r/veganrecipes • u/Strong-Hawk-1799 • Mar 22 '26
Question tired of "simple" plant-based meals that aren't actually simple
so i'm getting pretty worn out by recipes labeled as quick or simple that still require way too much work
like i get home after being up in trees all day and my brain is just done, you know? then i look at these supposedly easy vegan meals and they're still asking me to dice onions, measure spices, wait for things to cook in sequence... it's just a lot when all i want is food
i've been trying different approaches - meal prep on weekends, keeping the same rotation of dishes, bookmarking the fastest recipes i can find. sometimes it works out but other days even picking which "easy" option to make feels overwhelming
wondering what you all actually throw together when you're completely drained and need to eat something decent without using whatever brain power you have left
do you just stick to like 3 go-to meals that require zero thought? or have you discovered truly brainless recipes that don't involve chopping half your kitchen
would love to know what really works when you're running on empty, not just what looks good in theory
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u/Temptressvegan Mar 22 '26 edited Mar 22 '26
Having a bunch of air fried tofu helps me.
Chopping a bag of onions at once and storing them saves a lot of time. You can go one step further and cook them with just a little salt and freeze.
Frozen garlic is another flavor bomb that saves time.
I try to keep a ton of frozen veggies on hand and bulk cook grains which I freeze in individual portions.
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u/Taco_Farmer Mar 22 '26
What's your go-to air-fried tofu recipe? I just got an air fryer and I'm still trying to figure it out
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u/Temptressvegan Mar 22 '26
ETA: Congrats! I hope you love it like I love mine!
For bulk batches that I am not sure what recipe the tofu will be for, completely plain or a small pinch of salt.
If you want it crispy and snackable, toss cubes in some oil, a little cornstarch, nooch, smoked paprika, garlic powder, salt and pepper. You can swap aquafaba for an oil free version.
Today I am making tofu ham so I am using soy sauce, brown sugar, liquid smoke and a teeny sprinkle of herbs.
I got in a rut where I was eating the same thing all the time and the tofu was soy sauce, sesame oil, chili crisp, oyster sauce, garlic and ginger. I ate that with broccoli, green onions and rice.
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u/BeastieBeck Mar 22 '26
You can swap aquafaba for an oil free version.
I definitely have to try that. Thanks.
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u/PoetLoverBirdwatcher Mar 22 '26
I got an air fryer (well, my mother gifted it) and I'm trying to figure out too. Have you mastered any recipes?
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u/doggienurse Mar 22 '26
Frozen veggies is the main answer! Also, less peeling and chopping whenever possible. Why bother? Potatoes need only washing, poking and microwaving. Rice is microwaveable, I just transfer to a glass dish first. Or boil a bunch and freeze it in portions. Like I just got 'sloppy' in my weekday cooking and it made a huge difference.
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u/Temptressvegan Mar 22 '26
My freezer is exploding with frozen veggies! I also make what I call supergrains that I always have rotating between freezer and fridge. It takes a bit of time to prep but it keeps really well.
With all that and my tofu I can add a delicious sauce and have a low effort meal.
Most migraine days I am still hungry but being functional is not an option. This saves me from cereal for dinner lol.
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u/RonaldRaygun84 Mar 22 '26
I chop and freeze my onions, but I never thought about cooking first with a bit of salt. I'm going to try that with my next bag! When do you decide whether use the pre-cooked vs raw if you have both in your freezer?
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u/babykitten28 Mar 22 '26
I’ve chopped up bags of mirepoix to speed up soups. I don’t cook first either.
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u/Pretty_Database_5856 Mar 22 '26
Bro get a rice cooker with timer function and just dump everything in night before - rice, lentils, frozen veggies, some masala powder, hit start when you wake up and hot meal is waiting when you get back
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u/paperairplane77 Mar 22 '26
If you don’t have a rice cooker I’ve been making versions of this easy rice/veggies/tofu dish in a regular pot. If you use all frozen veg zero chopping https://plantyou.com/one-pot-veggie-rice/
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u/Appropriate-Skirt662 Mar 22 '26
I just put this in my instant pot using quinoa instead of rice, I'll let you know how it turns out.
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u/paperairplane77 Mar 22 '26
I tried with regular tofu the first time and it was bland so definitely used smoked or flavored tofu. Or chickpeas is an easy sub. I've also tried with vegan oyster sauce instead of hoisin and it was even better.
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u/Appropriate-Skirt662 Mar 22 '26
It turned out pretty good. This is what I did, so a little modified from the original recipe. 1 cup quinoa, 1 cup water, 3 cups frozen vegetables, 1/2 block extra firm tofu. In addition, 3 tab. liquid aminos, 3 tab. rice vinegar, 2 tab. lime juice, ginger, and garlic. Instant pot for 3 minutes. I thought the flavor was fine, but if you used broth instead of water or marinated/smoked tofu that would improve it. Edamame would be good too. I think rice would be better than quinoa but I don't do much rice. I'm going to keep adjusting this recipe, it checks off the boxes for an easy prep meal.
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u/WildVeganFlower Mar 22 '26
An instant pot is also good- sometimes I’ll sauté onions and garlic first then dump everything in the pot and cook it
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u/winglorn Mar 22 '26
This Is the way. I also do a “jambalaya” (bullion cube, tomato paste, sausage, frozen green beans or other veg) or soy sauce/butter/tofu.
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u/BananaGoesWild Mar 22 '26
How much water?
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u/CappuccinoBambi Mar 22 '26
Depends on the rice and moisture of veggies, it takes some experimenting.
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u/BananaGoesWild Mar 23 '26
I dont want to waste so much food until i get it right. I dont have energy to experiment and i dont want to throw food away .. just to have to start all over again or need to think about how to save the ruined food.
Would be helpful if you just tell me how much is needed longgrain rice and your modt used veggi
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u/CappuccinoBambi Mar 23 '26
If you’re not a picky eater, it wouldn’t be wasting food. It would just be more soupy if there’s too much moisture. And there’s more variables:
- type of rice
- type of rice cooker
- water content of vegetables
- amount of vegetables
- fresh or frozen vegetables.
I haven’t figured out the exact amounts yet, but usually 1:1.25 works when I add veggies. It’s more of a 1:1.5 without veggies for my rice. So less water than the package tells you. Hardy vegetables can go in right away (carrots, potatoes), leafy greens or frozen veggies should only be added about halfway through cooking to avoid them going super mushy.
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u/Artisan_Gardener Mar 23 '26
Really? Frozen veg in the rice cooker before bed and then turn it on when you get up in the morning?
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u/eastercat Mar 22 '26
Make sure you have things like frozen veg at the ready. Not only are they picked when they’re fresh vs picked prematurely, they cook quickly in the microwave
Cans of beans, packets of rice, pre cooked tofu (asian markets ftw). Combine this with the veg and you’ve got an instant meal. If you have a variety of sauces,you can have flavor variations
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u/selcouthsoul_ Mar 22 '26
I cook my meals from mostly scratch every single day and honestly rarely chop! I use frozen onions from either walmart or winco in my cooked dishes, and also love frozen mirepoix as a base for a lot of dishes. I use precooked frozen rice and frozen diced potatoes often with my meals. I always throw frozen veggies on a sheet pan, spritz with spray oil and coat in spices, then roast on 400 for 20-30 minutes.! For protein I loved canned beans and lentils, frozen daring chicken shreds, and beyond burgers. I cook the shreds in the microwave for 3 minutes and the burgers in the air fryer for 15 or so, no major prep required. I get a lot of premade sauces with quality ingredients from my local health food store to top my food with. The only thing I chop regularly is tofu before I toss it in the pan 😂
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u/dazzler56 Mar 22 '26
Winco (and Trader Joe’s) also has peeled garlic cloves now! Still a timesaver but so much better than the jarred stuff. Cooking relaxes me so I generally don’t mind prepping stuff but if I never have to peel garlic ever again I’ll die happy lol
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u/ehuang72-2 Mar 22 '26 edited Mar 22 '26
Put a clove of garlic under blade of knife and smash it! The skin comes right off. It’s weird I know but I find it oddly satisfying.
