Do you spend 1 or 2 hours per day preparing breakfast, lunch, snacks, and dinner?
Spending hours on meal planning and prepping can decrease your motivation for healthy eating. And once you become overwhelmed, the best option is to grab fast food, right?
Been there, done that….
Today, I spend around 30 minutes per day prepping breakfast, lunch, snacks, and dinner and I am here to teach you how you can:
- Save time cooking and meal prepping
- Eat a balanced, nutritious vegan diet
- Enjoy exciting plant based meals
How to prep all meals in 30 minutes?
I start in the evening by making dinner, doubling the amount so I have lunch the next day. While dinner cooks (or right after) I prep oat bowls for breakfast and snack bowls to eat throughout the day.
I choose dinner recipes that take 20 minutes or less. While the recipe is cooking, I cut up the fruits that go into the oat bowl. The whole process takes me about 30 minutes. If you are a beginner or have a large family, it might take you 10-15 minutes longer. You can view more examples here (coming soon).
Now that you understand my concept, let’s dive into finding recipes that take 20 minutes or less. My favorite vegan quick meals are vegan one pot meals or Buddha bowls. Tacos or pasta with marinara are also great options. You can also make vegan hot dogs that are done in 5 minutes, but I want to teach you how to create easy vegan recipes that are also nutritious.
Related:
- 15+ Easy Vegan Power Bowl Recipes in Under 30 Minutes
- 20+ Healthy and Easy Vegan One Pot Meals
- This is How You Transition to a Vegan Diet Successfully {+Free PDF}
How to make your vegan dinner NUTRITIOUS
My vegan food pyramid shows you what to focus on mostly when creating your own recipes. Vegetables and fruits are most nutrient dense, which means they contain more nutrients per calorie than grains, for example. All food groups should be included in a meal while following the different ratios. If you want to learn more about vegan nutrition, check out Plant Powered Health On Amazon.
For lunch and dinner this would translate to these ratios: Fill most of your plate with vegetables, at least ½ the plate. Then choose a whole grain or starchy vegetable to fill ¼ of your plate. The other ¼ plate should be filled with protein, then top with a whole food fat source.
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Even though vegetables are the most important, the other food groups are important as well. They provide energy, different macro nutrients for different body functions, and they help you stay full longer. Balanced meals help curb cravings!
Here are the different foods you can choose for your plate:
Grain part:
Protein Part:
- Any beans
- Lentils
- Chickpeas
- Tempeh
- Tofu
- Seitan
Fat source:
- Avocado
- Cashew sauces
- Guacamole
- Peanut butter sauce
- Tahini Sauce,…
How to Create Your Own 20-Minute Meal That Is Actually Exciting
What makes restaurant foods so “delicious” is their excessive amounts of salt, fat, and sugar. If you are used to eating a lot of fast food or restaurant food the homemade meals might taste boring. Since large amounts of fat, salt, and oil are not healthy, you have to increase the amount of other spices you use. Try using whole food fat sources like avocado, tahini, and more to give your homemade food more flavor. I think it is important to realize why restaurant foods taste so good so you don’t compare healthy homemade foods with such.
Spice up Mexican meals with cumin, fresh cilantro, and hot sauce. Italian meals increase their flavor if you use fresh herbs like fresh basil and oregano. You can also increase the amount of dried herbs. Any meal increases in taste if you water-fry onion and garlic before adding the sauce. Asian meals become really tasty when you use sodium reduced soy sauce and ground fresh ginger. I also like to add fresh ginger to soups. I season anything with white potatoes using sweet paprika powder (like this potato stew).
20-Minute Bowls and salads
Making your own salads and bowls is a great idea if you have random food leftovers. You can also create your own bowl with the fresh produce you find at your local food market or if you need to use frozen foods and canned foods.
For Asian bowls, combine rice with edamame beans or chickpeas and your favorite veggies (broccoli, carrots, bell pepper…). Use the peanut sauce from this recipe or stir fry your veggies in this Asian Marinade.
For pasta meals you can choose chickpeas as the protein source and veggies like asparagus, tomatoes, cucumber, and more. Use the caprese dressing from this meal, or this avocado pesto.
For salad recipes you can choose from different oil free dressings here:
If you want to try more sauces and dressing recipes, be sure to check out these 45+ Oil Free Plant Based Dressings and Sauces>>
20-Minute One Pot Meals
One pot meals are another easy way to fix dinner quickly. If you want to really speed up the cooking time, I suggest getting a pressure cooker. Here are some pressure cooker recipes that I make in under 20 minutes:
Other 20 Minute Meal Ideas
One of my go-to pasta meals is this:
Cook pasta according to package. Water-fry onion and garlic. Blend tomato sauce with beans or tofu. Add tomato sauce to the pan with the onion and garlic then add Italian seasoning. Steam some green veggies for the side. Serve the pasta with the tomato sauce (that contains protein) and the greens. Make sure to fill half of your plate with the greens and the other half with the pasta mix.
Other quick pasta meals I love:
My go to Mexican meal contains tacos, mashed beans with taco seasoning, and my favorite toppings. You can get store bought toppings like fresh salsa and guacamole or make them yourself if you have more time. You can also add freshly cut lettuce and tomatoes.
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TipS to speed up cooking time
- Get a water kettle. Boil your water in a kettle then add it to the pot to save time. I do this for pasta or rice.
- Buy pre-cut veggies (or frozen). If you dislike cutting vegetables and it takes you a lot of time, consider buying them pre-cut. Oftentimes the frozen veggies are pre-cut and are not much more expensive.
- Get an air fryer. For Buddha bowls I like to air-fry sweet potatoes, tofu, chickpeas, and more to add some crispy seasoned veggies or plant based protein to my meals. This makes the meals more exciting and works faster than the oven.
- Instant pot. I make all my one pot meals in the pressure cooker to save time. I cut up all veggies and add all ingredients, including spices, in the instant pot. This takes me 10-15 minutes. While the food is cooking I have some additional time to prep other meals for the next day.