Hey everybody, welcome! Today, I’m going to show you how to make 8 vegan friendly freezer meals.
All of these meals are healthy, whole food plant-based. Some are great if you’re new to vegan cooking, some have oil-free options, and most of all, and most importantly, they all just taste really amazing.
Now, the concept of freezer cooking is something that has changed thousands of people’s lives, and in this post today, you are going to learn how you’re going to save so much time by doing this. Why? Because one, they’re easy to prepare. The meals practically cook themselves and you’re only going to need to clean up a single dish after you’re finished eating.
You’re also going to learn today how freezer cooking can save you literally thousands of dollars every single year. Because you’re going to be finally able to take advantage of the bulk shopping deals that you find in your grocery store and you’re going to be able to store these meals in your freezer for up to 90 days at a time. So it helps with not wasting food and it just helps you be a little bit more prepared and on top of things.
If you’re wondering about how many people these serve… all of the meals that I’m going to show you today serve six people.
8 vegan meal prep recipes Freezer-Friendly Dinners
Let’s get into the 8 recipes. All of these are really delicious and some of my absolute favorites.
The Setup
For this prep, we’re gonna use reusable silicone bags. They are very eco-friendly; you buy them once, wash them with soap and water, and keep using them. You can also use bag holders to keep them upright. If you’re a little clumsy in the kitchen like I am, these are essential to keep your prep clean and fast.
Its best to also set up the station with three compartments: trash, compost, and recycling. Staying organized makes the process much faster.
The Meal Lineup
We’re going to talk about 8 incredible meals. Here’s a peek at what we’re prepping:
- Southwest Corn Chowder: Sweet corn, red lentils, and smoky spices.
- Beyond Bolognese: Using Beyond Burger to mimic a meaty sauce that remains cruelty-free.
- Vegan Sausage and Kraut: A nod to my husband’s Polish roots—comfort food at its finest.
- Tofu Scramble: The perfect sub for eggs with nutritional yeast and turmeric.
- Oven Roasted Cauliflower Fajitas: Great for a plant-based Mexican night.
- Chinese Spicy Garlic Noodles: Like takeout, but healthier and faster.
- Mushroom Risotto: Arborio rice, mushrooms, and a touch of vegan butter.
- Indian Dal: Authentic flavor using red lentils, ginger, and turmeric.
1: Southwest Corn Chowder
So, let’s get into the first one and that is Southwest corn chowder.
For this dish, we going to be using:
- A pound of sweet corn. Pour that from the bag right there.
- Five garlic cloves, a red bell pepper, and half of a sweet onion—all of those are just diced up.
- A cup of red lentils.
- Spices: smoked paprika, cumin, and garlic powder.
2: Beyond Bolognese
Our second meal is Beyond Bolognese. You can use the ground Beyond Meat, or you can use an actual Beyond Burger and just piece it up.
For this recipe, we be using:
- Onion and garlic.
- Baby bella mushrooms.
- Beyond Burger meat. It really mimics a meaty bolognese sauce, but keeps it vegan, cruelty-free, and really, really delicious.
- Tomato paste, straight from the can.
- My spices: bay leaf, thyme, oregano, and basil.
3: Vegan Kraut
let’s get into this vegan kraut.
Here’s what you need:
- One medium onion
- Half of a tart apple (a Granny Smith works really well!)
- A little bit of olive oil
- A cup of water
- Spices: caraway seeds, juniper berries, and salt (very essential to that kind of Eastern European, sausage and kraut)
- About 24 ounces of sauerkraut (this is homemade sauerkraut, but if you don’t make your own homemade sauerkraut, you can absolutely just buy, sauerkraut at the store)
4: Tofu Scramble
Next up, another favorite around here. Well, actually, it’s probably one of my favorites… is a Tofu Scramble. Now, something that people miss a lot when they go vegan or they start eating more plant-based foods, is eggs! And so, this is my sub for eggs.
Here’s what you need:
- A 14-ounce block of tofu that I’ve drained and kind of just crumbled into egg, you know, scrambled egg looking pieces.
- My onion and my garlic.
- A little bit of vegetable broth.
- Soy sauce.
- Nutritional yeast.
- Mustard.
- A drained can of diced tomatoes.
And, that is that! A great thing about freezer cooking is that you’re never going to get bored of these meals, because as you see, when you prep like this, you have variety from all over the place. You can literally tour the world via cuisine, which is kind of cool, so it keeps things really exciting and fresh.
