Cheap & Easy Vegan Comfort Meals For Busy Families

#vegandinner #plantbasedonabudget #budgetfriendly #cheaprecipes #comfortfood

Looking for simple, comforting, and budget-friendly vegan meals? In today’s video, I’m sharing three cozy plant-based dishes that are easy to make, family-approved, and perfect for busy households.

🍽 Recipes Featured:
✨ Cozy Mashed Potatoes with Roasted Brussels Sprouts & Mushroom Gravy
✨ Creamy Oven-Roasted Sundried Tomato Spaghetti
✨ Homemade “Teriyaki Madness” cheaper and just as delicious as takeout

📌 Timestamps:
00:00 – Intro
01:10 – Mashed Potatoes, Roasted Brussels Sprouts & Mushroom Gravy
09:57 – Creamy Oven-Roasted Sundried Tomato Spaghetti
15:27 – Homemade “Teriyaki Madness”

💡 Why You’ll Love These Meals:
✔️ Simple ingredients, big flavors
✔️ Budget-friendly & great for meal prep
✔️ No complicated techniques—perfect for beginners
✔️ Inspired by comforting, familiar flavors

If you try any of these recipes, let me know in the comments! What’s your favorite vegan comfort food?

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Recipes – We don’t measure much in our home cooking but here’s a guide for what we made to help you:

Creamy Mashed Potatoes with Roasted Brussels Sprouts & Mushroom Gravy
Ingredients:
4 large russet potatoes, chopped
½ cup plant-based milk or reserved cooking water
1 tbsp balsamic vinaigrette (optional)
½ tsp salt
For Brussels Sprouts:

2 cups Brussels sprouts, halved
1 tbsp olive oil
Salt & pepper to taste
For Mushroom Gravy:

1 tbsp grapeseed oil
1 small onion, diced
1 large portobello mushroom, sliced
1 tbsp flour
1 cup water or vegetable broth
1 tbsp soy sauce or coconut aminos

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 425°F (220°C). Toss Brussels sprouts with oil, salt, and pepper. Roast for 20-25 minutes.
Boil potatoes in salted water until fork-tender, then drain (reserving some water). Mash with plant-based milk or reserved water, salt, and balsamic vinaigrette.
For the gravy, sauté onions and mushrooms in oil over medium heat until golden. Stir in flour, cook for 1 minute, then gradually add water or broth. Simmer until thickened.
Serve mashed potatoes with Brussels sprouts and pour mushroom gravy on top. Enjoy!

Roasted Sundried Tomato & Tahini Pasta Sauce
Ingredients:
1 small onion, sliced
½ cup jarred sundried tomatoes (with oil)
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp garlic powder
½ tsp salt
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1 tbsp coconut aminos
2 tbsp creamy tahini
1 cup vegetable broth or water
12 oz pasta of choice

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C). Add sliced onions and sundried tomatoes to a roasting dish. Drizzle with olive oil, season with salt, garlic powder, and Italian seasoning.
Roast for 20-25 minutes, stirring halfway through. The sundried tomato oil will melt and coat the onions.
Transfer the roasted mixture to a blender. Add coconut aminos, tahini, and vegetable broth. Blend until smooth and creamy. Adjust seasoning to taste.
Cook pasta according to package instructions, then toss with the sauce. Serve warm and enjoy!

Homemade “Teriyaki Madness”
Ingredients:

1 block organic tofu, pressed & cubed
2 cups frozen broccoli
1 tbsp olive oil
For Teriyaki Sauce:

¼ cup soy sauce
¼ coconut aminos
1 tsp rice vinegar
1 tsp garlic, minced
½ tsp ginger, grated
1 tsp sesame oil (optional)
Instructions:

Preheat oven to convection 450°F (190°C). Toss tofu with a little oil, then place on a baking sheet. Premix or add in ingredients for the sauce and toss to coat. Bake for 25-30 minutes.
Spread frozen broccoli onto another baking sheet, drizzle with oil, and roast alongside the tofu for 20-25 minutes.
Toss the crispy tofu with the teriyaki sauce, then serve over roasted broccoli. Enjoy on a bed of rice!

