Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored post. Please note the cost estimate of each recipe is approximate and does not take into consideration the cost of basic pantry staples like spices + condiments, assuming the cook already has these on hand.

5 Make-Ahead Vegan Freezer Meals

Let me preface this post by saying: we are not vegan.

One time when I was pregnant with my quadruplets, I was feeling gross about everything so I tried to go vegan.

I made it one day on a vegan diet.

That’s because - as someone who eats an egg quesadilla for breakfast every single morning of my life - I couldn’t figure out how to eat vegan breakfast & gave it up!

But earlier this month my husband Charlie & I were preparing to go back East for a quick trip without the kids…and my vegan father-in-law was coming into town to help watch them…and vegan Granddad needs to eat.

In the 9 years that I have known him, my father-in-law {Granddad} has always been a butter + bacon kind of guy.

This January though, he decided to start eating vegan. And I have to say, at first, I thought it was just a phase.

But here we are…a few months later, and Granddad is still vegan.

So…here are the 5 vegan freezer meals I made ahead for Granddad so he + our kids wouldn’t starve while Chuck & I skipped town for 48 hours!

Vegan Cooking is Cheap!

Before I share the 5 vegan freezer meal recipes, can I please point out how affordable vegan cooking is?!

I have a sister with 6 kids whose husband once asked her, “Honey, are we poor? Because we never eat meat…”

And it’s true: animal-based proteins can be expensive! Especially when you’re cooking for a crowd…

One thing I loved about *having* to make these vegan meals was that it made me appreciate how affordable plant-based meals are.

In each of the recipes I’m sharing below, I also provide a cost-per-recipe analysis, just to show you how many portions I got for how much money I spent…and let me just say, it didn’t cost much!

If you’re looking to put more plants on your plate, let the cost-savings factor also push you in this direction!

READ: PUT MORE PLANTS ON YOUR PLATE BLOG POST HERE

1. Spiced Yellow Lentils with Quinoa

After college I was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Nepal and I lived on the national dish dahl (lentils) bhat (rice) for two-and-a-half years. {Ironically, I was a Reproductive Health Volunteer then & have 7 kids now…but I still love dahl to this day!}

This vegan Spiced Yellow Lentils with Quinoa recipe is from New York Times Cooking & although it calls for cooking on a stovetop, I think it would just be easier to do in the pressure cooker.

The lentil-cooking part took me 50 minutes+, which could have been done in the pressure cooker in less than 10 minutes with similarly tasty results.

While the recipe calls for serving the lentils atop multi-colored quinoa, you could definitely do this paired with rice or any other cooked whole grain too.

Be sure to include the cumin-spiced fried red bell pepper mixture on top, it is so delicious & really rounds out this dish.

Click for the NYT Cooking Spiced Yellow Lentils with Quinoa recipe.

This recipe cost $5.29 to prepare & makes 5 servings as written, at roughly $1.06 per serving.

2. Pumpkin Sage Pasta

Full disclosure: I am usually suspicious of vegan pasta dishes.

I mean…how is this pasta going to taste good if it doesn’t involve meat and/or cheese?!

But, pleasantly surprised…I have to say this Pumpkin Sage Pasta recipe was really quite flavorful (..and somehow still vegan :)

The “cheesy” base of this super quick pasta recipe is a pumpkin puree + almond milk combo. Sage adds some additional flavor – and, as written the recipe is pretty low sodium, so you might want to add some extra salt to suite your tastebuds.

…but before you add the extra salt: this is a GREAT baby-led weaning dish & an easy way to introduce the potentially allergenic food wheat (pasta) + expose your baby to a new food, pumpkin!

Be sure you select pumpkin puree and not canned pumpkin pie mix accidentally. The pumpkin pie mix contains added sugar which is not appropriate for babies and is too sweet for this recipe.

Click for the Pumpkin Sage pasta recipe.

This recipe cost $5.48 to prepare & made 4 servings as written at roughly $1.37 per serving.

3. Spiced Chickpea Stew with Coconut & Turmeric

My super vegan nutrition friend served me this Spiced Chickpea Stew with Coconut and Turmeric on a recent trip to San Francisco, and it became an instant favorite for my family.

This recipe has almost 10,000 reviews on the NYT cooking app and I can’t believe I have never tried it until now!

The key to this recipe is to mash the chickpeas as the stew simmers to expose the starch inside the legumes, which in turn helps thicken the stew.

Sure, there is enough coconut milk in this recipe to give you a heart attack, but it’s really one of the more flavorful vegan dishes I have ever prepared & I think you’ll like it too.

Click for the Spiced Chickpea Stew with Coconut & Turmeric.

This recipe cost $13.22 to prepare & made 5 servings at roughly $2.64 per serving. The coconut milk is for sure the priciest item. And you could cut that in half with broth to save money (and calories!)

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4. Veggie Chili

Veggie Chili.

Soooo vegan-cooking-cliché, I know.

But I’m always on the lookout for good chili recipes and this one fits the bill.

My kids flip for any chili I dish out as long as it’s served over pasta or rice. But the recipes I usually make have 1-2 pounds of ground beef, which definitely can get expensive…not to mention with all of the plant protein in vegan chili, you don’t really even need the beef!

I like that this veggie chili recipe uses a variety of canned beans + fresh veggies and it turned out pretty thick and hearty despite the absence of meat.

When I make chili (especially for babies), I always select lower sodium varieties of canned beans, but I don’t drain & rinse them. Instead, I pour the whole can (bean juice & all) into the chili for added thickness & flavor.

Click for the Pioneer Woman’s Veggie Chili vegan recipe.

This recipe cost $17.61 to prepare & made 12 servings at roughly $1.47 per serving.

5. Tofu Chorizo

Yes, I am fully aware that calling a Tofu Chorizo recipe “chorizo” is probably taking liberties with the term “chorizo” :)

We’re big taco bar fans at our house, but if Grandad is eating with us we need a non-meat alternative to taco-seasoned ground beef.

I love that this tofu chorizo recipe utilizes tofu: a really affordable source of plant protein (2 blocks of tofu in this recipe) and the simple spices you add to it surprisingly did give a hint of chorizo to the final product.

Click for the NYT Cooking Tofu Chorizo recipe.

This recipe cost $6.24 to prepare & made 4 servings at roughly $1.56 per serving.