoscura2381 It depends a bit where in Finland, but in Helsinki it's no problem at all. All stores offer vegan alternatives and there are plenty places to eat out. It is very expensive though, the mock meats and the eating out. So when I was on a budget I relied on legumes and tofu. On the country side it's harder to find vegan food options in restaurants but in my experience the grocery stores will still have a selection. Come visit, it's very nice here :)

[@ashleystanley7941]

In my area, 39 cents for a lemon is a GREAT low price!!!

[@Darmok_onthe_ocean]

That $224 is wild. When I was a single, 20 yo mom, on food stamps, I had to work with $300 for the entire month. Granted, that was like 10 years ago. Now That I’m older and am lucky enough to not pay attention to bills, I am probably lucky to spend that in a week. It helps when you cook every meal at home.

[@powderandpaint14]

I don't think the amounts people get for food stamps has changed much unfortunately.

[@amyschmelzer6445]

I have never found bugs in storebought broccoli, but I definitely have seen them in broccoli from the farmers market. No amount of presoaking in salt water will drive out all of the cabbage worms in “real” broccoli. Those pretty white butterflies that visit all the flowers in my garden are the culprits who lay their eggs on brassicas such as broccoli, cabbage, kale, etc.

[@ffabarbie-9002]

I would for if you made these videos more often about what you buy and meal ideas

[@Darmok_onthe_ocean]

My target still sells silk soy milk for 3.99. A few months ago it was still 2.99. I go there purely to stack up on silk.

[@theshunnedBandersnatch]

Same here!! I go there because every other store sells it for freaking $6. If I can't get to Target, I order from Whole Foods; their unsweetened soy milk is $3.79. I had to get used to the taste difference, though, and Silk is still the best.

[@AimeeColeman]

I live by myself and spend about £10/week on food because I get most of it on olio, and the rest is just fresh vegetables to top things up. I don't have set meals I eat either, I'm just flexible in what's available :)

[@AimeeColeman]

(that's about $53-$55 USD per month) :)

[@Rialagma]

This video made me realise how cheap food is in the UK compared to the US omg

[@itssosarahh]

I feel like longtime viewers get continuity nods. When you mentioned popcorn being a good price at Grocery Outlet, i was like "ah yes a UV staple." Anyway, i love these sorts of videos!

[@CaliHinojosaVids]

Getting a rice cooker changed my life. Still not 5 minutes, but still life changing.

[@amandamandamanda]

The TJ's pesto is SO good as a pizza sauce! And the pizza dough from them is vegan too. I do pesto, vegan cheese, roasted broccoli, spinach and some sort of protein on it :)

[@louib716]

Rice always goes on the stove first if I know it's an ingredient

[@jessicaz.1901]

This is great, thank you!

[@doudline2662]

Love you and your family.

[@Geanie1995]

This was a really cool video. I don't live in the US, but it was nice to see the realities instead of the propaganda. I always hear that groceries are more expensive in the US, but it seems like the volume are also much larger. E.g the soy milk is double the size (and price) of what we get here in Europe

[@trackee2024]

Ok real talk. I live in Indiana. I shop at Walmart, Kroger and then Whole Foods for specialty stuff. I have 4 kids from 1 - 8. We’re all vegan. Our grocery hauls looks similar but just MORE of everything. And I spend about $350-$400/week on food. Don’t get me started on the toilet paper and diapers! 😭😭😭

[@zellexgames2228]

I'm single spending around $60 which is crazy but I also hotel hop for my job (tour life lol) so I don't have a fridge or freezer to keep anything I have to keep buying things each week. Sucks man.

[@zs9710]

Wait, was the guy standing in front of grocery outlet Partner?? 👀😂 lol jkjk

[@UnnaturalVegan]

🤣

[@natashakramer4411]

We stopped buying fortified plant milk after my vegan husband had his first kidney stone and doctor said that synthetic calcium carbonate increases the risk of having kidney stones, did some research and found that he might be right. My husband is lean and has no other issues but he did drink a lot of fortified soy/oat milks….

[@mancillado]

I love those cherry Lara bars! They are the best

[@beccabb2750]

Omg yes, the formula is crazy expensive. we are going to start transitioning to milk that'll help with that cost. It's good they still send you coupons. I haven't received any in a few months, and in my area, there are only 2 brands of formula I can find at any of the stores.

