32 Easy Recipes To Make Vegetarian Meals Quickly
Quick vegetarian meals that take 20 minutes or less to come together are what every one of us needs, be it breakfast, lunch, dinner, or midnight snack.
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It’s 2022, we’ve all got busy lives and no one’s got time to slave over a hot stove, trying to put together a healthy meal.
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Know what I hate at the end of a long and tiring day? Peering into the depths of my fridge, trying to work out what (healthy!) vegetarian meal I could come up with.
Do you know what I hate more than that? Not finding any and resorting to a greasy takeaway or some highly processed crap. (Oh and washing up. Hand’s down!)
What if we can wave a magic wand and come up with some quick and easy vegetarian meals that a busy cook like you and I, and put together in a jiffy?
If a jiffy equals 20 Earth minutes or less, then you are at the right place. The last thing anyone wants, at the end of a busy day, is to slave for ages over a hot stove, no sirree!
Other than professional chefs, not many would say hanging out in a hot kitchen for ages, trying to put together a meal, is a great way to spend a day!
So, quick, easy, tasty meals are always going to be winners and this collection of quick and healthy vegetarian recipes is no exception.
Are you ready to expand your cooking repertoire of quick vegetarian meals?
Let’s gooo!
Breakfast
1. Vegan Bulgur Porridge with Sweet Rhubarb
Bonus: quick AND easy recipe
Did anyone ask for ‘easy recipes’? Try this bulgur porridge! No oats, just bulgur wheat, drizzled with sweet rhubarb!
2. High Protein Eggs and Asparagus Breakfast
Bonus: a filling breakfast ready in less than 20 mins!
Looking for a healthy, high-protein breakfast? Try our delicious eggs and asparagus breakfast – 23g protein per serving!
3. Raspberry Low Calorie Pancakes
Bonus: berry berry tasty, berry berry quick!
Win over the crowd at your next brunch without hurting your waistline with these raspberry low-calorie pancakes!
4. Chia Seed Pudding with Almond Milk
Bonus: the perfect make-ahead breakfast for busy mornings
An insanely healthy chia pudding with almond milk that will give you all the nutrients you need, without any unnecessary calories.
5. Breakfast Beans and Eggs
Bonus: get your morning off to a cracking start with this easy meal
Try breakfast beans and eggs, for a hearty breakfast that will satisfy you until lunchtime, and quash the urge to snack!
Subscribe to get our FREE 7-Day Vegetarian High Protein Meal Plan for Weight Loss
6. Cornmeal Porridge
Bonus: vegan and gluten-free
A classic homemade Jamaican breakfast made vegan and more nutritious – and bursting with the same sweet and scrumptiously savory taste!
7. Fluffy Quinoa Egg Muffins
Bonus: travel-friendly breakfast, anyone?
These quinoa egg muffins are incredibly high in protein – and super-quick, too! Perfect any time of the day.
8. Indian Parathas with Curried Carrots
Bonus: add a dash of Punjab to your mornings
These baby parathas are totally delicious, served for breakfast. Serve with some cooling yogurt or even a lassi and they are the perfect comfort food for cold, drizzly mornings!
Quick Soups
9. Rocket/Arugula Soup – The International Soup
Bonus: tickle your taste buds with some leafy greens, said no one but us ever!
Whether you call it rocket soup or arugula soup this awesome soup will taste just as delicious. Heartwarming and full of nutrients, this will keep you going through the day!
10. Asian-style Creamy Corn Soup
Bonus: more robust flavor than your average corn soup
This speedy and roasted creamy corn soup is here to show the world just how much vegan food rocks. Healthy lunch, on a plant-based lifestyle, is just so easy now!
11. Spicy Black Bean Soup (20 Min)
Bonus: healthy recipes fit for the strictest vegan you know
So comforting you want to wrap yourself in it. Only vegan ingredients, great taste, and ready in 20 minutes. High in protein and fiber. You won’t be disappointed!
