
Ladies and gentleman welcome to the most random article I have ever written, 101 VEGAN meal ideas mostly from my brain. It is here, where I have dumped any snack and meal idea that popped into my brain within an hour. I wrote this with the hopes of answering the question of ‘What do vegans eat’… When you read through you’ll realise it actually isn’t as surprising as you think. Vegans eat a lot of the same, traditional style meals as most do, just VEGANIZED. Veganizing is taking a vegan recipe or ingredient and making the vegan alternative. Wether that be simply removing an animal product ingredient or replacing/remaking it. When you realise you can do this to ANY recipe, vegan cooking becomes very simple. But if your still stuck on ideas as a new vegan, or maybe your an old school vegan that just wants Jess to decide what they have for dinner.. read along. Happy mouth watering!
101 Vegan Meal Ideas
- Bean and rice burrito with lettuce, tomato, corn, onion. Optional vegan cheese. (Austrlians try zambreros if your feeling lazy!) Refried pinto beans are my favourite if I’m making them at home.
- Tofu scramble big breakfast with hash browns, tomatoes and baked beans.
- Pizza! Try my own favourite, the pasta pizza with tomato sauce, artichoke, sun-dried tomato, pineapple, caramelised onion, green olives and mushrooms. Vegan cheese if you wish.
- Sunday roast. Parsnips or roast potatoes, gravy, vegetables and for the focal piece a vegan pie, stuffed portobello mushrooms/pumpkin or soy meatloaf.
- Shepards pie with vegetable and lentil mix under a delicious mashed potato. Nutrional yeast sprinkles, yes please..
- Pulled BBQ Jackfruit. This is amazing on nachos, inside burritos, pizza, tacos or on a bed of rice alongside some veggies.
- Poke bowl? You can pick and choose whatever ingredients you want, but my favourites are pickled ginger, soy marinated tofu or sweet potato with teriyaki, cucumber, pineapple, brown rice and avocado.
- BBQ vegetable skewers! Barbecued pineapple, peppers, mushroom etc on a stick. Good stuff.
- Another way to eat food off a stick? Corn Dogs! Try this.
- Classic baked beans on toast. Optimal when eaten with melted nuttelex butter.
- Arepas or pupusas (made with corn meal or rice flour base) filled with sweet potato, black beans and rice with pickled cabbage.
- Rainbow veggie rice paper rolls.
- Moroccan Vegetable Tagine using vegetable stock. Also try using vegetable stock and spices with cous cous.
- Stuffed portobello mushrooms with spinach and tomato.
- Chicken nuggets! Wait what? Vegan of course. DIY with a recipe online or buy from your local supermarket. Quorn make my favourite, but be careful buying from their brand as some products are just vegetarian not vegan. The nuggs are fine however.
- Chickpea pancakes, heres a recipe.
- Beyond burger! You can buy this at many stores now, (Woolworths or spinneys) and add any ingredients you’d like to the bun to load it up. I love pineapple and beetroot on burgers. If your lazy try the grilld beyond burger if your from Australia.
- Buddha veggie bowls. Standard with brown rice, avo, tempeh or tofu and an array of vegetables. Only done right when placed perfectly in a coconut bowl for optimal Instagram worthiness. 😉
- Cauliflower steak. Cut thick cauliflower slices, glaze them with any marinade and bake on both sides.
- Loaded. Nachos. Salted corn chips (like Doritos), black beans, rice, salsa, guacamole, tomato, onion, cilantro, jalapeños and vegan cheese.
- Try a new kind of salad. duh. Try adding avocado, quinoa, pomegranate, pine nuts, cherry tomatoes, mango etc for a flavour boost. If you use kale, massage it with lemon juice for a better taste. (trust me on this one)
- Lentil or Minestrone SOUP. MMMMmmm.
- Curry puffs with potato and a mango chutney.
- Spiced cauliflower tacos with refried beans.
- Potato gnocchi with basil pesto, cashew nut crumble, sun-dried tomato, vegan parmesan and avocado pieces. (Golden Pasta or iPasta brand at Woolworths and Dairy-Free Down Under Cashew and parmesan sprinkles). Optional extra pine nuts.
- Banana toast with sprinkled sugar and cinnamon.
