Quick, easy, and vegan may sound like the holy grail of dinners, and well, it is.
Vegan meals don’t have to be complicated or time-consuming. For a long time, just the word “vegan” made most people think: bland, time-consuming, and a whole lot of weird ingredients in the kitchen. But the truth is, vegan meals can be full of flavor, made with several things that are already in your kitchen cupboard, and quick and easy to prepare.
That’s why we’ve rounded up 14 of our favorite quick and easy vegan dinners to inspire your menu this week! Some of the recipes have longer total times here to account for the inactive cook time, but all of these recipes can be prepped in 20 minutes or less. So go ahead, take a load off and use your new-found time to indulge in some self-care, hang out with family, or catch up with the latest season of your favorite show.
Vegan Banh Mi
Total Time: 30 minutes
Banh Mi is a Vietnamese street food classic! This sandwich is served on a french baguette with just the right balance of spice and fresh ingredients. Typically vegan Bahn Mi is served with tofu as the main meat substitute, but this recipe has a whole new spin on it: meet the Cauliflower Bahn Mi sandwich.
Vegan Quinoa Chili
Total time: 45 minutes
As far as hardy dinners go, it’s hard to beat a good chili. We love this Quinoa Chili recipe that’s ready in 45 minutes, only about 15 of which is active time. If you’re looking for something a bit quicker, this is a great recipe to prep cook! Make a double batch and put half of it in individual servings in the freezer, and you’ll have a hardy fix whenever you want it.
Vegan Peanut Noodles
Total time: 30 minutes
I basically lived off of this in college. This Easy Peanut Noodles recipe is ready on the fly, light on the bank account, and heavy on the nutrients. There are several ways to dress this up with different spices and veggies you have laying around. And if you don’t have any crushed peanuts on hand, a spoon full of chunky peanut butter works marvelously.
Vegan Lasagna
Total time: 1 hour, 20 minutes
So, there are a ton of lasagna recipes out there, but this Vegan Lasagna takes home the gold. The key to a perfect vegan lasagna is in the cashew-tofu ricotta. Honestly, you don’t even miss the cheese with this one. This recipe calls for vegan mozzarella, but if you don’t have any, just make some extra of the vegan ricotta, and sprinkle it on top– it will not disappoint.
Vegan Chickpea Nuggets
Total time: 35 minutes
So we have this one listed as a lunch recipe, but it can also make for a bomb dinner option that spans palettes from happy meals to happy hour. These Vegan Chickpea Nuggets are a quick and simple option, that you can dress up in so many ways: pair it with some sweet potato fries for when your inner child (or actual child) is craving a happy meal, top it on a salad with some vegan ranch dressing for a dinner salad, or serve along with some veggies with dip for a happy hour style dinner.
Vegan Quinoa Bowls (6 ways!)
Total time: 15 minutes
Quinoa is the queen of the ancient grain family! These Vegan Quinoa Bowl recipes include six ways to spice it up: Mediterranean, bbq tofu, roasted veggie, pizza, orange tofu, or southwest. Use up leftovers from previous nights easily, and give them a new life that the whole family can get excited about.
The Easiest Vegan Pancakes
Total time: 15 minutes
Breakfast for dinner is acceptable 100% of the time. Pancakes are a solid choice when your pantry is looking a little bare, but you have had a really long day and no interest in grocery shopping. We love this simple Vegan Pancake recipe that you can dress up in so many different ways with everyone’s favorite fruits, nuts, or syrups!
Easy Vegan Buffalo Cauliflower
Total time: 25 minutes
With football season upon us, we had to include our beloved Buffalo Cauliflower. While this recipe calls for buffalo sauce, you can play with the sauces here! Once you get the cauliflower roasted, you can season them like any of your fav “hot wing” flavors: buffalo, sweet and sour, lemon garlic, sriracha, bbq — or do a taste test of several to bring to a game-watching night. These pair well with coleslaw, salad, or cowboy caviar.
Vegan Pan Sheet Dinner
Total time: 45 minutes
The beauty here is pure simplicity. This Vegan Pan Sheet Dinner highlights the flavors of the vegetable themselves and has the signature touch of a home-cooked roasted meal. While the total cook time clocks in at 45 minutes, only about 5 of those are active, meaning you can come home, prep for 5 minutes, and then go clock in some self-care time.
Vegan Maple Brussel Sprouts with Tempeh Bacon
Total Time: 55 minutes
Hello, new favorite comfort food! These Maple Brussel Sprouts with Tempeh Bacon are good enough to stand alone for a smokey sweet dinner– or as a side, you can bring to Thanksgiving dinner. The smokey maple flavor compliments the more bitter flavors of brussel sprouts to make for a taste explosion. While the total time on this one is 55 minutes, only about 10 of those are active prep time.
Vegan Broccoli Potato Casserole
Total time: 1hr 20 minutes
Casseroles are not just for the casein and meat lovers anymore. This cashew-cheesy Broccoli Potato Casserole is a work of art in the oven. The active time here is about 20 minutes, and the cook time at about an hour, so it’s a bit longer, but oh so worth it! Especially since the inactive time is just enough to sneak in an episode of your favorite show right now.
Vegan Shaved Asparagus and Arugula Salad
Total time: 10 minutes
There are definitely a lot of ways to make salads more interesting, and this Shaved Asparagus and Arugula Salad with lemon dijon poppyseed dressing definitely push this one to the top of the list. For a quick, easy, and textured vegan dinner, we love this salad. The quinoa here adds just enough oomph to make this salad a standalone dish, and if you decide to make some extra, it keeps very well for lunches throughout the week (just make sure to keep the dressing separate for packaging).
Vegan Quinoa Stuffed Cabbage Rolls
Total Time: 40 minutes
Full of meaty mushrooms and quinoa, this Quinoa Stuffed Cabbage Roll recipe makes for a hearty dinner. This recipe calls for feta or another kind of cheese, but you can sub that out for extra firm tofu, or cashew ricotta. Cabbage pro tip: to make the cabbage leaves simpler to roll and easy to work with, freeze your head of cabbage ahead of time.
Vegan Sweet and Sour Lettuce Wraps
Total time: 20 minutes
Vegan, and gluten-free, you can have restaurant-quality lettuce wraps at home in less than 30 minutes! This Sweet and Sour Lettuce Wrap recipe calls for using a vegan meat substitute, but you can also just substitute those for walnuts (we recommend roasting those for an extra crunchy bite)!
What are your favorite go-to quick and easy vegan meals? For more quick and easy healthy food inspiration check out our favorite Low Cal Vegetarian Meals recipes (that have some vegan options in there as well!)
