For the past year, I have been sharing easy vegan meals from my everyday life in my What Vegans Eat series.
Once a month, I document my impromptu breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Then I share them here with you.
Now that I’ve hit the 12-month mark, it seemed appropriate to put them all together in one collection.
I started this series as a way to show that making plant-based meals doesn’t have to be time consuming or complicated. It doesn’t require loads of forethought or meal planning. As long as you have a well-stocked pantry, the rest is simple.
Most days I peek in the refrigerator, see what’s available, and make it up as I go.
Sure, there are days when I feel like making something more complicated or pulling out a cookbook from my collection. But most of the time my meals are made in the 20 to 30 minute range (and often much less time than that.)
12 months of easy vegan meals
Breakfast:
Salad with sriracha tofu & figs | Creamy polenta | Tofu scramble & toast | Ethiopian fava beans on injera | Bagel sandwich with eggy tofu | Chickpea flour pancake (pudla)
Tofu scramble & roasted potatoes | Chickpea scramble & toast | Refried beans bowl with roasted potatoes | Bagel with hummus & avocado | Seitan BLT wrap | Tofu scramble & hash browns
It’s true – I have it bad for a scramble in the morning. It’s an easy way to sneak in some green stuff early in the day, and the tofu or chickpeas used as the base keeps me full until lunchtime.
Scrambles can vary depending on what’s on hand. Just grab whatever vegetables are in the fridge along with a block of tofu or can of drained chickpeas.
Garlic, onions, and kale are regulars in my scrambles. Bell peppers, carrots, and cilantro also play nicely if you’ve got them. And of course, seasoning a scramble well makes a big difference.
I serve them with hash browns, toast, or a bagel. Scrambles are also great in a breakfast burrito.
Other favorite breakfasts include creamy polenta, bagel sandwiches, chickpea flour pancakes, wraps, and even salad.
It surprised me that in a year’s worth of posts there wasn’t any cold cereal and non-dairy milk, oatmeal, or eggy tofu and toast. But if you’re looking for ideas, those are still common, low fuss vegan options.
(For more easy vegan breakfasts <– check out this post.)
Lunch:
Pineapple fried rice | Spicy black bean tacos | Toasted tortilla with hummus & dolmas | Buffalo cauliflower, roasted asparagus & salad | Refried bean burrito | Homestyle split pea soup
Pasta with pesto & roasted chickpeas | Pinto beans & collards with polenta | Salad with roasted chickpeas & avocado | Great Northern beans & Brussels sprouts with polenta | Sesame bowl with yuba noodles | Spring salad with hummus & roasted asparagus
My lunches were a quilt of salads, bowls, burritos, and tacos.
When people ask for advice on how to transition to a vegan diet, my first recommendation is to look at meals they already make. When mealtime comes around, most of us don’t want to start a project. So for that reason, we tend to go back again and again to the same kinds of things.
Even before I was vegan, I ate plenty of salads, bowls, burritos, and tacos. Now I just make them with plant-based foods in place of meat or dairy-based cheese.
(Want some ideas? Here are ten vegan meals you already know how to make.)
A plus about having a stocked pantry with brown rice and tortillas is that they are great uniters for meals. Whenever anything is wrapped in a tortilla or served over brown rice, you’ve got yourself a full, satisfying meal.
Raw, roasted, or steamed vegetables + some kind of plant-based protein like beans, seitan, or tofu + rice or tortilla = substantive lunch or dinner.
That’s just good math.
(For more easy vegan lunches <– check out this guide.)
Dinner:
Chickpea & rice soup with kale | Lentils with greens & baked fries | Fishless tacos with chipotle crema | Wine infused mushrooms & salad with lentils & blueberries | Black bean taco pizza | Spicy black bean tacos
Chickpea & seitan sausage pizza | Salad with bruschetta | Brown rice bowl with hummus & roasted broccoli | Grilled pizza with vegan pepperoni | Potato, Castelvetrano olive & roasted garlic pizza on a cornmeal crust | Veggie burger with chips, salsa & guacamole
One more entrée that has been a long-time mainstay? Pizza. Not only is it a meal that always sounds good, it’s open to endless possibilities. It can be eaten at home or in a restaurant.
(Most crusts in restaurants are vegan. So usually a cheeseless pizza is a terrifically easy vegan option.)
At home, the crust can be a simple frozen option, made with store-bought dough, or cooked from scratch.
And then when it comes to toppings, it’s anyone’s game. Some days I require taco, others I’m all about thinly sliced potato and olives. And if you need to go classic, there are all kinds of vegan pepperoni and sausage options.
