Try These Easy Vegan Recipes When You Don't Have Much Time To Cook.

[?] Subscribe To This Site

In a hurry? Fix a tasty meal in minutes with one of these easy vegan recipes

To succeed on our weight loss program you must learn to fix a few easy vegan recipes. Once you understand the basics, you can quickly shop for food and prepare meals.

Ingredients for quick meals

Our easy vegan recipes rely on foods that don't need much preparation or cooking time. We choose a few whole plant foods, cook them if needed, and flavor them with a simple dressing or sauce. Here are some of the quick foods we use:

Packages of washed romaine, spinach, and mixed greens
Frozen spinach, collards, and other greens
Grape tomatoes, baby carrots, broccoli flowerets, sugar snap peas, and any other packaged fresh produce that doesn't need to be peeled and chopped. Bottled minced garlic.
Frozen vegetables like green beans, broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots. We also like plain frozen vegetable combinations that don't contain a sauce.
Canned tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste, salsa, and oil-free marinara sauce serve as a base for many easy vegan recipes. Canned tomato products are often high in sodium. Look for no-salt versions.
Potatoes, yams, sweet potatoes, and other root vegetables
Frozen oil-free hash browns
Red lentils (fast-cooking legumes)
Frozen green peas, lima beans, and edamame (green soy beans) - all are legumes. Home-cooked beans stored in the refrigerator or frozen in ziploc bags.
Canned beans. Black beans, kidney beans, white beans, garbanzos, and pinto beans. Try to find low sodium or unsalted beans. Look for fat free versions of bean dip, vegetarian refried beans, vegetarian chili and vegetarian baked beans.
Rolled oats, quinoa, and bulgur wheat (fast-cooking grains)
Fresh or frozen corn (a whole grain).
Home-cooked brown rice stored in the refrigerator or frozen in ziploc bags.
Raw nuts and seeds for dressings and sauces add a touch of rich flavor to many easy vegan recipes. (keep them in the freezer)

Easy breakfast recipes

Speedy Oatmeal. Any dietitian will tell you that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. In our house, oatmeal is a popular breakfast. Here is our favorite oatmeal recipe, streamlined so you can make it fast!
Jerry's Muesli. Better than any whole grain cold cereal on the market. Chewy and sweet with just a few nuts. A perfect low fat breakfast that will stay with you for hours.
Rice Milk or Rice-Cashew Milk. When we want milk for our cold cereal, we make our own with one of these easy recipes. They taste good and cost just pennies to make.

Lunches and snacks

A common lunch at our house is leftovers! We also love bean dip with raw vegetables. If you have precooked or canned beans and a food processor, bean dips are super easy vegan recipes.

Black Bean Dip. Spicy and tangy, this is our very favorite bean dip.
Mexican Bean Dip. This pinto bean dip has a mild smoky taste that really grows on you.

A baked potato or sweet potato is good for a quick lunch or snack. But our favorite way to cook these low fat veggies is as spicy roasted chunks.

Spicy Roasted Potato Recipe. Try making these using part gold potatoes and part orange sweet potatoes. They are so delicious and guilt-free.

Salads are easy vegan recipes. And dark leafy greens are the most nutritious foods on the planet. Add some beans, peas, corn, or cubes of cooked potato to make them more filling. Stay away from oily salad dressings. Even bottled "fat free" dressings often contain oil. Read the ingredient list. It is cheaper and healthier to make your own dressings.

Balsamic Dressing. Absolutely oil-free and so versatile. Everyone asks for this recipe.
Ranch Dressing. Made with raw cashews, this dressing is delicious and healthy.

Although bread has a high calorie density, sometimes we like vegetable sandwiches or veggie burgers for lunch. Mustard is a good spread, or make your own low fat mayonnaise from tofu.

Tofu Mayonnaise. Much less expensive than the bottled vegan products and easy to make too. Use it for potato salad or as a base for dips.

Take your lunch to work most of the time. If you don't have a refrigerator at work, get a small cooler and some ice packs. If you must go out for lunch, take your own salad dressing.

Dinners

For most people, dinner is the biggest meal of the day. If you want to lose weight, it makes more sense to eat a big breakfast and a light dinner. Steam a big pot of greens and vegetables for dinner and fill your plate with them. Top with a sauce or even Ranch Dressing.

Steaming Vegetables. This is the best way to cook vegetables. Add a potato or sweet potato to the pot for a satisfying dinner.

All you need is an easy sauce to complete your meal.
Enchilada Sauce. Dark and rich tasting with a secret ingredient you will love. You don't have to make enchiladas to enjoy this sauce on veggies.
Teriyaki Sauce. This is not your typical sickening-sweet teriyaki sauce. It has a mild pineapple flavor with the zip of ginger and chilies. Yum!
Pizza Sauce. Use whole wheat pita bread for your crust. Spread with this delicious sauce and some water-sauteed veggies. Good on potatoes too.

But what about dessert? Everyone knows that fresh fruit is the ideal dessert on a weight loss program. But sometimes we just want something a little more....special.
Homemade Energy Bars. These treats are made from tropical fruits and rolled oats. They are only 100 calories each; keep some in your freezer.

It only takes a little practice to create easy vegan recipes from steamed vegetables, beans, grains, and oil-free sauces. Soon you will be able to make endless variations on this theme. You will eat until you are satisfied and your weight will return to normal without hunger. Enjoy!

Return to Home Page from Easy Vegan Recipes

footer for vegan weight loss page