Very budget friendly.
I don't know what kind of vegan "tuna" you have, but in Mexico we have Soyamigo (last picture), l which has a variety of vegan soy-based "meats" that are cheap and tasty once prepared.
In Spanish these are called "Croquetas de Atún".
I fry carrots (3-4) and onion with the vegan tuna, while 4 large potatoes are boiling with salt.
Once everything is ready we just mash the potatoes, add the vegan tuna little by little, and, as a personal preference I add like a cup of garbanzo meal with breadcrumbs. for the texture.
You make small cakes/ balls with the minute, and pass each one on more breadcrumos. It you can, add some seaweed in the mix for a bit of "sea" flavor, but that's not necessary, the flavor is still great.
For seasoning I normally just use salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, and garlic or garlic salt.
The original/traditional recipe calls for the cakes to be fried, but I made mine on an oven to be a bit healthy.
The veggies plus the vegan tuna mix made 20 well sized cakes. I ate 4 at a time, as they are filling, so these lasted for 5 days. I recommend eating with rice, and a salad with lettuce (I didn't have any), tomato or something just as fresh, and LOTS of lemon/lime.
by Jerry294