So you’ve decided to go vegan and you need a beginner vegan meal plan to help get you through the first week of an exciting new stage in your life?

Or perhaps you’re already vegan and you need fresh inspiration combined with solid nutritional choices?

Either way, you’re in the right place. This guide sets you up for the free 7-Day Healthy Vegan Meal Plan that also includes a grocery list.

This meal plan clocks in at around 1800 kcal per day. That’s about 200 kcal below the average caloric intake for most women for maintaining weight.

So, you would likely lose a little weight (half a pound) in that week. For you can just go for seconds and more snacks, haha.

For men, this means it’s a proper weight loss diet plan since the average man needs roughly 2500 kcal per day. Ooooh, you just go for seconds as well 😉

Enough protein to thrive

You get roughly 55 – 60g of protein every day, which is right within the recommended intake for women (Dietary Reference Intake, DRI).

It’s also fine for men. But if it’s something you’re worried about you can add a little more using protein powder or by eating protein-rich snacks (we’ll supply tasty ideas, no problem).

What is a vegan diet anyway?

Well, as for the vegan diet, the answer is simple: we say no to the meat or any animal products such as milk, cheese, eggs, or honey.

The thing is that by cutting out all these former staples, most people might end up with something like this on their plate.

This is a vegan sandwich indeed, but not really one you’d be looking forward to eating.

Also, you might notice this “vegan novice” only came up with ingredients that are high in carbs. A trap that many vegans run into. Once they go vegan the carb, protein, and fat ratio get out of balance.

In our vegan meal plan, we have made sure the macronutrients are properly balanced. So no worries, you won’t have to face anything like that sandwich above.

Benefits of a vegan diet

There are loads! If you’ve decided to take this step and switch to trying veganism, we hope you’re as excited as we are! We don’t look at the vegan diet as being restrictive, but rather look at what it can do for us.

A well-balanced vegan diet can and should provide you with almost all of the essentials a body needs.

Vegan diets can also help with weight loss, probably as a result of changes to eating lots of unprocessed, whole foods (study 1).

Eating lots of fruits, vegetables and legumes also appear to be an excellent way to lower the chances of heart diseases (study 2). Which is great, obviously.

It also seems that by sticking with a vegan diet that is high in these healthy whole foods then various cancers also have lower risks. Two major studies supporting this can be found here and here. That’s also a winner in our eyes.

A motivating and insightful movie on vegan nutrition came out lately: it’s called Game Changers and available on Netflix. Check it out, even Arnie is on board!

Vegan Nutrition and Diet Basics – What’s in a Healthy Vegan Diet?

Of course, no diet is perfect and appropriate planning should be made when starting a vegan diet. The vegan diet can miss some important nutrients and vitamins – if we’re not careful. This meal plan is here to make sure that doesn’t happen to you.

Getting enough protein is easy – in fact, there’s protein all around us. A well-balanced vegan diet can contain all the protein you need. Make sure to eat from ample different sources, like these listed below, and you should be more than fine.

• Nuts, peas, beans (including peanuts)
• Tofu and meat substitutes
• Rice, grains, pasta, quinoa, and bread

B12

B12 is an essential vitamin that plays a crucial role throughout the body, including blood and brain functions.

Unlike vegetarians, who can get their B12 from dairy and eggs, vegans need to pay a little attention here.

Although our bodies can store several years’ worth of B12, no plant products contain any B12 at all. Therefore we may eventually need to take it as a supplement.

It’s not all bad news, however – many vegan sources these days are fortified with B12. Some good examples are:

• Yeast extract – a fortified source
• Fortified cereals, fortified soy milk, and fortified soy yogurt

You can learn more about B12 here.

Omega 3

Omega 3 is an essential fatty acid – this means that the body cannot produce it on its own. Unfortunately, many diets are much too high in Omega 6, and far too low in Omega 3. This is for all diets, vegan or otherwise.

Omega 3 plays a big role in heart and brain health, along with many other functions of the body. You can get a good overview of Omega 3’s contribution to the body here.

