23 Vegetarian Meal Prep Recipes (2024)

By: Denise Bustard19 Comments
Posted: 7/23/21Updated: 7/23/21

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These vegetarian meal prep recipes can help you eat healthier and reduce your meal time stress. Browse through the meal prep bowls, jar salads and friendly options.

Making vegetarian meal prep recipes, whether it is breakfast, lunch or dinner, sets you up for healthy eating through the week. Not only that, but you will save yourself time, stress and even save some money!

23 Vegetarian Meal Prep Recipes (1)

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One thing I love about vegetarian meal prep recipes is that the proteins are super easy to work with, often as simple as opening a can of beans! That makes prepping your meals even more efficient.

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Meal Prep FAQ

How many days can I meal prep for at a time?

That depends on whether you choose freezer-friendly meals or not. Most ingredients will keep in the fridge for up to 4 days. Check out theseFreezer-Friendly Lunch Meal Prep Recipesfor recipes that will keep longer!

Is rice really safe to reheat?

Absolutely! The important thing with rice is that you don’t leave it at room temperature for long periods of time. Cool it quickly, refrigerate, and do not reheat more than once.Ref

Which meal prep containers should I use?

Check out this post I wrote about the5 Best Glass Meal Prep Containers!

Which vegetables work best for meal prep?

You will want to check out this post onHow to Meal Prep Vegetables.

Do I really have to eat the same thing four days in a row?

NO! Check out this post on3 Ways to Add Variety to Your Meal Prep. Although I will say that the most efficient way to meal prep is to bulk prep the same meal.

Meal prep & storage tips

How to meal prep– Specific instructions are found on each individual recipe post. Stir fries, burritos, casseroles, pastas (etc) are cooked ahead. Salads- chop, portion out, and keep dressing separate until just before serving (unless otherwise stated). Soup- assemble in mason jars.

How to store– Some options for storing these meal prep recipes include:

  • 2 cup meal prep containers (my personal faves; I own 40 of these!)
  • 2 compartment meal prep containers (great for keeping ingredients separate until just before serving)
  • 3 compartment meal prep containers (great for bento-style lunches)
  • condiment containers (great for salad dressings)
  • 1 pint mason jars (great for salads)

How to serve– rewarm until steaming hot (if recipe calls for it). Toss salad in dressings and enjoy cold. Pour hot water into mason jar soup.

QUESTION? Ask me below!

Meal prep bowls

Cauliflower Cashew Lunch Bowls

Makethese cauliflower cashew lunch bowls ahead of time and have work lunches ready for the week! Roasted cauliflower, toasted cashews, barley and chickpeas are all tossed in a delicious honey-ginger vinaigrette!

Check out this recipe

23 Vegetarian Meal Prep Recipes (2)

Southwestern Sweet Potato & Lentil Jar Salads

These sweet potato & lentil jar salads have the most amazing chili lime vinaigrette! Make them ahead and enjoy throughout the week for an easy, healthy on-the-go lunch.

Check out this recipe

23 Vegetarian Meal Prep Recipes (3)

Vegan Slow Cooker Tikka Masala

This vegan slow cooker tikka masala is PERFECT for meal prep! It makes an easy freezer crockpot meal, and leftovers keep (and can be frozen) for healthy plant-based lunches.

Check out this recipe

23 Vegetarian Meal Prep Recipes (4)

Chickpea, Barley & Butternut Squash Jar Salads

Make ahead chickpea, barley and butternut squash jar salads will have you looking forward to lunch all morning! Vegetarian, ready in under 1 hour, and tastes amazing, even on day 4.

Check out this recipe

23 Vegetarian Meal Prep Recipes (5)

Buddha Bowl Recipe

This Buddha bowl recipe is full of healthy plant-based ingredients and works great for meal prep! Customize it using your favorite veggies and don't forget to drizzle with the delicious tahini sauce.

Check out this recipe

23 Vegetarian Meal Prep Recipes (6)

Perfect Egg Fried Rice (+ Variations)

Showing you how to cook perfect egg fried rice! Made with a simple ingredient list including rice, carrots, beans and eggs tossed in a simple soy and sesame oil sauce. It's kid-friendly, freezer-friendly, and perfect for using up what you have in your fridge and pantry.

