Vegan Meal Prep Dinner Concepts

Any week is healthier when you’ve got nutritious, home-cooked meals within the fridge, ready to be reheated on the finish of an extended day. On this publish, I share a few of my favourite vegan meal prep dinner concepts, together with suggestions of freezing and reheating. Start your week with the information that dinner is taken care of!

Now that I’ve shared a few of my favourite meal prep breakfast ideas and lunch ideas, it’s time to deal with dinner.

The worth of a meal prep dinner

For a very long time, dinner was the meal that I used to be least prone to meal prep.

On the time, I had extra flexibility in my schedule. I assumed to myself that if I might put together one thing on the finish of the day, I ought to.

Right here’s what I’ve realized:

Simply because I can cook dinner on the finish of the day, it doesn’t imply that I ought to.

I don’t put together nice meals after I’m drained. After I do this, I normally rush via the method, and my meals endure for it.

There’s no larger bummer of spending time, power, and elements on a recipe—not to mention on a weeknight—and having it not end up properly.

Determination fatigue isn’t my buddy.

Like most individuals, I have to make quite a lot of selections over the course of a median work day.

If I arrive at dinnertime with no sense of what I’m making, then I’ll in all probability stare into my fridge blankly. I’ll do that even when I’ve elements for an excellent meal in there.

The issue at that time isn’t what’s obtainable. The issue is that I lack the motivation and creativity to provide you with concepts.

Some nights I simply don’t really feel like cooking—and that’s OK.

That is most nights, truly. Particularly weeknights.

There are various issues I’d somewhat do after an extended day than cook dinner. They embrace catching up on my notes, speaking with buddies, watching TV, and studying. Or getting out of my residence for some time.

Other people have relations they’d prefer to be speaking to or children who should be put to mattress.

If dinner has been meal prepped, then your entire weeknight is accessible for household, work, and much-needed relaxation.

The underside line is that this: if cooking seems like a calming, end-of-day ritual for you, then cook dinner your coronary heart out.

But when cooking on weeknights seems like a chore, you possibly can nonetheless discover a technique to eat healthful meals all week lengthy.

You possibly can get pleasure from home-cooked dinners with out feeling rushed or falling into meals ruts.

Vegan meal prep dinners could be your answer.

My vegan meal prep dinner necessities

Listed here are the issues that I would like from my night meal:

Steadiness

I’ll undoubtedly sound like a damaged report if I point out that I like my meal prep dinners to be energy plates.

However in case you’re a brand new reader and also you’re questioning what an influence plate is, it’s easy! It’s only a meal that deliberately features a supply of protein, a supply of healthful fats, and a supply of complicated carbs.

Energy plates are close to and pricey to my coronary heart.

After I was in consuming dysfunction restoration, studying to prioritize macronutrient stability was an enormous problem—and later, an enormous victory.

I used to be immune to dietary stability for a very long time. My relationship with meals turned a lot extra grounded and constructive after I began together with all macronutrients with all meals.

I wrote a whole cookbook about energy plates. It was a tribute to the method of studying to present my physique the dietary constructing blocks that it wanted.

Now, after I do my weekly vegan meal prep, macronutrient stability is the organizational precept that I exploit to plan.

The Vegan Week

Embrace the enjoyment of consuming do-it-yourself meals every single day with the hearty and healthful recipes in The Vegan Week.

Whether or not you’ve got three, two, and even only one hour of time to spare, The Vegan Week will present you the best way to batch cook dinner assorted, colourful, and comforting dishes over the weekend.

“Cozy” and “comfort” can look like so many different things. Sometimes a comfort food meal is a bowl of soup.

On different nights, it could be a nourishing grain bowl with seasonal veggies.

Typically quite simple and healthful meals is what feels extra comforting than anything.

And generally I would like traditional consolation meals: one thing hearty, warming, and evocative of childhood favorites.

There are quite a lot of recipes from this web site that I’d put into that class. However some highlights are my carrot mac n’ cheese, skillet lasagna or lasagna rolls, sweet potato lentil shepherd’s pie, quinoa broccoli bake, and loaded garlic kale potatoes.

