Vegetarian weekly dinner menu on a budget: 7 nights
Seven meat-free nights that never repeat but share the same shop — planned around this week's offers, with live prices from seven Swiss chains.
A budget vegetarian weekly dinner menu rests on seven cheap building blocks — a lentil dish, a bean dish, an egg dish, a seasonal-veg stir-fry, pasta, rösti or potatoes, and on Sunday a soup that uses up the leftovers. The trick is the order: start from this week's offers and pick the recipes to match, instead of fixing the menu first and paying full price later.
As of July 2026. This menu is a framework, not a price list — the current price per ingredient and the week's total show up live in the Rappn app the moment you open a recipe and add the ingredients to your shopping list.
Rappn compares Migros, Coop, Aldi, Lidl, Denner, Aligro and Otto's neutrally and 100% free — with no retailer contracts, so no favourite store.
What does a budget vegetarian weekly menu look like?
Cooking vegetarian cheaply comes down to three things: cheap plant proteins, seasonal produce and smart reuse. Pulses — lentils, beans, chickpeas — deliver protein at a fraction of the meat price, eggs are the cheapest complete protein, and vegetables are at their lowest when they are in Swiss season. In July that means courgettes, peppers, tomatoes, green beans, broccoli and fennel. Around these blocks you plan seven nights that never repeat yet share the same shop.
7 cheap vegetarian dinners — the week's framework
| Night | Dish idea | Why it's budget-friendly |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | Lentil dal or lentil stew | Dried lentils are among the cheapest protein per gram, red ones need no soaking, and one pot lasts two nights. |
| Tuesday | Pasta with tomato-courgette sauce | Dried pasta is a pantry staple (own-brands M-Budget/Prix Garantie are among the cheapest per kilo) and tomatoes and courgettes are at their July low. |
| Wednesday | Frittata or shakshuka | Eggs are the cheapest complete protein — and this is the "empty the fridge" night: leftover veg goes in, nothing gets wasted. |
| Thursday | Seasonal-veg stir-fry with rice | Build it entirely from whatever veg is on offer this week (July: peppers, green beans, broccoli, courgettes); rice or noodles as the cheap base. |
| Friday | Rösti with a fried egg, or potato gratin | Potatoes are the cheapest filling carb, a bag lasts, and there are barely any extras — the Swiss classic. |
| Saturday | Chili sin carne or bean stew | Beans (dried or tinned) are cheap protein, the big pot freezes, and it often tastes better reheated. |
| Sunday | Vegetable soup or minestrone | The "use-it-up" night: leftover veg, lentil and bean odds, plus a parmesan rind become soup — near-zero waste. |
How to cook vegetarian on a budget — plan the week around the offers
The method matters more than any single recipe. Flip the usual order: first check what's running this week in the offers on veg, eggs, tofu and pantry staples, then choose the dishes whose main ingredient is discounted. Broccoli on offer? Thursday becomes a broccoli stir-fry. Peppers cheap? They go into Wednesday's shakshuka. That way you eat seasonally and cheaply without repeating the same plate.
Three levers cut the bill further. First, own-brands — M-Budget at Migros and Prix Garantie at Coop are often the cheapest option on the shelf for pasta, rice, lentils, tinned tomatoes and eggs. Second, the discounters Aldi, Lidl and Denner, regularly lower on basics and veg. Third, buying dry in bulk: dried lentils, beans and chickpeas cost a fraction of meat per portion of protein and keep for months.
The biggest lever, though, is ingredient overlap: buy things that appear in several dishes. One tin of tomatoes goes into the pasta and the chilli, a bag of onions and a head of garlic carry almost everything, and the stir-fry's leftover veg lands in Sunday's soup. Batch cooking multiplies the effect: cook lentils and beans in big pots and freeze half — on a lazy night you have dinner ready instead of ordering out at a premium.
Because prices shift every week across all seven chains, there's no fixed weekly total that will still be right tomorrow. Open a recipe in Rappn instead: the app shows the lowest current offer for each ingredient and how many of them are on offer, with the saving per shop.
What does a vegetarian week actually cost?
Honest answer: it depends — on this week's offers, your portions, and whether you go organic or own-brand. An "under CHF X" goal is reachable if you build the dishes around the discounted ingredients; but it's a goal you hit at the shop, not a guaranteed number. See it live: search the Rappn recipes for vegetarian dishes whose ingredients are on offer, compare the chains in the price comparison, and build the week in the app.
Sources checked: .
This is Rappn's shopping-list view: add a recipe's ingredients and see the current offer for each one across Migros, Coop, Aldi, Lidl, Denner, Aligro and Otto’s. Tap around to try it.
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Frequently Asked Questions
How much does a vegetarian weekly menu cost in Switzerland?
There's no fixed amount — it depends on this week's offers, your portions and your brand choice. Rather than an invented figure, add the ingredients to your list in Rappn and see the current total across all seven chains.
What's the cheapest vegetarian protein source?
Dried pulses — lentils, beans, chickpeas — are the cheapest per gram of protein, especially bought in bulk. Eggs are the cheapest complete protein, and tofu the most affordable fully plant-based complete option. The price comparison shows which brand is cheapest right now.
Which vegetables are cheap in July in Switzerland?
In season, and therefore at their lowest in July: courgettes, peppers, tomatoes, green beans, broccoli, fennel, cucumbers and salad, among others. Shopping seasonally is easier on both your budget and the environment.
How do I save the most on a vegetarian shop?
Plan around the offers, reach for own-brands (M-Budget, Prix Garantie), check the discounters (Aldi, Lidl, Denner), buy dry goods in bulk, and overlap ingredients across several dishes. Batch cooking and a use-it-up soup on Sunday cut the bill further.
Is cooking vegetarian really cheaper than with meat?
Plant proteins like lentils and beans usually cost far less per portion than meat — so yes, as long as you stick to basic ingredients and avoid pricey meat substitutes. You can see the actual difference live in the price comparison.
How do I plan the week around the offers?
Open the offers overview first, note the discounted veg and pantry items, then search the Rappn recipes for matching vegetarian dishes and build the ingredients in the app — that way the menu follows the offers, not the other way round.