Check out this recipe

23 Vegetarian Meal Prep Recipes (7)

Vegan Sushi Meal Prep

This vegan sushi bowl meal prep has all the flavors of sushi without the rolling! Made with cucumber, carrots, radish, edamame, rice and a sriracha mayo dressing.

Check out this recipe

23 Vegetarian Meal Prep Recipes (8)

Farro Arugula Salad (Meal Prep)

This farro arugula salad is a delicious vegetarian meal prep recipe! With snap peas, feta cheese, egg and a tangy vinaigrette, it is filling and delicious!

Check out this recipe

23 Vegetarian Meal Prep Recipes (9)

Moroccan Instant Pot Lentils

Moroccan Instant Pot lentils made with sweet potato, tomatoes, carrots, and warming spices! Vegan comfort food at it's finest, this recipe is gluten-free, freezer-friendly, and delicious.

Check out this recipe

23 Vegetarian Meal Prep Recipes (10)

Cold Sesame Noodles with Spiralized Vegetables

These cold sesame noodle meal prep bowls are the perfect vegan prep ahead lunch: spiralized vegetables tossed with chickpeas and whole wheat spaghetti in a spicy almond butter sauce.

Check out this recipe

23 Vegetarian Meal Prep Recipes (11)

Spicy Tofu Noodles Meal Prep

These spicy tofu noodle meal prep bowls are made with a sweet, savory and spicy sauce, whole-wheat spaghetti, zucchini noodles, and tofu! Make it ahead and enjoy for lunch through the week.

Check out this recipe

23 Vegetarian Meal Prep Recipes (12)

Vegan Roasted Vegetable Meal Prep with Turmeric Tahini Sauce

This vegan meal prep recipe pairs roasted vegetables, chickpeas and quinoa with a deliciously creamy turmeric tahini sauce.

Check out this recipe

23 Vegetarian Meal Prep Recipes (13)

Chickpea Salad Bento Box (Vegan)

Chickpea salad bento box is a vegan no cook lunch option that can be ready in under 25 minutes!

Check out this recipe

23 Vegetarian Meal Prep Recipes (14)

Dinners

Freezer Cauliflower Rice Black Bean Burritos

These freezer cauliflower rice black bean burritos are lighter but just as tasty as the original! Loaded with veggies, salsa, black beans and cheese, and so convenient to have stocked in your freezer.

Check out this recipe

23 Vegetarian Meal Prep Recipes (15)

Sun Dried Tomato One Pot Pasta

This sun dried tomato pasta with chickpeas, mushrooms and spinach cooks up in one pot! Give it a few stirs, and dinner is ready! Easy to assemble ahead and customize with your favorite ingredients.

Check out this recipe

23 Vegetarian Meal Prep Recipes (16)

Slow Cooker Chickpea Tortilla Soup (Freezer to Crock Pot)

Slow cooker chickpea tortilla soup which can be assembled ahead of time and stored in the fridge or freezer! A great way to stay out of the kitchen this summer.

Check out this recipe

23 Vegetarian Meal Prep Recipes (17)

Chopped Chickpea Salad (Make Ahead)

This chopped chickpea salad has bulgur wheat, crunchy veggies, feta cheese, and a delicious honey lemon vinaigrette is a delicious vegetarian salad that tastes even better on day 2!

Check out this recipe

23 Vegetarian Meal Prep Recipes (18)

Lasagna Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms (Make Ahead, Freezer)

Lasagna stuffed portobello mushrooms has everyone's favorite lasagna ingredients (marinara, ricotta, spinach and basil) but served up in a deliciously roasted portobello mushroom! Low carb, freezer-friendly and vegetarian.

Check out this recipe

23 Vegetarian Meal Prep Recipes (19)

Freezer to Oven Enchilada Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

With delicious TexMex flavors, these enchilada stuffed sweet potatoes are great for lunch or dinner. You can prep them ahead and freeze for easy meals during busy weeks.

Check out this recipe

23 Vegetarian Meal Prep Recipes (20)

One Pot Black Bean Fajita Pasta

One pot black bean fajita pasta is creamy and delicious vegetarian pasta recipe. With bell peppers, onions, black beans and fajita seasonings, it's perfect for weeknight dinners or for meal prep.