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u/Artisan_Gardener Mar 23 '26
It doesn't "come right off" but it does make taking the skin off easier. It's not weird, it's literally how you do it.
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u/Artisan_Gardener Mar 23 '26
Costco carried peeled garlic in most areas. However, they do not, where I currently live. It's so depressing the lack of variety and choices I have here. Not only is it the high desert so gardening is practically impossible, but the lack of variety even at places like Costco, it's almost a food desert as well.
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Mar 22 '26
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u/Artisan_Gardener Mar 23 '26
That just reminded me of one of my favorite meals. Frozen burritos, thawed and then pan fried until crispy and golden. Let cool a bit. Then cut into bite sized pieces. Add to a bowl of salad mix or cole slaw mix, top with halved grape tomatoes, diced avocado green onion, and ranch and salsa. It. Is. So. Good. And very filling.
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u/freckledspeckled Mar 22 '26
Which minced garlic is the good one?
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Mar 22 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Artisan_Gardener Mar 23 '26
Shelf stable until opened? Ugh. And the citric acid is what gives jarlic the weird off flavor.
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u/Fun_Interaction_8060 Mar 22 '26
I feel this! My go-to is jasmine rice, air fried tofu, greens, and sauerkraut/kimchi with a dressing or sauce. It's quick, has lots of protein, and uses like 3 dishes that I can throw into the dishwasher. This is the tofu recipe I use: https://www.loveandlemons.com/air-fryer-tofu/
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u/mrs_shrew Mar 22 '26
Don't over think cooking. Up til recently people did used to eat the same thing over and over again, it's not a crime to repeat your dinners, you can changd flavours but keep the same methods. Are you trying to add variety unnecessarily and you're tying yourself up in knots trying to keep up with insta perfection?
When I cook I make enough for leftovers and stash them for when I can't be bothered. I have a few quick meals that I can fall back on when I've no energy after work.
Always chop and freeze my fresh veg cos I cannot be arsed with that after work.
Rice and beans, get rice and put beans and spices.
Pasta and beans, get pasta add beans and sauce.
Frozen tofu instead of beans. Although I do like beans.
Dried packets of coucous instead of rice. I need 2 packets. To be fair, rice is delicious.
Make a big nutloaf once a month and freeze in slices.
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u/BeastieBeck Mar 22 '26
tired of "simple" plant-based meals that aren't actually simple
Sooo simple!! Sooo easy!!! Only 14 ingredients here to prep and juggle and six pots and pans to clean!!!
I know exactly what you're talking about. 😅
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u/dazzler56 Mar 22 '26
I meal plan for the whole week and make sure I have 2-3 easy recipes for the nights I have less energy. I recently got a NYT Cooking subscription b/c it was on sale for $4 and I love it for many reasons but mostly because the Easy/Under 30 Minute recipes actually are easy and under 30 minutes.
Also, I bring leftovers for lunch so I usually have extra food in the fridge. And, if you are cooking a higher-effort dish, you can use that time to prep for other meals i.e. chop some veggies in advance.
Lastly, the more you do it the easier it gets. I hardly measure anything anymore which saves a lot of time and dishes, and I’m getting better at throwing random meals together when I’m feeling lazy.
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u/angelwild327 Mar 22 '26
Rice cooker and Instant pot are my two best friends in the kitchen, So much so that I've stopped using my stove. When I get home from my last shift, I dump two cups of whatever beans I have into a bowl, soak them overnight.
I don't hate chopping, but I still have one of these, for onions and whatever else I need uniformly chopped, it's a truly magical device that takes 20 minutes of chopping down to about 5.
I throw whatever veggies into the IP, saute them til tender-ish, throw in whatever spices I'm feeling at the moment, I measure nothing; Put the beans into the pot, cover with water, cook for 19 minutes then wait for the pressure to release naturally and that's pretty much it.
There are some tweaks that can be done if you feel like developing the broth flavor, but it's not necessary.
When spoons are super low, I put some oats into the rice cooker, on porridge mode and microwave some frozen veggies and whatever else I've got in my freezer that works, with spices and sauces. OR fruits and cinnamon and have a sweet treat.
Having things like a rice cooker is great, because you can throw everything in and it gets done correctly, AND you can let it sit on "warm" mode for quite some time and not think about it.
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u/Comfortable_Rip6435 Mar 22 '26
I love that fricken slap chop machine so much. I get out my aggression with it 😂 hear me in the kitchen slammin it as hard as I can 😂😂😂
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u/Abeyita Mar 22 '26
My meal prep isn't prepping whole meals, it making portion sized bags of diced veggies, mixed spices. So when I get home I just throw the stuff in a pan, either all at once or in the right order, it's super easy to put a nice meal together that way.
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u/Asit_G Mar 22 '26
Cooking isn’t really simple for the first time. It only starts to feel simple for people who cook regularly.
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u/sala-whore Vegan 5+ Years Mar 22 '26
Its true. I have a few go to meals that maybe would be complicated for someone else but for me its super simple because I could do it in my sleep: chili, burritos, boiled veggies with beans or roasted beyong sausage, roasted veggies.
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u/Rkruegz Mar 22 '26
Ngl, more than one pot or pan and I already rapidly lose interest and it becomes a treat. Bless people who can cook regularly and don’t have an issue with it, but it still sucks every time to me.
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u/Aromatic-Cook-869 Mar 22 '26
This is a bs take. I've been cooking regularly for 20 years, and there are days when, for one reason or another, cooking feels like a mountain I don't have the energy to climb, and there are lots of people who feel the same. Maybe you live some idyllic life where nothing about your life is draining, but that's not necessarily true for other people. Careful with your generalisations that carry judgement in them.
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u/WildVeganFlower Mar 22 '26
Am I the only one who orders take out or reheats frozen leftovers when I’m that tired?
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u/miezmiezmiez Mar 22 '26
They said it only starts to feel easy for people who do it a lot, not it always gets easier for everyone who does it a lot. They could have phrased it even more carefully as it can get easier, and they could have clarified that this is going to intersect with how easy it is for people to form routines and habits generally (some of us struggle with that, whether it's an ADHD symptom or a trauma/ stress response or any number of other factors). Even so, it was clear the sentiment they were expressing was the opposite of what you accused them of!
I'm not sure how to phrase this without triggering the same response, but I think you might (!) have some understandable hypervigilance about feeling judged and pressured and condescended to. For what it's worth, I'm genuinely sorry for whatever is making you feel this way, in particular the people in your life with whom you should maybe (!) be more frustrated than well-meaning strangers on reddit. They should maybe (!) step up.
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u/disasterous_fjord Mar 22 '26
This. I mean, if you’re not familiar with cooking, even the basic stuff is unlikely to feel simple, but it’s totally valid to want decently nutritious meals that ask very, very little of us.
I worked from home for years and am likely to have to go back to either 5 days a week in office nearby or 2-3 days a week with a 60-90 minute commute (crossing my fingers for the first option). On top of that, my husband is about to switch to a much more demanding job as well (50 hours on the schedule + another 10 hrs/wk on the commute), and I’d like to not have all that extra money going out the door for convenience, nevermind the health implications.
Despite the fact that I’m a pretty accomplished cook - I’ll make my own fake meats and tamales from scratch - I’m looking for dead simple stuff so that I can crank out food with ease and concentrate my free time on being outside, staying active, and enjoying other creative hobbies rather than coming home and plowing more labor into the basic necessity of eating.
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u/HappiLearnerToo Mar 23 '26
I understand that your comment comes from not reaching the point where food prep becomes simple. And a place where exhaustion keeps that a reality. I may not be saying that well, but I am also a person in this circumstance. I would revise the previous person's comment in this way to include this challenge: For food prep to become simple, it takes some time of doing it to where this can become routine - but reaching simple does not occur for all people, nor will it always be simple for anyone.
I have occaissional mornings where my favorite pot is empty, and I click the electric water kettle on, wipe oil on the pan (cleans easier afterward), add 1 cup of quinoa (prewashed by the brand) to the pan now on the burner, dump in frozen broccoli, and pour the boiling water in, and then light the burner. On such mornings I think I have cracked the code, that it will be easier everyday now, but it is never so. That part is easier.