- Bruschetta. Italian bread thickly sliced with tomato, onion and oil. Balsamic vinaigrette to taste.
- Sausage rolls with puff pastry and Linda McCartney or any brand of vegan sausages. You can also try canned vegan mince.
- Vegan Mac n cheese or guacamole n Mac. Get both recipes from BOSH.
- Chia puddings with coconut and berries. Or cacao and banana.. or mango. You decide!
- Seiten burger. Don’t freak out that word doesn’t mean what you think. Ita a game changing ‘meat alterative’ that tastes amazing. Try it!
- Vegetable and white bean stew.
- Sun-dried tomato and quinoa stuffed ravioli with extra cooked sun dried tomato, mushrooms and spinach mixed with chopped vegan beer brat sausage pieces. (Ravioli is by iPasta at Woolworths, and Tofurkey Beer Brat Sausages.)
- Chargrilled broccolini with aaglio e olio pasta.
- Granola bars, such a great snack. Try this recipe.
- Gallo Pinto. Costa Rican black beans and rice. Usually eaten at breakfast but id eat it any time of day.
- Tempeh and veg sushi or the classic avo n cucumber!
- Tatertots/Potato gems loaded with BBQ jackfruit, guacamole and beans.
- Avocado, lettuce, tomato and onion sandwich. So simple yet so great.
- Foul Mudammas. Its a fava bean stew famous in Egypt. Try eating with arabic bread. Nada has a recipe! (One Arab Vegan)
- Acai bowlssss. I love mine with coconut, pineapple, granola and strawberries on top of a banana-Acai blend.
- Antipasto pasta with a vegan antipasto mix of olives, artichoke, sun dried tomato, garlic and capsicum, oil, and a can of lentils. (This antipasto veg mix can be purchased inclusively at Costco, alternatively you can create your own with olives, sun dried tomato and so forth).
- A classic smashed avo! An Australian classic with salt, cracked pepper and tomato slices.
- Thai green curry with coconut, soft tofu pieces and rice.
- Stuffed bell peppers with cous cous.
- Gozleme with potato, olives, mushroom, spinach, tomato and vegan cheese. Order at Gozleme King if in Australia and are lazy haha.
- Hummus with celery sticks, carrots and cucumber. Try mixing spices into your hummus to experiment with other flavours, hummus can just be the base!
- Soy mock meat pieces with plum sauce. For this, I use lamyoung.
- Vegetable dumplings with soy sauce.
- Yellow coconut curry! Make your own mix of spices or simply buy a yellow curry sauce thats vegan at the store, along with coconut cream. Add any vegetables you’d like. I usually use cauliflower, broccoli, carrot, potato..
- Pastry tarts with walnuts and pesto or caramelised onion, tomato and basil. Heres a recipe for inspo.
- Guys… I can’t make a food idea list without French fries. On their own, stacked with guac and salsa or bbq jackfruit. Whatever way works for you, thank goodness these oily potato babies are vegan.
- Okay to spice them up have you ever had a hash brown burger?? Its amazing. Also great with vegan sausages. (Linda McCartney) in a bun.
- Potato again, but stuffed baked potatoes. Try beans and vegan cheese or a healthier onion, spinach and mushroom. Both tasty.
- Vegan lasagne. Yes it exists! Check these out.
- Vegetable fried rice. Same recipe, no egg. Makes it way easier! Oh and soy sauce, always soy sauce. My favourite fried rice is pineapple fried rice. Buy a whole pineapple, scoop out the fruit saving the shell, make your fried rice and chop up the leftover fruit grilling it lightly, then put it all back into the pineapple! Google for inspo.
- Bean Chilli! I can smell it already, delicious! Bean chilli is great on its own but also epic ontop of French fries, just saying.
- Tacos and Tortillas with vegan mince and taco seasoning, lettuce, grated carrot, salsa, refried beans and pineapple pieces. (Buy the Funky Fields Mince from Woolworths) My MUMS BEST DISH
- Lettuce wraps or boats, with veggies, noodles, tofu, tempeh, chickpeas, taco mock meat, hummus you name it.
- Vegetable samosasssss with spiced potato, peas, carrots and curry.