A well-balanced omega level is critical for many reasons. If you want to take a deep dive into the topic, this article on the importance of the ratio of omega-6/omega-3 essential fatty acids is a great resource.

To help us achieve this it is important to eat plenty of the following:

1. flax seeds
2. chia seeds
3. flaxseed oil
4. leafy vegetables

The Vegan Society recommends eating at least one serving of flax seeds, walnuts or chia seeds every day to keep omega-3 fat high. This serving can roughly be a tablespoon of seeds are a small handful of nuts.

For more info on this, here’s a list of foods high in omega 3 and omega 6 for you to get an idea of various sources.

Iron

Much like their vegetarian counterparts, vegans do have to be aware of their iron intake. Iron is needed to carry oxygen to all the body’s cells. It is also involved in the cellular production of energy, which is why one of the first signs of low iron deficiency is feeling tired and fatigued.

For a successful meal plan, it means we need to add enough nutrition-dense foods in order to get the amount of iron we need.

Good sources of iron in a vegan diet are:

• Chickpeas, lentils, kidney beans and other pulses
• Tofu
• Sprouted beans and seeds
• Breakfast cereals and bread
• Green leafy vegetables like kale and cabbage, as well as broccoli
• Nuts, such as almonds and cashews
• Dried apricots, dates and raisins
• Date syrup and molasses

Starting The Vegan Diet

Part 1: Out with the old

Right, time to get started! We definitely don’t advocate wasting food, so let’s take this transitional time for finishing off whatever you have left in cupboards and fridge that doesn’t fit with your new vegan meal plan.

Meat, eggs, cheese, milk, and other dairy products are all obvious examples of non-vegan products. But what else could be lurking?

Curries often contain traces, which is a shrimp paste. Some chewing gums use lice to give the pellets that shiny coating. And whey… well, whey is an ingredient that seems to invite itself to all the parties.

Of course, no manufacturer in their right mind will list ‘lice’, ‘pig’s hair’, or ‘calf’s stomach produces’ on their ingredient list.

So what to look for on the packets and sachets of your sauces, spice mixes, and cookies?

It depends on where you live. Within the European Union, the so-called E-number is used as a code for permitted additives. Some E-numbers are certainly animal, some are possibly animal, and some are vegetable.

For that outside of Europe, the numbers are the same without an ‘E’ at the front. Here is a list of numbers to watch out for on food packaging.

Part 2: In with the new

means we want to avoid heavily processed foods and sugar-laden colas and other fizzy drinks. For now, while we’re adjusting, let’s make sure we get a good amount of the more healthy stuff.

Fats

Use more of the less refined fats like olive oil and coconut oil.

Meat replacements?!

Going vegan doesn’t mean just leaving out the meat or replacing meat with a meat substitute. It’s more about discovering new recipes.

If you are worried about protein then foods like chickpeas, beans, lentils, tempeh, and tofu are excellent sources.

Snacks

Stock up on dried fruits, nuts, seeds, homemade popcorn, and maybe even a little dark vegan chocolate (it does exist!).

Dressings and Sauces

Make your own dressings or at least get some low-calorie store-bought dressings and use them in moderation. We have many available on this very site.

To Drink

Go for various teas, water, and coffee.

Our vegan meal plan has all this incorporated so you can easily follow along, stress-free.

Equipment

• 1 clean jar with lid

Ingredients

• ½ cup rolled oats (about half the jar)
• 2 tsp chia seeds
• 2-3 tbsp soy yogurt (vanilla is delicious)
• 1 cup almond milk
• 1 tbsp maple syrup
• 1 tbsp almonds (chopped)
• ½ cup raspberries, fresh (fresh or frozen)

US CustomaryMetric

Instructions

1. Put the oats, chia seeds, yogurt, and almond milk into a jar. Stir until everything is mixed together nicely. Pro tip: If you have a big enough jar you can also just close it and shake. Boom!
2. Then off it goes into the fridge for the night (or for at least six hours).
3. The next morning add a little more almond milk to loosen up the mix.
4. Next, just mix in the raspberries, syrup and chopped almonds, and voilá – breakfast is ready!
5. Bón appetité