Meal Prep Plan: How I Prep a Week of Vegan Meals
updated Mar 24, 2021
My family doesn’t subscribe to a specific diet; rather, we focus on eating a wide variety of foods that feel (mostly) healthy to us. Some weeks that means opting for fewer carbs, and other times that means packing our meals with extra protein. This week we’re focusing on vegan meals, filled with plant-based protein and lots of veggies.
This Power Hour will help you prep a week of vegan breakfasts, lunches, and dinners for two adults in about 90 minutes. All that’s left to do at mealtime is some quick assembly and light cooking to bring it all together. Ready to get started?
Meal Prep Goals
- Breakfast: A wholesome, hearty breakfast that can be eaten at home or on the go (five days).
- Lunch: A light, protein-packed lunch (five days).
- Dinner: A mix of fully cooked dinners that just need reheating, and prepped components that can be turned into dinner with minimal time and effort (five days).
- Nutritional Goals: While we don’t have any food restrictions, this week we’re following a vegan diet, focused on plant-based proteins, lots of vegetables, and goods fats.
Meal Prep Plan Snapshot
- Feeds: Two people
- Prep Time: About 1 1/2 hours
- Meals Covered: About 80% (no weekend meals)
- Weeknight Cooking Required? Moderate (15 to 20 minutes of cooking to get dinner on the table).
Meal Plan
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
Shopping List
Below are the ingredients I bought or used for this meal prep plan. Shop your pantry, refrigerator, and freezer before setting foot in the store (or opening your grocery delivery app) to avoid adding items to the cart that you already have on hand. I also used staple ingredients — like olive and vegetable oils, kosher salt, and black pepper — that are not listed here.
- Produce: 1 pound carrots, 1 apple, 4 sweet potatoes, 1 pint blueberries, 1 package cauliflower rice, 1 bunch parsley, 1 bunch cilantro, 1 bunch dill, 3 avocados, 5 limes, 3 red onions, 1 package sprouts, 1 head Napa cabbage, 1 pound sliced cremini mushrooms, 2 large bunches kale, 2 heads broccoli, 1 head cauliflower
- Refrigerated & frozen items: Cashew milk, 2 containers almond yogurt, frozen corn, 16 ounces hummus
- Pantry: Old-fashioned oats, maple syrup, raisins, 1 can black beans, 2 jars salsa, 2 cans chickpeas, 1 jar pickles, 1 jar vegan mayo, multigrain bread, 1 can unsweetened coconut milk, peanut butter, thin rice noodles, corn tortillas, pita chips
Power Hour: How I Get the Prep Done
- Roast all vegetables: While the oven heats to 400°F, prep the vegetables including the broccoli, cauliflower, and onion for the hummus bowls and the whole sweet potatoes for breakfast . The vegetables roast for 30 to 40 minutes; meanwhile get started on the enchilada casserole .
- Cook mushrooms and kale: Sauté the mushrooms and kale for the enchilada casserole .
- Make burrito bowls : Simmer the beans and corn, and sauté the cauliflower rice. Divide everything, along with some salsa, into meal prep containers for grab-and-go lunches.
- Soak rice noodles: The beauty of rice noodles is that they simply need to be soaked in hot water, rather than cooked on the stovetop. Boil a kettle of water, and pour it over the rice noodles in a large bowl. While they soak and soften for about 15 minutes, get out the ingredients for the chickpea salad.
- Make chickpea salad : Make a double batch of chickpea salad by mashing the chickpeas, chopping vegetables, then mixing everything together. Store in a large covered bowl in the refrigerator, and layer it between bread for sandwiches during the week.
- Make overnight oats : Mix together the oats, milk, and toppings for the overnight oats in a large bowl, then evenly divide the mixture between lidded jars for grab-and-go breakfasts.
- Prep stir-fry vegetables and sauce : Chop the cabbage and carrots for the stir-fry, mix together the peanut sauce, and store everything in separate containers in the refrigerator.
A Week of Vegan Meals
Breakfast
Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Morning Glory Overnight Oats : In the morning, we give the oats one more stir, then top them with walnuts and toasted coconut flakes before eating.
Tuesday, Thursday, Breakfast Sweet Potato : We usually eat our sweet potatoes chilled for simplicity, although they can also be reheated. We split them open, fluff the insides, then fill it with almond yogurt, toasted nuts, fresh fruit, and a drizzle of maple syrup.
Lunch
Monday and Friday, Cauliflower Rice Burrito Bowls : Before heading out the door in the morning, my husband adds half an avocado and a lime wedge to his burrito bowl, and I do the same at lunchtime.
Tuesday and Thursday, Smashed Chickpea Salad Sandwiches : In the morning we spread the chickpea salad between a couple of slices of bread for sandwiches.
Wednesday, Smoky Roasted Vegetable Hummus Bowl : We add the hummus to a lunch container, top with chilled roasted vegetables, parsley, and a wedge of lime, plus some pita chips on the side.
Dinner
Monday and Wednesday, Vegan Stir-Fried Cabbage in Peanut Sauce : Since everything is prepped all that’s left to do is stir-fry the vegetables and sauce and reheat the noodles. We’ll reheat the leftovers for dinner on Wednesday.
Tuesday and Thursday, Vegan Enchilada Casserole : While the oven heats up, I layer the tortillas, salsa, and vegetable filling into a large baking sheet. To serve, we’ll top it with chopped avocado and cilantro, and reheat the leftovers on Thursday.
Friday, Smoky Roasted Vegetable Hummus Bowl : We reheat the roasted vegetables in the oven, then finish with a generous squeeze of lime juice.
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Power Hour Meal Prep is the series where we help you put it all together. We show you how to eat well during the week with an hour or two of Power Hour prep over the weekend. Every plan is different; mix and match to find your own personal sweet spot.
Kelli Foster
Food Editor, Plan & Prep
Kelli is the Food Editor for Plan & Prep content for Kitchn. She's a graduate of the French Culinary Institute and author of the cookbooks, The Probiotic Kitchen , Buddha Bowls , and Everyday Freekeh Meals . She lives in New York.
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Source : food
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