Vegan Menu Samples
Optimize Your Vegan Nutrition
These vegan menu samples are part of the improvements I made to the vegan food pyramid. It occurred to me that most food pyramids don't really address the essential elements of nutrition and without an understanding of these, vegans might be experiencing gaps in their nutrition.
Each menu below is a complete nutritional profile, containing the daily requirements for each of the following nutrition essentials:
- Protein - You need 20-50 grams of vegan protein per day. This is less than what is recommended for a non-vegan diet because all vegan protein gets used by the body, whereas animal proteins are not absorbed as well so you have to eat more to get what you need.
- Fat - No need to worry about consuming excessive saturated fats as a vegan. Plant-based fats are healthy - you need about 30-35 grams per day. They promote healthy skin and hair, and help cells to function optimally.
- Carbohydrates - 180 - 230 grams per day. Remember though, that carbohydrates don't necesarily mean grains. You can get plenty of carbs as well as protein in foods like legumes (especially sprouted!), peas, and squash.
- Fiber - Essential for healthy colon function, lowering blood cholesterol, and dextoxing, you need about 25-35 grams per day.
- Calcium and Minerals - There is plenty of calcium in plant-based foods, especially dark leafy greens.
Each of the daily menus below contains all six essential components of a complete nutritional profile.
Vegan Menu Sample 1
| Breakfast | A Green Smoothie including flax seed, nutritional yeast, and coconut oil |
| Lunch | A salad with added mung bean, lentil, garbanzo or green pea sprouts |
| Snack | A serving of fruit salad or granola |
| Dinner | 2 vegan tacos with guacamole |
Vegan Menu Sample 2
| Breakfast | Oatmeal with berries and sprinkled with some nutritional yeast- sweeten with turbinado and coconut milk |
| Lunch | Grilled veggie wrap |
| Snack | Vegan crackers with almond butter |
| Dinner | Vegan lentil burger with side salad |
Vegan Menu Sample 3
| Breakfast | Vegan blueberry or pumpkin muffin, orange juice |
| Lunch | lentil or tomato barley soup |
| Snack | vegetable crudité with hummus or white bean dip |
| Dinner | Vegetable stir-fry or Hodge-Podge sauté |
Of course, these are just examples, but if you look at the overall menu, you'll notice that all the essential elements of nutrition are well represented. To insure complete nutrition, I would advise taking 2 tablespoons of Nutritional Yeast each day. Not only does it contain the required daily amount of vitamin B!2, but it is loaded with other vitamins and minerals that absorb more easily than standard supplements.
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