Even the best vegan chefs in the world get a bit lazy from time to time! Sometimes, I get home from a long day of work and the last thing that I want to do is spend hour-and-a-half cooking in the kitchen just to eat and go to sleep.
I don’t know about you, but I like to save my more involved recipes for when I’m eating with friends, and family, or doing an at-home date night with my boyfriend. Other than that, I’m a fan of anything that’s quick and easy (as long as it’s somewhat healthy).
In today’s post, I’m going to show you some of the best lazy vegan recipes that I’ve been making for myself lately. Most of these recipes all take less than thirty minutes to cook and can be made with simple, affordable ingredients that you can find at your local supermarket.
That’s right – there’s nothing complicated to see here.
Whether you’re looking for an easy meal prep plan or you just need some quick, healthy vegan meals to cook when you’re short on time and money, I guarantee you’ll find some good picks below!
What Can A Lazy Vegan Eat?
Yeah, I get it, the term “lazy vegan” sounds a bit… insulting.
But let’s be honest – we don’t always have time to spend hours in the kitchen cooking every day. Most of us have jobs that take up the better part of our day or have animals, kids, and friends to attend to.
In my opinion, cooking should be an enjoyable experience. When you’re stressed and under pressure, the last thing that you want to do is cook a time-intensive meal that you’re not even going to be able to sit down and enjoy.
That’s why simple, lazy vegan recipes are the best!
Not only are lazy vegan recipes fast to cook, but they’re also surprisingly affordable and usually only require simple ingredients, such as:
- Bread
- Pasta
- Rice
- Potatoes
- Leafy greens like spinach or kale
- Cheap veggies like broccoli or cauliflower
- A few simple seasonings
- Vegan cheese
- Vegan hot dogs
- Tofu
- Vegan burgers.
All of these ingredients can be found at any small grocery store. They are not expensive either!
Is It Cheaper To Eat Vegan?
One of the biggest misconceptions about vegan eating is that it’s somehow more expensive than a carnivorous diet.
While some vegan specialty items like vegan burgers or vegan “meat” are certainly more expensive than their non-vegan counterparts, the stereotype simply doesn’t hold up when you look at all of the other great-tasting vegan food out there.
For instance, a pound of tofu, tempeh, and other plant-based protein costs about the same price as a pound of ground beef. Beans are another great source of vegan protein and are incredibly cheap and affordable.
For the most part, vegans eat the same carbs as non-vegans. Rice, bread, pasta, etc., are all cheap and easy to find at any grocery store.
Obviously, if you’re eating out or buying specialty vegan products, expect to eat more. For the most part, though, eating vegan costs the same as eating a carnivorous diet.
In fact, most vegan food is actually cheaper than steak, chicken breast, salmon, and other popular meat-based proteins!
Short On Time & Ingredients? Try These 15 Lazy Vegan Recipes!
The next time you’re running short on time and need to cook something fast, cheap, and easy, check back on this post and take a look at one of these awesome lazy vegan recipes! These are the go-to meals that I cook throughout my busy work week and they require very little effort.
Some of the one-pot meals are so easy that I can do my hair in the other room while the dinner is slowly simmering.
1) One-Pot Vegan Hummus Pasta
This one-pot vegan hummus pasta is so simple and easy to cook yet so delicious. It’s savory, has a Mediterranean flair to it, and is surprisingly healthy (aside from all the carbs).
This simple recipe is made using boiled pasta, pre-made hummus, non-dairy milk, cherry tomatoes, basil, black olives, and a few seasonings like nutritional yeast and vegan parmesan.
All in all, the entire meal takes less than thirty minutes to cook. The longest part is waiting fifteen minutes for the pasta to boil! After that, you just strain the pasta, add your other ingredients, and let the one-pot mixture simmer on medium heat for five minutes before serving.
Plus, this easy pasta dish tastes as good cold as it does warm, so it makes for an awesome meal-prep idea!
2) Quick & Easy Vegan Pasta Salad
Pasta salad is always a great idea when you’re running short on time. Like the previous hummus pasta dish, the longest part of this meal is waiting for the pasta to boil.
While you’re waiting on the pasta to finish cooking, you’ll just need to spend a few minutes cutting up the cherry tomatoes, onions, and chives.