Check out this recipe

23 Vegetarian Meal Prep Recipes (21)

White Bean & Spinach Quesadillas (Freezer Friendly)

Make these smashed white bean and spinach quesadillas ahead of time and stash them in the freezer for an easy and healthy lunch that actually fills you up!

Check out this recipe

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Chickpea Butternut Squash Fajitas (Freezer-Friendly)

Chickpea butternut squash fajitas are a tasty remix on the classic. With tender roasted butternut squash, bell peppers, red onions and chickpeas tossed in a flavorful homemade fajita seasoning, they're simple to prep and work great as a freezer meal.

Check out this recipe

23 Vegetarian Meal Prep Recipes (23)

Butternut Squash Enchilada Casserole (Prep Ahead)

This butternut squash enchilada casserole bakes up with the bold spices of enchilada sauce, cheese, black beans, butternut squash and tortillas. Simple to assemble, and can be frozen for later!

Check out this recipe

23 Vegetarian Meal Prep Recipes (24)

Meet Denise Bustard

Denise Bustard is the creator of Sweet Peas and Saffron, a meal prep-focussed food blog. With a PhD in biochemistry, Denise takes a scientific approach to perfecting her recipes. You can find Denise's work featured on Huffington Post, MSN, Self and more.

Read more...

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Reader Interactions

Leave a Comment

  1. Sherrie Hartman says

    OMG -- can't wait to try all of these! I think this is going to be my favorite post ever 🙂 Thank you for putting it all together!

    Reply

    • Denise Bustard says

      I'm so happy it was helpful! I hope you can find some winners, Sherrie!

      Reply

  2. Anni says

    Thanks for the variety of recipes Denise. I plan on prepping some of these for our long trip in our trailer this spring. #happycamper

    Reply

  3. Merna says

    Lately, I’ve been craving foods with sauce/gravy (anything saucy really HA!), and wasn’t expecting these mouth watering meals to have it incorporated. I am looking forward to meal prepping for the first time. Thank you for the motivation and inspiration!

    Reply

    • Denise says

      I hope you find some good ones! Thanks, Merna 🙂

      Reply

  4. Vicky says

    Thank you for these wonderful recipes Denise. I'm definitely going to try most of them as they will make a welcome change to my usual meals.

    Reply

    • Denise says

      Hi Vicky! I hope you find some winners!

      Reply

  5. Laura Raymond says

    Hi, Denise! These are gorgeous, healthy, delicious sounding recipes that I would love to share with my vegetarian friends and tell them about Sweet Peas & Saffron. For me, personally, none of them work because I have severe IBS and a slew of allergies, and every single one of the recipes posted relies heavily on ingredients that would have me doubled over in agony in about five to ten minutes. Such a shame, since they look soooooooooooo good!!!!! You are an awesome food designer with a great eye for recipes that work and are both healthful and tasty, even though it won't work for me personally.

    Reply

    • Denise says

      Hi Laura, apologies for my late reply (holidays!). Sorry to hear they won't work for you. I have a friend with IBS and she can't have the most random selection of foods. It must be so hard to find recipes that work for you. Thanks so much for passing on to your friends!

      Reply

  6. Kristen says

    These are awesome! Thank you!

    Reply

  7. Helen says

    23 Vegetarian Meal Prep Recipes (31)
    I normally look at links like this and find half of the recipes include ingredients that are not vegetarian or the recipes are complicated or there is nothing I like the sound of. So congratulations I have just printed off 17 recipes and i will try and make a different one each week. I'm looking forward to new and exciting lunches to replace my usual sandwiches.

    Reply

    • Denise says

      So happy to hear this! Hope you enjoy!

      Reply

  8. Dee says

    23 Vegetarian Meal Prep Recipes (32)
    I can't wait to try those portobellos!!!

    Reply

  9. Bella says

    These are awesome, thank you so much for posting!

    Reply

    • Denise says

      You are very welcome, Bella!