💚Links to ingredients to make your life easy! (affiliates)
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Nutritional Yeast: https://amzn.to/3OAqBTA
Organic coconut milk: https://amzn.to/3x2GU5s

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[Music] everybody Welcome to the high path Channel if you’re new my name is Rosa and we are a plant-based family of seven today I am going to show you three ways to incorporate some comfort food even if you’re a plant-based now I do feel that now I do feel like those of you who are new to plant-based uh recipes or the diet or even if you’re just have these like stereotypical thoughts that vegan being vegan or plant-based is just all about salads it’s not it can be very comforting so today I’m going to share with you three Comfort foods that you can incorporate in your busy lives let’s get into it before we get started we wash our hands with the very best using Eden body care products Eden body care is a Nevada based skincare company owned by Yours Truly our family we specialize in handmade soaps and body butters tailor to condition the driest skin even in the desert of Nevada find out more on our website Eden bodyc care.com all right let’s get back to the video in today’s video I’ll be sharing some simple and satisfying vegan Comfort meals for busy families like ours now these meals are not about perfection they’re about nourishment about warmth and ease think of them as a starting point and inspiration if you will feel free to of course tweak adjust and add whatever works best for your family tastes and needs because at the end of the day we’re really just cooking for real life for real people and for the love of good food we’re starting off with one of the simplest Comfort meals mashed potatoes with roasted brussels sprouts and a rich mushroom gravy this dish is humble but so deeply satisfying and the best part it comes together with just a few wholesome ingredients making mashed potatoes of of course is no rocket science it’s one of the simplest comforting side dishes you can make and you know what makes it even better is I got these rusted potatoes on sale which makes the meal not only just cozy but budget friendly too honestly who doesn’t love a good bargain feeding a big family means being mindful of costs at all times because things are expansive and potatoes are just one of those amazing Staples that are filling they’re versatile and Incredibly affordable now I am chopping these without peeling them because the nutrients of the potatoes are in the skin itself so I just give them a good scrub give them a good wash and we’re going to put the potatoes on our stove to start boiling just like making pasta we’re going to Salt the potato water or the water that the potatoes are being boiled in and we’re going to move on to the Brussels sprouts I love a good roasted Brussel Sprout and they really remind me of miniature cabbages which is why I really love them because I love anything miniature let me know in the comments if you are a fan of miniature anything miniature little kitchen wear anything just let me know in the the comments you know what I’m talking about if you are a fan Brussel spouts of course have a very bad reputation but if you’ve only ever had them boiled and Bland you’re really missing out so roasting them whenever you’re roasting them magic has happens a little heat transform them into crispy caramelized bites of goodness I really just trim the ends I slice them in half or like in quarters if they’re too big and then I just toss them with a little bit of grape seed oil some salt you can of course season it however you want to some garlic powder smoked paprika if you want um onion powder just be creative we’re going to give them a good massage just because we want all of the seasonings to be friends with all of our fellow brussels sprouts then we’re going to put them in the hot oven for about 20 25 minutes and they’re ready to go now let’s talk about this rich and savory mushroom gravy which is the heart of this meal it’s really deep and flavorful and it comes together with just a handful of simple ingredients it’s so quick to put together you’re going to want to put this on anything and everything that you make nowadays I started with chopping some onions and these beautiful portabella mushrooms that I scored on clearance as well of course it makes it taste better because you know that you got a deal on the ingredients so I’m going to slice up the onions just like just slices you can also um make them a little bit smaller you can use garlic if you want to in here I sliced the mushrooms really really roughly you can make it as fine as you want to and then I’m just going to do a crosssection cut roughly chopped just like this [Music] all right our base ingredients are done we are going to take this to the stove all we’re going to do is sauté this in some grape seed oil letting the onions soften and the