Once the pasta is ready, you mix in all of your veggies, some sliced black olives (if you like them), and allow the whole dish to cool in the fridge for a few minutes! You can vary this meal by changing up your toppings or adding some spicy hot sauce or savory vegan sauce on top.
3) Vegan Tteokbokki
Tteokbokki is a traditional Korean meal that resembles a warm, spicy, and savory stew. Traditionally, it’s made using eggs and some other meat-based ingredients, but I really like this vegan twist on the classic!
The only difficult part of this recipe is that you’ll need to visit your local Asian supermarket to pick up a few of the ingredients. It requires items like rice cakes, kelp powder, Korean red pepper paste, and a bit of sake (which is optional).
While all of these ingredients are cheap, you may have to go out of your way to find somewhere that stocks them.
Other than that, though, cooking tteokbokki is super simple and fast. The entire cooking process shouldn’t take longer than thirty minutes, making it a great-tasting lazy vegan recipe.
4) Vegan Mexican Street Corn
Mexican street corn has always been one of my favorite snacks. While it’s typically a non-vegan dish that uses a lot of dairies, it’s also incredibly simple to swap the ingredients for vegan-friendly ingredients instead.
This vegan street corn recipe only requires a few simple ingredients: whole corn, vegan mayo, vegan cheese crumble, chili powder, and chopped cilantro. All of these ingredients are also super cheap, so you can make loads extra without breaking the bank!
Simply boil the corn, and then use a brush to brush on the vegan mayo. Then, sprinkle your vegan cheese crumble over lathered-up corn, add a dash of chili powder, top with cilantro, and enjoy!
If you don’t like eating corn on the cob, you can also make this dish with canned corn or slice the kernels off of the cob before adding the other toppings.
5) Vegan Orange Tofu & Rice
If you enjoyed the delicious flavor of Chinese orange chicken before going vegan, then you’ll love this vegan-friendly twist on it.
This dish is pretty much the same dish, except it’s made with tofu instead of fried chicken. The orange sauce is homemade and only takes a couple of minutes to make with a few easy ingredients.
To give the tofu that “fried” texture, it’s coated with a bit of all-purpose flour and cornstarch, both of which are plant-based baking ingredients. Then, the tofu is fried in a bit of vegetable oil, tossed in the homemade orange sauce, and laid over fresh rice.
The whole meal shouldn’t take longer than twenty-five or thirty minutes to cook and is surprisingly nutritious. If you want to make it even healthier, have it with a side of steamed broccoli!
6) Broccoli Tofu Stir Fry
This broccoli tofu stir fry is another Asian-inspired dish that’s simple and easy to cook, all in one pot.
It starts with a bit of steamed broccoli, which is then mixed in with tofu, stir fry sauce, ginger, garlic, onions, and white rice. The tofu is cooked in a bit of cornstarch to give it a chicken-like texture as well.
Once you mix all of the ingredients together, they just need to simmer for about ten minutes so that all of the food can soak up the flavor of the seasoning and stir fry sauce. It’s easy, clean, and healthy!
7) Vegan Meatloaf Muffins
When most people hear “meatloaf,” the last thing that comes to mind is vegan food. However, this simple vegan meatloaf is cheap, easy, and 100% plant-based. It’s also a great way to get a healthy serving of fresh veggies!
The “meatloaf” is made from carrots, garlic, celery, onion, and lentils. The mixture is seasoned with a bit of Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, dijon mustard, and balsamic vinaigrette.
Breadcrumbs and flaxseed are added to the meatloaf as well, which helps hold the loaf together and gives it a nice meat-like texture.
It makes for a great main dish and can be complemented by a side of Brussels sprouts, mashed potatoes, or another one of your favorite vegan side dishes!
8) Simple Vegan Mac’n’Cheese
If you’ve been craving the savory deliciousness of mac and cheese, then this simple dish is a great option. Not only is it cheesy and savory, but the whole dish only takes around thirty to forty minutes to cook from start to finish.
This particular recipe calls for some chopped vegan sausage, which adds some protein to the mix and makes it more filling. However, you can also cook this dish without protein if you’re trying to save money or if you only want to eat it as a side.
I really like the seasonings used by the author, too, as they add a ton of flavor to the dish.
It’s seasoned with turmeric, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, arrowroot, lemon pepper, and a bit of salt. It also calls for a homemade cheese sauce made from vegan milk, nutritional yeast, and a bit of vegan mayo.