Every single a type of choices could be meal prepped.

Freezer potential

It isn’t important {that a} vegan meal prep dinner be freezer-friendly, however it certain is a pleasant perk.

I’m completely happy to prep a easy vegan meal prep lunch recipe and have it final 2-4 days. But when I make an enormous, hearty casserole as a meal prep dinner, then I would like it to final.

Most of my favourite vegan meal prep dinners could be frozen for that reason.

Since I reside alone, I usually freeze half the recipe as quickly as I make it.

When you feed a bigger household at dwelling, however you’d nonetheless like leftover to freeze, you possibly can double the recipe. Make it as soon as, get pleasure from it anew in some unspecified time in the future sooner or later, once you want every week off from dinner prep.

Protected freezing and storage

Which vegan dishes could be frozen?

I’m usually requested about what’s and isn’t freezer pleasant. The reply is that quite a lot of cooked meals could be frozen!

There are some meals that may lose a few of their unique texture after defrosting. I discover that that is usually true of cooked rice—although it doesn’t cease me from freezing leftovers of rice dishes.

Many recent greens don’t maintain up properly to freezing, however they will simply be frozen after cooking. I routinely freeze my favourite braised cabbage, cooked candy potatoes, sautéed kale or broccoli rabe, and steamed broccoli.

I additionally freeze sauces and dressings, hummus, pesto, cashew cheese and cashew cream, my 20-minute marinara sauce, vegan feta, vegan ricotta, and homemade vegan mayo.

When you love dessert as a lot as I do and need to embrace it in your meal prep, excellent news! So many desserts freeze fantastically.

This consists of vegan cake, brownies, cookies, tofu whipped cream, silken tofu chocolate pudding, cashew chocolate pudding, cobbler, buckle, pie, and extra.

Protected freezing and defrosting

After I took food safety as a part of my coaching to turn out to be a dietitian, I shuddered to consider what number of instances I had defrosted meals by leaving it on my counter in a single day. Yikes!

Anyway, now I do know that the most secure technique to defrost meals is all the time within the fridge. Relying on the meals in query, defrosting may take anyplace from 12-36 hours.

There are different secure defrosting strategies. You possibly can microwave meals from frozen, utilizing your microwave’s defrosting setting.

You may as well safely cook dinner frozen meals straight from its frozen state.

I’ve been recognized to pop frozen cubes of my balsamic tofu proper into the air fryer or oven for reheating.

Typically I defrost a batch of chili or soup simply sufficient within the fridge to get it out of its container, then end cooking in my pot.

When you cook dinner meals straight from frozen, understand that the meals needs to be consumed instantly after cooking.

Refreezing

Yet one more phrase about freezing: sometimes I’ll thaw one thing, then notice that I don’t want it (but) as a result of I’ve ready one thing else.

In these circumstances, it’s secure and completely OK to refreeze the thawed meals. Simply understand that the feel of the meals might change a bit on account of the thawing and refreezing.

Additionally make sure to by no means devour, not to mention refreeze, meals that has been at room temperature for greater than 2 hours.

Reheating

The minimal secure temperature for reheating leftovers is 165°F.

You may make your meals attain this temperature on the stovetop, within the oven, or within the microwave—it’s all good. You simply have to get it to a minimum of that temperature.

Ensure that to stir your meals or rotate it whereas reheating, in order that it heats evenly and thru.

When you don’t have one, a probe thermometer makes it straightforward to inform whether or not meals is satisfactorily scorching and suitable for eating.

And you will discover extra primary recommendations on reheating, freezing, defrosting, and refreezing here!

Methods to serve vegan meal prep dinners

Some recipes want a aspect dish, accompaniment, or further element to be able to really feel like a satisfying meal.

Vegetable sides

My regular vegan dinner meal prep routine is to organize some primary dishes for the week—stew, pasta, chili, casserole, stir fry, or no matter—and likewise to organize some easy vegetable sides that I’ll be capable of serve with these recipes.