mushrooms develop that deep de golden color actually it looks like I Ed some coconut oil here you could use whatever oil that you have handy we’re also going to season with some salt the salt helps draw out their moisture the moisture of the mushrooms and a little bit of patience while they cook down really builds that flavor on the mushrooms so just take your time here let the mushrooms really build up that flavor let the onions build up that flavor as well trust me it is definitely worth it once they’re beautifully caramelized I add a bit of flour to create a r this is what gives our gravy that like silky thick gravy texture so we’re going to let it cook for about a minute or two to take away some of that raw flour taste and then I also slowly Add Water you can also use vegetable stock if you’re feeling fancy and if you have it on hand [Music] I would suggest adding water a little bit at a time because you don’t want to make it too runny it’s going to be more difficult to add back thickness it’s a lot easier to just add water to thin out something you can season it however you want I’m adding some onion powder you could do garlic powder and here’s where you can have some fun with the flavors um I like to season my gravy with some like a mix of mamy packed ingredients so I added some uh organic soy sauce you can also do like coconut aminos you can add a little bit of mustard as well which I am doing just some Dijon mustard um a little miso paste if you have as well really just building flavor upon flavor here you want to bring this up to a boil and then turn it down to a simmer the more it simmers the thicker it’s going to get adjust to your taste bud so just add salt if needed but definitely use your taste buds and taste taste taste now that everything is ready it’s time to bring it all together the Brussels sprouts are perfectly roasted the mushroom gravy is Rich and velvety and all that’s left is just to finish up the mashed potatoes I’ve drained the potatoes but I always like to leave just a little bit of that cooking liquid behind it really helps keep them creamy without needing too much added fat or cream butter and things like that um I’m going to mash them I’m going to keep some texture because I personally really like a rustic Mash you can of course rice it you can do whatever you want with your mashed potatoes for seasonings I keep it simple with some salt some garlic powder for some Umami I did add some nutritional yeast just for some cheesy flavor I’m going to drizzle it with some olive oil here and of course taste taste taste you can also use some coconut milk if you want it really nice and Rich I just sometimes I just like to keep it simple if I don’t have coconut milk I’ll just use some water now I’m finishing off our brussels sprouts with a little bit of balsamic vinegret right at the end it adds a little Tang it add some extra pop of flavor it’s really really good you can just leave it out if you don’t want to but I like to put it on sometimes and that’s it our cozy comforting dinner is ready to serve creamy mashed potatoes those crispy roasted brussels sprouts for that texture difference and of course that hearty mushroom gravy poured over everything it’s dinner time I’m going to call the kids in and I’m going to enjoy this beautiful comforting cozy meal all right moment of truth let’s give this a taste first bite that creamy mashed potato with a drizzle of that rich mushroom gravy ah yes it is so smooth so comforting and that little hint of balsamic just adds a depth of flavor that makes it so special this is exactly the kind of meal that feels like a hug in a bowl it’s warm it’s filling but also super easy to throw together even on a busy day we really hope you give this a try and if you do let me know how you make it your own all righty on to the next recipe all right so we’re Mak making something on a whim here tonight I knew I wanted to make pasta but as always I just I’m just working with what I have on hand and letting inspiration kind of lead the way so I knew I had some sundried tomatoes that I wanted to use and that’s where the idea for tonight’s sauce started instead of cooking the sauce on the stove top I thought why not make it right in the oven less hands on work so yeah let’s just do that I preheated the oven to about 350 375 I believe I grabbed my roasting dish and I’m adding some sliced up onions some sliced up portabella mushrooms the same ones that I got on clearance I I stocked up so I had a couple of these on hand we’re going to then add some of that or all of that sundried tomatoes so since I stored them in the fridge the oil solidified a bit but that’s totally fine it’s going to melt beautifully in the oven and coat everything with so much flavor we’re going to add a little bit of grape seed oil on top so we can roast this nicely in the oven we’re going to season it with some salt as well of course and then we’re going to toss