With a little time and practice, you’ll develop a new routine for planning meals and cooking. We recommend getting a good cookbook and experimenting. Sign up for our simple vegan recipes at the end of this guide.
In the meantime, here are some simple and healthy meal ideas to start with:
BREAKFAST
- Bagel with soy cream cheese
- Cereal/granola with Soy/Almond/Rice/Hemp /Flax/Coconut milk
- Fruit smoothie
- Oatmeal made with soymilk and strawberries/ Maple syrup & brown sugar
- Toast with nut butter and jelly
- Toast with nut butter and sprinkled with Cinnamon & Sugar
- Tofu Scramble with with veggie sausage
- Vegan pancakes/French Toast with Potatoes O’Brien
- Vegan Muffin
- Wheat farina
SNACKS
- Ants-on-a-log (Celery with peanut butter and raisins on top)
- Apple with nut butter
- Chips & Salsa, Chips & Guacamole
- Clif Bar, Luna Bar, LARABAR
- Crackers and soy cream cheese
- Edamame
- Fresh fruit
- Fresh veggies and non-dairy ranch dressing
- Frozen grapes
- Hummus with carrots or Pita Chips, White Bean Dip and Pita Chips
- Kale Chips
- Nuts
- Peanut Butter & Co. “Dark Chocolate Dreams” on a banana
- Pirate’s Booty -Veggie, Tings Crunchy Corn Sticks
- Pretzels, Popcorn (top with nutritional yeast for a cheesy flavor)
- Raisins, figs, dried fruits
- Sunflower or pumpkin seeds
- Vegan jerky: Stonewall’s Jerquee, Primal Strips
LUNCH/DINNER
- Baked potatoes and baked beans
- Bean burrito with Spanish Rice
- Beans, rice and salsa tacos
- Dairy-free pizza loaded with veggies (You can top with Daiya cheese, Chicago Soydairy’s Teese, Follow Your Heart Mozzarella, Nutritional Yeast Cheese, or just veggies)
- Falafel in a pita pocket, topped with Tahini paste (Also known as tehina, it is a paste made from ground sesame seeds)
- Pasta with cannellini beans and marinara sauce, Pasta with meatless meatballs
- Peanut butter & jelly sandwich
- Spicy Tofu Lettuce Wraps
- Stir fried veggies with Tofu, Tempeh, Seitan or other mock meat
- Taco salad- with vegetarian refried beans, salsa, guacamole, vegan sour cream, and taco sauce, over a bed of corn tortilla chips and lettuce
- TLT (tempeh bacon, lettuce and tomato- with Vegenaise) and Sweet Potato Fries
- Vegan Chili
- Vegetable lasagna with tofu “ricotta”
- Vegetarian hotdog, Vegetarian hot dogs wrapped in Crescent Rolls, Chopped vegetarian hot dog with vegetarian baked beans
- Veggie burger: Quinoa Burgers, Black Bean Burgers, Lentil Burgers, Soy Burgers
- Veggie lunchmeat sandwich
DESSERT
- Fruit sorbet
- Soy “cheese” cake
- Soy or coconut milk ice cream
- Soy yogurt and fresh fruit
- Vegan cake, pie, cookies, cupcakes & muffins
- Vegan rice pudding & vegan tapioca pudding
Regarding nutrition, it is not a particularly complicated issue for most people. The most common sources of vegan protein are soy products (such as tofu and tempeh), beans, nuts, seeds, and w’heat gluten (sometimes referred to as wheat-meat or seitan). It is important to eat a wide variety of fruits and vegetables.
The remainder of this guide will provide simple and easy tips to start the process of reducing, and eventually eliminating, meat from your daily eating routine.
Regardless if you view it as going vegan… going vegetarian… or just going meatless, these tips will help you get started.