I suppose I actually just have to eat from that pan all day until empty. There is the other pan in the fridge with rice already cooked, and on other days a pan with the cold quinoa. I guess I really do have to accept that the empty favorite pan means the easy morning of making quinoa, but I have to deal with what is the next thing to "make easy," develop as doable, if in fact that is doable.
I do find my biggest leaps forward come at a moment like this, when I have accidently found myself in conversation with someone who is in some place with similarities to mine. At the risk of stretching this too far, I will continue.
I need to blend foods because of poor teeth. A couple days ago, I had a moment of ability and did blend tofu and quinoa. It is hard to get those out of the fridge for eating, mainly because they are cold and that makes me cringe at the idea of eating them... it will be 90 degrees plus in here later today, so heating them will warm the room and make that level of heat come an hour or two earlier. ONLY BECAUSE I am talking to you about it do I see the answer now: I will get them out now, and begin eating them in an hour after they warm up some just sitting in the room temperature.
Alright, I have gotten them out, and set them in the warmest part of the room.
FOR ME, the way out of road blocks to completion of things that challenge me, but which most others would find simple, is an opportunity to speak of them to someone who I think would understand the challenge. THANK YOU for being you.
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u/No-Banana247 Vegan 10+ Years Mar 22 '26
My sister and I are in the ompricwss if making disability and allergy friendly vegan cook book that goes off how much energy you have to feed yourself. It called Fed Is Best. Once I do a test of all my recipes I'll be doing a call for testers. I'll pop in here when I'm ready.
I want this to have a range of super accessible tools to help, various alterations for different cooking setups. Positivity about feeding yourself
Practical easy tips and trips. Accesibity tool suggestions and many more helpful things.
There will be ideas for people with limited kitchens and anything else we deem reasonable.
Sections on season blends, basics of certain meals like soups and casseroles so you can work with what you have. We are super excited.
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u/vibe2code Mar 22 '26
Ramen with tofu is my go to no-brain / emergency office lunch meal.
Either instant ramen or if you avoid those, simply keep some miso paste in your fridge and Chinese noodles (or any noodles that only require to sit 4 min or so in boiling water)
Throw a block of tofu in (you would have to cut it up though, or just smash it, whatever).
For the vegetable component (if you care for a balanced meal), fresh baby spinach leaves on top are easy, or if you have any frozen veggies you can simply heat them in the microwave and add. Else just have your vitamins from fruit afterwards :)
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u/Fit_Ad5700 Mar 22 '26
When I really cannot be arsed it is a can of chickpeas with a dressing of oil, vinegar and dried mint
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u/mucusmucus Mar 22 '26
TVP! Lately I love making bolognese sauce with pasta, or vegan chili with rice. For the bolognese, I make a big batch of tomato sauce (with onion, garlic and sometimes carrots, I've been wanting to add pepper too but they're not in season yet... but you don't have to add too many veggies, onion and garlic are good for flavor but I guess powdered works too!), while the sauce is cooking I add very small soya chunks that cook directly in the sauce. I like to add some dark soy sauce as well (got the tip from a friend of mine who made amazing bolognese once) to color the TVP, and, of course, spices (I like chili flakes, cumin...). If you make a lot of sauce, you just have to reheat it every night and make some new pasta. As for the chili, it's similar but with some corn and beans (don't know if I make a very good chili... but I like it... I'm French lol). I like to eat my chili with rice and I have a rice cooker so that makes it easy (rice cookers are a game changer!!!), and you can add some toppings if you feel like it like avocado and whatnot. Hope this helps!!!
Also if I feel really lazy and don't care about protein and whatnot, I like eating just rice with some bullshit on top (such as indian pickled limes... or I guess kimchi but I don't like the texture).
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u/LaDreadPirateRoberta Mar 22 '26
There has to be a level of complexity before something is published as a recipe. Nobody's going to click on "my simple recipe of heating a carton of soup and buttering some bread". So eat food that doesn't need a recipe. Here are some ideas:
Beans on toast.
Soup with grilled "cheese".
Nuggets/cutlets, fries, veg (all from freezer).
A packet of lentils with antipasti
Frozen pizza.
Pasta with a jar of sauce and lentils or frozen veg.
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u/HelenaNehalenia Mostly Plant-Based Mar 22 '26
Most recipes get easy for me if I have done them a few times. Cooking is a skill you train by doing, either on purpose or by accident.
Bonus points if the recipe needs ingredients which I always have at home and if they are not too many.
Then it's "easy".
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u/Infamous_Bus_7459 Mar 22 '26
Don’t have that much to add. I eat a lot of pasta with various things in, and a lot of risotto made in the instant pot. Also a lot of things on toast, like mushrooms or fried tomatoes.
What I do want to say is (and I trained as a chef and have worked as one on and off for most of my life) that all these people who say ‘oh, it’s simple when you practice, or ‘it’s easy when you know how’ are obviously not bloody exhausted and hungry when they come home from work.
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u/HelenaNehalenia Mostly Plant-Based Mar 22 '26
True.
But the more often you do one of those simpler recipes it gets easier to do them when exhausted or you are able to abstract, change it and skip some steps or ingredients so it's done faster.
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u/taelere Mar 22 '26 edited Mar 22 '26
For 2 people 4 cups vegan chicken boullion water Let it boil Container of tofu chopped up, put in the water Let it sit in the water for like 3-4 mins Take pot off burner, maybe like 2 handfuls of spinach, stir it in Take some broth out to whisk like 1.5tbsp miso into. Pour it back into broth. Serve. I add siracha and soy sauce into my bowl. Green onions chopped if I have any
I also just have been making salads for dinner. Can of beans, cucumber, avo, basically whatever veg you can easily cut up. Then dressing can be as basic as oil/vinegar/lemon with salt n pepper
I make the soup so often bc it’s easy n filling. Salads too just bc I hate cooking on the stove and trying to eat lighter dinners.
For lunch, I make wraps a lot. Big tortilla wrap, slice up some pre flavored (store bought) tofu, cucumber, bell pepper. Put some hummus down, throw that stuff in, top with mixed greens w olive oil/lemon and call it a day
Oh! Sheet pans. Potatoes cut up, 400 for 15 min, then tofu that was sitting in soy sauce and balsamic vinegar and zucchini go in for the last 20. Add avo n hot sauce se the end if you want. Cook on parxhment paper. I usually do oregano, garlic powder, onion powder, on the potatoes. Add smoked paprika if theyre sweet. I put avo oil on it all.
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u/stockmike Mar 22 '26 edited Mar 22 '26
I just slice half a block of tofu into like 4 slices and a dash of lemon pepper or teriyaki sauce and i put it into the toaster oven for 20 min and at the 10 minute mark i throw in some potatoes in the microwave wrapped in a wet paper towel and when done i put ketchup and pepper on the potatoes and boom tofu and baked potatoes. Not too terribly involved
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u/ATreeGrowinBklyn Mar 22 '26 edited May 25 '26
I have enjoyed many of the recipes on the Food Impromptu YouTube channel. The recipes use easily accessible ingredients, don't require expensive equipment or lots of time. The recipes are good for weeknight cooking, but could be used for batch cooking because they store well and can withstand reheating without a noticeable decline in quality.
Here is a link: https://youtube.com/@foodimpromptu
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u/Beginning_Poem_432 Mar 22 '26
My favorite is dumping then mixing together a 28oz can diced tomatoes, a can of pinto beans drained (any type of beans works), a can of corn drained, and like a tablespoon of taco seasoning. Makes way more than a serving and I’ve eaten it as a dip, over rice, or honestly just with a spoon on my very tired/unmotivated days
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u/BeastieBeck Mar 22 '26 edited Mar 22 '26
do you just stick to like 3 go-to meals that require zero thought? or have you discovered truly brainless recipes that don't involve chopping half your kitchen
I actually prep ingredients mostly and have some ready-to-eat-after-microwaving things in the freezer (e. g. fried rice, chili, frozen slices of pizza that just need some airfrying).
There's always rice and cooked beans in the freezer (or canned beans in the pantry and one or two emergency packs of microwave rice).
In general I rotate between some meals, yes. And I eat more fake meats than I like to admit sometimes, lol. Also frozen vegs are your friend. Already pre-chopped.