[@pollysshore2539]

I feel for parents. It’s been hard enough with shortages but inflation has been a beast. My nephew and his wife had 2 pandemic babies. They’ve had a constant struggle with formula but both girls have now transitioned to milk, juices and water.

[@kaylayontef5850]

Would love a story time about how you met partner if comfortable! I know he was vegan before you? Would be interesting. Dating as a vegan has always been strange for me.

[@MissNoechen]

She has a video called "How I met my vegan soulmate", it's been a while since I saw it but I'm pretty sure she tells the story there

[@jenniferjuneau7329]

One lemon 39 cents? I live in New York City and haven't found one lemon under $1

[@dokehannah]

Oh wow, I spend almost as you every week for just my husband and I. I've got to try to buy cheaper options. It's hard because we are both very busy and I often buy the Amy's frozen meals to bring to work because I feel like there's not enough time to prepare lunches.

[@xSwordLilyx]

I wouldn't really feel bad, I get migraines and have to eat very regularly and I probably go through similar as a couple. I try to eat healthy as well but I have to have convenience meals.

[@jennoscura2381]

I wish we had gross out here in Las Vegas. They have such good prices on mock meats. I do most of my grocery shopping at Smith’s which is a Kroger affiliate. And I buy things like beans at the Cardena’s Mexican grocery store. Why don’t you get the Simple Truth soy milk? It’s what I get these days. It works fine in my coffee; which is what I use it for. For rice I use an instant pot. It’s not as fast as instant rice; but I don’t have to babysit it. So I can go do something else while my rice is cooking.

[@emilylauren8782]

My Kroger (Smiths actually but it's Kroger brand) has frozen sweet potato fries. And seasoned crinkle cut sweet potato fries. They're pretty good

[@IzzyHendrix]

Silk is still firmly $3.29 in West Tennessee! Sorry about the west coast 😖

[@moriikuma]

Avocados (and other produce) are cheap at Winco! Last time I went they were $0.68 each for medium-sized ones

[@ThreePinkButtons]

Oh wow, so I'm looking at the "thrifty" grocery costs chart you put up and for me and my bf we should be spending $125... seems like a lot for "thrifty".

[@doncasto8520]

I spend a crazy amount on myself and always go over budget and my budget is $800 a month. I'm about $25 over budget right now. I don't think I eat all that high end either.

[@adelphe33]

The only thing I don't like about buying produce at Trader Joe's is the amount of unnecessary plastics :( They should really do something about that!

[@susanbartlett5052]

I try to only buy pineapples and avocados from Trader Joe's because I've never gotten a bad one. Idk how they do it, but worth the trip because it's so disappointing to open up a bad fruit and waste that money.

[@leannepeters7512]

Can’t believe how expensive fresh fruit & veg is in the USA 🇺🇸

[@Espresso_plz]

It's crazy here ☹️

[@emmab.1328]

Oh my gosh that’s actually a really good drawing for a 4 year old. Well idk but the 4 year old I babysit could NOT draw that (no offense, love him lol).

[@rennviana]

Holy shit I'm always amazed at the size of stuff in American supermarkets, that soy sauce is huuuge 😱

[@MS-kp1en]

Brussel sprouts are a solid replacement for broccoli

[@zepzour7391]

I would kill to have a trader joe's or asian market where I live damn lol

[@jessep1316]

The Kroger brand Brioche buns are accidentally vegan and a good size! We use those on sandwiches with the simple truth meatless chicken patties!

[@-danny.]

I’ve never seen bugs in broccoli, but now I’ll never eat broccoli in peace so thanks

[@marlyd]

If I could figure out how to make hummus that's the same consistent y as store bought, I'd safe so much money. But as opposed to falafel, my hummus just doesn't feel as fun to eat as the fresh hummus from the supermarket.

[@Becky0494]

You need to remove the skins from the chickpeas after they’re cooked. That’s why store bought or restaurant hummus is so smooth. It also helps to have a good blender.

[@nowanadettling-wx7kg]

I think you did a great job 😮

[@katieluebcke9867]

Have you looked to see if there is a US Foods near you? Used to be Cash & Carry so far as I remember. Obviously it anticipates being wholesale so you do buy a LOT, but what you do buy is very affordable. Can't comment about produce or vegan milks, but it is the only place I buy Basmati rice or AP flour. Or non-fancy olives. And (basic) spices and salt and humongous containers of chickpeas.

[@jasminedunbar-sterling753]

Raspberries in Toronto right now are 6 bucks!!!!

