Here Are The 5 Best Plant Based Meals For Beginners So Tasty You Won’t Miss Meat

Look no further, these are the best plant based meals for beginners! Are you a meat eater but you’re looking to reduce your meat and dairy consumption? These 5 plant based meals are so tasty you won’t miss meat. 

I know for a lot of people taste is going to be a factor into whether you’re able to incorporate some plant based meals into your lifestyle. 

It’s quite a common misconception that plant based meals are tasteless, in fact usually it’s quite the opposite. When you cook with meat most of the flavor you get from the meal is from the meat. When you cook plant based, it’s a bit different but you can still create a really tasty dish with just plant based ingredients. 

Are you looking to add more plant based meals to your week?

These 5 best plant based meals for beginners are so tasty you won’t miss the meat. 

Why Should You Add More Plant Based Meals?

There are a lot of benefits to adding more plant based meals into your diet. Lacie talks about this in her post discovering the benefits of eating less meat. 

However, I’ll just go through some of the main benefits below. 

For your health

It’s become a lot more well known in recent years; however, the average American diet contains too much processed food and not enough fiber. 

A plant based diet, if done properly, contains a lot more fiber and has been proven to reduce your risk of getting heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure and even cancer. 

For the planet

Animal agriculture has such a big impact on our planet and it has made the news several times over the last few years. This article states that Agriculture expansion is responsible for 80% of deforestation, 85% of the freshwater used globally is for agriculture and food production. 

Globally a third of all grains are fed to animals, this is enough to feed 3.5 million people! Shocking right? 

Not-to-mention the methane produced from cattle, which is more harmful for our atmosphere than CO2. 

For the animals

It is said that there are 150 billion animals killed for meat every year. As our population is continually growing, our demand for meat is continually growing with it. 

I do think for some people a fully plant based diet might not be suitable for you and that’s ok. 

However, coming from an ethical standpoint, factory farming is awful! The UK (where I live) is proud of its high welfare standards, the problem is that the demand for meat even now is so high that many farms must use farming methods that are the most efficient, but these methods are often cruel and don’t benefit the animals at all. 

I hope at this point I’ve convinced you to try a few of the best plant based meals for beginners.

If you’re anything like me (lazy in the kitchen) then you’ll want to find some simple meals that are also tasty and suitable for the whole family. 

Sausage Casserole

This is such a great plant based meal for beginners, in the UK we are very lucky to have lots of different vegan sausages to choose from. Some of them even have a plant based ‘skin’ making them very similar to meat sausages. 

If you find a vegan sausage that you love, you can recreate this tasty one-pot meal yourself! 

Honestly, if you find a decent vegan sausage you won’t miss the meat at all.

Prep Time 10mins 

Cook Time 30mins

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• Precooked vegan sausages
• A tin of lentils or the equivalent dried lentils
• A tin of chopped tomatoes
• 1 medium potato cubed (optional)
• Half an onion
• 2 cloves of garlic
• Stock cube (I use ‘beef’ oxo)
• 300ml of water
• 1 tsp of agave syrup
• 1 tbs of apple cider vinegar
• 1 tsp of dried oregano
• 1 tsp of thyme
• 1 tbs of paprika
• 1 tbs of olive oil

Instructions:

1. If you haven’t already cooked your sausages you can fry or cook them in the oven as you’re preparing the rest.
2. Chop the onions and garlic and add them to your saucepan with the olive oil, sauté for a few minutes until soft. 
3. Add the tin of chopped tomatoes to the saucepan.
4. Next add your stock cube and water (you can dissolve the stock cube in the water).
5. Add the tin of lentils, or if you’ve used dried lentils, rinse them first and then add them to the saucepan. 
6. Add your herbs and spices, apple cider vinegar and agave syrup to the saucepan. 
7. Cook on a medium heat for 30 minutes or until the sauce thickens. 
8. You can add your sausages to the pan as soon as they’re cooked.

Baked Bean Lasagne

When I was growing up my Mum always used to make baked bean lasagne, because she knew it was a meal that we would all enjoy. It’s what I would call a student meal because it’s so cheap to make and this was also a priority for my Mum as I have 6 siblings!

This is a great recipe if you just need to throw together a meal with ingredients you already have in your cupboard. 

Prep Time 10mins

Cook Time 1 hour total

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 1 tin of baked beans
• 1 tin of chopped tomatoes
• 1tsp of molasses
• 1tsp of ginger (optional)
• Salt and pepper
• 9 lasagne sheets
• 1tsp of oil
• 1 jar of free from white sauce (or you can make it yourself with soya or oat cream)
• Half a block of vegan cheese grated

If you wanted it to be a bit more like ordinary lasagne you can use herbs, garlic and chopped onions. I have a very particular 8-year-old, so I tend to keep things as simple as possible. 

