People who follow a vegan diet can get all of the required nutrients and meet their caloric needs each day by doing some research and planning meals ahead of time. Consider these meal and snack ideas to get you started.
Breakfast ideas:
- Oatmeal made with ½ cup oats, topped with 1 Tbsp. nut butter and 1 small sliced banana.
- ½ cup tofu, scrambled and served with sautéed onion, red pepper, tomato, served with 1/4 of an avocado and 1 piece of whole-wheat toast
Lunch ideas:
- ½ cup hummus topped with ½ cup brown rice and lightly steamed veggies of your choice
- Peanut butter sandwich on whole-wheat bread, served with carrot and celery sticks and an apple
Dinner ideas:
- Black bean burger on a lettuce bun with steamed broccoli and 1 small sweet potato (or you can make sweet potato fries)
- Vegetable lentil soup served with 1 slice of cornbread
Dessert ideas:
- Banana frozen yogurt (place 2 frozen bananas and ½ cup almond milk in the blender) topped with nuts of choice
- Dried tart cherries (1/4 cup) with vegan dark chocolate
Snack ideas:
- 1/4 cup of nuts with a piece of fruit
- 1 vegan granola bar (such as apple pie or carrot cake flavor Larabar)
Ideas for eating out:
- Pizza without cheese, topped with tomato sauce or olive oil and your favorite veggies
- Bean tacos without the cheese
- Stir-fried vegetables with rice
- Indian curries
- Thai vegetable curry or soup
Learn more about the nutritional needs of vegans in ‘Understanding Vegan Diets’
Did You Know?
When cooking and baking, there are numerous substitutes for eggs.
Depending on what you are making, substitutes for one egg might include 1/2 mashed banana, 1 Tbsp. flaxseed meal plus 3 Tbsp. water, and 1/4 cup applesauce.
