3 Easy Vegan Meal Prep Ideas
These three easy vegan meal prep ideas come together in less than an hour. A Vegan Strawberry Pasta Salad, Vegan Burrito Bowl, and Vegan Mediterranean Stew that are all so, so good. Prepare lots, and enjoy over the course of a week.
Click on the links below to skip to any part of the recipe:
This is an extensive recipe, as we are making all three of the meals at the same time. If at any point the instructions become unclear, please send me a message at jake@pestlenmortar.ca, and I’ll be happy to answer any questions.
Introduction
Meal-prepping is a concept that I recently began doing myself. I had heard of it for ages - seeing it on YouTube or on the cover of food magazines. But, I never found myself doing it. Not necessarily because I didn’t want to. More so because I wasn’t preparing myself to at the beginning of the week.
I wasn’t shopping with a meal prep in mind. The difference between doing a meal prep at the beginning of the week and cooking meals throughout is that meal prepping focuses on approx. three recipes that you’d like to cook, instead of four of five for lunch and the same for dinner.
I’ve collected here my top recipes that I like to cook. I’ve chosen them for a few reasons:
They work well for both lunch and dinner.
They taste great whether cold or hot.
They make loads
They come together relatively quickly.
The second and fourth ideas are the most important. When I was in school, I loved to make chickpea curry. It tastes fantastic hot, but not so much when you’re on the seventh (silent) floor of the library without a microwave in sight. When I designed these meal prep ideas, I wanted to make sure that you could eat them anywhere, regardless of whether there was a microwave (or a pair of sticks you could rub together really quickly) within a 100m radius.
The fourth idea is equally as important. When I get back home from shopping, the last thing I want to be doing is spending three hours slaving over an oven - so I don’t. I choose meals that are dead easy to make, so that I can get back to watching hours upon hours of Netflix. It’s about priorities.
The secret to meal prepping is timing. Do things in an order that make sense. Start your rice before you dice your vegetables. Bring your water to a boil and cook your pasta while you’re preparing the burrito mix. I’ve outlined in the Method section how to time everything well.
Check out the Spruce it Up section for ideas on how to take your three recipes to the next level.
Before we Get Started
Preparation Time: 55 minutes
Cooking Time: 35 minutes
Total Time: 1 Hour*
*Keep in mind, we’ll be prepping while we cook.
Burrito Yield: 5-7 Servings
Pasta Yield: 5-7 Servings
Stew Yield: 5-7 Servings
Ingredients
*A full, compiled grocery list is prepared at the bottom of the recipe.
Mediterranean Stew
2 cans of Chickpeas
1 can of Diced Tomatoes (28 oz)
3 medium Potatoes
2 Zucchini
~500 mL Vegetable Stock
1 medium/large Red Onion
4 cloves Garlic
2 tbsp. Chili Powder
1 tbsp. Cumin
2 tsp. Cloves (powdered)
2 tbsp. Onion Powder
2 tsp. Oregano
2 tsp. Thyme
1 tbsp. Crushed Red Chili Flakes
Squirt of Lemon Juice
There are a lot of spices here - if you don’t have some of the spices, don’t sweat it. Use what you have, but I highly recommend picking spices up when you have the opportunity. They’ll make your dishes 1000x better.
Vegan Burrito Bowl
2 cups Uncooked Rice
1 can Black Beans
1 can Corn
3 Tomatoes
1/2 medium Red Onion
2 cloves Garlic
Cilantro
2 tsp. Cumin
2 tbsp. Chili Powder
Splash Lime Juice
1 10 inch Tortilla (optional)
1 Avocado (optional)
Vegan Strawberry & Spinach Salad
Salad
Handful of Spinach
500g Farfalle
Or your favourite pasta
1 Bell Pepper
~10 strawberries
Add more or less as you see fit
1/2 Red Onion
Handful Grape/Cherry Tomatoes
Dressing
~300g Strawberries
2 tbsp. Maple Syrup
5 tbsp. Apple Cider Vinegar
3 tbsp. Olive Oil
Use the best quality Olive Oil you have. If you don’t have any good stuff, don’t sweat it. Vegetable Oil works well, too.
1/3 Cup Water
Pinch of Salt
Method
Bring two pots of water to a boil. Check the cooking times and directions on your pasta and your rice, and cook them to the directions followed. Generously salt the water in both pots before cooking your rice and pasta.
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
For the stew, preheat another large pot to medium-high heat. While that is coming to temperature, dice your garlic and onion. Add them to the pot, and stir. Drain your chickpeas, and add them to the pot when the onions and garlic become translucent.
