30 Minute Meals
High Protein Easy Vegan Meal Prep: Your Complete Guide
Prep
5 minutes
Cook
2 minutes
Yield
9
If you are trying to eat healthier, there is one way you can make it easier for yourself and that’s meal prepping. Having healthy, nutritious meals prepped and ready to heat up or quickly throw in the oven is the perfect way to fit healthy eating into your busy lifestyle. If you’re vegan, it can also help ensure that you get enough nutrients and protein throughout your day to fuel your body.
This guide is filled with easy breakfast, lunch, dinner and snack recipes that are easy to make and full of taste. They are also packed with nutrients and you can feel good about having them prepped and ready in your fridge for your busy week ahead.
It’s time for high protein easy vegan meal prep! Let’s go!
Getting Started with Vegan Meal Prep
Setting Yourself Up for Success
To get yourself started, you want to set yourself up for success. You can do this by following these three easy steps:
- Dedicate Time for Meal Prep: The biggest thing people say to me is that they don’t have time to meal prep, but by setting aside time to meal prep for the week will actually SAVE you time for the rest of the week. Set aside an hour or two on a Sunday and make it fun. I love to blast some music, or have a TV show on while I whip up my meals for the week.
- Make a List, Check it Twice: Just like Santa, you want to make a list and a plan. Sit down earlier in the week or weekend and make a menu for your week. Then pick what you are going to prep in advance. From there, make a grocery list. The worst feeling is when you get in the kitchen to meal prep and you don’t know what to make or are missing ingredients to make it.
Benefits of Consistent Meal Prepping
Getting into the habit of meal prepping has SO many benefits. Not only will it make you feel great and feel like you’re starting your week on the right foot, but you’ll save stress and time throughout the week. On top of that, when you’re trying to eat healthy, it gets much harder when you don’t have healthy food ready-to-eat. When you meal prep healthy meals you’ll have quick, easy meals to grab and eat at your fingertips.
This guide is exactly what you need to get started with crafting your meal plan and can be bookmarked for an easy reference when you’re looking for easy recipes to prep. So let’s talk about some of those delicious recipes…
Vegan Meal Prep Recipes
Breakfast
Power Ball Muffin Top
Not everyone has time in the morning to make things like my breakfast burrito recipe, and that’s okay. You can still have a healthy breakfast with this delicious power ball muffin top meal prep recipe. This is one of my fav quick vegan meals for breakfast. The best part about these power ball muffin tops is they are perfect as your grab-and-go breakfast OR can be your go-to afternoon snack. They’re packed with so much flavor and so good for you that you will be excited to meal prep these and want to make double the batch.
Other Breakfast Ideas
- Healthy Breakfast Cookies
- Low GI Breakfast Bowl
- High Protein Breakfast Burrito
- Healthy Breakfast Granola Bowl
Lunch Ideas
Build-Your-Own Buddha Bowl
Seeking a simple salad recipe, but sick of all the fuss around preparing the ingredients? Well lucky for you I have made the perfect Buddha Bowl that is so easily made that you will forget you are meal prepping. It is as easy as opening your fridge, picking out your favorites, and assembling something tasty within minutes! I recommend always using organic whole foods like fresh fruit and vegetables (or at least when you can), and if you love lemon as much as I do then you might want to add just a drop or two to this salad! It adds a lot of pop!
Simple Wild Rice Salad
Gone are the days of store-bought salad dressing! With just a few simple ingredients and herbs that can be kept all year long, making your salad dressing is just too easy. I usually start with a base of oil mixed with an acid, either vinegar or citrus. From there you can add different herbs and spices that will take your dressing to the next level. I’ve topped it with a zesty and refreshing dressing made with both fresh and dried ingredients that give it a unique flavor. Filled with different textures and hearty nuts and fruit, this salad is not only nourishing but very filling.
Dinner Recipes
One-Pot Quick & Easy Plant-Based Baked Beans
These delicious Baked Beans are plant-based and so easy to make. You only need one pot to whip these up and they’re protein-packed, and full of flavor. Prep these up in a big batch and store them in an airtight container in your fridge. When you’re ready to eat you can just pop them in the microwave or on your stovetop.
Vegan Meatballs with Cranberry Sauce
They are an Italian staple, easy to make, and can do so much more than being a star in the classic spaghetti and meatball dishes we all know and love. It’s easy to make, has a yummy sweet but bitter sauce, and they’re meatless! Yes, meatless meatballs! And the cranberries in this vegan meatballs recipe really add a lot of in the sweet sauce, yet the perfect amount of tart as well. Overall this vegan meatball recipe is easy, and perfect for meal prepping. The balls and sauce have a life of their own and the sauce or the meatballs can be used interchangeably in different recipes. Get creative!
