18 Vegan Pantry Dinners
Eating a plant-based diet is easy with these vegan dinner recipes. These dishes focus on ingredients commonly found in your pantry, such as pasta, rice and beans. Feel free to swap in frozen vegetables if you have them on hand to boost the nutrition and deliciousness. Recipes like Vegan Minestrone Soup and Teriyaki Tofu Rice Bowls are healthy, tasty and pantry-friendly.
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Tofu Tacos
These quick vegan tacos, filled with a spicy tofu filling, make a perfect weeknight dinner. To keep them vegan, top them with shredded cabbage, fresh pico de gallo and guacamole. For vegetarians, add crumbled queso fresco.Ā Source: EatingWell.com, January 2020
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Vegan Minestrone Soup
Is minestrone soup vegan? It can be, with the right ingredients! This vegan minestrone soup is heavy on the green vegetables (it has peas, zucchini and kale, to name a few!), setting this quick healthy soup recipe apart from the rest. If you miss the tomatoes, feel free to add them to the mix. Last but not least, enjoy the crispy garlic croutons that float on top and soak up the flavorful broth.Ā Source: EatingWell.com, November 2019
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Stuffed Potatoes with Salsa & Beans
Taco night meets baked potato night with this simple recipe for loaded baked potatoes with salsa, beans and avocado. This easy, healthy family dinner comes together with just 10 minutes of active time, so you can make it on even the busiest of weeknights. This recipe is just as delicious with sweet potatoes in place of russets.Ā Source: EatingWell Magazine, October 2019
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Slow-Cooker Mediterranean Stew
This Mediterranean stew is a healthy dinner chock-full of vegetables and hearty chickpeas. A drizzle of olive oil to finish carries the flavors of this easy vegan crock-pot stew. Swap out the chickpeas for white beans for a different twist, or try collards or spinach in place of the kale. Any way you vary it, this stew is sure to go into heavy rotation when you are looking for healthy crock-pot recipes.Ā Source: EatingWell.com, November 2019
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Instant Pot Vegetarian Chili
This Instant Pot vegetarian chili recipe is full of healthy veggies and two kinds of beans. Chipotle chiles give it a hint of smoke and a nice kick. Top this quick and easy chili with cheese and sour cream, or enjoy it as a vegan chili by garnishing with veggies such as avocado, sliced jalapeños, onions, radishes and scallions or cilantro.Ā Source: EatingWell.com, December 2019
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Sweet Potato-Black Bean Burgers
These vegan sweet potato-black bean burgers spiced with curry powder are easy to make. Blending the mixture with your hands gives you a soft, uniform texture then the outside gets crispy by cooking in a cast-iron pan. To make this recipe gluten-free too, use gluten-free oats and serve the patty in a lettuce wrap, omitting the bun.Ā Source: EatingWell.com, February 2020
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Vegetarian Udon Noodle Soup
This Japanese-style udon soup recipe uses several Asian ingredients that are available at most grocery stores, including udon noodles, mirin (cooking wine), miso, and sesame oil. All will keep for months in the pantry or fridge.Ā Source: Diabetic Living Magazine, Spring 2020
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Egyptian Lentils, Rice & Pasta (Koshari)
This kitchen-sink of a vegetarian dish was most likely invented in Egypt in the mid-1800s when Cairo was a major multicultural trade port, which could explain the similarities to Italian spaghetti as well as the Indian rice-and-lentil comfort food khichdi. Three toppings--a spicy tomato sauce (shatta), crispy onions and a garlicky vinegar (dakka)--are added to the koshari before serving, but in Cairo most people like them in separate bowls so they can season their bites one at a time. (Recipe adapted from Zooba Restaurant.)Ā Source: EatingWell Magazine, March 2020
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Vegan Jambalaya
You won't miss the meat in this healthy jambalaya recipe. Vegan smoked sausage takes its place while the classic "trinity" of vegetables--onion, red bell pepper and celery--get a kick from jalapeño peppers. And everything is cooked in one skillet, which means cleanup is a breeze!Ā Source: EatingWell.com, December 2019
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Quick Pasta e Fagioli Soup
This simplified take on minestrone uses canned beans and tomatoes and packaged broth, meaning you can always keep the ingredients for this easy soup on hand.Ā Source: Diabetic Living Magazine, Spring 2020
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Teriyaki Tofu Rice Bowls
With a handful of shortcut ingredients from your local specialty grocery store, you can prepare an entire week's worth of high-fiber meals in about 15 minutes. Look for precooked wild rice packets to cut down on prep time. Plus, wild rice is a good source of fiber and each pouch of cooked rice heats in 3 minutes. Topping these bowls with prebaked tofu also cuts down on the time it takes to make this quick meal-prep lunch.Ā Source: EatingWell.com, December 2019
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Baked Chickpeas with Orange, Lemon & Squash (Revithia me Kolokytha)
On Crete, chickpeas are commonly flavored with Seville orange, a pleasingly bitter variety grown locally. Orange zest along with lemon juice makes a good substitute. A little mustard deepens the flavor.Ā Source: EatingWell Magazine, March 2020
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Egyptian Lentil Soup
Use red, yellow or even brown lentils to make this iconic and super-simple Middle Eastern soup. Skip green or black lentils, which won't soften enough to puree smoothly. (Recipe adapted from Zooba Restaurant.)Ā Source: EatingWell Magazine, March 2020
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Vegan Black Bean Burgers
These easy vegan black bean burgers have a healthy dose of fiber thanks to the combination of black beans and quinoa. Cumin and chipotle chile powder give these vegan burgers a Southwestern spin. Using your hands to combine the mixture creates a soft, uniform texture.Ā Source: EatingWell.com, February 2020
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Korean BBQ Tempeh Grain Bowl
If you're a tempeh skeptic, you've probably never had the firm soy-based slabs slathered with a sweet-and-spicy barbecue sauce. We give this easy BBQ tempeh combo a punch of umami with tamari and add a little heat courtesy of gochujang. It's easy to put your own spin on this recipe; see Variations (below) for some riffs.Ā Source: EatingWell Magazine, March 2020
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Mediterranean Cabbage Soup
This vegan soup recipe is surprisingly easy to make. The flavorful broth is spiked with garlic, tomatoes and a hint of coriander. Just slice and dice your cabbage and fennel and you'll be enjoying this quick healthy soup in no time.Ā Source: EatingWell.com, January 2020
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Vegetarian Gumbo
This flavorful vegan dinner is a veggie version of the Louisiana classic. It's chock-full of butternut squash, tomatoes, poblano peppers and okra, to name just a few. This vegetarian gumbo is a quick dinner packed with flavor and spice that's done in only 30 minutes. To make it a meal, serve it with cornbread drizzled with olive oil.Ā Source: EatingWell.com, December 2019
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Mushroom-Quinoa Veggie Burgers with Special Sauce
These hearty mushroom, black bean and quinoa veggie burgers are a healthy and satisfying homemade alternative to store-bought veggie burgers. And they take just 25 minutes of active time to prep, so while they're special enough for entertaining, they're quick enough for weeknight dinners.Ā Source: Eatingwell.com May 2019