With people having very busy lives and not wanting to spend all their time in the kitchen making healthy, delicious meals, one question I get asked all the time (from both my in person and online clients) is how can they organize their meal planning so that they don’t need to cook every single meal from scratch.
It’s unrealistic with a busy life that you’re going to spend an hour in the kitchen whenever you need to eat, so having some healthy options laid out for you when it comes time to eat is what will set you up for success.
So in this article, I’m going to share a way to meal prep 7 high protein plant-based meals worth of food (lunches or dinners) in 60 minutes.
The Plan
Overall, the plan is simple. You’re going to prepare different types of food, store them all separately (so they stay fresh longer) in the fridge so that each day, all you have to do is pull the containers out of the fridge, throw some food on your plate, add the sauce and you’re ready to go!
The preparation takes 60 minutes and assembling the Buddha bowl each day takes no more than 5 minutes, which you can either eat at your house or bring to work.
This can be very, very simple, or as complex as you’d like. I like to keep mine pretty simple because I prefer it that way, but if you want to add ingredients and make it your own, be my guest!
I only have 10 ingredients listed in the example Buddha bowl below, but feel free to add/subtract whatever you want.
There’s essentially 5 components to the bowl: a base (or “grain”), a “protein,” a legume, vegetables, and a sauce. This ensures we are eating a well balanced diet filled with many different types of foods and flavors.
3 Considerations
- This is just an example of how a Buddha bowl can be made. There are tons of ways to make them, so if you are brand new to this, feel free to copy the example I have below. But then as you become more comfortable with it, you can always branch out and put your own twist on it.
- With just an hour to prepare a week’s worth of meals, this isn’t meant to be a 5 start meal. Now don’t get me wrong, it still tastes great and is SUPER healthy, but all the meals are designed to include similar ingredients. That said, because there is so much variety in terms of what you can do with Buddha bowls, you can add twists that make them different. For example, you could use a different sauce, switch the protein source, choose a different legume, and/or switch up the vegetables and toppings.
- Lastly, the amount of food listed here is for one person. If you have a second person, feel free to double it.
Kitchen Materials
- A large pot with a lid
- 6-8 storage containers
- Cutting board/knife
- Blender (optional)
- Food processor (optional, but makes chopping vegetables like carrots much easier)
Grocery List
For the bowl:
- 3-4 cups of quinoa or brown rice (uncooked)
- 3 packages (2.5 servings each) of tempeh (9oz)
- 2 cans of beans of your choice
- 1 jar salsa
- 1 package of pre-washed greens (spinach, baby kale, etc.)
- 1 red pepper
- 1 cucumber
- 1/2 red cabbage
- 7 long carrots
- 1/2 head of broccoli or cauliflower
For the sauce (just make sure you have these ingredients already – if not, get whatever you need):
- 8 tbsp Tahini
- 2 lemons
- Maple syrup
- Spicy brown mustard
- Salt/pepper
Food Prep
Step 1: Prepare the “grain”
In a large pot, cook 3-4 cups of your favorite “grain,” the two most common being rice or quinoa (quinoa is slightly higher in protein). This will give you about a cup of grains for each of the 7 meals. To cook rice and quinoa, add twice the amount of water as food (4 cup quinoa for 8 cups water). Bring to a boil and cook 30-45 minutes.
Step 2: Prepare the “protein”
I put protein in quotes because all food contains protein, but most people think in terms of “protein” as a specific food category.
My top two recommendations would be tempeh or tofu. For the sake of this food prep, I’m going to use tempeh because it’s very high in protein.
Preheat oven to 350º F. To prepare the tempeh, cut it into strips and then marinate it for 15 minutes in the following marinade:
- 2 tbsp soy sauce/liquid aminos/tamari
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- 2 tbsp mustard (I love spicy brown mustard)
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- Feel free to add some hot sauce if you want to spice it up!
Line baking sheet with parchment paper (easier cleanup), place tempeh strips on baking sheet, and bake for 15 minutes, then flip and bake another 5-10 minutes.
Step 3: Prepare the sauce
- 8 tbsp tahini
- 2 lemons (juice)
- 2 tbsp maple syrup (or 2 dates)
- 2 tbsp mustard (I prefer spicy brown mustard)
- 2/3 cup water (just add water until you reach your desired consistency)
- Salt/pepper to taste
If you use the dates, you’ll need a blender. If not, you don’t need one. Store the sauce in a container that has a lid. You’ll likely need to add a dash of water each day as it tends to thicken up a bit in the fridge.
Step 4: Prepare the legume
Rinse canned beans and then add beans + salsa to a storage container
Step 5: Prepare the vegetables
- Chop the broccoli/cauliflower and place it in the pot of rice/quinoa to steam (when there is about 5 minutes left). Cooking hack!
- Cut the red pepper/cucumber/red cabbage and put them in separate storage containers
- Grate the carrots and put in a storage container (using a food processor is easiest for this – just pulse it until it’s the right size)
- Add any other vegetables to this list that you enjoy!
Done with the prep!
Assembling the Buddha Bowl (Only a few minutes!)
- Add quinoa or brown rice to the bowl
- Add tempeh/tofu, beans w/ salsa, carrots, broccoli/cauliflower
- If you prefer those ingredients warm (I do), then heat in the microwave for a couple minutes. Then add the rest of the “cold vegetables” (red pepper, cabbage, greens) and you’re good to go!
- Add as many or as little toppings you’d like on to the top of the bowl
- Each bowl contains between 35-45 grams of protein if you’re using the ingredients I use (depending on exactly what you include)
Topping options:
- Hemp seeds
- Nuts (almonds, cashews, walnuts, peanuts, etc.)
- Seeds (i.e. pumpkin seeds)
- Avocado
- Tomatoes
- Sprouts
- Sauerkraut
- Pickled onions
- Anything else!
Other Vegetables To Try
- Snap peas
- Mushrooms
- Baked sweet potato
- Green beans
- Beets
Other Proteins/Legumes To Try:
- Seitan
- Firm/extra firm/super firm tofu (super firm has most protein)
- Smoked tofu
- Lentils
- Chickpeas
- Other types of beans (black beans, pinto beans, kidney beans, lima beans)
- Edamame
- Vegetable meatballs
BOOM! You’re done.
How easy was that? Seriously, in 60 minutes you can have 7 lunches or dinners ready for you to eat at any time.
The most common problem I hear from my clients, both in person and online, is that they don’t have healthy options available to them, so when it comes time to eat, they resort to pre-made, less nutritious options. Not only do these options tend to be quite processed and lack nutrition, they are high in calories, salt, preservatives, etc.
So doing a bit of meal prepping will help you tremendously. I encourage you to “make it your own.” You don’t need to do 7 days, you don’t need to do the exact same ingredients as me. Do whatever works best for you. Maybe you don’t want the same sauce each day so you do half the week with one sauce and half the week with another.
I just laid out a template that I like to do in order to give you an idea. If you want to copy it directly, go ahead. If not, put your own twist on it!
As always, if you have any questions about your own fitness and nutrition, I’m always here to help. Simply reach out to me and I’m always happy to answer any questions you may have.
Online Fitness and Nutrition Coaching
I recently opened up a few spots for my online fitness and nutrition coaching. I build you a customized workout routine that fits within your schedule, provide plant-based nutrition coaching so you can reach your goals while optimizing your health, in addition to integrating a support system that allows you to be held accountable throughout your journey. If you’re interested, find out more here.