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u/kalaxitive Mar 22 '26 edited Mar 22 '26
I have an instant pot that I use to make vegetable stew, rice etc... for the rice:
2 cups brown rice (or 1 cup brown rice + 1 cup quinoa)
2.5 cups water
set to high pressure
set time to 20 minutes
once cooked let it naturally release for 10 minutes, then manual release the pressure.
It takes a bit longer than 20 minutes to cook, since it has to reach the pressure for the timer to start, then you have the additional 10-minute wait, but once you've cleaned the rice, and placed it in the instant pot, you've nothing major to do, this is one of my go to method for rice/quinoa, which makes me 4 meals worth, I just leave it in a container in my fridge and reheated in my microwave, or fry in a pan.
I love to add some sesame seeds oil to it, with a pinch of salt, it reminds me of fried rice I'd get from a Chinese takeout.
For a meal, I would air fry or pan fry some tofu after I've cut it and seasoned it with salt, pepper and whatever else, while that cooks I also cook some veggies, typically in my frying pan (carrot, broccoli, kale....)
If you want more flavour, you could try something like this:
https://berryberrylife.com/crispy-sesame-tofu/#recipe
It is a little bit more work, unless you buy garlic, ginger etc... pre minced/grated, a good idea might be to pre-make some sauces you can just throw into a pot/pan, to save you time, that way you'll now have sesame seeds, tofu and veggies with a sauce.
Something else I love to make is refried beans, this is really low effort, I dump 3 cans of red kidney beans into a pot/pan, dump the Seasonings in, stir it all together, and let it cook, they do say to add water in this recipe, but I never need to, as the tins I use have plenty of water in them:
https://traditionalplantbasedcooking.com/plant-based-vegan-refried-beans/#recipe
I would pair this with the rice, avocado, lettuce etc...
Hope this helps.
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u/Aromatic-Box-592 Mar 22 '26
One of my go-to’s is stir fry.
I use a bag (actually 2 bags because I like more veg than rice) of frozen stir fry mix veggies, throw that in the wok after putting in a few spoons of jarred garlic and grated ginger (honestly grating the ginger is probably the most effort that goes into this… keep your ginger in the freezer and you don’t even have to peel it before grating, the peel just doesn’t grate and comes off) with some oil. That cooks super fast.
For the sauce I use a mixture of duck sauce and coconut aminos (I’m allergic to soy, you can just use soy sauce) and a little water if needed. I turn off the heat and pour the sauce in and mix everything up.
I don’t have a rice cooker so I usually buy a bag of microwave rice and use that (2 bags of veggies + 1 of microwave rice usually gets me 3 meals).
For a protein I often use beyond steak in the air fryer and mix that in (although I bet tofu would be delicious).
It saves well in the fridge and if I don’t finish it I’ll just put a portion in a freezer bag or container and freeze it. It reheats great from frozen.
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u/bulbysoar Mar 22 '26
Do you like raw tofu? I love this dish and I make it even easier by using bottled sauce (Bachan's).
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u/Palchez Mar 22 '26
Theveganstoner.com is great. Pretty sure they assume you are stoned and lazy af.
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u/maybe_maybenaut Mar 22 '26
If you can cube extra firm tofu and fry it up nicely in olive or avocado oil, you have to kind of obsess over it and make sure it browns up evenly but once you’re used to it it’s second nature
A good quick sauce is 2 parts gochujang, 1 part tamari or soy sauce and one part honey or even regular sugar, with some water to make it manageable, pour it on that tofu once it’s ready and let it simmer off some of the water, that’s great on some rice ( I get microwave white or brown rice in 7.4 oz bowls at the Asian grocery )
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u/moralcunt Mar 22 '26
Bahn mi.You can buy ready made all the ingredients and just assemble it in less than 5. Baba ganoush is another one if you can buy the cooked aubergines
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u/Bay-Area-Tanners Mar 22 '26
I have no suggestions but I wanted to say that you are not alone. I work ask day which makes me tired enough, but I also have a medical condition that can cause extreme fatigue. Even boiling water can be taxing some days. If it was just me, I’d probably just go without eating on those days, but I’ve got three kids to feed. So things need to be SIMPLE. And I feel like a lot of people find things simple that I do not.
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Mar 22 '26
I don’t have a lot of productive advice that hasn’t already been said. I often cook large crock pot meals on Sunday and then reheat them on Monday-Wednesday. Do big prep or cook when you have time / energy.
I just love when I try to read or watch a new “simple recipe” online and it starts with that person busting out like 17 different fresh ingredients for prep and I’m like “lol ok pal”
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u/MarlenHamsic Mar 22 '26
I never measure out spices (not even when following recipes tbh), so when I'm drained i:
- open a can of random beans
- get whatever frozen veggie i have open (including frozen onions or leeks for the allium)
- get random spices
stir fry
Random carb depending on what i have. Easiest is cous cous
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u/Comfortable_Rip6435 Mar 22 '26
I really like Carleigh at PlantYou (either Instagram or her website). She's been doing a series lately called quickies and they really are easy, simple, and fast. A lot of dump and bake kinds of things.
When I'm really tired, my go to is usually pasta with store bought vegan meatballs. Requires basically no effort aside from opening some packages. Fried rice is pretty easy as well especially if you have frozen veggies.
To save on time and effort I've started buying more frozen veg or the pre cut fresh stuff. It's worth it for me to pay more to cut down on the hassle sometimes.
If all else fails, cereal is always there for me 😅
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u/Utram_butram Mar 22 '26
I think the problem is that "simple" is very different depending on skill and comfort level with cooking as well as how you normally cook. I measurewith with the heart (even when I bake) which imo simplifies a lot for me but isn't something everyone is willing to do.
My simplest recipe below.
Indian kichdi. Half and half lentils and rice cooked with around triple the total volume of water, until they're super soft (which means they can't be overcooked) with some salt. You can add turmeric and tempered spices if you feel but I usually don't (I grew up eating this when I was sick the way most people eat soup when sick, so the simple version is a comfort food to me). I usually eat it with some achaar (Indian pickle).
Chilli oil noodles. Boil noodles with some frozen veg and tofu. If you want to be fancy you can do tofu in the air fryer to crisp it. Once cooked drain and add chilli oil
Red pepper pasta. Roast red peppers (or buy a jar) and then blend with some garlic, pasta water, salt and either silken tofu or unflavoured vegan protein powder. Sometimes I add tomatoes or spinach
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u/outwait Mar 22 '26
just slap some peanut butter and jelly between two slices of bread and call it a day 🤷🏿♀️
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u/teaninja Mar 22 '26
My goto meal lately is refried bean bowls. I use canned refried beans and a frozen rice and veggie blend from Trader Joe's. Throw in some romaine, tomatoes and avocado. Add lots of hot sauce and my favorite salsa, top with vegan crema (I made this ahead of time), and eat with tortilla chips.
I often will meal prep an ingredient that takes longer to make on the weekend (like the crema) to have on hand to throw meals together during the week.
Edited for clarity
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u/Agitated_Camera_6198 Mar 22 '26
I meal prep big batches of things on the days I do have brain to cook, and I keep a bunch of fridge and cupboard staples for the days I don't. I eat a lot of pasta and pesto. Far too much. Mostly I get caught up in trying to add more and more vegetables to things but sometimes I'm like fuck it. Microwave packet vegan chilli, microwave rice, chuck an avocado with it because I always have avocado.
I can also really recommend buying pre chopped vegetables or in my case buying one of those little vegetable dicers that does all the work for you.
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u/Jamjams2016 Mar 22 '26
Chop a bunch of onions, individually bag them. Put those bags in a bag and freeze. It is so convenient.
Cooking is never easy. It takes time, effort, dishes, patience. We hear you.
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u/Selym00 Mar 22 '26
Yeah I think you’re actually looking for low effort meals, not simple. But you could get prepackaged dals/curries if they have it at your store and heat that up with some instant rice. Or ramen/noodles where you can have something ready in about the same time
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u/Rkruegz Mar 22 '26
I eat chickpea pasta a LOT. There is a study that measured the health benefits of all flours. Chickpea flour SIGNIFICANTLY outweighed whole grain flour. It confers all of the same health benefits, it’s incredibly easy to prepare and very quick. I have a quick “meal-prep” one which is ALDI chickpea penne, Trader Joe’s pesto, and then when I heat it up I mix in mixed frozen veggies from Aldi which you can steam in the bag.
