7-day vegan meal plan with recipes to help you plan your vegan week ahead! This 7-day meal plan is made with keeping in mind fresh produce available in the month of February.
#Veganuary might be over but it really showed many of us around the world that it isn’t difficult to be vegan at all. I’ve been a vegetarian for most of my life and the things that kept me away from going vegan were butter (+ghee), cheese, ice-cream and an odd egg breakfast once a month.
Reading more and more about the conditions in commercial dairy and poultry farms, I have started to look carefully for organic, grass-fed, free-range dairy products and eggs when I do. But I’m also slowly getting inclined towards going 100% vegan. I love plant-based milk (my favorite is almond milk), I’ve also started enjoying cashew butter, I’ve easily found egg substitutes in baking. This last month showed me it’s very possible.
I can’t claim that I was successfully vegan through the whole January 2019 for all meals but I did succeed 90% of time. And what really helped was having a weekly meal plan.
About 6 months ago, I started a weekly practice of making Meal Plans every Sunday for the week ahead. I occasionally share my weekly meal plan on my Instagram stories but after the responses in the annual reader’s survey, I learned it was time to share them on the blog with more details so that they can really be of help to you guys too! Here’s my first 7-day vegan meal plan with recipes linked in. (You can also download the meal plan from the image at the end of the post)
7-Day Vegan Meal Plan
| BREAKFAST | LUNCH | DINNER | SNACKS for in-between meals through the day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MONDAY | Granola with almond milk | Quinoa Stir fry | Sweet Potato & Chickpea curry with Brown Rice | 1 Date bar 1-2 serving of fresh fruit of choice |
| TUESDAY | 2 slice banana bread with maple syrup,
1 cup vegan milk, 1 pear | Leftover chickpea curry & brown rice | Dal-fry
, Cauliflower scramble , Bajra roti | Oatmeal cookies 3-4 dates |
| WEDNESDAY | 1 apple + Cereal Drink - Ragi & Banana Smoothie | Leftover dal-fry with basmati rice | Tofu stir-fry with rice and vegetables | Handful of Mixed nuts 1 slice banana bread |
| THURSDAY | Chocolate oatmeal banana smoothie | Leftover Tofu stir-fry | Soya chunks spinach curry with basmati rice | 1 Date bar 1-2 serving of fresh fruit of choice |
| FRIDAY | Spinach & Pineapple smoothie,
2 slices bread with nut butter | Hummus wrap with avocado and fresh salad | Plan to Eat Out or maybe a Carrot & Parsnip Soup | Oatmeal cookies Handful of Mixed nuts |
| SATURDAY | BRUNCH Banana walnut smoothie Savory sorghum flour pancakes | Sweet potato Salad with avocado dressing | 2 bread slices with nut butter 1-2 servings of fresh fruits Handful of mixed nuts | |
| SUNDAY | BRUNCH
Berry Smoothie Avocado toast with roasted sweet potato | Quinoa bowl with lentil and roasted vegetables salad | 1 Date bar 2 Oatmeal cookies 1-2 servings of Fresh Fruits |
In the annual survey, 70% of responses said they would love to see posts about Meal Planning and the remains 30% were “maybe”. Not a single person said they don’t want to see meal planning posts. I have to say I wasn’t surprised 🙂
The first week when I decided to make a meal plan, I literally stared at the blank sheet for paper for almost half hour! I had probably written one meal for day and then I said, “it’s too difficult. I will figure out on-the-go.”
On-the-go, it definitely does add to the stress of too many decisions that we have to make every day but for that one day for which I had written down a meal, it was a breeze. So I decided to give it a go and have been at it since then!
Meal Planning helps in so many ways!
Meal plans help reduce Food wastage
Buying groceries based on a plan or planning meals ahead based on the grocery done, helps reduce wastage of fresh produce. Also if anything is nearing its expiry date, I plan a meal around it.
Meal plans help save time
Once I know what I need to make, I know what to shop for and it saves time in the grocery store as well as reduced number of trips to the store during the week. It also saves the time, I would usually spend every evening after getting back home in thinking what to cook for dinner.
Meal Plans help in keeping to healthy choices
Whenever I plan, I tend to lean towards the healthier side in my choices. It also makes it easy to plan things around seasonal and local produce thus contributing towards a healthy us and a healthy Earth.
And while a meal plan is not set in stone, when you put in the time initially to plan the meals, chances are you will be more inclined to stick with the choices. I have found that once I have a plan, it is easier to stick to it.
Meal Plans help in Mindful Cooking
When I plan my meals, I can make sure that I have enough time to cook in a peaceful way. The harmony of the kitchen somehow finds its way into the food too. However, keep it flexible and if you aren’t able to stick with the plan or if something else emerges for that meal, go with the flow!
How to start making Meal Plans
Don’t let the term “meal plan” intimidate you. You can plan anything. Maybe just that one lunch that you will have on your own, or plan that one family dinner Wednesday, you can even plan to NOT cook and have a night out! Just try to give your meals for one week a thought ahead of time.
I am a very pen and paper girl and all my
Just giving your meals a thought beforehand helps. Do you plan your meals? Or do you want to make meal plans? I would love to connect with you on discussing and bringing about healthier changes. I am hoping to share one weekly meal plan every month and if you need more help with meal planning, feel free to connect with me.
How is the plan vegan when the oatmeal cookies contain egg ?
Hey Aarti!
Thanks for pointing that out. I had linked wrongly to a different recipe. Have corrected it to go to vegan Almond and Oatmeal Cookies