I had to find some 5-minute plant based meals in order to survive. Most days I wish and pray that I would randomly begin loving to cook.
I tell myself things like “Ima start making myself cook 1 thing every day” or “cooking is meditative therefore extra good for you.” But it never pans out.
I envy my grandmother’s love for it and my husband’s nonchalant attitude towards it. Both of them can do it all day, everyday with no friction.
Calm enjoyment towards it and it always comes out delicious and wonderful. Oh how much easier my life would be if only I enjoyed being in the kitchen.
But I don’t. I have no patience for it. I don’t enjoy anything about it and there are 100 other things I’d rather be doing than taking time out of my day to cook.
It’s an art that I can not seem to get the hang of. Even when I follow the directions and stand there starring at it, I often burn it and whether it tastes good or not is a complete flip of the coin.
Healthy eating is so much easier if you enjoy cooking and experimenting.
For the rest of us, we have to get innovative and creative, suffer through making ourselves cook or we fail, opting for the way easier fast food or convenience meal options.
Hating to cook + wanting to eat healthy has been a constant struggle of mine for years and years. So here’s some 5-minute Plant Based Meals & Snacks I eat routinely that are healthy!
Miso Soup
Miso soup is crazy easy to make. It takes no time at all and you can do several things with it. It comes in a container of miso paste (I get mine at Sprouts but any local whole foods should have it), which is fermented soy beans.
Fermented means it’s a probiotic, helping in the digestive system and overall health. It has anticancer effects as well as blood pressure benefits. Copper, manganese and vitamin K make it nutritious.
Scoop 1 tsp for every half cup of water and heat on the stove. That’s it.
You can also add veggies like onions, mushrooms or seaweed, tofu for some protein or whatever else you like.
Spaghetti & Butternut Squash
For one, learning to enjoy fruits and veggies as they are can save you a ton of time and health benefits. I LOVE butternut and spaghetti squash by themselves.
If you want to add things to them, you’re gonna have to Pinterest that cause I never found anything to put on them that beat their natural tastes.
Heat oven to 375. Stick the whole squash in the oven on a pan and bake for an hour to an hour and a half depending on the size of the squash until it’s soft to the touch. Cut open, scoop out the seeds and enjoy!
Rice Noodles
Rice noodles are a gluten free option to regular noodles. You can often find them in the asian cuisine section with the teriyaki and soy sauces (which taste great mixed with said noodles).
A single serving boils in about 5 minutes and you can add tofu, veggies and sauces of your liking. You can also combine this with the miso if you like!
Raw Veggie Sandwhiches/Wraps
This usually isn’t going to be a gluten free option although there are gluten free breads you can get out there (watch out for super processed ones though).
You can cut up and add any kind of veggies you like to a tortilla or sandwich. My favorite fillings are bell peppers, tomatoes, onions and leafy greens. I also add a little hot sauce and just mayo to it. One of my favorite meals.
Salads
I use to think you couldn’t get a good salad at home. Now I feel like you can’t get a good one anywhere else most of the time. Making one up works a lot like the sandwich and wraps above just without the bread and tortillas.
Great things to add to your salads & wraps:
- Peppers
- Tomatoes
- Onions
- Leafy Greens of all sorts
- Avacados
- Carrots
- Tofu
- Tempeh
- Corn
- Beans
- Rice
- Fruit (if you’re into that sort of thing)
- Nuts
- granola
We pretty well keep ginger dressing from the local Japanese restaurant or sometimes I get creative, using whatever sauces are in the fridge or cabinets.
Raw Fruit & Veggies
Nothing gets quicker and easier than grabbing an apple, banana, carrots or celery and munching on them. There’s truly something satisfying mind, body and soul, about enjoying these foods just as they are.
You can also opt for some sort of dip if you like. My favorite is peanut butter or dairy free yogurt.
Dried fruit is another great and simple option! We love dried apples and mangos!
Nuts
Nuts are another super easy snack or meal idea. They can be eaten on their own or you can throw together a trail mix. They’ve also got tons of protein!
So they’ll feel you up and keep you satisfied.
I LOVE nut butters also. I’ll sit with a spoon and the container often and they also go great with apples, bananas or your favorite nondairy milk!
You really can’t beat this 5-minute plant based meals & snacks item on time management!
Oatmeal
Oatmeal is an important staple in our kitchen. You can do tons of things with it but I generally mix it with some coconut or almond milk and granola, pop it in the microwave for about a minute and a half and enjoy with some sliced strawberries and/or blueberries! We generally opt for the old fashioned rolled oats but if you want to spend 20-30 minutes cooking some on the stove, steel cut is delicious and great for you also. Honey and cinnamon also mix beautifully with it.
Hummus
Hummus is a great and satisfying snack or meal choice. We eat ours with gluten free pretzels or celery. You can also use it as a spread on sandwiches or dip it with anything else you like! It’s packed with protein as well so fulfilling and satisfying!
Yogurt
We eat non dairy yogurt, which usually isn’t as fulfilling as dairy yogurt because it often contains less protein but still offers up some great probiotics for digestion and overall health! Mix in some fruit or granola for extra awesome!
It’s one of my favorite 5-minute plant based meals & snacks.
Canned Soup
Watch for preservatives and what not but I find this a great choice when I need a quick meal! They’ve got some wonderful plant based options out there. I honestly try my best to stay away from canned things from the grocery store in general but every now and then is alright in my personal opinion.
Protein Bars
This takes a little bit longer than 5 minutes initially. I make up 2 batches of my ‘famous’ chocolate chip peanut butter protein bars about every week and a half and I eat them for breakfast every. Single. Morning. I love them. It takes me roughly 15-20 minutes to make them (see, still not bad) and then they keep in the fridge and only take about 30 seconds to take out and eat! They go great with coffee. You can get the full recipe here.
Grill
This is another prep thing. About every other week my husband fires up the grill and cooks a bunch of stuff for the week. We grill potatoes, carrots, shish-kabobs with onions and peppers, veggie burgers, plantin, corn and whatever else we’ve got in the kitchen. We’ll eat on all this for days and it’s wonderful to have those easy to grab leftovers in the fridge so you don’t have to worry about cooking.
Another hack is whenever you do make a whole meal, cook extra so you can have leftovers of those also. Without leftovers, I wouldn’t know what to do with myself most of the time!
Do you have any quick 5-minute Plant Based Meals & Snacks? Tell us in the comments below!
Best Vibes Always,
S.S.Blake
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Author
S.S.Blake; Spiritual Life Coach, Yoga + Meditation Teacher and Founder of Earth and Water
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