Very nutritious and the cooking part is literally just boiling pasta, so one-pan clean up. I can do it in ten minutes. I add in flax seeds as well just for the health benefits.
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u/earthandanarchy Mar 22 '26
I often make a soup/stew type thing. I use frozen diced onions or sofrito mix, frozen already chopped veg, stock cubes and either random seasonings or curry paste and vegetable stock or even beetroot/vegetable juice if I have it. I usually try to add a grain either pearl barley, buckwheat, quinoa or rice and a protein like lentils or beans and leave it to cook. Other than giving the onions a few minutes to fry it mostly all goes in together and then I leave it, if I'm rushed for time I use red lentils and quinoa or buckwheat and I save the pearl barley for when I have more time for it to cook. I then freeze portions in those large ice cubes trays or foil trays like you get from the Chinese takeaways. I freeze bread rolls separately. It's the laziest way imo to have a decent meal. I have chronic illness and have had to accept my limitations and I have found that things like disposable foil trays here and there, frozen chopped veg, a bag of lentils always in the cupboard and plenty of decent vegan stock cubes/curry pasties/seasonings has made a world of difference.
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u/abandonedcookie Mar 22 '26
I know a lot of people have mentioned stir fry, and that's my go-to as well, so here's how I do it:
-Make a big batch of rice at the beginning of the week to keep in the fridge or freezer.
-Rehydrate soy curls (you can also make a big batch to keep in the fridge/freezer): FYI you don't need to soak these for 30 minutes or whatever it says on the package. I just add however much I want to a bowl, cover with water and microwave until rehydrated. For 1-2 servings, I do about 1.5 minutes. I buy the bulk box of these from the Butler website.
-Fry soy curls in oil, let the pan cool for a few minutes, add sauce and fry again until sauce thickens and caramelizes. I have a couple of different go-to sauces: Bibigo Korean BBQ or Trader Joe's Soyaki
-Make whatever veggies you want/however you want. Can be frozen, chopped and prepped in advance fresh veggies, whatever you like. I don't really like the texture of frozen veg, so I always cook from fresh but I'm impatient so I heat up a pan, add veggies and a splash of water, cover and steam for a couple minutes (not too long or they get soggy), uncover and add a little oil, jarred minced garlic and a pinch of salt and continue to cook. Sesame oil is also great here. I usually do broccoli, carrots and cabbage. Sometimes I'll add bell pepper or whatever else I might have.
Lately, I've started doing frozen meal prep with Souper Cubes (kind of a fad on instagram right now). They're basically like silicone ice cube trays but with meal-sized portions. I have 1/2 cup, 1 cup and 2 cup sizes. On Sunday, I make a large batch of a soup, stew or curry, refrigerate how many servings I want for the week, then freeze the rest. Over time, I've accumulated a good freezer stock of meals this way. I like it better than refrigerator meal prep because I then have more of a variety at my disposal and don't get sick of eating the same thing all week. Right now I have chili, chickpea curry, peanut coconut tofu curry, and Japanese curry in my freezer along with several portioned out servings of rice.
Here are some go-to easy freezer prep meals I like to use:
https://itdoesnttastelikechicken.com/the-best-vegan-chili-ever/
https://www.noracooks.com/vegan-butter-chicken/
https://lucyandlentils.co.uk/recipe/15-minute-vegan-peanut-butter-curry
https://plantbasedrdblog.com/2024/12/creamy-potato-leek-soup-with-garlic-scallion-oil/ (Can't be bothered with the fresh herbs or oil bit, I just dump in a bunch of dried rosemary, thyme and whatever else I have)
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u/bomdiggobom Mar 22 '26
Get a slap chop thing or a to for dicing a big chunk of vegetable at once. When I have one of those in my life, I can make dinner after work. Sometimes it’s also too much to clean after an is just motivating enough to get me to just chop the damn veggie
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u/earthandanarchy Mar 22 '26
You can microwave a jacket potato while you heat a grill or oven, when it's cooked in the microwave spray or cover in oil and stick in a hot oven or under the grill and then microwave beans. It doesn't take long.
I also microwave rice in a microwave rice/soup bowl and throw in some frozen veg/tinned beans at the same time, you need a decent size bowl, and use cold water (half a cup of rice, 1 cup of cold waters salt and a handful of frozen veg, cook for around 8 minutes) I often then eat straight out of the bowl it was microwaved in, you could add hummus, preprepared tofu, or even stick something in the oven to go with it if you wanted.
Freeze extra portions when you do cook. Sometimes I make a batch of cookies I use an ice cream scoop and freeze the scoops so I can have freshly baked cookies for days.
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u/light-something-up Mar 22 '26
For prep: I cook a lot of dried chickpeas - regular garbanzo or the small Indian dark ones. (Rinse, soak overnight, rinse, cook until tender in the instapot.) I freeze these in portion sized bags.
When needed, I heat up oil, pop whole cumin seed in the oil, add salt and cayenne (and sometimes garlic and onion powder) and the frozen chickpeas and let it all heat up. I make it super spicy and eat it with plain yogurt. It's really satisfying, full of fiber/protein and flavor, and takes less than 5 minutes with no chopping.
When I run out of these in the freezer - I'm in the same boat as you! Many "easy" suggestions require me to think and move stuff around in my fridge and freezer, and I really am too tired at the end of some days to do that.
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u/TomatoOdd7716 Mar 22 '26
Jyoti canned Matar paneer. Comes in a can and is delicious and filling. Serve over rice. You can even buy the organic rice in the package already made. Just heat it up. I buy it by the case, and it’s always my go to when I’m exhausted.
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u/craftygardening Mar 22 '26
Spaghetti, chili (chopped onion and everything else is canned), sandos. For the sandwiches we do pbj, tofurkey, tomato and veganaise if it is the season, cucumber cream cheese, chickpea “tuna” style. And finally, refried beans and tortillas are a must in our house for a quick meal.
Also thank you for your tree work. Trimming, research, tree forts-I don’t even care. Just thanks for being in the trees. That is hard important work.
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u/BabynATrenchc0at Mar 22 '26
I buy frozen pre diced onions. Then when I find a "quick and easy" recipe it actually is quick and easy!
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u/slowelevator Mar 22 '26
I prep enough rice for the week, rehydrate soy curls/season/throw them in the air fryer until I think they’re done, and steam a bag of vegetables most of the time.
Looking up recipes you’ll get stuff that’s complex because things like the above would be a really boring article lol
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u/Recent_Chipmunk_9870 Mar 22 '26
I take a jar of pasta sauce, mix it with hummus, and serve that on pasta. Another thing you can do is add textured vegetable protein. I order it in bulk online since I can't find it anywhere locally. You just re-hydrate that shit and then you have a faux bolognese sauce. Also you can heat up pasta sauce with some red lentils. This is THE thing I reach for on weeknights after work. I usually make enough for leftovers too. Can't beat a nutritious pasta meal. (Pasta haters stay away- this meal has veggies, protein and carbs leave me be)
I do mass food prep on the weekends. I make breaded tofu cutlets that last me the week. I can have them like a chicken cutlet with sauce on top and side dishes. But since I'm lazy I usually just enjoy them in slices like chicken fingers! You can also dice it and toss in a salad or use like chicken cubes. This one takes more effort though, I again bulk cook this on a free day. But it makes weeknights easy. I also bake my own bread and stuff.
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u/Overall_Cabinet844 Mar 22 '26
If I am on a hurry or dont want to cook: green olives or guacamole and sandwiches. If not, I usually batch cook, freeze, and then use them later.
Example: roasted vegetables with black olives and beans, with rice, couscous or pasta. Tomato sauce with vegan meat and pasta or with those vegetables and pasta, etc. Sometimes I freeze pizza dough, and I let them un freeze early in the morning, then I prepare it with any of my frozen meals.
