My favorite meal-planning strategies
Easing the "what's for dinner?" dilemma at this busy time of year
Whether you're a single person with a demanding job, a two-income couple, or part of a family with one child or seven, then by definition, you’re a busy cook.
Many people say they're too busy to cook, but no one is too busy to eat. Even among plant-based food fans, this is often remedied with lots of eating out, take-out, and prepared entrees.
I like to encourage people cook and eat at home, so here are some of my tried-and-true tips for making cooked-from-scratch meals a daily reality, even after the most exhausting days. The two main ingredients for success among these meal-planning tips are a little advance planning and keeping things simple.
1. Stock your pantry, freezer, and fridge with basics
Keep good-quality ingredients for quick and/or “emergency meals” on hand as a matter of routine:
Pantry standbys include canned beans, canned tomatoes, quick-cooking grains (like couscous and bulgur), potatoes, sweet potatoes, and pastas.
Prepared sauces like marinara, barbecue, Thai peanut, teriyaki, and salsa are a busy cook's best friends. Keep a few of these bottled sauces in the pantry as well, then obviously, in the fridge once opened (if not finished).
If you're more of a DIY person, you can make any of these sauces (including hummus) at the start of the week and store them in airtight containers in the fridge for a few days. Here are some easy recipes for the aforementioned:
In the freezer, keep whole-grain English muffins and or pita bread, vegan burgers, corn and/or wheat tortillas, and pizza crust. Basic frozen vegetables to have on hand include corn, peas, green beans, broccoli, and cauliflower (organic if possible).
Have enough fresh produce in the fridge but not so much that it will be wasted from neglect. With fresh produce at the ready, there are a myriad of nearly-instant meals that can be created with these basics listed here.
2. Shop for three full meals for the week ahead
Allow for two nights of leftovers. Plan your meals before you go grocery shopping to prevent running back and forth to the store all week for ingredients.
There’s nothing worse than walking into the kitchen after a long day without a clue as to what you want to make. I try to practice what I preach, but whenever there’s a week that I’ve left unplanned, I really regret it! Just 15 or 20 minutes of meal planning per week saves lots of time and simplifies your life immeasurably.
Planning your grocery shopping can also save you money, as you'll find in 10 Money-Saving Tips for Vegan Grocery Shopping on a Budget.
3. Indulge in prepped fresh vegetables from time to time
Your local supermarket has gotten to be better than the proverbial Mom in cajoling people to eat their veggies. Supermarket produce sections offer vegetables that are cut and ready to go — a great shortcut to making stir-fries, sautés, and salads.
These include diced butternut squash, coleslaw cabbage, broccoli slaw, grated carrots, trimmed green beans, and more. Now there’s no excuse for not eating your 5-a-Day!
4. On Sundays, prep a few basics for the week ahead
Knowing that you have even one item that’s already prepared when you enter the kitchen at 6:00 is a sweet feeling, and the rest of the meal then comes together quickly. Here are more ways to prep ahead, in addition to those mentioned above.
Cook some rice, quinoa, or other grain.
Bake or microwave potatoes and/or sweet potatoes to use as simple side dishes or to incorporate into recipes.
Cook a big pot of pasta and toss with a little olive oil so it doesn’t stick together until it’s needed.
Clean, stem, and chop kale, collards, chard, and/or other sturdy greens; pat or spin dry store in an airtight container.
Cook beans (if you prefer cooking them from scratch).
Make a batch of homemade hummus or another kind of protein spread like Kale and Chickpea Salad or Sandwich Spread.
Prep a few sturdy cooking vegetables that keep well. Cut broccoli and/or cauliflower into small florets; stem and halve Brussels sprouts, pre-bake winter squashes.
Prep a variety of easy-to-grab fresh veggies and fruits that keep well when cut (like peppers, carrots, and cucumber) so that can be used as snacks with dip or tossed into salads.
Vegan Chili Mac goes a long way as a one-pot, family-friendly main dish.
5. Once a week, make a big one-pot meal
We're talking the kind of meal that can stretch to at least two nights, such as a hearty soup or stew, chili, or a hearty casserole or skillet meal. Double recipes if you’re feeding a larger group.
Then, you need little more than a simple salad and/or a green vegetable to accompany the meal. Leftovers of this kind of one-pot dish can make great portable lunches as well.
Easy Vegan Mushroom and Tempeh Chorizo for tacos
6. Develop meal repertoires and routines
If you don’t mind a little repetition, you can choose just a few menus that your family likes and rotate them throughout the month. An example of a routine would be something like that described in suggestion #4, above, where you prepare certain ingredients in advance.
Another would be to get your older children and teens to take turns making dinner, or at least part of it, once a week.
Or, try designating each night of the week for a certain kind of meal. Monday could be soup and salad night (with the soup having been prepared on Sunday), Taco Tuesday, Wednesday can be pasta (or noodles) night, one night to clean up all leftovers, and so on. This kind of predictability makes meal planning easier when you’re strapped for time.
Keep it simple when it comes to meal planning!
This brings me back to the most important point — keep it simple! You need not spend hours cooking or use dozens of ingredients to create tasty meals. I truly believe that it's the quality of ingredients, rather than the quantity, that matters most when it comes to meal planning. Good-quality shortcuts are always welcome.
Here are more meal planning tips from around the vegan web:
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Nava, I love your practical meal-planning strategies! 🌱 Your tip about prepping on Sundays really resonates with me—it reminds me of weekends spent making batches of meals with my family, often including hundreds of pierogies 🥟, and later doing the same with my many restaurant families. Those moments were about more than just cooking; they were about connecting and sharing food, stories, and company with those we’re closest to.
Your reminder to keep things simple is so important; I’ve found that using common ingredients makes meals not only delicious but also accessible and easy to prepare, encouraging more home cooking and healthier eating. Thank you for sharing your insights and for sparking those fond memories! 🙏