Nonetheless want convincing? Learn the way to do Veganuary then uncover our favorite vegan meal concepts to get these plant-based juices flowing, in addition to our fast vegan recipes for while you’re quick on time. Subsequent uncover 10 issues I want I knew earlier than going vegan and 10 storecupboard substances each vegan ought to have of their pantry.
The very best meal prep concepts for Veganuary
1. Make a base sauce
One in all my favorite methods to get forward of a busy week is to make a fast sauce on the weekend that may be stirred by way of pasta, resembling this straightforward vegan pesto. Pesto is especially nice as it is so versatile – it may also be unfold into sandwiches or drizzled over roasted veg to provide them a bit of further pizzazz. The sauce for this gazpacho spaghetti may also be whizzed collectively and saved within the freezer for while you’re quick on time.
Strive these roasted cauliflower steaks with romesco – merely omit the eggs to make it vegan. By making the romesco sauce forward, all it’s a must to do on the day is prepare dinner your cauliflower steaks – and so they’re good sufficient to serve to visitors. In an analogous vein, dips like muhammara may be made forward – in truth, this one tastes even higher when it has sat for a day or so. Use it as a base for topping with this herby grain salad – merely omit the feta or swap for a vegan model.
2. Make a salad dressing
You may be stunned by how helpful it’s to have a pre-made salad dressing prepared within the fridge, plus it will provide help to resist the temptation of a pre-packaged counterpart that is not anyplace close to as flavourful or nearly as good for you. For a fantastic work-from-home lunch, merely throw collectively some beans, salad leaves, croutons and contemporary veg, then drizzle over your prepped dressing to deliver all of it collectively.
Strive our miso and ginger dressing so as to add flavour and wholesome gut-boosting micro organism to any salad leaves. Uncover our vegan salad recipes for extra inspiration. The dressing from our vegan caesar salad is one other nice one to prep forward, plus pre-cooking your aubergine ‘bacon’ makes weekday lunches even simpler. Keep in mind to maintain your dressing separate out of your contemporary salad greens till you’re able to eat to stop them from going soggy.
3. Pre-roast veggies
Roasting a choice of Mediterranean veggies is an effective way to get forward of meal prep. Strive our grilled vegetable antipasti prepared for layering into sandwiches or making your personal at-home deli lunch salad.
If you happen to choose your greens freshly cooked, pre-chop a choice of hardy veg resembling carrots, candy potatoes, peppers and cauliflower a number of days forward. Different veggies like leafy greens, starches like potatoes and herbs are finest ready contemporary on the day. Labelling them is non-obligatory however useful, and can allow you to reside out your fantasy of being a chef on The Bear. When you’ve got clear takeaway containers, these are notably helpful for getting organised.
4. Make tofu ‘rooster’
It is arduous to disregard the wide selection of vegan ‘rooster’ alternate options out there in supermarkets, however I a lot choose making my very own, as it is easy, cheaper and you’ve got full management of the seasonings. Take a block of agency tofu, break it into cubes along with your arms, then combine with a sprinkling of corn starch for crispiness together with seasonings resembling dietary yeast, salt, pepper, garlic powder and chilli flakes or herbs. Prepare dinner till golden within the air fryer, oven or frying pan with a bit of oil. From there you possibly can add it into salads, curries, pasta bakes and extra – change up the seasonings or swap in tempeh to maintain it contemporary.
If you happen to’re feeling notably bold you may make your personal seitan to make use of in an analogous approach. If you happen to’ve bought no time to spare you possibly can merely slice smoked tofu to get pleasure from in a sandwich or salad with none further preparation or cooking.
5. Roast chickpeas
Not solely a fantastic addition for salads and soups, roast chickpeas may also be loved as a wholesome snack any time of the day. The important thing to their success is getting them actually crisp, so as soon as drained make certain to pat dry, then sprinkle over your seasonings of alternative – I notably like smoked paprika and cumin. Drizzle with a bit of oil then roast on one layer on a baking tray within the oven at round 180C fan, or within the air fryer till golden and crispy – do not take them out in the event that they’re nonetheless smooth.
Hold them within the fridge prepared for sprinkling and snacking – resembling in our fattoush with crisp spiced chickpeas.
6. Pickle some veg
The pickle pattern is exhibiting no indicators of waning as we head in 2025, and for good motive. Fermented meals resembling pickles have been linked to intestine well being advantages, and their tangy flavours work effectively in sandwiches, burgers and extra.
Do not be daunted by making your personal. They’re surprisingly straightforward, plus far more inexpensive and scrumptious than the variations you’d discover within the grocery store or well being meals retailers. It is also an effective way of stopping unhappy veggies from going to waste – pickle them whereas they’re contemporary and so they’ll stick round for much longer than their un-pickled counterparts.
You may even make your personal cucumber kimchi – simply make certain to depart out the fish sauce. Uncover much more pickling recipes and study all the things you’ll want to learn about preserving and pickling.
8. Pre-cook grains
Grains resembling quinoa depend as an entire protein, which means they include all the 9 important amino acids, in order that they’re a fantastic one to have available within the fridge. Pre-prepared pouches of grains and rice are handy however you’ll pay a premium for them, to not point out extra plastic consumption because of their small portion sizes. Get impressed with our quinoa recipes – these vegan burritos are fast to assemble when you might have your quinoa pre-cooked.
Pre-cooked rice is all the time helpful to have prepared for a fast and simple dinner. One recipe I all the time return to is kimchi fried rice: crumble tofu right into a frying pan along with your leftover rice and stir-fry with crunchy inexperienced veg and your alternative of seasonings – suppose gochujang, soy sauce, ginger and garlic. Simply make certain your rice is reheated to piping sizzling. Or make our tofu fried rice with any rice leftovers. For a fast lunch or dinner, our vegan sushi bowls are a merely meeting job if you happen to’re utilizing your personal pre-cooked rice.
9. Batch-prep sandwich fillings
No one likes a soggy sandwich at work, and even much less so one with a boring filling. Make a batch of sandwich fillings on the weekend to take workplace lunches off your to-do listing. Our coronation chickpea salad is stuffed with flavour; swap the yogurt for a vegan model then hold it in your fridge at work prepared for loading into slices of bread, a baguette or lettuce cups.
For an additional hearty chickpea lunch, meal prep your miso chickpeas able to unfold on avocado toast. Or whizz collectively avocado, hummus and tahini forward of time for these straightforward avocado hummus, falafel and broad bean baguettes, able to be assembled at work. Equally, the weather of our banh mi with crispy tofu and pickled greens may be prepped forward for a vibrant lunch to stay up for, or hold a batch of home made vegan ‘bacon’ within the fridge able to make these MBLT sandwiches.
10. Pre-marinate tofu
Any self-respecting vegan is aware of that this fermented soy protein kinds an integral a part of a wholesome whole-food, plant-based weight loss plan. Marinating tofu or tempeh a day or two forward is an effective way to make sure your plant-based protein is stuffed with flavour.
Make the marinade forward for this kimchi-baked tofu (simply make certain your kimchi is vegan) or take it to the subsequent stage by pre-cooking the tofu, then you possibly can merely assemble dinners along with your pre-cooked rice or grains. Strive an analogous method with our marinated tempeh or tempeh stir-fry.
If you happen to’re feeling extra bold, you possibly can strive making your personal marinated tofu ‘feta’. Mix small cubes of agency pressed tofu with a marinade of white miso paste, apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, dietary yeast, further virgin olive oil and combined dried herbs – have a go experimenting till you might have the appropriate ratios on your palette. Uncover our greatest tofu recipes for extra inspiration.