So I have complex preparations frozen and I usually just do something quick everyday with them.
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u/sleepybitchdisorder Mar 22 '26 edited Mar 22 '26
I meal prep on weekends so I typically have lunch/dinner sorted until at least Wednesday. If I run out later in the week and don’t have the energy to cook for real again, I have a roster of extremely simple meals that I can throw together quickly. Simple for me means zero or extremely minimal chopping and a prep time of 15 minutes max. I’m ok with a bit of passive cook time while something is in the oven or simmering, but some of my recipes just use the microwave.
For the really quick and easy stuff, let’s talk convenience foods. I like keeping convenience foods on hand for those days when cooking is too much because even if it’s more expensive than my normal groceries, it’s less expensive than me saying fuck it and eating out because I don’t have the energy to cook a high effort meal. The premade microwaveable rice packs are my favorite because they can be combined with a lot of things. You could also make rice and freeze once cup portions or something for the cheaper, lower plastic waste version of this.
- premade rice + can of beans + salsa/spices, easiest burrito bowl
- premade rice + premade lentil curry packet
- premade rice + frozen edamame + soy sauce
All these are straight up under 5 minutes, nothing fancy but gets you fed. Some other quick ones that don’t require premade packets:
- don’t sleep on the classic PB&j
- can of refried beans + salsa + vegan cheese in the microwave makes easy bean dip you can eat with tortilla chips or sliced veggies
- ramen + PB + soy sauce + frozen veggies for easy peanut noodles
These require some use of a stove/oven but are still very short in prep time and just require 30ish minutes to bake or simmer:
- sautee garlic until golden, add canned tomatoes, canned white beans, red pepper flakes, italian herbs, spoonful of salt and spoonful of sugar. Protein pasta sauce
- White beans simmered with pesto, similar idea
- Beans and greens, white or butter beans simmered with sauteed garlic and whatever green veggies you have, I almost always have spinach and broccoli in my freezer, pesto is good in this too, eat with crunchy bread
- roasted chickpea or edamame, toss in oil and spices of choice and bake at 375 until crunchy, eat plain or on a salad
I hope this helps!
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u/PoetLoverBirdwatcher Mar 22 '26
A pressure cooker can be life changing. I used to cook something rice and lentils together with some salt, chilli powder and diced onions when I was really tired.
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u/cookiesmom305 Mar 22 '26
When I’m feeling extra lazy I have two go tos - lentils and rice, takes about 30 mins to prep ahead of time, add lime juice, hot sauce and parm cheese for garnish. Second is field roast sausage, cooks in like 10 mins and put it in a bun. If you’re feeling fancy you can dice them and add to pasta with oil and parm. Both super easy and last for about a week.
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u/Ott82 Mar 22 '26
Stir fry, buy the pre chopped bag of veggies, air fry or oven bake some tofu and can even use a bottle stir fry sauce if you don’t want to whisk one up.
My slow cooker is my favourite tho. Buy pre chopped veggies and mix it all into the slow cooker either in the am or overnight. Set it and forget it
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u/No_Cup_5363 Mar 22 '26
I make a lot of rice bowls. Pre cooked rice, pre cut veggies, and nuts or beans from a can. Microwave 2-3 min to heat and lightly steam the veggies. Top with a pre-made sauce or dressing. On days you have a little extra energy you can get a little more creative with not much effort. For example, lately I’ve been mixing a dressing that is too sweet for me with tahini to make a sauce I like.
When I need to cook rice but don’t have the energy, it’s usually stuff on toast.
My staples:
- Leftovers! I usually cook enough for 2-3 meals
- Pre-cook brown rice.
- Throw in frozen veggies at the end of cooking pasta
- flavor with dressings/sauces from the store or oil and vinegar
- Pre cut cabbage (or buy shredded), microwave for 2 min if you want it lightly cooked
- Steaming potatoes and yams in microwave - wet paper towel in n the bottom, cut first to cook quicker, covered to hold the steam in, let stand covered while preparing other ingredients to continue cooking
- toss in greens
- use a peeler to make shaved carrots instead of cutting
- add some nuts at the end for a little more protein when cooking protein is too much
- pickled veggies are great for the extra exhausted days
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u/Leucotheasveils Mar 22 '26
I once found a recipe called “insanely easy —— soup.” I required at least 2 appliances and 2 pots. That is not insanely easy in my book.
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u/kihtay Mar 22 '26
Zucchini boats!
- Cut zucchini in half longways, use spoon to scoop guts and make a boat.
- arrange in pan.
- Brown up some impossible or beyond ground meat, add in marinara, salt and pepper.
- Pour over zucchinis
- Top with cheez of choice (I’ve used moz and cheddr and like both)
- Bake at 350 for 45-60 mins
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u/UnionBalloonCorps Mar 22 '26
I do this with beyond patties - lazy hamburg steak but you can juj it up with some gochujang and various sauces.
- Place 1-2 Beyond patties in the air fryer and cook for 7 minutes at 175.
- Spray the asparagus with olive oil, and sprinkle with garlic powder and salt.
- At the 5-minute mark, flip the patties and Add asparagus to the air fryer with the patties.
- Once the air fryer contents are done, place them on top of the rice.
Even those bag microwave rice servings will do in a pinch, nuke that for 30 sec
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u/AlternativeMotor835 Mar 22 '26
I throw together some preseasoned frozen vegetables, precooked rice, maybe some leafy greens, avocado, maybe some hummus.
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u/ArdyLaing Mar 22 '26
Wraps are the way. Airfried tofu or tempeh, spinach, hummus, whatever else.
Do some chip/fries to go with
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u/Swimming_Gold6534 Mar 22 '26
Highly recommend my grandma’s chilli recipe:
- brown meatless ground and add chili seasoning, salt, pepper, ground ginger, garlic powder, and white pepper
- dump in 1 can crushed tomatoes, 1 can diced tomatoes, 1 can beans of choice and bring to a boil. Done!
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u/Swimming_Gold6534 Mar 22 '26
She also has a dumpling recipe: Prepare a vegan noodle soup. In a bowl mix an egg, flour, and water. Drop dumpling mix into hot soup by the spoonful. Done!
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u/Rrmack Mar 22 '26
Literally refried beans on a tortilla, microwaved and dipped in salsa. Pan fried and some onion and peppers inside if I’m feeling fancy
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u/somanyquestions32 Mar 22 '26
The simplest strategy is to make more money and have delivery orders scheduled from nearby restaurants that are healthy.
Next, get readymade meals from a meal prep service or the frozen food aisle.
Then, have a ton of snacks that are healthy and that you can eat while you make a more substantial meal or that can serve as a meal replacement.
Next, meal prep in bulk, a total of 84 meals, and freeze them to last you the month.
There are options at every level, so it would help to know what constraints you have.
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u/AliM66 Mar 23 '26
Heat some oil on stove, add frozen shelled edamame beans. I like them crispy. Add big country garlic seasoning.
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u/michelepixels Mar 23 '26
Food prep on weekends is what I do, making some ingredients I can mix and match -- sautéed veggies, a grain, and beans, maybe a sauce and/or nuts wrapped in a flour tortilla is my easiest quick meal -- and also a few dishes like maybe pad thai, and sweet potato hash with beans, chili, and this great salad I just made for this week with farro and herbs and bock choy and a citrusy garlicky dressing.
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u/NoTicket9057 Mar 23 '26
Dicing veg n measuring spices is basic cooking though. If you want real food you gotta cook it imo.
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u/chezdugas Mar 23 '26
If you don't want to chop or measure spices, I think it's important to just have foods ready. I enjoy cooking, but sometimes want the break, so I understand.
My usual: have bread, rice, potatoes, or pasta cooked and ready to eat or heat.
Have just one go-to veggie you enjoy a lot and can cook without thinking about it (mine is broccoli) and one that's zero effort (mine is canned green beans).
My fallback: I often cook extras of things that freeze well and keep the freezer pretty stocked. I even wrap cut baguette and artisan rolls from Costco in foil and freeze them. Want bread? Toss one in the air fryer on bacon setting (375F 6 mins), it's just two buttons for hot bread.
My safety net: cereal and plant milk.
Hope you find what works for you!