      Reply

  10. Nallely says

    I love this post, I took a picture of a couple recipes I'm so excited to try! You're awesome, I seriously enjoyed reading your posts as well, keep doing what you're doing (:

    Reply

    • Denise says

      Thank you so much, Nallely! I hope you enjoy the recipes 🙂

      Reply

  11. HeatherJeweler says

    These are some amazing sounding recipes. I have not made any yet but plan too. It can be a bit daunting to search online for great, easy, inspiring recipes. You have so many to choose from.
    Thanks

    Reply

    • Denise says

      Hi Heather! I"m glad you like the post. Thanks so much for your comment 🙂

      Reply

23 Vegetarian Meal Prep Recipes (2024)

FAQs

How many meals should you make for meal prep? ›

While you definitely want variety for your meal prep, you should limit your recipes to two or three per week, and for five days ahead of time max. Being prepared is great, but you also want to make sure you're eating meals with fresh ingredients even if prepared ahead of time.

Can you meal prep rice? ›

Rice and grain bowls make great meal preps! They can chill in your fridge for up to four days and are freezer-friendly in most cases. The cool thing about meal prepping rice is that many times, microwaving it can fix any rice issues you had when cooking it.

Is it better to meal prep or cook everyday? ›

Meal Prepping Tends to Save Money

Research shows that less than one hour per day spent on food preparation at home is linked with significantly more money spent on takeout. Plus, meal prepping can help you save money on groceries because it forces you to be more intentional with your choices and your hard-earned cash.

What is the most common vegetarian diet? ›

Lacto-ovo vegetarianism, the most common type of vegetarian diet, involves eliminating all meat, poultry, and fish. Other types of vegetarians may also avoid foods like eggs and dairy.

What is fried rice syndrome? ›

Fried rice syndrome is caused by a bacterium called Bacillus cereus, which is present in these types of starchy foods prior to cooking. Bacillus cereus is a heat-resistant bacteria, so even recooking foods that have not been appropriately refrigerated can result in food poisoning.

What rice is best for meal prep? ›

Basmati Rice: Basmati rice is a long-grain rice known for its distinct aroma and fluffy texture. It tends to remain separate and doesn't clump together, making it a good choice for meal prep dishes like stir-fries or curries.

How many cups of rice should I meal prep for a week? ›

This will depend on the number of meals you're prepping for. A cup of uncooked white rice will produce 3 cups of rice when cooked, while a cup of uncooked brown rice will give you 2 cups cooked. So if you are cooking rice for 10 meals, we suggest that you cook 2½ cups of brown rice, which should give you 5 cups.

What are the best starches for meal prep? ›

The best meals for prep are simple, packable, freeze-able, reheatable, and last-able (a.k.a. can keep in the fridge for up to four days). Here are the basics for prepping your meals: Pick a starch: Brown rice, pasta, sweet potatoes, white potatoes, quinoa, bulgur, and farro are our favorites.

Do you eat the same thing everyday when meal prepping? ›

Since meal prepping can involve eating the same dish or types of food a few days in a row, it's not for people who prize variety and freshness above all else.

How to make meal prep cheaper? ›

Buy in bulk: When meal prepping on a budget look for special deals on bulk items like rice, beans, and produce, or meats. These ingredients can be used in multiple meals and are often less expensive than smaller sized portioned containers (compare the price per oz of food).

How many meals should I make for a week? ›

The reason why meal prep is so popular is because it's insanely effective. Think about how tired you would get trying to make 21 individual meals. It's much easier to make 3-7 for a week. You can take this idea to its fullest extent by having a complete meal finished and ready to go when you get hungry.

Is it OK to meal prep for 3 days? ›

Typically, refrigerated meal preps last between 3 to 5 days, depending on the ingredients used. However, this relatively short window can be a challenge for many people, as it requires diligent planning and scheduling to ensure that all meals are consumed before they spoil.

How much should I meal prep for a week? ›

For a single person eating three meals a day, you can expect to pay at least a bit north of $100 per week on food for meal prep. This number may change widely based on your circ*mstances. Compared to eating out, good meal prep can save you immense amounts of money in the long run.

Should I meal prep for 5 days or 7? ›

If you're meal prepping for one person, you might want to meal prep three to four days worth of food. If you're meal prepping for a big family, you might want to meal prep seven to ten days worth of food.

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