Along with pizzas, there were more salads, tacos, bowls, and soup.
Tracey
I just love all versions of avocado toast!!! Lately I’ve been adding sauerkraut to it 🙂
Cadry
Oh, that’s such a good idea. As a fellow sauerkraut lover, I heartily approve!
Dianne
You’ve been eating well! Pizza is a mainstay for me, too. And I also love scrambles for breakfast!
Cadry
Yes, there’s everything to love about pizza and scrambles.
Becky Striepe
This is EPIC!
Cadry
Thanks, Becky!
Sarah
I’m a pasta girl. When in doubt, I always make pasta. And it never disappoints!
Cadry
Great thinking, Sarah! Pasta is incredibly easy and open to so many possibilities.
Jenn
Looks like a good year! I wish everyone realized how easy it is to eat a plant based diet. And how yummy!
Cadry
Me too, Jenn! I think people get so caught up in what they’ll be losing by going vegan, that they don’t realize how many plants they’ll be gaining! I eat so much more produce and such a wider variety than I ever did as a meat eater.
Mae
Your pictures are all so tantalizing! My easy go-to is stir fries. We always have a surplus of onions and garlic, and then we just throw together whatever else is in the fridge. And like you said, brown rice makes everything complete!
Cadry
Yes, stir-fries are a great easy option! That’s one that I return to often as well. And yes, garlic & onions every day, all the time, please. 🙂
Pamm Mosey
I have been totally inspired by your posts over the past year. I have used many of your ideas when I get stumped. If you want to continue with this or just occasionally want to throw one in, we would all be thrilled. Thanks you for sharing.
Cadry
Thanks, Pamm! I really appreciate hearing that. I like your idea to maybe do it occasionally, even if doesn’t continue as a regular monthly feature. I haven’t really decided yet if I want to continue with doing it once a month, but I’ll definitely keep doing it every now and again at least.
Ginny
I love seeing all of these meals pulled together in one spot. My easiest pull together meals are granola cereal in the morning and I find it really easy to fill a tortilla and roll it with whatever I have n the fridge. Much like a pizza the choices are endless.
Cadry
Thanks, Ginny! You’re absolutely right about tortillas. Get whatever odds and ends you have in the refrigerator, wrap it in a tortilla, and you’ve got a full meal.
Bianca
YUM! So many yummy meals! I’ve got to have fava beans and injera for breakfast sometime. Like seriously, I want that right now!
Cadry
Oh, that’s such a cozy, warming meal. It’s perfect in the winter months, especially! I’ll have to make another batch of fava beans, so that I can have it again too.
KZ
I’m definitely a pasta person. I have got to have pasta at least once a week or else I go into pasta withdrawals! I’ve got to get into the habit of making a large scramble to eat in the mornings. I usually make a smoothie, but then I’m starving by about 11am, when lunch isn’t until 2. I love breakfast burritos!! You look like you have your pizza and taco game pretty strong, I need to step it up!
Cadry
Yeah, smoothies aren’t a satiating enough breakfast for me either. As long as I can have lunch early they’re fine, but otherwise, they work better as an afternoon snack. There was definitely a time in my life that I ate a lot of pasta, but it’s less frequent now. It’s interesting how we all go through food phases.
Shell
What a great recap! Thank you for all of the great foods you’ve introduced me to over the years. 🙂
Cadry
Thanks, Shell! Have you picked up fresh figs yet? The season is ending soon. So if you don’t grab them now, you’ll have to wait until next year. 😀
Melissa @ Vegan Huggs
This post seriously made me hungry! So much deliciousness in one place. I love that these meals are easy to put together, too. That polenta end eggy tofu are calling my name.
Cadry
Thanks, Melissa!
Amy Katz from Veggies Save The Day
This is fantastic, Cadry! You’ve proved once again that vegan meals don’t have to be boring. I love this post!
Cadry
I’m so glad to hear that, Amy!
Rachel
Our family started eating vegan just this month and I am so surprised because we don’t miss dairy or meat at all! We are in love with garlic hummus…we started making our own. We eat granola or muesli for breakfast and we started making our own almond milk, yum!
We made our own pizza topped with sundried tomatoes, greek olives, pepporcini, and mushrooms..I could eat like this forever! Thanks for the beautiful pictures of the meals, I am looking forward to using some of your recipes so we don’t get in a rut.
Cadry
That’s so great to hear, Rachel! I’m glad it’s been a smooth and easy transition for you. It sounds like you’re eating very well!