10 Plant-Based Meal Prep Tips for Beginners
Life is so much easier when you meal prep. You're able to save time and money, reduce stress, and minimize clean up. When you're not having to worry about cooking right before each meal, you're more likely to consistently make healthy and nutritious food choices.
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For me, it all starts with meal planning and meal prep. While this step may seem like an extra step on your list of things to do in the kitchen, it will ultimately save you time and also make cooking more efficient and enjoyable in the long run.
Here are a few healthy meal prep tips for families on a plant-based diet:
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Pre-wash, chop, and spin salad greens
Batch cook whole grains and legumes and keep them in the fridge
Parboil vegetables to incorporate into dishes throughout the week
Prepare freezer meals to cook in the slow cooker or pressure cooker
Pre-wash fruits and veggies after a grocery trip
Make vegan sauces and dressings ahead of time
Prepare make-ahead freezer smoothie packs
Prepare for breakfast the night before
Rethink leftovers by making burgers and bowls
Select nutritious recipes that set you up for success
1. Pre-wash, chop, and spin salad greens
This is the easiest way to ensure your family members get their greens every day. The best time to do this is when you are putting away your fruits and veggies after a grocery trip. Your veggies will stay crisp longer this way.
After washing your fresh greens, use a salad spinner to dry them quickly. A great added bonus is your dressing won't be runny and drip to the bottom of your salad bowl, since your greens won't have excess water on them. Your greens will also last and stay crisp longer this way.
2. Batch cook whole grains and legumes and keep them in the fridge
Batch cooking grains and legumes helps save you time and money, and also makes it easy to consistently make and eat nutritious plant-based meals at home. Beans store well and can easily be reheated during the week. Getting started with batch cooking does take some work and planning, but it is so worth it! I order my grains and legumes in bulk from Azure Standard, a family-owned and independent company that provides high-quality, affordable organic, natural, and non-GMO groceries. Instead of getting my grains and legumes from Costco, I now order them from Azure Standard.
Beans are an excellent source of protein, dietary fiber, and complex carbohydrates. Soak your beans for at least 6 to 12 hours. I like to soak mine the night before meal prep day. Grains can take some time to cook, but they're great for making wholesome lunchtime salads or grain bowls. Whether you're cooking grains over the stove or in a pressure cooker, it's a good idea to prep 1-2 servings ahead of time to pair with veggies and proteins. To save time throughout the week, you can batch cook your grains and keep them in the fridge in mason jars or reusable silicone food storage bags.
3. Parboil vegetables to incorporate into dishes throughout the week
Parboiling is the process of boiling food briefly (usually for about 5 minutes) just enough to partially cook it. Think of it as incomplete or preliminary cooking. You can do this with broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, sweet potatoes, and any vegetable or grain.
I was thrilled when I first learned this technique while taking the Rouxbe Plant-Based Professional Certification course years ago. Now, when I want to add broccoli to fried rice, stir fry, or pasta dishes, I don't have to wait as long for my veggies to cook, because they have already been partially cooked!
This simple process saves me so much time!
4. Prepare freezer meals to cook in the slow cooker or pressure cooker
I gained a new appreciation for freezer meals during the postpartum period after giving birth to my daughter. Our church family set up an amazing plant-based meal train and nourished me and my husband as we transitioned to life as a family of three.
My favorite vegan food prep tools for freezer meals are the Breville Fast Slow Pro (it's just like the Instant Pot), Pyrex glass bowls, food processor, reusable silicone freezer bags, and freezer bag holder stands.
If you own a Breville or Instant Pot slow/pressure cooker, you can prepare and keep your solid ingredients in glass bowls or reusable silicone freezer bags and keep them in the freezer. When you're ready to cook your freezer meal, the ingredients in your storage bowl will fit 6-quart Instant Pot and Breville slow/pressure cookers.
5. Pre-wash fruits and veggies after a grocery trip
Produce can be touched by a lot of hands before they end up in your kitchen. Bacteria continue to grow while your fruits and vegetables are stored in your fridge, so it's a good habit to wash and dry veggies before putting them away. Fruit and veggies benefit from a good all-natural fruit and veggie soak to get rid of harmful chemicals like pesticides. My favorite is Young Living’s Thieves fruit and veggie soak. Doing this simple step also keeps dirt, pebbles, insects, and other lingering debris from ending up on your plate.
6. Make vegan sauces and dressings ahead of time
Wanna know a must-have for quick and easy plant-based meals at home? A variety of delicious sauces!
If you make one or two sauces a week and divide them up, half can go in the freezer for the following week, and half can go in the fridge for the current week. Check out these resources for vegan sauce ideas.
