The estimated cost included with recipes on Holy Cow Vegan is provided as a helpful guide so you have an idea, going in, how much a recipe might cost to make. The cost to you could be lower or higher depending on where you live, which store you shop at, the brands you buy, and whether the ingredients used are in season.
How recipe costs are calculated
I live in suburban Washington, D.C. and the estimated costs of my recipes are based on prices I pay here for my groceries. For best accuracy I use the regular prices for all items and not sale prices, because those can fluctuate week by week.
The total estimated cost is the total price I pay for all ingredients used in a recipe. The cost per serving is calculated by dividing the total ingredient cost by the number of servings.
To keep these estimated costs as uniform as possible for readers who live around the United States, I calculate them based on prices at widely accessible supermarket chains I shop at, including Safeway, Aldi, Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, Walmart and, occasionally, warehouse stores like Costco.
Prices for Indian ingredients are based on those at my local Indian grocery stores, including India Bazaar and Patel Brothers. If you shop online for Indian ingredients your costs could potentially be higher.
I calculate only what the recipe uses
Estimated recipe cost is based on the portion of an ingredient actually used rather than the cost of purchasing the entire package. For instance, if a bottle of oil costs $8 and I use a tablespoon of it in a recipe, only the estimated cost of that tablespoon is included in the recipe cost. The same method is used for other ingredients, including spices, flour, legumes, grains and other pantry ingredients.
For fresh produce, I use weight or size of the vegetables or fruits used to calculate the cost.
When optional ingredients are listed in a recipe, I include the costs of those optional ingredients, unless otherwise noted, so the total estimated cost reflects all ingredients listed in the recipe card.
What isn't included
The estimate does not include the cost of water or cooking gas or electricity used to make the recipe. It also doesn't include sales tax, delivery charges, membership fees and cost of traveling to a grocery store.
Why your cost may be different
Grocery costs can vary considerably depending on where you live and shop. All my recipes are priced in U.S. dollars so readers outside the United States should treat the estimated cost as a general point of reference.
A note about accuracy
All recipe costs are estimates, not exact prices. They are based on the price of ingredients since I started calculating these costs, beginning August 2026. But grocery prices can change at any time. My goal isn't to give you an exact amount you'll spend at the checkout. It's to help you understand the approximate cost of making a recipe that you find here on Holy Cow Vegan.
Tips for reducing grocery costs
I watch my grocery bills closely and try to reduce them when possible. That's especially important now, when inflation is spiraling upward with no end in sight. Here are a few tips for cutting costs that I've gleaned over the years:
- Shop sales. I don't include sale prices in my estimated recipe costs, but buying ingredients when they are on sale can help significantly reduce the cost of making any recipe. I always look for sales to stock up on my favorite products and on fresh produce.
- Sacrifice brand loyalty when possible. If a product is on sale or a generic version is cheaper I just read the label to make sure that the product meets my and my family's dietary needs. This can be especially helpful when buying packaged vegan ingredients like meat substitutes and dairy substitutes that can be pricey.
- Skip the meat substitutes. You can use beans or tofu instead of vegan meats like ground vegan beef or ground vegan sausage, which can be pricier and can rapidly increase the cost of making a recipe. For example, substituting vegan sausage in my dirty rice recipe with two 14 oz cans of kidney beans would bring down the total cost of the recipe by half, from an estimated $14.30 to just $7.15! The beans are also protein-packed and even more nutritious because they are less processed.
- Buy certain ingredients in bulk. Ingredients that have a longer shelf life, like rice, flour and oil, are cheaper in bulk at warehouse stores like Costco. I would also include frozen vegetables and fruit in this category, if you have room in your freezer to store large bags of veggies and fruit. For instance, my vegan strawberry pie, made with frozen organic strawberries from Costco, cost me around $9.81. Using fresh, non-organic strawberries for the pie would send the cost up to $12.25. That's more than a $2 savings with no discernible difference in the taste of the finished product. Plus I don't have to worry about the frozen strawberries spoiling as quickly as the fresh ones do.
- Buy frozen produce. This spills over from the last tip. We vegans eat lots of veggies and fruit and frozen bags of vegetables and fruit are almost always cheaper to buy than the fresh versions. You can substitute fresh veggies with frozen in recipes like my vegetable curry or vegan tater tot casserole with absolutely no loss in taste or texture. Frozen produce, by some accounts, is also healthier because the vegetables are packed and frozen at the peak of their freshness unlike fresh produce, which likely traveled hundreds of miles and sat on store shelves for days until you picked it up. Bonus, frozen produce can also be stored at home for much longer. I regularly use frozen spinach, kale, mushrooms, okra, corn, green beans and green peas in my recipes, and I always stock up when they are on sale.
- Shop at international stores for specialty ingredients. Beans, lentils and spices, for example, are cheaper at an Indian grocery store than they are at supermarkets or online. The same is true for most global cuisines, including other Asian, Latino, Middle Eastern and African cuisines. If you love cooking global foods, find stores that cater to the disapora groups in your area and you will almost certainly pay lower prices. You might even learn about foods and ingredients that are new to you!