Vegan Cauliflower Walnut Lentil “Taco Meat” + Noodle Lettuce Wraps with Cherry Jalapeno Salsa
This plant-based recipe is incredibly convenient for you to whip up, and you can personalize it and do a little DIY to make it your own. These vegan wraps can also be made ahead of time and easily stored in the fridge for when you are on the go. I love this plant-based recipe because it can easily be adapted to all seasons. In the winter, it makes for a light dinner, and you can swap out the topping with seasonal vegetables. or these lettuce wraps I used cherry juice in the salsa which adds a tartness to the sharpness of the jalapeños, the sweetness of the sugar, and sourness of the lime, you get the perfect mix of flavors. Often you’ll see lettuce wraps paired with vegan peanut sauces but this is a great alternative.
Snacks and Dessert
Hazelnut Chocolate Caramel Cups
It’s time to treat yourself! I really wanted to include a mix of flavors and textures to this super easy, mouth-watering recipe. You will love the mix of chocolate and peanut butter and the balance of sweet dried cranberries with crunchy hazelnuts. Next time you are on snack or dessert duty, these healthy tasty treats are a MUST try.
Other Snack Ideas
Essential Meal Prep Tips
If you want meal prepping to be easy and seamless, here are some tips that can help:
Pre-Peel and Organize Veggies
A helpful tip as well is to pre-peel your veggies and snacks and store them in a jar with water. This will make them quicker and easier for you to grab and snack on. Buying clear jars and using masking tape to keep track of dates, etc. can also help you keep organized. I personally like Mason, Weck and other stackable jars.
Drink Water Pre-Peel and Organize Veggies
First things first, make sure you’re drinking enough water while you’re eating. Even if you’re eating unhealthy food, it’s important to still drink water. Water helps with digestion and really aids in flushing out toxins and keeping your skin, organs and blood fresh and clean.
FAQ & Expert Tips:
What I do is find a couple recipes for each meal, then double the portions so I have enough to last me for a week or multiple days so I’m not spending all day in the kitchen cooking.
If you are eating a whole food plant-based diet, it’s important to incorporate whole, unprocessed forms of foods to help lose weight. Think fruits, veggies, whole grains, beans, nuts, and seeds. These are high in nutrients but low in calories.
The same way that non-vegans do. Pick out some tasty recipes, make a grocery list, shop, and then cook!
The easiest way to do this is by looking at vegan blogs (like mine) and cookbooks to pick out recipes for the week. By planning which recipes you’ll make each day, it’ll be less overwhelming to try and think about every ingredient you can or cannot eat.
Depending on the meal, I may group things into single serving containers and put them in the fridge for the week, other things I may freeze to take out later in the week, or put in one big container for the family to all access.
Totally depends. If you don’t include things like meat, then most things will last 5-7 days in the fridge. Some things will taste better when consumed fresh though.
Easy Vegan Meal Prep: Hazelnut Chocolate Caramel Cups
Ingredients
- 300 g dark chocolate melted
- 1/2 cup hazelnut butter
- 1/2 cup peanut butter
- 1 tbsp. maple syrup
- 1/4 cup dry cranberries
Instructions
- Prepare a cupcake tin with 9 liners
- Melt chocolate in microwave or hot water bath
- Stir peanut butter, hazelnut butter and maple syrup together until smooth
- Spread 1 to 2 tablespoons of chocolate in the bottom of each cupcake liner
- Dollop 1 to 2 teaspoons of the peanut butter mixture on top of the chocolate.
- Top with a few dry cranberries
- Cover each dollop of peanut butter with more chocolate (1 to 2 tbsp.) and smooth out the top
- Refrigerate for 1 hour or until chocolate has hardened before enjoying
Superb! Everything is just soooo delicious! My go to place for meal ideas.
oooo, thank you so much hun!!!
Made the Wild Rice Salad for our meal prep this week and it was fantastic! Kept perfectly in the fridge for the week. Will definitely make it again <3
Thank you so much for the love Brooke!
Amazing and foolproof recipes. Thanks for sharing your talent!
Thank you so much for your love!
I made the wild rice dish and it was delicious. Every dish I have made of Maria’s have such a beautiful presentation and are delicious.
Thank you so much Jill!!! This makes me sooo happy!
I’ve learned so much from Maria regarding health and wellness and why you should treat your body like a temple! It’s such a pleasure being able to work with her and enjoy many of her tasty recipes!
Thanks for the love, Eli! So glad this meal plan is helping you with your health and wellness journey! We have you to thank for all our amazing videos to inform these amazing people!
Love these recipes! Super helpful when learning how to cook plant based and getting lots of protein in. Thank you!
Thank you so much for your love, K! This means a lot to us and we are grateful you find them as helpful as we do!
Thank you! This is great!
So glad you find this helpful, Caitlin!
Great recipes for meal planning. The grocery list is so helpful!
The grocery list is so valuable! You can actually save the recipes and list onto your phone as they are PDF’s!
This post is so helpful! I want to eat more plant based but don’t really know where to start. Thanks for the tips and the yummy looking recipes. Can’t wait to try!
Yes, you’re so welcome! Thanks for the support Lauren!
This is so helpful! Thank you for sharing all these recipes and grocery list. Can’t wait to plan for this week!
You’re so welcome, thank you so much for the support! Please let me know what you think of the recipes.