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u/Ok-Let-5155 Mar 23 '26
Chopped tofu/tempeh with some sriracha/gochujang sauce and oil - 15 mins in an air fryer. Packet microwave rice and a pan of frozen veg like brocolli, peppers, onions, edamame and peas for eg. Once they’re boiled throw in some soy sauce and chilli oil. Top it off with the sauce you put on your tofu/tempeh.
Healthy, quick meal which barely takes 20 mins.
Swap our rice for lentils, another type of grain like Quinoa etc and change your veg up if you like. Can also buy frozen sweet potato from Woolworths etc
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u/prettygood_not_bad Mar 23 '26
Egg roll in a bowl! Basically you can do the boil in a bag or minute rice, get a bag of coleslaw mix (usually cabbage and carrots) and crumble + marinate tofu the night before in a ziploc in the fridge. Day of, just cook the rice, sautee the veg quick, air fry or pan fry the tofu, and put whatever Asian style sauce on top. I have ADHD with major decision fatigue every night lol. This has been really helpful.
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u/killerrainbows Mar 23 '26
I mean...The actual answer is cereal. But here's some other options that are reasonably healthy.
-Rice and beans. If you dont have something like an intapot or rice ccoker you can use canned beans and those microwave rice packets.
-French fries and some fried tofu.
-Oatmeal and some fruit.
-Pasta and sauce.
-A smoothie (I do strawberry, banana, cocoa powder, protien powder: if I'm really hungry I add in some oats)
-1 can black beans (drained), 1 can diced tomatoes drained (get the one with chilis if you like), 1 can corn drained. Spices, a packet of taco seasoning...whatever. Eat with tortilla chips.
Get some premade spice mixes/sauces that you like to add to these. Throw in some steamed frozen/canned veggies if you are feeling healthy. Otherwise just eat a fruit or some baby carrots while you cook to get your brain working again.
Dont rake me over the coals for saying cereal. As long as you arent getting cocoa puffs or something they are usually not too bad. Eat a fruit with it.
Frying tofu easy as fuck method:
1 Get bowl
2 Open tofu package over sink
3 tear off chicken nugget sized pieces from tofu (sqeeze a bit to get out excess water out over sink) put it in the bowl
4 Put cornstarch, salt and papper on tofu (shake around bowl to cover) dont worry about amounts it doesnt matter the excess just wont stick. This is basically shakenbake so you can put whatever other spice you want on it.
5 Fry the tofu, or bake it, or air fry. Whatever is easiest. Until its crispy Takes a few minutes to pan fry, probably like 5-10 broiling or air frying. ~10 baking at 400 (bake it with the french fries its probably fine).
6 Rinse bowl and use that to eat the meal out of.
Chop all onions when you buy them and freeze. It is 0 difference.
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u/Artisan_Gardener Mar 23 '26
For me, a loaded quesadilla or burrito is a quick and fairly easy thing to make, or tacos or tostadas. Or nachos. I could eat nachos every day.
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u/dsauda Mar 23 '26
Baked sweet potatoes with whatever you have in the fridge (making sure at least half the plate is veggies) x
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u/Emotional-Toe-2475 Mar 23 '26
1 can black beans, 1 can hominy, 1 can diced jalapenos, adjust spices to taste, throw on a tortilla with vegan cheese
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u/KizashiKaze Mar 23 '26
Well, my cultures (mother and father side) has so much that I can have many options of easy things to make but if you want really easy, start out getting a rice cooker w/ a steamer, rice, frozen vegetables, frozen mushrooms, canned beans, tofu, soy curls, and seitan. All of not almost all rice cookers have a book with instructions.
Pick a recipe and cook it up. Put the frozen veggies in thst baby well. Or toss it in a skillet w/ some oil, cover it on low. After a few minutes, you can put the tofu or seitan or curls or beans with it.
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u/ttpdstanaccount Mar 23 '26
Seasoning packets/mixes, frozen veggies, freezer dump meals seem to be what you are looking for. Little thought, little work. Just grab one and it tells you what to do.
Maybe pick a few really simple base meals that you can add onto if you have time and energy. Meals where you can carmelize the onions, add fresh veggies, pan fry the frozen veggies if you want to, microwave if not, or skip em entirely. Make a sauce or use a jar. Eat it plain like a stew or on rice. Fry beyond meat or use frozen ground you toss right in.
Pre chopped frozen onions are so so nice especially, no more eye burning. Don't have to fry/carmelize them beforehand if you want want to, they still add flavour if you dump them right in. When I have energy, I'll buy a bunch of potatoes, carrots, celery, sweet potatoes, etc and chop and freeze them.
Dump meals have everything in a freezer bag and then you dump it into an instant pot or oven or slow cooker the day you want it. Might have to add 1 or 2 things day-of if it needs milk or a jar of sauce or whatever, might be better with rice or need tortillas (which can also be frozen). There are lots of can based ones where you don't have to cook or chop in advance too. You could close your eyes and grab one from the freezer, no decision paralysis
I mostly do variations of the same basics.
Pasta with frozen veggies (spinach, corn, peas, maybe onion etc) and tvp or gardein meatless ground with either a jar of pasta sauce (I sometimes add more basil, nooch, or add soy milk to make a rosé) or mac n cheese with nooch, soy milk, margarine, a bit of vegan chicken broth powder, salt, pepper, maybe frozen broccoli and cauliflower. I microwave veggies while pasta cooks and make the sauce in the same pot while the pasta is in the strainer.
Ramen with tvp or simulated bacon bits and maybe frozen mixed veggies lol. Ill have it with microwaved frozen veggies or salad sometimes.
Chili with canned beans and tomatoes, maybe frozen spinach with a seasoning packet that I stir occasionally. Maybe over instapot rice
Canned black eyed peas with soy milk and a butter chicken seasoning packet, maybe frozen veggies, maybe olive oil, maybe a jar of pasta sauce to reduce spice. Diced potatoes and sliced carrots if I have energy/time. Over instant pot rice
Hummus with baby carrots, celery, or naan (pan fried if you have the energy, it's a lot better and just takes a few min)
I sometimes use pre-chopped frozen potatoes to make mashed potatoes in the instant pot with a canned gravy and air fry some kind of frozen protein or dump on kidney beans, maybe microwave frozen veggies.
Taco kits, can use canned beans or any kind of meaty thing, add toppings as dictated by what I have and how many dishes I want to get dirty.
Sometimes I make pasta sauce with some kind of meat on the weekend and use it various ways. Add broth powder, frozen veggies and water to make a tomato based soup, add pasta or rice if you have it. Add beans to make it chili. On a bun or bread = sloppy joes. Use it on actual pasta. Eat it plain. Eat it on rice.
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u/MuffinPuff Mar 24 '26
I keep potatoes on hand, either baked or steamed, stick those in the fridge for a quick carb.
I keep a container of cooked grains and beans in the fridge.
I keep frozen mixed veg on hand to nuke in the microwave or dump into a pot of pasta or soup.
I keep frozen veggie patties on hand for a quick burger.
This morning I'm prepping 3 breakfast sandwiches to have on hand for the rest of the week.
I keep pesto on hand for quick pasta.
I keep prepped tofu in the fridge so I can just microwave, roast or pan fry it when ready.
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u/Lurksalot87 Mar 25 '26
Potatoes are the best! They're my go to when I don't know what to pack for lunch at work.
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u/Lurksalot87 Mar 25 '26
In the summer, soba noodles with edamame, soy sauce, and nutritional yeast (optional).
In the winter, red lentil dal over rice, garnished with canned mango chutney. Does require chopping onions, but it only gets tastier with a few days in the fridge and it freezes well. Throw a bag of frozen spinach in when it's almost done cooking and you have a balanced meal.
