Opinion Healthy meal prep ideas: 40+ cheap & easy plant-based recipes

Ready to nail your next meal plan? These healthy meal prep ideas are plant-based, budget-friendly and perfect for batch cooking! Filling your meal prep containers has never been easier – or more affordable.

Planning and prepping your meals at the start of the week is a surefire way to save time, energy, and money. But did you know that incorporating vegan and vegetarian recipes into your menu can make your meal prep even more powerful, efficient, satisfying, and affordable? 

Research has found that switching to plant-based eating is one of the best ways to improve your health, protect the planet, save animals, and reduce your grocery bill.

So if you’re trying to plan a whole week of nutritious, satisfying meals on a budget, leaning towards naturally cheaper plant-based recipes is a no-brainer – and we’ve rounded up some delicious healthy meal prep ideas for you to pick from.

Healthy meal prep ideas: What sort of recipes are best for vegan meal prep?

When deciding what to cook for the week ahead, it’s best to streamline the process as much as possible. This typically means prioritising simple, fuss-free recipes you can cook in bulk and divide into pre-made, heat-and-eat portions.

One-pot meals are a popular meal-prep option, as they’re easy to double, triple, or (hold your horses) quadruple, and cut down significantly on clean-up. 

Alternatively, you might bulk-prep the various elements of a particular recipe (e.g., fry some black beans, chop fresh veggies, and pre-cook brown rice for burrito bowls) and store them separately in the fridge so you can assemble a bowl quickly at mealtimes.

To keep costs down, centre your meals on affordable wholefoods like veggies, fruits, grains, and legumes and opt for seasonal produce whenever possible.

Here are some of our favourite low-budget healthy meal prep ideas to try on a plant-based diet:

Plant-based breakfasts

What better way to start the day than with a balanced, ready-made vegan breakfast? For a protein-packed savoury option, try an egg-free scramble or bean-filled fry-up. Or, if you need something sweet to tempt you out of bed, opt for a fruity oat bake or some filling breakfast muffins.

• Spinach & Tofu Scramble
• Smoky Beans on Toasted Sourdough
• Whole Bean Ful on Toast
• Blueberry & Coconut Oat Bake
• Banana & Raspberry Oat Muffins
• Nutty Banana Date Muffins

Quick & easy vegan lunch ideas

From burritos, wraps, and sandwiches to pastas, soups, and veggie bowls, there are many amazing low-effort vegan recipes that are perfect healthy meal prep ideas – plus make lunchtime easier (and more delicious). Prep fillings and toppings ahead of time, and store each meal element strategically in the fridge. That way, when it comes time to eat, the actual assembly will take no time!

• Mexican Black Bean Burrito
• Tempeh & Tabbouleh Wraps
• Peking Tofu Wraps
• Egg-less Salad Sandwich
• Caesar Salad & Tofu ‘Bacon’ Wraps
• Kale & White Bean Soup
• Burrito Bowls with Pickled Onion & Rice
• Quick Poke Bowl
• Pesto Pasta with Olives & Sun-dried Tomatoes
• Tangy Chickpea Tuna-less Sandwich

Hearty vegan dinners perfect for batch-cooking & portioning

The best dinners to cook in bulk are one-pot all-stars with satiating main ingredients like firm tofu, TVP, tempeh, beans, lentils, and wholegrains – as well as plenty of veg, of course. Think comforting dishes like curries, chilli, stews, and veggie Bolognese. These sorts of meals strike an ideal balance for nutrition, flavour, and simplicity, making them well-suited to weekly meal prep. Low effort, but huge payoff!

• TVP Spaghetti Bolognese
• Sweet Potato & Black Bean Chilli
• Tofu Palak ‘Paneer’
• Eggplant & Chickpea Tagine with Herbed Couscous
• Asparagus & Pea Risotto
• Spinach & Peanut Stew
• Vegan Ricotta & Spinach Cannelloni
• Mapo Tofu with Spicy Szechuan Pepper
• Sweet Potato Gnocchi
• Cambodian Fried Rice with Pepper Lime Dressing
• Smoked Tofu Masala
• Easy Thai Red Curry
• Dal with Tempered Spices
• Chickpea Massaman Curry
• Potato & Chickpea Curry
• Lentil Shepherd’s Pie

Affordable vegan snacks for grazing between meals 

Got your main meals sorted? Try adding some of these homemade snacks into the mix: 

• Veggie-Stuffed Baked Tomatoes
• Spiced Tofu Kofta with Minted Yoghurt
• Gateaux Piment (Chilli Cakes)
• Potato & Pea Fritters
• Crispy Southern Fried Tofu
• Banana Oat Cookies

Or stock up on some extra ingredients for cheap vegan snacks at the shops:

• Popcorn
• Peanut butter & apples
• Dates
• Rice cakes
• Pretzels
• Veggie sticks & hummus
• Seasonal fruit
• Nuts
• Frozen veggies (microwaved with some vegan butter, nutritional yeast, and salt, they make for a speedy yet surprisingly addictive snack!)

Embrace the time-saving, penny-pinching magic of meal prep ✨

Even if you’ve never been into meal prepping, your first taste of a well-planned plant-based menu could convert you. 

I never used to be a meal prepper either, until I tried it “just once” and realised the sheer amount of cooking, cleaning, and brainpower a couple of hours of prep on a Sunday could save me throughout the week.

No more pacing aimlessly around the kitchen three times a day wondering what to eat, no more impulsive splurging on convenience foods in a moment of desperation – just a fridge full of vibrant, veggie-packed meals I knew were nutritionally balanced, actually looked forward to eating, and hardly even remembered making 😅

Don’t get me wrong: I love cooking. But tinkering around in the kitchen is way more fun when you’re not already hungry, busy, or under time pressure.

If you’ve ever felt stressed out by the Groundhog Day loop of having to stop and think about food multiple times a day during the week, switching to once-a-week meal prep could help you free up some mental space and find the fun in cooking again. 

We’d love to hear how you go if you give some of these tried-and-tested meal prep recipes a try.

Ever wish someone could just tell you exactly what to cook each week? Wish granted! 🪄 Download these vegan meal plans & recipe apps to take the guesswork out of what’s for dinner.