- Felafel and hummus. An absolute classic. Peep my friend Nada for a grand recipe. (One Arab Vegan)
- Baked sweet potato vegetable balls with tahini.
- Potato pie with layers of cooked potato slices and sautéed mushroom, garlic and onion cooked in olive oil. (Puff Pastry can be Borgs from Woolworths).
- Battered cauliflower ‘buffalo wing’ pieces. (Recipe from BOSH TV).
- Caramelised teriyaki or miso eggplants scooped straight out of their skin.
- Quesadillas with peppers, onions and all the veggies you desire.
- My fav summer salad with raw lettuce, red onion, tomato, avocado pieces and whatever other vegetable your heart desires, salad dressing and vegan mock chicken. (Go to Woolworths for the Tofurkey Mock Chicken.)
- Nut roasts by BOSH TV are heavenly. Try it now.
- Veggie burgers! Theres so many recipes online so I won’t bother diving in… but my favourite bases are bean and lentil. Go bananas
- Fruit salad of course!
- Tofu on its own is just amazing! Put it in anything, flavour it anyway. Cook it fried, braised, soft or hard. Try teriyaki, sweet chilli, soy, garlic, ginger…the list goes on. Serve it on a stick, in salad, with noodles etc.
- Guacamole, Salted Original Doritos and Salsa.
- Zucchini noodles for a healthier pasta.
- Vegan crab cakes! Try this one.
- An Indian curry or dhal with chickpeas, lentils on a bed of rice. Papadums are a must!
- A classic stir fry. Bean shoots, carrots, broccoli dressed with sesame seeds and cashews for example. Maybe in with some rice noodles.
- Garlic bread pizza. Start with the dough, glaze with oil, then add minced garlic (sparingly) and vegan cheese. Cook. Yum! Basil or herbs like rosemary are great with this too.
- Vegan Pho. Skip the meat but go all in on the veggies. No meat stock either!
- Apple coleslaw like this recipe here.
- Vegan meatloaf such as the veggie delights classic roast smothered in cranberry sauce. I loveee this.
- Mushroom and Ale pies.
- Ramen noodle bowl with tofu and vegetables.
- Banana and oat cookies. Mash up banana and oats into balls. Place in microwave. Its literally that easy.
- Baked pumpkin stuffed with pine nuts, pumpkin seeds, pumpkin pieces, mushroom, zucchini and red onion. Cooked in vegetable stock. Mum always serves with parsnip and vegan gravy, so good!
- Cant go wrong with a casserole. Heres 24 vegan ideas.
- Marinated teriyaki and brown sugar mushrooms with rice.
- Garlic bread! Btw, the homebrand one at Woolworths and the one at Dominos and Crust in Australia are vegan.
- Mashed potato, gravy and mushrooms mixed. Seriously so simple and so good.
- Flatbread and fries with BBQ sauce. Inspired by the largest vegan restaurant in the world, Dubai’s Veganity.
- Steamed edamame with salt and chilli.
- Pizza pockets. Make or buy some pizza dough, add ya sauce, veggies, etc then fold the dough over and bake. BOOM. Pizza pockets. Better with vegan cheese. Try a classic supreme pizza minus the animals.
- Classic spag bol. Spagetti, vegan mince (store bought or DIY), tomato, onion and red wine sauce.
- Mushroom Risotto!
- Tofu Bahn Mi. All the same vegetables, swap the meat for tofu.
- Hashbrowns and… bare with me, maple syrup. Not healthy in the slightest but don’t knock it till you try it. Amazing.
- Seitan Gyros like this recipe here. So good with a garlic style sauce.
- Katsu curry with sweet potato battered in flour, plant milk and bread crumbs on a rice bed.
- Noodlessss. Wether its udon, ramen, rice noodles or mi goreng theres so many vegan dishes you can create. Check out these for inspo.
- Mango sticky rice! Any excuse to eat with my fingers.
- Seed crackers. Until my mother types out her special recipe, this link will have to do.
- Seitan fried ‘chicken’ wings. Heres a good recipe!
Woah, guys. I don’t know about you but after just reading over this I’m exhausted. I hope it brought you some inspiration and tummy rumbles. If you suck at cooking like me, don’t forget to check out this article for where I find the best vegan recipes. Enjoy!
