"Vegan food is expensive" is one of those claims that gets repeated so often it starts to sound like fact. A peer-reviewed study tracking actual grocery receipts found the opposite.
Is going vegan expensive or cheaper? What the real-receipt data shows
The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) ran a study, published in JAMA Network Open, that randomly assigned participants to a low-fat vegan diet for 16 weeks and tracked their actual grocery spending the whole time -- not estimates, actual receipts. The vegan group spent 19% less than typical standard American diet spending, saving more than $650 a year on average, mostly from buying less meat, dairy, and added fats.
Vegan grocery savings calculator: turning 19% into your own number
A national average is useful context, but the number that actually matters is yours -- 19% of a $100/week grocery bill is a very different dollar amount than 19% of a $300/week bill. Applying the study's measured rate to your own current spending gives a much more concrete, personal estimate than just reading the headline $650 figure.
Is a vegetarian diet cheaper than a vegan diet?
Here's where it gets murkier: PCRM's study measured a vegan diet specifically, not a vegetarian one, so there's no equally solid, study-backed number for vegetarian savings. It's reasonable to expect some savings from cutting meat while keeping dairy and eggs, but anyone citing a precise vegetarian percentage is likely extrapolating rather than quoting real data.
What the PCRM study actually measured
This wasn't a survey or a back-of-envelope estimate -- it was a randomized controlled trial with real grocery receipt tracking over 16 weeks, published in a peer-reviewed journal. That's a meaningfully stronger form of evidence than most "diet costs less" claims you'll find online, which is part of why this specific 19% figure is worth taking seriously.
The Vegetarian/Vegan Diet Grocery Savings Calculator applies PCRM's verified 19% vegan savings rate (and a clearly-labeled, softer vegetarian estimate) to your own current weekly grocery spending.
Try the Vegetarian/Vegan Diet Grocery Savings Calculator →
Source: Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, study published in JAMA Network Open (pcrm.org/news/news-releases/going-vegan-could-save-more-650-year-grocery-costs-finds-new-research).