everything together so it is they’re all the ingredients are friends with each other into the oven it goes we’re going to set the timer for about I would say 25 30 minutes or so we’ll watch it then we’re going to start a pot of water for pasta salt it liberally and we’re going to use some organic spaghetti tonight while the pasta is cooking I’m going to finish on the sauce so I just checked on my uh mushroom gravy sauce if you will I had some coconut cream in the fridge that I wanted to use so I decided to make this a creamy mushroom sauce for the pasta I only had about like half a can of coconut milk if you add more you can totally add this I am cooking for a larger family so we do need a little bit more ingredients I stepped away from making that sauce a little bit to make a really quick and simple salad to go with our pasta tonight so I’ve got some leftover red cabbage that I’m going to chop up along with some roma lettuce which is going to be the base for our salad for our salad dressing I have some tahini here which is basically a sesame paste I’m going to add a a little bit more because I thought that I needed just a little bit more sauce I adding some coconut aminos for a little bit of salty and a little bit of sweet flavors in here as well I forgot to include this in the video but I did add a juice of one lime and of course taste for any seasonings or salt that you need the salad dressing is ready and our salad is ready as well of course it’s a salad you can add anything but for busy families we’re going to keep it really simple tonight just two ingredient salad it’s going to taste bomb with this salad dressing let’s take taste test a little bit of the salad just to make sure everything is on point and yep it is approved dinner is almost ready so now I’m getting back to that sauce now I knew I had to make this sauce a little Saucier I’m going to add some pasta water in here the starchy water really makes this nice and Rich and thick I am tasting this sauce to just see what it’s missing see what I need to add to make this just a little bit better here comes my inspiration I was using the tahini for our salad dressing I’m going to add tahini into our mushroom sauce to make it creamy as well to kind of blend those flavors again from the salad we’re going to add some coconut aminos and now it really is a rich and beautiful sauce ready for our pasta to be tossed in dinner is served everybody so I just called everybody to come in they were dying to taste this so of course they didn’t get no bowls so they’re just going to grab a fork and taste test this of course I want the kids to approve of this pasta so I let them just taste test and let me know their feedback pasta is oh so welcoming and always comforting I would recommend adding a little bit of pepper on the top and this pasta was very very well liked by all of our kids our oldest son said I haven’t made such a delicious pasta in a long time so he definitely approved the last comfort meal is inspired by a spot my kids absolutely love which is Teriyaki Madness it’s that American fast food take on Japanese flavors and while it is tasty every time we eat out it feels like it literally costs us an arm and a leg and maybe even a kidney not joking have you seen the prices that are on there listed for some tofu rice and vegetables J Louise anyway I decided to start making this at home and honestly it’s just as good way healthier and so much more budget friendly so we are going to start off by using some blocks of organic tofu which really soaks up all the flavor that you put into it I am just going to drain it really quickly you don’t have to use a tofu press you can if you want to just to do it overnight and just prep it for the next morning but when you’re in a hurry you know you do what you need to do so I drained three blocks and you can I usually buy three blocks of tofu from my local Smiths for $5 very very cost efficient I’m going to save a dish by chopping up our tofu just in the Box itself just crisscrossing it making them cubed and I’m just going to put them in a baking dish like this this may cause some comments in the comment section because this is not your typical American comfort food but for those of us like for myself who really love exploring different Cuisines and I am Asian obviously um this right here is pure Comfort it’s very very comforting food a cozy nourishing bowl of homemade Teryaki tofu and broccoli yes please any day now let’s talk broccoli I am using frozen organic broccoli because it is a lifesaver so no chopping no prep it’s just they they usually freeze it at the peak of the peak of freshness so you know it’s sometimes you know buying a frozen is usually way more affordable sometimes which is always a bonus and of course it saves so much time I’m going to drizzle it with a little bit of oil you can use any type of oil grape seed oil Works nicely I’m going to use a little bit of sesame