Instructions:

1. Mix the tin of baked beans and chopped tomatoes together in a saucepan and add the molasses and ginger or herbs etc if you’re using them. 
2. Heat the mixture for about 10 minutes. 
3. While you’re heating the beans start to precook the lasagne sheets individually in a pan of hot water with a bit of oil to stop them from sticking. I usually just do 2 minutes per sheet to ensure they’re cooked a little.
4. Start layering the sauce and lasagne sheets into a greased baking dish. 
5. Once you’ve done the last layer of sheets add the white sauce and grated cheese on top. 
6. Cook in the oven at 200c for approximately 50 minutes or until the cheese has gone brown and crispy. 

This meal is fairly easy and good if you have quite fussy children. 

Lemon And Spinach Spaghetti

This spaghetti is buttery lemony and delicious, another meal that’s so tasty you really won’t miss the meat. 

This is not my recipe, I actually got this from the Plant Based Cooking YouTube channel. If you want more Italian-style recipes check out their channel. When I made this I also made a recipe of theirs for lemon tofu but this spaghetti is so good just on its own. 

Prep time 10mins

Cooking time 17mins

Serves 3

Ingredients:

• Garlic clove
• Lemon zest
• Juice from one lemon
• Spaghetti (enough for 2-3 people)
• Chilli flakes
• Vegan butter 30g
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper

Instructions:

1. Slice garlic and fry with lemon zest and chili flakes for approximately 1min.
2. Cook pasta and a pinch of salt for 3-4mins. 
3. Add one cup of pasta water to the sauce
4. Add spinach to the sauce and salt the spinach cook for 2-3mins until wilted. 
5. Add pasta and another cup of pasta water to the pan and cook for 3-4mins
6. Add vegan butter and juice from one lemon

Pineapple Fried Rice

This recipe is really tasty and a favorite in my house, it’s a good recipe to make if you already have some leftover rice, since it fries better if it’s been allowed to cool first. Otherwise, you might find it goes a bit mushy as you’re frying. 

Prep time 10mins

Cook time 15mins

Serves 3

Ingredients:

• Precooked rice
• 2tbs of olive oil
• Half an onion chopped
• 2 garlic cloves chopped
• 1tbs paprika
• 1tsp liquid smoke (optional)
• Salt and pepper
• Reduced salt soy sauce
• 1 tin of pineapple chunks
• 1 small tin of sweetcorn
• 1 tin of chickpeas
• A few handfuls of spinach (optional)

Instructions:

1. First of all, fry the onion and garlic in a pan for a few mins. 
2. Add more olive oil and the pre-cooked rice. 
3. Next add all the spices, soy sauce, pineapple chunks, sweetcorn, and chickpeas to the pan and mix well. 
4. Fry on medium heat for about 10 minutes turning frequently so it doesn’t burn. If you’re adding spinach, you can do this a few minutes before your cooking time ends. 

Soya Bean Stirfry

For some reason, my children don’t really like stirfry, crazy right? However, if my children are having something else then I make a quick stirfry for myself. The soya beans are a great way to make it a bit more filling and add extra nutrition, however, you could add tofu or even a plant based ‘chicken’ if you prefer. 

Prep time 10mins

Cook time 15mins

Serves 1-2

Ingredients: 

• Wholewheat noodles
• Soya beans
• 1 cup of kale
• Chopped carrot
• Chopped red pepper
• Water chestnuts
• Half an onion chopped
• 1 clove of garlic
• 1tsp ginger
• Chilli flakes
• 1tbs of olive oil
• Reduced salt soy sauce
• 1tsp tamarind paste (optional)

Instructions:

1. Add the olive oil, onion, and garlic to the pan and sauté for a few minutes. 
2. Meanwhile, cook the soya beans for a few minutes in hot water (you can cook in the pan but I prefer to just give them a quick cook first. 
3. Add the carrot, pepper and water chestnuts to the frying pan, fry for a few minutes. 
4. Cook the nests of wholewheat noodles in a saucepan of water, should take approximately 5 minutes. 
5. Add the noodles, ginger, chilli flakes, soy sauce and tamarind paste to the frying pan, mix well, and cook for about 5 minutes. 

I hope you enjoy these plant based meals, just changing a few meals each week to plant based meals will really help your health and our planet! 

You should find that these plant based meals taste so good that you don’t miss meat, Lacie also has a great spicy black bean burger recipe you should check it out next.

I hope you enjoyed this blog post all about the best plant based meals for beginners!

This blog is contributed by Damaris of Rainbow Vegans Rock

Damaris has a blog and YouTube channel for Rainbow Vegans Rock. She shares sustainable tips and vegan lifestyle content, completely beginner friendly. She loves food and talking about all things sustainable. She also has a big plant collection but tends to overwater them!