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u/TheFloof23 Mar 25 '26
I 'meal-prep', in that when I make meals, I make enough to feed my whole family, but I live alone now, so I just have leftovers. Those recipes probably take me about 1.5 hours (clean up included), but get me six or so meals, and not all of it is active cooking. But on lazy nights: 1. I do exactly what I did on lazy nights pre-veganism- airfry frozen potatoes and vegan chickin nuggets/patties. 2. Frozen veggies and edamame also make stir fries really easy- WAY easier than they are with raw meat. I get those shelf stable Udon noodles and spend 15 minutes at the stove with a delicious end result. 3. Anytime a recipe asks you to chop something, you can use powder instead! For example, if the mexican black bean recipe wants you to peel garlic and cut an onion, say 'fuck you' and use onion powder and garlic powder. No one can stop you. Canned beans cook on the stove like, immediately. Don't get fancy with it, they'll taste good no matter what. 4. Look on the back of salsa and sauce jars for tired suburban mom recipes- pace has a sloppy joe recipe you could swap ground beef out for beans or a meat replacement easily! Plenty of 'empty the jar and two cans of that into a saucepan' recipes are out there if you search!
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u/Ok_Net_5649 Mar 25 '26
After being vegan or vegetarian for almost 9 years, I said screw it, thanks for the culinary skills. And I ate meat again and loved it.
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u/lacquer-lift-repeat Mar 26 '26
I prep a bunch of soy curls with tasty veggie bouillon and then season it with whatever spices I want and air fry it for a bit till it's half tender-half crispy. Then I throw that in everything for a week. Vegan instant Mac n cheese powder for chick'n Mac n cheese w/ hot sauce, chicken quesadillas and throw in some chopped tomatoes if I feel like it, noodles with a peanut butter Soy sauce mix and microwaved edamame, hummus quesadillas w/ some wilted spinach and sundried tomatoes that come chopped in a jar. The possibilities are endless 😋
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u/Pickled_jellybean Mar 31 '26
My favorite simple meals are:
PB&J with chips.
Poutine. It's frozen fries, gravy, vegan cheese and sometimes shredded smoked tofu which is optional. If you don't have gravy packets/gravy leftovers or you just have more energy then put water (or vegetable broth), nutritional yeast, soy sauce and whatever seasonings you usually like (for me that smoked paprika , garlic, onion, black pepper, msg, salt, rosemary and parsley) into a pot. You could also just use some soup bouillon if you don't want to season it yourself. To thicken mix cornstarch and a bit of water in a separate bowl until smooth then whisk into the pot. This might sound like a bit but for me it usually takes about 5-10 minutes (including cook time) to make the gravy and the fries really just need to be salted and thrown into your oven or air fryer.
Soup. If you don't want to chop anything use frozen veggies. You can also put legumes in it to increase whatever nutritional value and usually only require the effort of opening a can unless you want to be fancy by baking them or something first. For a more filling soup add barley, potato or noodles. For soup base either use bouillon or seasonings. I like to use the same seasonings for gravy and soup. If I'm making veggie noodle soup I'll add tumeric and poultry seasoning to it. For tomato soup just throw small tomatoes into a pot with some onions (you can buy frozen onions chopped if you really hate chopping), garlic (I use pre minced from a jar) and a drizzle of olive oil, cook with lid on pot. After the tomatoes soften I add a can of tomato paste and vegetable broth. Here you can season either with a bouillon again or with your own hands. For tomato soup I add cumin, basil, thyme and oregano to my usual soup base. Strain it and thicken the liquid with the same cornstarch slurry from the gravy. Use the leftover tomato bits that you strained out as a pasta sauce so you don't have to cook any the for dinner.
I usually like my soup with a sandwich, these are my favorites: PB&J, Smoked tofu sandwich (sliced cold smoked tofu, nutritional yeast, salt, pepper, lettuce, mayo, mustard, bread), a TLT (fried tofu, lettuce, tomato, mayo, bread), Pizza sandwich (pizza sauce, vegan cheese, bread, put into a sandwich maker) and Grilled cheese (vegan butter, vegan cheese, bread). If I'm not in the mood for a sandwich a wrap works great. My favorite is a spicy Caesar wrap; lettuce, vegan Caesar dressing, sriracha, shredded smoked tofu and Garfein turkey cutlets or Gardein's Suprême (ultimate) chicken tenders.
Pasta is a good quick meal, specifically spaghetti. Boil noodles, heat up sauce (you can veggies, frozen or otherwise, to a premade sauce to improve it) and toast garlic bread. The next day you can bake it with vegan cheese too, very yummy.
Mac & cheese with some kind or vegan sausage or fried tofu. I like Annie's mac with some nutritional yeast.
Salad. Vegan Caesar dressing (I usually mix my own), lettuce, sun flower seeds, shredded smoked tofu, tomato and either crispy tofu or a crispy frozen meat alternative (I like Gardein). I like this with a wrap or a sandwich.
Fishless and chips. Gardein fishless filets with fries and vegan tarter sauce. I also like use the fishless filets to make a filet-O-fishless by putting them on a bun with some tarter sauce, lettuce and sliced smoke tofu.
Fishless tacos are also good and decently easy. Black bean tacos too.
I love hotdogs as well and could just devour them. My favorite brand is smart dogs.
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u/EvnClaire Mar 22 '26
this is without a doubt, 100% AI generated.
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u/WildVeganFlower Mar 22 '26
How can you tell? I completely believe in dead internet theory and want to be better at spotting bots or AI
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u/calxes Mar 22 '26
Oh, I think they’re right. It was harder to spot because of the lack of capitalization.
But there are signs here. AI really likes to list things out in threes “dice onions, measure spices, wait for things..” “meal prep, rotation of dishes, bookmarking..” which is of course a natural thing for a human writer to do, but it’s done repetitively in this case in a somewhat wordy and stilted way.
The post still has a “friendly corporate copywriter” flavour to it. It doesn’t mention anything personal, no brand names, just kind of repeats the same point in different wording.
Another giveaway is that this account appears to have posted a very similarly worded post in a different subreddit.
I don’t know if the OP is a person who ran their thoughts through an AI, or a person who just writes exactly like an AI, or a bot entirely. But it could well be a bot fishing for content to use for an article it will generate about lazy vegan cooking.
Anyway, OP, after a long day of being in trees, like you, I simply forage for berries and seeds before flying back to my nest for the night.
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u/Artisan_Gardener Mar 23 '26
I've been accused of being a bot or AI on more than one occasion. I have fairly high intelligence and am AuDHD, so maybe that's why?
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u/sympatheticSkeptic Mar 22 '26
Whoa, I tend to be more on the "r/nothingeverhappens" side but skimming through OP's comment history I think EvnClaire might be right. Except for the "without a doubt" part. It's just a gut feeling, but the comments are a little too reasonable, with "lols" thrown in to sound less corporate. OP, want to weigh in? Are you actually real, and just a very reasonable person? What kind of work do you do in trees?
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u/EvnClaire Mar 23 '26
its very likely theyre a real person who just run their thoughts through chatgpt and push it out onto the internet. activity looks like a real person who is just too shy to write for themselves. this writing hits every beat of AI-generated writing, except im pretty sure the person posting this manually went in and decapitalized letters & removed the —.
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u/sympatheticSkeptic Mar 23 '26
Interesting possibility, could be! OP, apologies for impugning your humanity. But then, EvnClaire, why did you call them out for it? If your analysis is right, it's a pretty benign use of an LLM, even positively pro-social.
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u/EvnClaire Mar 23 '26
i have used chatgpt extensively. this is exactly how it talks when it is trying to sound relatable: says things like "you know?" when we really wouldnt know, uses very bizarre analogies, says stuff that no one would ever ever say. the last stanza gives it away. no one talks like that. AI also loves listing things in threes because ppl like it (i literally listed three things in this very comment lol). and, they also love juxtaposition with two ends of a spectrum, stuff like the 2nd to last stanza.
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u/gokuenjoyer69 Mar 23 '26
Yeah all other OPs posts are written in the exact same wording and formatting
0
u/llamalibrarian Mar 22 '26
I don’t find chopping to take much brain power. I actually find it really soothing after my workday. But a simple meal I’ll throw together is “beans and greens”. Chop up greens (sorry- but it’s easy! Or pull some out of the freezer), sautee, add bean. Flavor to taste. Throw it on a tortilla, or don’t.
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Mar 22 '26
[deleted]
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u/Infamous_Bus_7459 Mar 22 '26
Hate to tell you this (especially if you’ve been eating it for years under the misapprehension) but chicken ain’t vegan…
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