3 High-Protein Vegan Meal Prep Ideas

Meal prep can be overwhelming and boring at the same time. If you’re having trouble coming up with ideas for or you just feel like there are too many options to choose from, here are 3 high-protein vegan meal preps that I’ve been making quite a bit recently!

Teriyaki Rice Bowl

Grocery List

• Tofu – $1.69 / 14oz package
• Tempeh – $4.99 / 8oz package
• White rice – $3.49 / 2lb bag
• Broccoli – $2.49 / lb
• Teriyaki sauce – $4.69 / 21oz jar

Teriyaki-Glazed Tofu/Tempeh

1. Drain tofu and press using your preferred method. When it’s pressed to your liking, slice into cubes.
2. Cube tempeh and steam it in a little bit of water for a few minutes. This softens the tempeh slightly, allowing it to soak up more of our sauce later on.
3. When the water has cooking off, add tofu in with tempeh, drizzle with a little bit of oil, and cook until a golden exterior has formed.
4. Add in your teriyaki sauce and toss until everything is thoroughly coated. Cook, while occasionally stirring, until your tofu and tempeh have a nice coating of sauce.
5. For our meal prep, I split the tempeh and the tofu each into 3 servings. Feel free to mix and match if you want to have a mix of both proteins in each container!

Steamed Rice

1. Choose your rice of choice (I used white jasmine rice) and cook up a big batch using whatever method you usually go with.
2. My preferred method is to rinse it 3-4 times and then cook it using a rice cooker. We use this tiny little rice cooker and we love it. It makes the process extremely simple and the rice always comes out perfectly.
3. For this meal prep, I used 1.5 cups of dry rice. I ended up having a little bit leftover, but that’s no big deal.
4. After the rice is finished cooking, portion it out to your liking. I used about 1 cup of cooked rice per container.

Steamed Broccoli

1. Give your broccoli a rinse and cut it up into medium sized florets. We’re just going to give it a quick steam and that’s it!
2. I use a steamer basket insert that sits right inside a pot. All you have to do is add about an inch of water to the bottom of a pot, insert the steamer basket, toss in your broccoli, and cover it.
3. The trick here is to undercook the broccoli ever so slightly so it doesn’t get mushy and soggy when it’s reheated later on.

Nutrition Roundup

Each container has 1 cup of rice, 1/3 of a package of tofu or tempeh, and a big scoop of broccoli.

Tofu Bowl: 433 calories, 19.5g protein

Tempeh Bowl: 428 calories, 21g protein

Roasted Veggie & Sausage Bowl

Grocery List

• Butternut squash – $3.61 each
• Brussels sprouts – $2.99 / lb
• Rice pilaf – $2.99 / box (Near East brand)
• Impossible sausage – $6.99 / 14oz

Roasted Butternut Squash & Brussels Sprouts

1. Peel and cube butternut squash and quarter Brussels sprouts.
2. Lay out on a sheet pan, drizzle with olive oil, and toss with salt and pepper. Feel free to add any other spices or herbs you like at this stage.
3. Roast in a 400° oven for 25-30 minutes, until the squash is tender and the Brussels sprouts are soft and browned.

Cooking the Rice Pilaf & Impossible Sausage

1. Pick your favorite brand of rice pilaf and cook according to the instructions on the packaging. We like the brand Near East.
2. Grab a skillet and heat over medium-high heat. Add the Impossible Sausage and break it up as much as you’d like. You can leave it in relatively big chunks or break it down into the texture of ground beef.
3. Cook until the sausage is cooked through and thoroughly browned.

Nutrition Roundup for Meal

Each container has 1/4 of the package of pilaf, a 1/4 of the package of Impossible, and about 3/4 cup each of squash and Brussels sprouts.

Per container: 472 calories, 18.25g protein

Vegan Fajita Bowl

Grocery List

• White rice – $3.49 / 2lb bag

• Beans – $0.89 / can
• Onion – $0.50 / each
• Garlic – $0.67 / head
• Tomato paste – $2.99 / tube
• Chicken-style broth – $2.50 / pack of 8 cubes

Mexican Red Rice

Ingredients:

• 1 small onion, diced
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup long-grain rice, not rinsed
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 3 tablespoons tomato paste
• 2 cups water or chicken-style broth
• 1/2 teaspoon salt (more if using only water)

Instructions:

1. In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium-high heat.
2. Add in onion, garlic, and uncooked rice. Stir until everything is well-coated. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until rice goes from transparent to opaque.
3. Mix in tomato paste until thoroughly combined. Add in broth, bring to a boil, and then reduce to a simmer. Cover and let simmer for 25-30 minutes.
4. Optionally, you can add in a can of drained and rinsed beans (I like pinto) halfway through the cook time. Just stir them in and finish cooking.
5. When the rice is finished cooking, give it a fluff with a fork and you’re good to go!

Fajita Veggies

1. Slice up whichever fajita veggies you prefer. We usually like some combination of peppers, onions, mushrooms, and zucchini. But feel free to mix it up!
2. Heat up a little bit of olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, add in your veggies.
3. All you’re going to do is cook these over relatively high heat, stirring frequently. It’s best to get a little bit of char on them, if you can (just like when you get fajita veggies at a Mexican restaurant).
4. Once your veggies have softened a bit, hit them with salt and pepper to taste. Don’t let them get too soft! They’re best when they still have little bit of crunch to them. (Mushrooms are excluded from this. They’ll be soft no matter what and that’s okay.)

Fajita Soy Curls

For the uninitiated, soy curls are amazing. They’re just strips/chunks of protein made from soybeans, similar to tofu and TVP. They soak up whatever flavor you put on them, the texture is fantastic, and they’re exceptionally versatile.

1. Soy curls come dehydrated, so the first step is to rehydrate them. I do this by covering them with boiling water and allowing them to sit for at least 10 minutes. Once they’re fully hydrated, drain them. After they’ve cooled off, you’re going to put them in a nut milk bag (or something similar) and ring out the extra water.
2. Heat some oil in a skillet over medium-high heat and add in your soy curls.
3. Dissolve vegan chicken bouillon in a tiny amount of water, add it in, and give it a thorough mix. My favorite brand of vegan bouillon is Edward & Sons, but you can also use brands such as Better Than Bouillon
4. Sprinkle on all of your spices (recipe below) and mix again to coat all of the soy curls.
5. Let these cook, stirring occasionally, until they darken a little in color. You can even allow them to get a little crispy on the outsides (Eric loves when they get crispy and charred). They should come out roughly the texture of chicken!

Spice Recipe

• 1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon oregano
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder

Nutrition Roundup for Meal

Each container has 1 cup of rice and beans, 2 servings of soy curls, and about 1 cup of fajita veggies.

Per container: 498 calories, 29g protein

So those are our 3 high-protein vegan meal prep ideas! Feel free to customize any of these however you please. Enjoy!