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40 easy vegan recipes – a round-up of breakfasts, lunches, and dinners. User-friendly and satisfying for people who are new to the plant-based lifestyle.
In many ways, veganism affects every facet of a person’s life.
From the food you buy, to the clothes you wear, to the products you use to wash your hair…
It even affects where you choose to go or avoid on vacation (i.e. you won’t be seeing me at Seaworld – ever).
But for most of us, it starts in the kitchen.
Over the years, people have confided to me that they’d like to go vegan, but they don’t know where to start food-wise.
So I put together this list of 40 easy vegan recipes. It’s a round-up of breakfasts, lunches, and dinners.
The dishes are user-friendly and satisfying for people who are dipping a toe in the veg lifestyle.
Breakfast
Breakfast is one of my top 3 favorite meals of the day. (Don’t make me choose.)
With easy vegan recipes for breakfast burritos, roasted potatoes, and cozy chickpea scrambles, there are so many reasons to look forward to getting up.
Breakfast potatoes (You can also make these in the air fryer!)
Oven roasted breakfast potatoes with onions and peppers are cozy enough for weekends but hands-off enough for Mondays. They’re easy to make in the oven or air fryer.
Chickpea scramble & hash browns
A chickpea scramble offers a hearty start to the day. It’s protein dense, inexpensive, and quick to prepare. Serve with hash browns.
Tofu scramble recipe with kale & avocado
Tofu scramble is packed with peppers, onions, garlic, and kale. Finish this savory breakfast with toast and a splash of hot sauce.
Vegan eggs are incredibly easy to make. Plus, they’re gluten-free and ready in 5 minutes flat!
Dotted with sun-dried tomatoes, creamy polenta is good for easing into the day. It’s ready in just 10 minutes!
Avocado toast with baked tofu
This simple toast recipe is topped with avocado, baked tofu, and a sprinkling of nutritional yeast flakes.
This breakfast sandwich with thinly sliced eggy tofu, non-dairy cheese, and veggie sausage is wonderfully filling & perfectly portable.
Toasted tortillas with peanut butter & banana
Peanut butter & banana on tortillas makes for a super easy breakfast or snack. It’s a hit with adults & kids alike!
This smoothie is positively packed with cherry flavor. Add a leaf of kale or collards for an extra boost of nutrients.
This blueberry banana smoothie is made with just five ingredients: blueberries, bananas, spinach, chia seeds, and cashew milk.
Lunch
Lunch is when many of us are short on time. We need to grab and go or find things that are quick to pack into insulated bags.
Whether you have access to a stove or not, here are a variety of easy vegan recipes for midday.
Pierogi-style vegan quesadilla
This quesadilla is stuffed with all of the pierogi flavors you crave. Potatoes with onions, melty non-dairy cheese, and tangy sauerkraut is encased in a tortilla and served with yogurt ranch dip.
Kale salad with roasted chickpeas
This massaged kale salad is topped with crispy roasted chickpeas and a generous drizzle of cashew dressing.
Curried tofu salad comes together in just 10 minutes. It’s filled with raisins, shredded carrot, and nutty pistachios for crunch. Serve it on its own, in a sandwich, or wrap.
Swap out tuna for chickpeas in this mouthwatering fishless sandwich. An easy & satisfying lunch that takes only minutes to make!
Even when your pantry is bare, you probably have all the ingredients you need for this flavorful curry lentil soup. Ready in 25 to 30 minutes!
Eggless sandwiches are a great meal-on-the-go option. They are ready in just 5 minutes. Perfect for a packed lunch!
These double hummus wraps are loaded with chickpea & black bean hummus, pickled turnips, rice, and greens. It’s a handheld, flavor-packed lunch you’re going to love!
A salad so delicious, you can eat the dishes! This baked tortilla bowl is filled with spicy black beans, guacamole, and salad greens.
Refried beans are a cozy & satiating side dish alongside rice. They’re a tasty burrito filling. Or eat them on their own with chips as a dip!
Bagel sandwich with hummus & vegetables
This easy bagel sandwich is ready in no time. Just toast a bagel. Then top it with a slathering of homemade hummus and fresh, crunchy sliced vegetables.
Cold peanut noodle salad is popping with the flavors of peanut butter, tamari, and brown rice vinegar. With plenty of crisp, cool vegetables & a handful of nuts, you get a complete meal in one bowl.
Satisfy the kid in you with chili cheese tater tots. So messy & delicious, it ticks all the pleasure sensors!
Israeli couscous salad with olives & artichokes
Israeli couscous salad is loaded with flavor from artichokes, olives, basil, and garlic. It works as a side dish with baked tofu or roasted chickpeas. But it can also stand alone as a hot or cold lunch.
This filling chili dog is loaded with three bean chili, non-dairy cheese, pickles, and mustard for good measure. Serve it on a pretzel bun.
BBQ sandwich with Soy Curls & cole slaw
This flavorful vegan BBQ sandwich is filled with saucy shredded Soy Curls that have been cooked in an air fryer or skillet. It is then topped with a mound of cool & crunchy cole slaw.
This recipe is so simple, you could get the kids involved with it. Everyone can add their own toppings to these personal pizzas. Lunch is ready to go in 10 minutes!
Dinner
The family comes together again at dinnertime to break bread after a long day. It’s a meal that sometimes requires meeting a variety of different palates.
With tacos, bowls, and noodles for swirling, you’re sure to find some easy vegan recipes that anyone would enjoy.