12. Pea and Mint Soup
Bonus: light, airy, and full of summery freshness
Irresistible Pea and Mint Soup, the classic British dish that’s fresh, light, and with the promise of summer yet to come! Did someone call for comforting soups?
13. Red Onion Soup
Bonus: a recipe that’s just zero fuss
Delicious Red Onion Soup. So fine it makes you cry. Simple ingredients and lightning fast. Ready in 20 minutes. Vegetarian cooking at its finest!
Quick Salads & Sandwiches
14. Vegan Lentil and Potato Salad
Bonus: a quick meal that’s hearty AND healthy
This protein-packed vegan lentil and potato salad is a perfect weight loss recipe (if that sounds good, try some of these low calorie salads too!). It’s filling, healthy and nutritious, while still tasting amazing! One of our best ideas yet!
15. Chickpea Salad with Quinoa
Bonus: hearty salads needn’t take all morning to prep!
Avocado Chickpea Salad. Supercharge Your Lunch: High in protein, and fiber and put together in 5 minutes before you go to work. Easy and tasty.
16. Have a Good Avo Cheddar Cheese Sandwich
Bonus: so creamy, so tasty!
Do we get bonus points for making the humble cheese sandwich something to be proud of for lunch again?
17. Vegan Tuna Salad
Bonus: nothing fishy about this dishy
Tuna salad but without tuna? What a great idea! All the taste and all the goodness – without the fish. The new kid on the vegan block is even tastier than the original!
18. Rush-Rush Couscous
Bonus: for lunch and for easy weeknight dinners
Mediterranean tabbouleh – a salad that’s nothing but a flavor explosion, with its sundried tomatoes, fresh cilantro, dates, lemon juice, and garlic.
Quick Snacks
19. Avocado Deviled Eggs
Bonus: low-carb snack
How do you want your deviled eggs? Check out our stuffed eggs recipe – complete with special taste boosters.
20. Chia Pomegranate Yoghurt
Bonus: can be made vegan by switching out the yogurt for a dairy-free version
A cooling and tasty snack for when the afternoon munchies strike. With 259 calories and 13 grams of protein, this one will keep you going till dinner time.
21. Creamy Garlic Mushrooms on Toast
Bonus: the filling would work in soft rolls too
Unplanned snacking derails most eating plans. Choosing a sensible option like our creamy garlic mushrooms on toast pumps you full of good calories, fiber, and protein.
22. Easy Sweetcorn Fritters
Bonus: serve this up with some hot masala chai for a ripping tea time snack
Make these vegan sweetcorn fritters your new go-to recipe with ingredients you’ll always find in your kitchen. They are the best thing to eat with hot chai!
Quick Hearty Meals Arrr!
23. Vegan Vegetable Lo Mein
Bonus: ‘tired after a long day’ weeknight dinner special
Looking for a speedy noodle dish, packed with vegetables and flavor? The search is over with this easy vegetable lo mein!
24. Quick and Creamy Avocado Pasta
Bonus: a quick and easy pasta dish
Quick and creamy Avocado Pasta that’s full of healthy ingredients. High in fiber, vitamin C, iron, and good fats. Easy to make in under 15 minutes.
25. Satisfying Spinach Tomato Quesadilla
Bonus: a meal that’s so tasty and soooo healthy!
Easy way to get dinner ready in 15 minutes. It’s packed full of vitamins K and A, B2 and B6, C, calcium, and potassium. Incredible!
26. Red Pesto Pasta
Bonus: vegans, we have your new favorite!
Red Pesto Pasta – The best thing to happen to a classic dish. The pesto is all vegan and has received so much praise already that you won’t believe it!
27. Fabulous Flatbread Pizzas
Bonus: you will never look at naan the same ever again!
This mega quick lunch recipe from ace chef Jansen Schouten is bound to please – it’s tasty, nutritious, and most importantly – a break from the norm! We do get them delicious ideas, huh?
28. Speedy Vegan Burrito
Bonus: the one dish you can ever go wrong with
The new vegan burrito is here, paving the way and setting the standard. Mega quick and perfect for breakfast, lunch, or dinner, one the whole family can tuck into!