[@user-hi5ql2vf8u]

Go to Aldi for produce, very cheap

[@UnnaturalVegan]

none out here :(

[@Lestaticate]

Luckily I haven't had ... little visitors in my broccoli yet. I'd be seeing that in my nightmares. I usually buy frozen, but yeah, the texture isn't the same. I occasionally get raw broccoli from Produce Junction since they wash and bag everything, but the prices really shot up. Lol, I remember drawing video game characters at that age (Still do!). Persona 5 bosses though? That's pretty tough! Hope they keep at it!

[@88888888tiago]

These prices!!! Looks like the dollar is very devaluated

[@faraharmy9870]

How would one go about fortifying homemade soy milk with calcium?

[@AstralAu]

Great video :)

[@maddylovesgood]

girl try forzen rice instead of instant!! GAME CHANGER!! and it doesn't have that weird instant rice taste

[@maddylovesgood]

frozen

[@ieatbookz]

no lidil or Aldi where you are? I get (organic) unsweetened soy milk at those stores and it's like 2 dollars.

[@theshunnedBandersnatch]

We have Aldi here, but ours doesn't carry unsweetened soy milk, only thr sweetened kind. The price is enviable but I eat enough sugar that I won't budge on it being unsweetened.

[@emmaponymous]

Do you have any opinions on "Baby Led Weaning" (not using "baby food"/spoon feeding but feeding baby from the family's regular meals)?

[@cyssoK]

As someone who doesn’t have kids, is that formula just for 1 week? Does it really cost 90$ per week to feed a teeny tiny baby?!

[@lunchmoneylux]

did they stop making those field roast stadium dogs? I can't find them anywhere!

[@khaledjanahi09]

You should watch BenoftheWeek’s video with the The Vegan Teacher

[@emmanichole8073]

My Kroger has Kroger brand sweet potato fries but they are almost always sold out lol

[@emmanichole8073]

@@mdoublehb4571 lol what

[@health9440]

i dont understand not having time to cook rice, like cook it before you start making whatever is going with it. in the rice cooker it cooks itself and on the stove is even faster. Iam saying this also cuz I have never liked instant rice hahah, the parboiled rice too, yuck yuckty yuck.

[@Sarah_Grant]

Totally agree!!

[@aimeelinekar3902]

Any chance of (rough) metric conversions? My brain hurts 😅

[@UnnaturalVegan]

Sorry! I'll do it in the future.

[@parlie13]

And here we are dumping $200+ a week on food for two people. What are we doing wrong? Living in DC, probably.

[@hannahc2939]

I'm shocked by the price of American food 😳

[@DM-ql6ps]

$1.76 for just one avocado? They are usually around 50 cents or less at Aldi (at least in TX).

[@UnnaturalVegan]

😭

[@TiffanyRay12]

Oh gosh you are in for a treat with those meatballs... 😬

[@laurenelizabeth2505]

Hi!

[@thomasstremfel704]

Grocery Outlet is a godsend for trying random vegan junk foods you’ve never heard of

[@earthyvibrations11.11]

I havnt seen raspberries for less than 4.99 here 😭😭

[@DM-ql6ps]

If you want cheaper vegan meal plans check out Under the Median, a budgeting channel that happens to also be a vegan family (kids are teens & young adults though).

[@Natnat994]

My Kroger DOES sell Kroger brand sweet potato fries. Yours doesn't?? Strange.

[@UnnaturalVegan]

I just checked and it's on the website, but always out of stock. :(

[@TheKingOfInappropriateComments]

My walmart haul from today here on the east coast; Silk brand soy milk $2.99 reg price, Nasoya organic tofu 1lb block $3.29 reg price, pineapples- huge ones consistently fresh $2.18 ea. Save money, live better

[@Mani-period]

I think they drew chicken little lol

[@VeggieVllc]

For our family of 2 adults, one whole foods vegan and one Omni, we spend about $1000 a month. We don’t really have a food budget. We buy whatever. I buy mostly organic. But…we do that because we can. Definitely been in situations where I couldn’t for decades. ❤

[@marzettik]

Grocer are hard, lol.

[@lisabaughn]

Jfc, how on Earth can one afford this?!

[@nicksilverstein1193]

Please tell me "pea milk" tastes better than it sounds. Yikes.

[@kerry8461]

She hates the taste but her kids like it. I thought it tasted gross