This one pot meal includes chickpeas for an extra punch of protein. Make a big pot of stew on Sunday for easy meals throughout the week.
These fishless tacos with chipotle cashew crema will whisk you away to a beachside cabana. A satisfying lunch or dinner that is very easy to make!
Saucy black bean bowl with fried plantains
This saucy black bean bowl with rice has a wonderful harmony of spicy, cool, sweet, and salty. Enjoy each flavor one by one, or give the bowl a good stir for a mixture of tastes in every bite.
Pesto rice is the perfect weeknight meal. It uses just 10 ingredients & takes about 8 minutes to make. Eat it on its own, as a side dish, or as a base for delicious pesto rice bowls with your favorite toppings!
Burrito bowl with lentils & black beans
This burrito bowl is packed with flavor. With lentils, black beans, guacamole, and pico de gallo, there’s a tantalizing mix of tastes – bite after bite.
Soothing potsticker soup
Potsticker soup is packed with onions, garlic, kale, and carrots. It’s a satisfying and warming soup for chilly days.
This simple soup uses frozen potstickers, which means lunch or dinner is ready in no time.
Easy baked tofu recipe with lemon & rosemary
This easy baked tofu recipe will make you wonder why you ever bought those prepared slices. It’s so low fuss to make it at home.
Get ready for the best baked potato of your life! Cooking a Russet potato in the air fryer delivers a perfectly crisp peel and pillowy interior.
The whole thing is ready to go in 35 to 40 minutes, depending on the size of your potato.
Chili dog pizza is a weeknight-friendly dinner that combines the magic of coneys, pizza, and cornbread. By using a frozen pizza crust & leftover chili, dinner is ready in just 25 minutes!
Dairy-free eggplant parmesan in the air fryer
This dinner party-worthy dish comes together quickly in the air fryer. Eggplant slices are coated in panko, seasonings, and non-dairy parmesan. After getting crisp in the air fryer, marinara sauce & vegan mozzarella are added until warm & melty.
Buttery garlic noodles with red wine mushrooms
Buttered noodles are the epitome of “cozy.” Pappardelle is tossed with garlicky, non-dairy butter & topped with red wine infused mushrooms.
Double decker tacos are an old fast food favorite. Now you can enjoy a plant-based version at home with two layers of beans, hard and soft shells, and veggies.
Three bean chili with pinto, black, and Great Northern beans – the perfect warm-you-up dinner. It’s a one pot meal that’s ready in less than half an hour.
Taco pizza is nostalgia on a plate. Taco chips rest on a bed of greens, tomatoes, and beans on a cornmeal crust.
Content updated February 2020. Originally posted January 2017.
barbara says
yum..thank you can’t wait to try these recipes..
Cadry says
You’re welcome, Barbara! I hope you enjoy them. 😀
Johanna @ Green Gourmet Giraffe says
such great recipes and really helpful that your breakfast meals are mostly savoury – it is challenging to have regular savoury breakfasts for me but I don’t feel so ready for the day if I just have sweet
Cadry says
Thanks, Johanna! I feel the same way about sweet breakfasts. Things like pancakes are fun every once in a while, but I finish breakfast feeling like I didn’t really have anything substantive. I’m a savory breakfast person through and through.
Shell says
This was a really fun round-up! I completely forgot about the plantain and black bean burritos. I have a plantain on my counter and I feel happy every time I look at it.
Cadry says
Thanks, Shell! It’s been way too long since I’ve made plantains. Maybe it will be the next project for my air fryer! 😀
Hannah Teson says
Such a great list! I’m a big fan of your Garlic butter noodles with red wine mushrooms 🙂
Cadry says
Thank you, Hannah! I’m so glad to hear that! 😀
Danielle says
These look delish! I have a question. I’m having a baby soon so we are trying to prepare freezer meals ahead for when we get home from the hospital. Which of these recipes would freeze and reheat well?(and do you have any tips for doing that? ) Thanks!!
Cadry says
Congratulations on having a baby on the way, Danielle! Very exciting! That’s a great question about which of these meals are freezer friendly.
Chili freezes very well. In addition to eating it on its own, you can also put it on tater tots & pizza, as I featured above. When I freeze chili, I like to put it into glass Pyrex containers. But if you’re afraid you’ll run out of freezer space, you could put room temperature chili into freezer bags and freeze them flat. That will be easier for stacking. I usually freeze the chili in portions of 2 or 3, but you could do it in whatever amounts you think you’ll be able to enjoy.
On the same idea, the following soups freeze very well:
Curried lentil soup – http://cadryskitchen.com/2015/04/15/curried-lentil-soup/
Split pea – http://cadryskitchen.com/2013/10/27/three-favorite-vegan-soups-stick-ribs/
When I freeze refried beans, I usually freeze the beans on their own in a Pyrex. However, you could also freeze the burritos individually and put them in freezer bags. The breakfast burritos would also freeze well, I think, without the guacamole.
The beans that are on the boozy black bean & rice bowls, chickpea tacos, black bean burritos, and taco pizza also freeze fine in Pyrex. Then you can thaw & reuse.
I love freezing rice in batches as well. I usually freeze in varying sizes of glass Pyrex containers. To reheat, pop it in the microwave, or thaw a bit and throw the rice into a pan or skillet for fried rice. You can also find frozen rice at Trader Joe’s if you run out! 😀
Danielle says
Thank you for so much great advice! It will come in handy. We are excited about it all!