29. Jackfruit Burgers – Veggie Pulled Pork
Bonus: even better than the real thing
This easy jackfruit burger is the vegan alternative to pulled pork – and it rocks (like all our fave plant-based burger recipes!)! Mega-tasty and no little piggies are harmed anywhere along the line. Happy days for those on a vegetarian diet!
30. Black Bean Burgers
Bonus: you don’t have to sit our meaty BBQs anymore!
A black bean burger recipe that doesn’t fall apart, tastes awesome, and can even be made vegan (more vegetarian burger recipes can be found here)! What could be more BBQ perfect? Serve with tortilla chips and some tender sweet potatoes for the perfect barbecue.
31. Speedy Chickpea Stew
Bonus: pantry-friendly recipe
If you have some tinned tomatoes, tinned chickpeas, and some spice blend, putting out a sumptuous meal lickety-split is no magician’s trick!
32. Vegetarian Fried Rice
Bonus: the best way to use up leftover rice
Everybody should know how to make veggie fried rice. Hands down one of the most delicious and easiest ways to use up leftovers. Ready in max. 15 minutes! Try this with brown rice for extra flavor.
Ingredients
For the sauce
- 2 tbsp soy sauce (dark)
- 2 tsp vinegar (eg. white wine vinegar)
- 2 tsp olive oil (or any other oil you have at hand)
- 1 tsp maple syrup
For the fried rice
- 2 medium eggs (2 medium eggs = 1 large egg. Beaten)
- Salt to taste
- 2 tbsp sesame oil (or whatever you have available)
- 3 cups rice (cooked)
- 1 onion (or 2 spring onions, finely chopped)
- 2 cups veggies of your choice (frozen vegetables are fine too, but make sure to thaw them before frying)
Instructions
- Prep time: In a small bowl mix together the ingredients for the sauce. Then chop your veggies into bite sized pieces.
- Get a pan to high heat, add sesame oil and pour in the egg. While scrambling add a small dash of salt and vinegar. The egg should be done in about a minute, then set aside in a bowl.
- Add another tbsp of oil into the pan on high heat and add the onion. Let it fry for about 30 seconds (NOTE: If you use spring onions, add them in the end instead!).
- Now is the time to your veggies to the pan. Stir fry for 3-5 minutes.
- Reduce the heat, add the rice, sauce and your eggs. Stir well. Now you can safely add your spring onions too.
- Done!
NOTES
Nutrition
Quick Questions
Is it easier to prepare vegetarian meals?
As we are talking about the time frame and ease of prep here, I would say vegetarians have the advantage when it comes to cleaning and prepping produce.
But with ready-prepped foods, both veg and non-veg available in the supermarkets today, meal prep time has really been cut down drastically.
Keeping aside a couple of hours on a Sunday and prepping the week’s meals with the family is another way to save time during the week.
What common foods are vegetarian?
All vegetables and fruits are vegetarian; though it comes from animals, most vegetarians consider dairy to be okay for their consumption too.
Lentils, beans, legumes as well as nuts, and seeds are vegetarian as well. Most vegetarians consider eggs to be vegetarian foods too.
Which cooking method is the quickest and healthiest?
Steaming foods is the healthiest and quickest way of cooking, certainly when it comes to vegetables. It retains the flavor in foods and doesn’t destroy any essential nutrients in the process.
It is often the preferred way of preparing vegetables (and seafood).
It needs no fancy gadget – a simple pan with a lid would do to steam your veg. If you are looking to steam dumplings or rice cakes, then you can invest in a good bamboo steamer.
So there you have it.
Our top selection of recipes, chosen to cut down your meal prep and cooking time to a total of 20 minutes or less, giving you more time to enjoy your food and your family.
Perfect for busy days, our favorite vegetarian meals are healthy, tasty, and good for the whole family to enjoy.
So give our collection of quick and easy vegetarian recipes a whirl and tell us which one’s your fave, if you tweaked any to suit any special diets and if you have any hacks to share with us (and then why don’t you try our favorite vegetarian recipes for beginners?).
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