This could be an enormous batch of steamed broccoli, bok choy, or roasted cauliflower. It may very well be sautéed, darkish leafy greens, grilled strips of zucchini, roasted asparagus, or glazed carrots.

Easy salads

I additionally usually hold washed, ready-to-eat salad greens within the fridge, together with one in all my favourite dressings. My Greek vinaigrette takes no time in any respect to make, and my balsamic Dijon tahini dressing can be a favourite.

With some leafy greens and one French dressing, it’s straightforward to whip up a aspect salad for a meal prep dinner at a second’s discover.

Massaged kale salads are additionally straightforward to organize prematurely, as kale can face up to being dressed and saved for a number of days with out going soggy.

Frozen veggies

Typically, if I haven’t had a lot time to inventory my fridge with produce, a vegetable aspect will merely be some frozen veggies.

I all the time hold frozen broccoli and cauliflower florets, inexperienced beans, and peas at dwelling. It’s straightforward to microwave cook dinner them and serve them with just a little vegan butter, salt, and pepper.

Frozen veggies are a lifesaver for busy people who don’t need to waste cash on produce that may go unhealthy if it isn’t cooked in a well timed vogue!

Your meal prep dinner recipes might not likely want a aspect dish. Some could also be substantial sufficient and have sufficient veggies for that to be pointless.

However I all the time prefer to have sufficient veggies obtainable for making my dinners extra well-rounded and filling.

Toast, baguettes, focaccia, cornbread, and many others.

A lot of my favourite recipes, together with soup and quite a lot of grain bowls or salads, are extra full with one thing bread-like, be it toast or cornbread or a sliced baguette.

I all the time have a bread, and normally quite a lot of sorts of bread, available. I pull them from the freezer or slice them from recent to serve with recipes as wanted.

Vegan meal prep dinner concepts

With all of that mentioned, let’s chat concepts!

There are really so many sorts of vegan dinners that may be made forward and loved as you’re prepared. However listed below are a few of the concepts and recipes that I flip to many times.

Pasta bakes

There’s no meals that I like greater than pasta. Pasta bakes are a straightforward technique to put together an enormous, beneficiant batch of pasta, incorporating plenty of veggies and/or protein and a fantastic sauce.

Most lately, this vegan pasta bake with ricotta rocked my world, and it’ll in all probability be my new go-to.

However I additionally love my pizza pasta bake, pizza cauliflower bake, and eggplant baked rigatoni.

Soup & stew

All year long, and definitely in cooler months, soup and stew are an important a part of my dinner meal prep.

A hearty bowl of soup, plus a slice of excellent bread, is a superb meal. Soups and stews can be paired with salads or different veggie sides, after all.

Listed here are a few of my all-time favorites:

A hearty grain bowl

When you make the elements of a fantastic vegan bowl forward of time, then they will turn out to be satisfying and healthful dinners via the week.

Substance is essential for a dinner bowl. A few of my favourite, filling vegan bowl recipes embrace:

A tough-working entire grain + protein duo

Some weeks I don’t put together a recipe or two a lot as a number of elements that I can use in several methods.

Among the finest methods to make sure a rotation of vegan meal prep dinners is to make an excellent, versatile entire grain dish, together with a flexible plant protein.

You possibly can pair these dishes along with a vegetable for a straightforward, balanced dinner plate. You may also use them in different preparations via the week.

For instance, balsamic tofu or quinoa with roasted cherry tomatoes and chickpeas can every be added to a lunch salad.

Listed here are a few of my favourite, easy grain dishes from the weblog:

And listed below are a few of my favourite, multitasking proteins (these are additionally nice to make in your meal prep breakfasts and lunches!):

A comfy casserole

Oh, how I like a comfy casserole.

Casseroles are nostalgic, comforting, and filling. Typically they take a while to make, however when you bake them, they’re very beneficiant with their leftover choices.

I’ve many favourite casserole recipes. They’ve all turn out to be common components of my meal prep routine at dwelling, and so they’re usually to be present in my freezer.

Listed here are some highlights:

A stuffed vegetable

Stuffed, baked greens are a fantastic technique of crafting dinners which are each plant-forward and hearty.