5: Oven-Roasted Cauliflower Fajitas
Okay, next up, we’re going to be doing some oven-roasted cauliflower fajitas. Now, these are great because you can eat them alone or you could wrap them up in a tortilla and make it kind of a plant-based Mexican night. This is done on a sheet pan in the oven and super easy to assemble.
Here’s what we be using:
- Cauliflower, obviously, for Oven Roasted Cauliflower Fajitas.
- Some sliced up onion.
- Tri-colored bell peppers: red, yellow, and green.
- Just a little bit of water and olive oil.
With these recipes, I try to keep the oil low. There is some olive oil in it, but like I said, some of the recipes are completely oil-free and some just use a light amount of oil. So, that is oven-roasted cauliflower fajitas.
6: Chinese Spicy Garlic Noodles
These are Chinese Spicy Garlic Noodles. One of my favorites. I use rice noodles, but you could feel free to experiment with any kind of Chinese noodle.
Okay, so this is very si mple, very much like a Chinese takeout.
I’m using:
- A package of rice noodles
- A cup of soy sauce.
- Chili garlic sauce.
- Some olive oil.
- Maple syrup.
- Rice vinegar.
And, you can totally eat this just as it is, but what I love to do is add some bell peppers that are sliced up, once it’s done cooking in the Instant Pot. It just steams up really nicely, and it’s just like having takeout, but you never have to leave your house.
7: Mushroom Risotto
Okay, let’s move into our Mushroom Risotto. For that we need arborio rice, three diced shallots, and some garlic. Put them in the bag. I’m telling you these bag holders are very essential.
After getting all the mushrooms, which give a lovely flavor to this Mushroom Risotto, put them in there… and then, some unlikely pairings with the spices. A lot of nutritional yeast gives it that cheesy flavor, and paprika, and garlic powder. Put in a little bit of rice vinegar and some vegan butter. And, personally I love to have that risotto topped with some fresh arugula. Totally optional, but really brings out a really nice flavor.
8: Indian Dal
So, the next thing that we’re going to move into is Indian Dal. Another one of our family favorites, and very simple… Comes together really quickly, but tastes super authentic.
So, I’ve got:
- A sweet onion.
- Garlic, ginger, and serrano peppers.
- A pound and a half of gold potatoes. And I like using gold potatoes because, here’s a little trick… You can peel them, if you want to, but their skin is so thin, you really don’t have to, if you’re trying to just save a little extra time.
- A cup of dried lentils.
- Spices: bay leaves, ground cumin, coriander, turmeric, and a little bit of salt.
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How to Seal and Cook Your Meals
Sealing these bags is really simple. Just take the bag out of the holder, squeeze out the air, and seal it up. You can stir it around or shake it if you want, but it really isn’t going to make any difference when you’re actually ready to cook.
What’s great about these meals is that you’re freezing them raw. When you go to eat them, you’re eating them fresh the first time you cook them.
Imagine yourself coming home from work after a very long day. We’re all super busy, and not having to spend an hour in the kitchen means you can take that time and spend it playing with your kids, working out, or really doing whatever the heck you want. It’s like getting back your time, which is so essential in this busy kind of life that we live in. It’s a total game changer.
No more stressing about grocery bills, no more stressing about what you’re going to eat, heading to the grocery store, traffic, all those things. It’s all there when you open up your freezer and you can literally choose whatever you want for that night.
Cooking Instructions:
- For Instant Pot Meals: Run the bag under cool water for a quick thaw until the food can break apart. Dump it into the Instant Pot, put it on sauté for about 5 minutes to release any extra liquid so it can come to pressure, then follow the cooking instructions.
- For Crockpot Meals: Thaw the meal in the fridge the night before. Dump it in and follow the cooking instructions. Some Crockpots have a warm option where you can cook it and then leave it on warm for six hours. So, potentially, you could even do that before you went to work, keep it on warm, and then as soon as you walk in the door, you’ve got a meal ready and hot.
- For Sheet Pan Meals: Thaw, spread on a baking sheet, and roast!
It’s like you have this chef best friend who’s prepared all these meals for you and is cooking for you and lets you get your life back.
One More Tip: If you’re cooking for a really small amount of people, say like one to three people, then you’re going to want to decrease the cooking time ever so slightly and you’re also going to want to decrease the amount of cooking liquid within the recipe ever so slightly. Because if there’s too much liquid in the Crockpot or in the Instant Pot, things can get mushy, and nobody likes that.
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