spinach (usually big bundles of baby spinach are $1.99ish)
squash
peppers
organic peanut butter + organic whole grain bread + organic (real fruit) jams
bulk quantities of cottage cheese
bulk greek yogurt (buying individual yogurts and cottage cheeses is way too expensive, in comparison)
organic raisins are always cheap (packed with electrolytes, antioxidants, and fiber. people really under appreciate the power of raisins!)
organic tofu
bananas
eggs (unfortunately, the cage free eggs are like 3x as much)
falafel mix (go even cheaper and grind your own chickpeas and spices)
bulk bags of beans
bulk rice
tuna fish
bulk grains - mix em together and make your own cereal
macro vegan boxes of noodles in my hood are like $5 and are 2 meals per box
everything i listed should be under $3, most things being around $2 (peanut butter will be around $5-6). the bulk items are more, but if you break it down to the per-serving rations, then its very cheap.
its really a battle of
need vs
want. luxury vs necessity.
heres the thing: if you dont have much money but want solid sources of calories that are also very healthy and offer a complete nutritional profile, all you need to do is see how many calories youre eating per meal. more specifically, note where the calories are coming from. too many coming from carbs? too many coming from fats? too much protein but not enough fruits, veggies, and fibers? then reduce where the majority is coming from, save it for the next meal, and replace with something more balanced. swap all beverages out for water, get those calories through oils and nuts and other hearty things. get the vitamins through fresh fruit, too much money is spent on beverages, water is just fine. eat heartier, calorie rich foods, and you wont need to eat as much per meal. for example, most people might scoff at a pb & j for dinner, but if youre using organic peanut butter, org bread, and org real fruit jams/preserves, youre getting a large dose of calories, proteins, vitamins, antioxidants, carbs, fiber, etc, for the cheap.
so a bad example would be bread with pasta and marinara sauce. youre overloading the carbs, likely not getting complete proteins, and lacking antioxidants and vitamins (most of the healthy stuff in the sauce was likely destroyed while cooking). i dont mean overloading the carbs as in its unhealthy, i mean it as in youre just eating too many calories from the same sort of caloric source, and its just a waste. its a luxury. its like pumping gas into a full tank. youd need to remove lots of those carbs and replace them with other sources of nutrition.
to better the above, half the amount of the pasta, save the bread for the next meal, throw in some chopped up fried eggs, and some fresh, uncooked peppers. sound bland and boring? throw on some fresh basil and parsley or oregano, and some fresh uncooked garlic. now youre packing it with nutrients and antioxidants (fresh spices are often rich in these things). still sound bland and boring? then youre too rich to care
another bad example would be eating a steak with mushrooms and asparagus. its highly unlikely youre a 300lb bodybuilder if youre scrounging for change, so you totally dont need to eat that much protein in one sitting (neither does the bodybuilder). its just a waste. cut the steak into 1/3 (and honestly, thats probably still slightly over what you
need), add a few more cheap veggies, and add some fresh spices and whatnot. now youre one steak is 3 steaks, and you have dinner for 3 nights instead of 1. eat what your body needs, not what your body wants.
dont look at it as pleasure. look at it as fuel. worry about pleasure when you can afford it.
"he who enjoys food the most requires sauce the least!" - Stratigos Xenophon