9) Vegan Black Bean Tacos
When in doubt, tacos are always a smart way to go. You can cook a full plate of tacos in less than ten minutes using simple, cheap ingredients that you can find at your local grocery store.
While some vegan tacos call for expensive vegan meat, this particular recipe uses seasoned black beans as the main source of protein, which is cheap and can be found anywhere.
Tortillas are also cheap (you can use corn or flour tortillas). Aside from that, you just need to chop up a bit of lettuce and tomato to use as the topping. Or, if you want to make them Mexican-style, you can use cilantro and onion instead.
Don’t forget to top it off with your favorite hot sauce!
10) Vegan Taco Pasta With Sweet Corn
Here’s another Mexican-inspired dish that I absolutely love! It’s made from elbow noodles (the same ones you use for mac and cheese), store-bought tomato salsa, black beans, sweet corn, cashews, and avocado.
Aside from that, the recipe calls for seasonings such as cayenne pepper, chili, paprika, cumin, cilantro, garlic, and jalapeno slices.
It’s a simple dish that can all be cooked in one pot or a large saucepan! The past couple of times that I’ve cooked it, this taco pasta only took about thirty minutes to cook. It’s also another dish that tastes as good cold as it does hot, so it makes for an excellent packed lunch.
11) Vegan Spinach Quesadilla
If you couldn’t already tell, I’ve been on a bit of a Mexican kick lately. This simple, easy-to-make quesadilla is made with large wheat tortillas, stuffed with spinach, and uses a simple homemade cheese sauce that’s made from vegan mayo, nutritional yeast, cashews, and walnuts.
The only other ingredients are seasonings like chili powder, garlic, onion, salt, and pepper. You can make these tortillas in less than fifteen minutes and they’re incredibly filling.
So, if you’re in a rush, then these are one of the fastest lazy vegan meals to try! You can also simplify the dish by using pre-made vegan cheese instead of making your own as the recipe calls for.
12) Loaded Vegan Chili Dogs
Chili dogs are one of the easiest, laziest, and best-tasting vegan meals you can eat. The only somewhat expensive ingredient you need is some vegan hot dogs, which are stocked at most grocery stores these days.
For the chili, you can mix together a bit of tomato sauce, vegan meat crumbles, black beans, and your favorite seasonings. Then, you can top the chili dog off with some vegan cheese sauce, chopped onions, chives, and your favorite ketchup.
It’s one of those dishes that you really can make a hundred different ways!
13) Vegan Teriyaki Burger
If you can get your hands on some plant-based burger patties, then you’ll love this vegan teriyaki burger recipe.
The burger patties can usually be cooked in less than ten minutes, and the toppings are fairly easy to throw on a bun. So the whole meal shouldn’t take longer than twenty minutes to cook from start to finish.
Now, this particular recipe shows you how to make your own veggie patty from scratch. However, if you don’t have that type of time (or energy) on your hands, then don’t be afraid to use a pre-made vegan patty!
14) Vegan Grilled Cheese Sandwich
It really doesn’t get any easier than grilled cheese… This easy-to-make recipe can be made in less than ten minutes and is as delicious as it is filling! Simply take a few slices of your favorite vegan bread, stuff them with vegan cheese, spinach, and a bit of mayo, and then grill the sandwich in a pan.
Allow each side to cook for a few minutes at a time. Once the cheese starts melting inside the sandwich, you’ll know it’s ready!
15) Easy Vegan Black Bean Soup
If you’re looking for a hearty black bean stew that’s simple to make and requires limited ingredients, then this recipe is a great choice. It’s also very affordable, so it’s an excellent meal for vegans on a budget.
It’s essentially just a pot of canned black beans that are mixed in with onions, garlic, oregano, red bell pepper, cumin, chili powder, black pepper, sea salt, and a bit of cinnamon (surprisingly). Simply let the mixture simmer in a pot for ten to fifteen minutes and you’re good to go!
The Verdict – What’s The Best Lazy Vegan Recipe?
Of all the lazy vegan recipes that I’ve tried on this list, I’d have to say that the one-pot hummus pasta and the black bean tacos are my go-to favorites.
Not only are both dishes incredibly fast and easy to cook, but they only call for cheap, easy-to-find ingredients, which are perfect for when I’m in a rush.
Lazy vegan meals are great and all, but if you’ve got a little bit more time on your hands, be sure to check out my list of the best vegan summer recipes next!