oil this may change the flavors a bit so if you don’t like that Sesame flavor don’t use it I’m also going to use some organic soy sauce you don’t have to use this if you don’t want to it’s just for the Umami saltiness and then we’re going to add some coconut aminos as well the coconut aminos adds a little Sweetness in here so I don’t need to add any brown sugar or anything in our teriyaki sauce um this doubles up so I love using coconut aminos for Teriyaki Madness quote unquote Teriyaki Madness at home you can also add garlic ginger and maybe even a splash of rice vinegar to balance everything out um yeah so you can also add some sriacha if you want that little bit of spicy kick we are also going to add a little bit of salt you can actually mix all of these in a container or like a um mixing bowl and then pour it all over your vegetables I’m saving a dish because sometimes the less dishes the better if you know what I mean raising a large family dishes add up around here and I’m not trying to wash a bunch of dishes here so this is what we’re doing today so we’re just going to mix all of these sauces together the tofu really absorbs all of these these flavors you can also do this overnight and prep it so that the tofu can have even more time to absorb all of those flavors if you like it a little bit more Saucy which it looks like I needed some more sauce I added some more coconut aminos in here and then you can see already that the tofu is absorbing it it’s turning a dark brown color love it and that’s when you know the flavors are soaking into the tofu this is going into the oven at 450° if you want this faster you can turn up the oven um I would recommend putting the tofu in a little bit earlier so give the tofu about an extra 15 20 minutes ahead of the vegetables and now it is just time to make rice we love jasmine rice at home I grew up eating jasmine rice I think it’s the best rice in the world because of its fragrant tastiness of it and it’s not as sticky and starchy of course for the Teriyaki Madness they use the C rice which is a little bit stickier and a little bit um it’s a short grain so it is definitely stickier so if you like a stickier Rice go ahead and just use um the Cal Rose brand or you could use any other rice that you like I know a lot of you guys had suggested that we should get like a instant pot or a rice cooker we used to have both and we decided um our rice cooker we no longer need because we weren’t eating as much rice at the time and then also for the insta pot it actually broke on us so I ended up just learning how to make rice in a pot which is really strange for Asian households but you know you got to do what you got to do I learned a new skill out of that anyway this is what it looks like everything is ready the rice took only like 15 20 minutes the tofu took about like I would say half an hour 45 minutes and honestly it didn’t really take much Hands-On time because you could just put everything in the oven and go do whatever you need to do we make our quote unquote Teriyaki manace at home at least once a week I would say because it is just so convenient and so satisfying and comforting it feeds a crowd for very very little money like I said I got the Tofu for like $5 the broccoli is I don’t know like $7 8 and then um the rice is like pennies right and really it’s just the sauces and the onion so you can make this for a large crowd for I would say about $10 $15 if you saw I was ladling up that teriyaki sauce on my rice it is very very much needed because it’s so delicious and flavorful and then you’re going to add some siracha if you want it hot and spicy which I really love and there you go a comforting bowl of homemade terak Manis which is just tofu vegetables and rice it is dinner time for everybody I’m going to call all of the kiddos and they’re going to get their share of [Music] dinner all right it’s time for the best part which is the taste test first a bite of that crispy semi crispy tofu coated with that really nice teriyaki sauce yes it’s very very good the outside is perfectly golden the inside is nice and soft and that sauce is sweet and savory and just the right amount of sort of like sticky because it kind of caramelizes in the oven the broccoli is tasty as well the roasting really brings out this like nutty flavor almost and it soaked up all that delicious sauce as well this meal is everything I wanted it to be quick budget friendly and so comforting it’s proof that you don’t need to spend a fortune just to enjoy some good food and honestly I might never need to go to Teriyaki Madness ever again and that wraps up today’s video we made three simple comforting and budget friendly meals that prove homemade plant-based food can be just as satisfying and comforting if not more than take out thank you so much for spending time with us today we hope that you subscribe if you’re new and we will see you on the next video bye everybody