Grab your potatoes, and roughly chop into 1/2 inch bites. Add them to the stew pot also, as well as your stew spices. Stir well to coat everything. Slice your zucchinis in half lengthwise, then roughly chop. Add them to the pot.
Salt generously and add a splash of lemon juice.
Once everything has sizzled away for about five minutes, add your chopped tomatoes, another pinch of salt, and add the vegetable stock everything is covered.
Turn up the heat to max, bring to a boil, and reduce to medium heat. Allow it to bubble away, without a lid, for approximately 20 minutes.
Perform the remaining steps while the stew is cooking.
Once your oven comes to temperature, take your tortilla, if using, and slice in half. Cut small triangles out of each half to make tortilla chips. Oil and salt generously, then place on a baking sheet and put them in the oven for approximately 7/8 minutes.
Add all of the dressing ingredients to a blender, and blend for approximately 15-20 seconds, or until everything is smooth.
If you want to take out the seeds, simply push through a fine mesh sieve.
Dice your bell pepper and red onion for the pasta salad. Slice your grape tomatoes in half. Add everything to a bowl with your pasta, as well as a big handful of spinach. Drizzle over your salad dressing (you won’t need a ton, save some for another time), and mix thoroughly.
Add a dash of salt and a good amount of fresh-cracked pepper, then place into your Tupperware containers.
If your stew finishes cooking before you finish the remainder of the steps, simply add a big bunch of spinach to the stew pot, mix thoroughly, have a taste for salt and pepper (add more if needed), and throw into your Tupperware containers.
For your burritos, chop your onion and garlic. Add to a bowl.
Halve your tomatoes. Remove the seeds and pulp from the middle, and dice the tomato (just the outsides). Drain and rinse your black beans and corn. Add to the bowl. Chop up some cilantro, and toss it in too.
Add 1 tsp. Cumin and 1 tbsp. Chili Powder, as well as a healthy pinch of salt and a splash of lime juice to the bowl. Stir to mix everything together.
Halve an avocado, remove the skin, and cut in half again to form four quarters. Make small slices lengthwise, but don’t cut the entire way. Turn the avocado over, and fan out.
Add some 1 tsp. Cumin and 1 tbsp. Chili Powder to your rice, as well as a splash of lime juice, and some more salt if needed.
Evenly add your rice to each Tupperware container, then top with your burrito mixture, the fanned quarters of avocado, and the tortilla chips.
Enjoy.
Spruce it Up
Burritos
Add some Pickled Red Onions.
Toss on some vegan sour cream, or your favourite salsa.
Add a bit of lime zest to the tortilla chips.
Refried beans make a great addition to this dish.
Strawberry & Spinach Pasta Salad
Add your favourite vegetables - broccoli and olives work really well.
Herbs work great, too - a few basil leaves go a long way.
Don’t hold back on the black pepper. It is a great way to add some heat and extra flavour to this dish.
Sprinkle some crushed chili flakes over top.
Mediterranean Stew
Grab your favourite bread and some vegan butter, and dig in.
Put some rice and the bottom of your bowl and top with the stew to take this dish to the next level.
Add some chopped parsley or cilantro.
Grocery List
It may seem like there are a lot of items here. I’ve tried to pick recipes that use inexpensive vegetables in them. I’ve also used ingredients that we tend to already have in our pantries, such as rice, corn, chickpeas, black beans, maple syrup, onions, garlic, and vinegar.
There are some spices here. I would recommend going to your local bulk store (such as Bulk Barn, in Canada). They tend to sell spices really cheap. You’d be surprised how much you can get for $10.
I put this through a grocery store delivery service, and the final cost came out to less than $75!
Rice
of your choice
1 can Black Beans
1 can Corn
3 Tomatoes
2 medium Red Onion
Garlic
Cumin
Chili Powder
Lime Juice
2 cans of Chickpeas
1 can of Diced Tomatoes (28 oz)
3 medium Potatoes
2 Zucchini
~500 mL Vegetable Stock
2 tbsp. Onion Powder
2 tsp. Oregano
2 tsp. Thyme
1 tbsp. Crushed Red Chili Flakes
Farfalle
Or your favourite pasta
1 Bell Pepper
~10 strawberries
Handful Grape/Cherry Tomatoes
~300g Strawberries
2 tbsp. Maple Syrup
5 tbsp. Apple Cider Vinegar
Cilantro (optional)
1 10-inch tortilla (optional)
1 Avocado (optional)