7 Simple meals
Whether you’re already vegan or just want to include some animal-free meals into your week, you’ll love these quick and delicious lunch and dinner ideas! The ideas and recipes below are super versatile, as you can play with different plant-based protein sources, veggies, and sauces!
Buddha bowls
Buddha bowls are fresh, wholesome, delicious and affordable. They’re full of veggies, packed with protein, and keep you full with healthy grains. They’re also great because you can get creative with different veggie combinations, sauces, and dressings!
All you have to do is:
Select and cook your base grains – brown, white, black, red, or wild rice, quinoa, buckwheat, millet, farro, couscous, or noodles.
Prep and cook your vegetables – choose three or more different vegetables.
Prep and cook your plant-based protein – tofu, tempeh, beans, lentils, falafel, or plant-based meat.
Make a dressing –
Plate and top with seeds and nuts – sesame, hemp, pinenuts, peanuts, sunflower, or pumpkin.
Here are some of our favourites to get you started:
Minimalist Baker’s sweet potato Chickpea Buddha
Bianca Zapatka’s Mediterranean buddha bowl with quinoa
Mexican
Burritos, nachos, quesadillas – you can still have them all!
Rainbow Plant Life’s vegan nachos are fully loaded. Tortilla chips layered with vegan cheese, taco ‘meat’, refried beans, guacamole, pico de gallo, vegan sour cream, and pickled onions for the ultimate nacho experience.
A Couple Cook’s burrito recipe is packed to the brim with Mexican rice, seasoned black beans, roasted capsicum, and avocado.
The Minimalist Baker’s gooey cheese with smoky black beans quesadilla are tasty, comforting, and quick. You can even premake the filling ahead of time for a quick dinner throughout the week.
BLT’s
Crispy flavoursome tofu pieces, crunchy lettuce, juicy tomatoes, creamy egg-free mayo, and a soft roll – what more could you ask for? BOSH has a great recipe for you to follow.
Or you can grab some animal-free bacon from your local supermarket:
NEXT – Bacon style strips
Made With Plants – Meat free bacon
Get Plant’d – Bacon
Sunfed – Boar Free Bacon
Lamyong – Vegan bacon strips
Credit: BOSH - BLAT
Vermicelli bowls with tofu
Choosing Chia’s Vietnamese noodle bowls are tasty, fresh, healthy, and take minimal effort to make! They’re perfect for whenever you want a healthy meal that is also delicious!
You can also add some vegan ‘chicken’ using:
Birds Eye – Plant-based chicken
Sunfed – Chicken free chicken
Meet – Plant based chicken
Deliciou – Plant based chicken
Next - Chick’n chunks
Plant Asia – Plant based roast chicken
Bolognese
It is super simple to veganise bolognese. You can use lentils, mushrooms, walnuts, textured vegetable protein (TVP), sunflower mince, or plant-based meats!
The Almond Eater’s hearty lentil bolognese recipe takes just 30 minutes to make!
If you have a little extra time, you have to try this walnut and mushroom bolognese from The Kitchn.
If you have a non-vegan recipe, you can just sub in the meat for:
Beyond Meat – plant based meat
Impossible – Beef made from plants
Naturli – Plant base beef
Plant Nutrition – Bolognaise
Birds Eye – Plant based mince
Future – Mince
Herb and Sons – Beef free mince
Macro – TVP
Wellness Road – Textured vegetable protein
Sunflower Family – Organic sunflower mince
Chickpea curry
Chickpea curries are easy to make, delicious, customisable, and budget-friendly. Look no further than Jessica in the Kitchen’s super easy recipe.
Tempeh Ceasar pitas
Ceasar salad is a classic and something that can easily be made to be animal-friendly! This Savory Vegan has created a delicious tempeh caesar salad pita. It’s filled with a creamy vegan caesar dressing, crispy tempeh, and plenty of fresh veggies.
If you don’t have time to make the dressing, you can pick up Vegan Ceasar Dressing from your local Coles!
