High-Protein Vegan Recipes

This easy tofu curry, made with pretty delicata squash and hearty greens, cooks up in one skillet. To speed up the prep, use bagged chopped kale. Delicata squash's thin skin is tender when it's cooked, so there's no need to peel--another time saver. Serve with quinoa or brown rice.

Crispy tofu lends protein to this burrito bowl-inspired veggie-packed grain bowl that's perfect for a quick and easy dinner or packable lunch for work.

Prep four days' worth of high-protein vegan lunches using just four easy ingredients from your local specialty grocery store, including a veggie-heavy salad mix as a base. Because this salad mix is hearty, you can dress these bowls up to 24 hours before serving to allow the flavors in this healthy chopped salad to marry. If you can't find a hearty mix, go with broccoli slaw or shredded Brussels sprouts.

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.

Currants add a surprising touch of sweetness to this simple sauté of chickpeas, spinach, squash and gnocchi. We prefer the texture of shelf-stable gnocchi, but if sodium is an issue for you, opt for frozen instead. Serve with a glass of chardonnay.

This beautiful grain bowl is packed with healthy ingredients like quinoa, chickpeas, kale and cauliflower--all drizzled with a lemony tahini sauce. The fast one-bowl meal makes a satisfying weeknight dinner or packable work lunch. If you don't have za'atar, you can substitute 1/2 teaspoon each ground cumin and coriander.

Oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes pull double duty in this recipe. Use the oil from the jar to cook the kale, then stir in the sun-dried tomatoes to add flavor and texture to the dish.

This famous soup from the state of Michoacán in Western Mexico is often made with a base of pureed beans along with tomatoes and dried chiles, which bring a lot of the character to the dish. Here we use ancho chiles, which are sweet, earthy and relatively mild. You could also use pasillas, which have a heat level similar to anchos--or, if you like it hot, gaujillos, which also bring some smoky notes to the pot.

This street-style falafel sandwich is herbaceous, tangy and rich. The falafel gets nice and crispy in the oven while the veggies inside keep it simple and fresh. Make the tahini sauce (see Associated Recipes) ahead of time for easy prep. Wrapping the sandwich in foil makes it a perfect bring-along lunch and helps hold it together for eating on the go.

Swapping tofu for the bread in these meal-prep Caesar salad bowls bumps up the satiety factor with 18 grams of protein. These crispy tofu croutons originally appeared in Lauren Grant's recipe for Diabetic Living magazine (see Associated Recipes). Lacinato kale, also known as dinosaur kale or Tuscan kale, has flat, dark green-blue leaves--and its tenderness makes it perfect for eating raw, like in this salad.

This vegan mason jar salad is easy to pack up and take for lunch. Layering the creamy cashew sauce into the bottom of the jar ensures that your big, bold power salad won't become wilted by the time you're ready to eat.

Thai curry paste delivers a spicy kick-in-the-pants in this healthy peanut noodle recipe. If you haven't tried kohlrabi yet, here's your excuse to buy it. The bulbous vegetable is related to broccoli and Brussels sprouts, but has a milder, sweet flavor and fabulous crunch.

This quick 3-ingredient dinner takes advantage of foods you can keep stocked in your fridge and pantry for a fast, healthy meal the whole family will love. Want to kick it up a notch? Use a frozen vegetable blend that has added seasoning for extra flavor (just watch the sodium).

A Mexican-style torta is just like a burrito, except the “wrapper” is a hollowed-out roll instead of a tortilla. Here it's filled with mashed spiced black beans and a quick guacamole. Take this vegetarian version to another level (and add calcium) by melting Monterey Jack cheese onto the bean side of the sandwich. Serve with: Grilled corn on the cob or Spanish rice.

To improve the nutritional profile of pizza, use half whole-wheat and half all-purpose flour, which yields a light crust with a distinctive nutty taste. Quick-rising yeast shortens rising time to just 10 minutes, making homemade pizza a possibility for busy weeknights. Use a food processor, stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment or your hands to mix the dough. Add enough liquid to the dry ingredients to make a soft dough. If kneading by hand, toss, rather than push, the dough onto the counter for about 10 minutes; this allows the gluten to develop without incorporating too much flour.

This fast vegan version of poke (the traditional Hawaiian salad of diced raw fish tossed in a soy-sesame sauce) swaps in extra-firm tofu for fish while loading your bowl with vegetables and crunchy toppers like pea shoots and peanuts. Serve over brown rice instead of the zucchini noodles to add a hearty boost of fiber.

Feel free to double this recipe to suit your needs. To add more flavor, swap reduced-sodium broth in for the water.

If you're a fan of classic baked beans, give this healthy recipe with curry powder, lime juice and molasses a whirl. These stovetop baked beans also have half the sugar and three-quarters of the sodium compared to a traditional recipe--and take a few hours' less cooking time. Serve with pistachio-crusted pork tenderloin or grilled fish.

To top this zesty raw kale salad recipe, we toss diced tofu and chickpeas with a flavorful Moroccan-inspired spice mixture before roasting. The hot oven turns the outside of the tofu crisp and the inside pleasantly chewy.

A fast dinner recipe perfect for busy weeknights, this easy stir-fry recipe will quickly become a favorite. To save time, use precooked rice or cook rice a day ahead.

For these hearty and healthy vegan meatballs, we've swapped out the traditional ground beef and pork for protein-packed chickpeas and quinoa--without skimping on any of those Italian flavors that you look for in a classic meatball. Mushrooms up the umami factor, and a simple tomato sauce completes the picture. Serve over your favorite pasta.

Staples like canned black beans and frozen corn transform into spicy croquettes in mere minutes. Serve with warm corn tortillas, coleslaw and lime wedges.

Here's a great make-ahead dinner--and leftovers are welcome for lunch the next day. If you make it ahead, don't add the salt and pepper until just before serving. That way, the salt won't render the vegetables soggy and the pepper won't lose its bite. Make It a Meal: Scoop up this salad with warm corn tortillas.

The Sichuan province in the southwestern corner of China is known for its fiery dishes. Here, the richness of tahini tempers the spicy chile paste in this cup-of-noodles-style mason jar soup recipe. You can grind the Sichuan peppercorns in a spice grinder or mortar and pestle, or crush them with the bottom of a heavy skillet.