I like stuffed greens via all the seasons. Within the fall, there are winter squashes, potato, and cabbage leaves for stuffing. In the summertime, there are zucchini and eggplants and tomatoes.

A few of the stuffed vegetable recipes that I flip to many times:

Pizza night time! (Or frozen pizza night time)

Frozen vegan pizza nights are a extra common incidence round right here currently than me making a do-it-yourself pie. However in both case, a pair slices pizza with a pleasant huge salad is a superb dinner.

And despite the fact that pizza might not instantly spring to thoughts as a make-ahead choice, it really works properly for meal prep. Simply make sure to reheat slices within the oven or air fryer earlier than you eat, to be able to protect the crispiness of the crust.

Reheating pizza, by the best way, has turn out to be the #1 cause that I exploit my air fryer.

When you really feel like making from scratch, my favorites are green goodness pizza (pictured above), butternut red onion pizza, and, after I’m in a rush, tortilla pizza.

My favourite vegan store-bought ‘za is the veggie lover’s vegan pizza from SweetEarth.

One thing stir fried

Stir fry dishes are fast to make and endlessly adaptable.

I normally stir fry rice as my grain, however you possibly can stir fry noodles and different entire grains as properly. Tofu is a superb protein for stir fries, however you possibly can additionally use tempeh, seitan, beans, or lentils.

One in every of my favourite stir fry dishes is the brown rice lentil stir fry with peanut butter sauce that’s pictured above. I additionally love my broccoli stem stir fry.

The photograph on the prime of this publish is a “pepper steak” fashion soy curl dish from The Vegan Week. It’s not fairly a stir fry, however it’s shut, and I all the time serve it over cooked rice.

Veggie burgers (+ fixings)

It’s enjoyable to have a vegan burger night time, and veggie burgers occur to be excellent for meal prep.

As you meal prep the burger itself, you may also need to make some fixings and aspect dishes to serve it with. For instance:

Veggie burger nights are sufficient of a routine incidence in my dwelling that just about all the time hold entire grain burger buns in my freezer.

I additionally are inclined to have frozen, cubed candy or common potatoes or frozen fries, simply in case I’m too drained to peel and reduce potatoes myself.

Listed here are a few of the vegan burger recipes that I cherish:

Vegan meal prep tacos

Simply as you possibly can meal prep a burger night time forward of time, it’s also possible to meal prep vegan tacos forward of time.

To do that, you’ll merely put together no matter elements go into the taco (proteins, grains, no matter) and any sauces that you just may use for them.

You may as well prep greens sides that you just’d prefer to serve the tacos with. You may take a while to cut lettuce, tomato, or another crunch aspect that you just’d like so as to add proper earlier than you serve your vegan tacos.

Taco night time classics in my residence:

Storage

When you don’t plan to make use of your freezer for a few of your meal prep dinner leftovers, you’ll need to retailer them in hermetic containers within the fridge.

Those that I exploit most frequently are these 3 cup, rectangular containers and these glasslock, divided containers.

Many of the recipes I’ve linked to—or meal prep dinner concepts that I’ve talked about—could be saved within the fridge for as much as 4 days.

A present to your future self

The subtitle of The Vegan Week is “meal prep recipes to feed your future self.”

I these phrases with all of my coronary heart. Meal prep isn’t all the time straightforward to find time for. However after I do it, I do know that I’m creating one thing that my future self will be glad about.

This week occurs to show the purpose. I’ve been unusually busy, however I’m much less wired than I normally am when my workload is de facto full.

A part of the reason being that it’s a type of beautiful weeks the place I’ve a lot within the freezer that I can merely defrost, daily.

Breakfast, lunch, and dinners have been taken care of. I’ve been capable of attain into the fridge and have a time-efficient lunch break noon, because of meal prep lunches.

And it’s so good wrapping up work, even when it’s late, figuring out that dinner will probably be no extra effort than reheating.

Hope these concepts offer you a way of the nice nourishment that you just may give to future you, too.

Until quickly,

xo