Choose from a variety of vegan sauce recipes by A Couple Cooks
Find fresh and flavorful vegan salad dressing recipes by Forks Over Knives
7. Prepare make-ahead freezer smoothie packs
Make-ahead freezer smoothie packs are an easy, simple way to prep nutritious smoothies ahead of time so that when you're ready for a plant-based smoothie, you can quickly just grab, dump, and blend!
Freezer smoothie packs make it easy to add essential vitamins and minerals to your diet. All you need are reusable freezer bags, freezer bag holder stands (optional), plant-based milk of choice, your favorite fruits, protein, and/or healthy fats.
Use reusable freezer bags to prevent BPA and harmful chemicals from being released into your food while they are stored.
8. Prepare for breakfast the night before
Every parent knows that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. That's why it's worth taking some time to make it the night before.
If making breakfast in the morning tends to be stressful and rushed for you, you might benefit from making them ahead of time. Making breakfast the night before is one of the best things you can do for your health. This will help you get more of your daily nutrition and use up less of your time in the morning.
You can get your children involved by inviting them to create their own smoothie blends. You could invite them to help you wash and chop the fruits.
Children who are allowed to cook with an adult in the kitchen are more likely to eat what they make due to their hands-on involvement in the process. Children who cook with an adult in the kitchen are also more likely to eat healthier foods because they learn firsthand what healthy foods are.
9. Rethink leftovers by making burgers and bowls
This is a great way to be resourceful and creative with your leftovers. Leftover parboiled carrots and broccoli can be mixed with grains and greens to make a wholesome veggie bowl. Got leftover quinoa? Why not mix it with some oats and beans to make delicious burgers? The possibilities are endless! You can enjoy you leftovers by turning them into burgers or healthy plant-based bowls your family can enjoy.
10. Select nutritious recipes that set you up for success
The best way to save time when planning vegan meals for the week is to use recipes that set you up for success. One way to do this is to keep your favorite cookbooks and recipes near your kitchen or dinner table so you can easily flip through them when you're meal planning.
I love searching for plant-based recipes on Pinterest when I want to change things up and try something new. If my family and I love a new vegan recipe from Pinterest, I save it to my meal planning app called Paprika. It's as easy as adding the recipe's URL to the app, and Paprika automatically imports the ingredients and steps.
Paprika makes it super fast and easy to meal plan at home and easily access my automatically generated grocery list for the meals I plan on making for the following week.
What is the easiest way to start a plant-based diet?
If you’re looking to start a plant-based diet, it can be daunting to know where to start. There are so many plant-based foods out there, and it can be hard to figure out which ones are the healthiest and most nutritious. Here is a quick guide on how to get started on a plant-based diet.
The easiest way to start a plant-based diet is by gradually replacing animal products with plant-based alternatives. For example, you could begin by replacing meat with plant-based protein sources like tofu or beans. You could also replace dairy milk with almond milk or soy milk.
By slowly making these replacements, you will give your body time to adjust to the new diet and learn how to digest these new foods.
Another great way to get started with plant-based eating is by following a vegan meal plan. I love this one-week vegan meal plan by Running on Real Food. Also, I recommend checking out her Whole Food Plant-Based Meal Plan.
Meal plans are designed specifically for people who want to eat only plant-based foods. A vegan meal plan will provide you with all the nutrients your body needs, and it will help you learn about new plant-based foods that you can add to your diet.
If you’re not sure where to find vegan meal plans, there are plenty of online resources available. You can search Google, YouTube, and Pinterest for ideas.
Plant-based Cookbooks for Healthy Vegan Meal Planning
Plant-based Bloggers
Quotes and Passages About Plant-Based Eating
"And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so." — Genesis 1:29-30
“In grains, fruits, vegetables, and nuts are to be found all the food elements that we need. If we will come to the Lord in simplicity of mind, He will teach us how to prepare wholesome food free from the taint of flesh meat.” — Ellen White, Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 92
“The grains, with fruits, nuts, and vegetables, contain all the nutritive properties necessary to make good blood." — Ellen White, Ministry of Healing, p. 316
”Let food be thy medicine, and medicine be thy food.” - Hippocrates
“We know we cannot be kind to animals until we stop exploiting them — exploiting animals in the name of science, exploiting animals in the name of sport, exploiting animals in the name of fashion, and yes, exploiting animals in the name of food.” - César Chávez
“I’ve found that a person does not need protein from meat to be a successful athlete. In fact, my best year of track competition was the first year I ate a vegan diet.” - Carl Lewis
“The most ethical diet just so happens to be the most environmentally sound diet and just so happens to be the healthiest.” - Dr. Michael Greger
“People feel poorly because they are nourished by foods you wouldn’t feed to your dog and cat. The rich western diet is full of fat, sugar, cholesterol, salt, animal protein — all the wrong foods for people.” ― Dr. John McDougall
