Quick Guide to a Vegan Diet + 7-Day Meal Plan
Hello there, if you're looking for Mairi's 7-day vegan meal plan - you're in the right place.
There's just under one week left of #Veganuary, but that doesn't mean you have to stop. Whether you're now convinced to go fully vegan, or want to cut down on your meat and dairy intake going forward, I'm hoping I can provide you with some inspiration for yummy vegan meals to keep you excited about veganism.
This is a very quick introduction to transitioning to a vegan diet with an example of a 7 day vegan meal plan plus a few more meal ideas to get you started off on the right foot. Please note that when I say diet, I am not talking about restriction in order to lose weight or achieve other goals, but simply the kinds of foods we eat regularly and consistently.
The three most important points in order to succeed when transitioning to a vegan diet I believe are:
Adopt the mindset of adding new ingredients (such as vegetables, whole grains, pulses, beans, lentils, oats etc.) rather than cutting out meat and dairy.
Determine and remember your motivation for eating vegan. It will be much easier to stick to a vegan meal plan when you have a defined purpose for doing so! For me this is to reduce my environmental impact on the planet and to prevent animal cruelty.
Don't beat yourself up if you don't stick to your new meal plan 100% of the time. An "all-or-nothing" attitude doesn't help anyone. If someone offers you a chocolate and you take it, don't feel bad about it, just know you are doing the best you can and remember that even cutting out one meal a week containing meat and dairy is still helping the planet (science says so!)
I believe that following the above three steps, you will be well on your way to having a healthy mindset towards your new vegan diet, as well as actually enjoying it! Additionally, I'd recommend gathering a few friends together so you can motivate each other and maybe even cook together.
I prefer to cook multiple servings at once to reduce the time I spend cooking each week. Although I do love cooking, we all have other things to be doing, so most of these recipes can be made in an hour or under.
This 7-day vegan meal plan is an example of what I eat when cooking just for myself, using leftovers throughout the week. I don't mind eating the same meals a few times per week as it cuts down on my cooking time, and I often still have leftovers I can freeze for future. However, if you're cooking for more than one person, you can still follow this meal plan - just adjust the recipes accordingly and decide whether you want to make more for leftovers to freeze for future or not.
But before downloading the interactive PDF, I'd recommend taking a look at some staple meals I have collated below, to give you a flavour (food pun) of what you can combine selectively in your own meal plan if my example doesn't take your fancy. Make it work for you and your tastes!
Vegan Breakfasts
Oat (or soy) milk porridge (40g of Quaker oats for me) with peanut butter, cinnamon, chia seeds, flax seeds and chopped banana
Two Linda McCartney sausages, four hash browns (I love hash browns), half a mashed avocado plus optional toast (and ketchup of course)
Scrambled tofu (seasoned with turmeric and black salt if you have it), mushrooms and/or avocado on toast, 2 Linda McCartney sausages too if you fancy
Toast with peanut butter, chopped banana and chia seeds
Alpro (or other non-dairy) coconut yoghurt with fruit (berries, banana, apple) and granola or walnuts
Fruit smoothie with banana, spinach, fresh fruit juice, berries (I like raspberries), chia seeds, flax seeds and half an avocado for creaminess
Note: if you're buying peanut butter, aim for one without any added ingredients such as sugar, palm oil and salt. I've found Tesco to be best for this.
Vegan Lunches
Corn chowder inspired by this recipe (I add in more celery and potato) served with nice bread
Basil hummus (my recipe here) served with toasted pitta bread, carrot and celery sticks to dip. Have a smoothie too depending how hungry you are.
Vegan soul bowl (as found on my Instagram here) - essentially quinoa or brown rice, sweet potato, broccoli, avocado, raw red pepper, spinach, chickpeas, beans, sausage, cashew sauce etc. - there are lots of options
Soup - just use oil instead of butter when cooking. There are SO many types of soup and it's great to use up leftover vegetables. Get creative and experiment with different vegetables! This spicy chickpea and celery soup is one of my recent favourites - I add in kale for extra greens.
Wraps with rice and roasted vegetables, mashed avocado and Alpro yoghurt on top
Wholemeal sandwich with hummus, spinach leaves and roasted vegetables, no butter
Pasta with a sauce made from chickpeas for protein (just add hot pasta water into mashed/blended chickpeas and season how you like - garlic and paprika are fab)
Quinoa or couscous salad with raw peppers (I like red pepper), white cannellini and/or kidney beans, red onion, spring onions, cucumber, salad leaves (e.g. rocket), and an easy dressing with lime, lemon juice or tahini
Vegan Dinners
Red lentil, sweet potato and chickpea curry (my recipe here) served with brown rice and broccoli
Sausage tomato pasta (onion, chopped tomatoes, mushrooms, red pepper, spinach, Linda McCartney chorizo sausages and seasonings - paprika and garlic yes please)
Baked sweet potato with homemade tzatziki (my recipe here) and roasted vegetables
My carbonara with around 30g of protein per serving (my recipe here)
Soy peanut stir fry (can remove peanut butter if you're allergic) - noodles added to onion, green peppers, cashews and peanuts, broccoli, carrot strips and cannellini beans for protein. Add soy sauce and peanut butter for sauce.
Sausage and butternut squash tray bake served with boiled, mashed or roast potatoes (I made this for Christmas minus the feta)
Red lentil and spinach dhal served with quinoa, cous cous or brown rice and broccoli (similar recipe here)
Cauliflower steak with roasted vegetables (similar here)
Creamy mushroom risotto (recipe here)
Spaghetti with Linda McCartney meatballs in tomato sauce with basil leaves
Fajita pasta with chickpeas (recipe here)
Vegan Snacks and Desserts
Apple wedges with peanut butter
Walnuts
Alpro coconut yoghurt with fruit and nuts
Roasted paprika chickpeas (recipe here)
Ryvita thins multi-seed with hummus
Banana or other piece of fruit
Bournville (I love chocolate)
Microwaved sweet potato with peanut butter (microwaved as here)
Alpro Devilishly Dark chocolate dessert
Nakd bars are yummy
Crisps - a lot of meat flavours are actually vegan!
Oreos - my saviour
Sainsbury's and other supermarkets now have more vegan and free from milk chocolate, check their websites to find out what they stock.
Ready to download the 7-day vegan meal plan and get inspired?
Let me know how you get on by tagging me in your pics on Instagram @mairilowe. And if you have any questions please feel free to send me a DM or email!
Good luck friends ✨
Mairi 🌻