Easy *30 Minute* High Protein Vegan Meals - Blog Vegan

Dinner always comes, but what to make is always the question.  Today, I'm sharing two delicious and easy 30 minute high protein vegan meals.  These ideas are sure to get you out of a rut. 

If you looking for meal plan ideas for the whole week - check out my playlist for other high protein vegan meals too! 

Both are great if you need to meal prep as well! 

Check out these ideas and let me know in the comments which one your most excited to try!

Vegan Cajun Chicken Pasta

How to choose a good pasta ?

Pasta for me is always in season.

You know similar to rice or other dry goods it's cheap, which is right up my alley.

And it has just a harvest of shapes, sizes, and varieties.

And out of that collection of diversity I try to focus on what it's made from.

I go for whole grain and gluten free versions.

Whole grain because it's not only a solid source of energy, it's also a a good source of fiber.

You know what they say.

Good gut, good I was trying to rhyme but I just can't think of anything appropriate.

Gluten free, I try to go for like chickpea versions because of similar reasons, but it also just advances way higher than grains do when it comes to protein.

This dish has just an audacious flavor and is exquisitely loud in all the areas that you would want.

It's creamy, it's saucy, it taste good, it's creamy.

If you can't tell, sauce is like my whole concern.

The Cajun seasoning is smoky but barely spicy.

It's pretty much made for those who still like to feel their tongue while eating.

Since the seasoning is homemade, if you're into dancing with fire, you can merely adjust the cayenne pepper and be right in the Targaryen family tree.

Why you need a high walled skillet 

I don't always mention this but the cookware is really important on this one.

A skillet or a pot that is about 10 maybe 12 inches but has high walls is pretty necessary.

We're using soy curls which is like my favorite chicken substitute.

The only downside is you could really only buy them online.

If you want something similar maybe go for like a vegan store brand, like Daring or Gardein, but try the breadless version.

Keeping in mind this is about budget so I would split the store bought bag in half just so you could stretch it a bit because while the chicken substitute is good, this dish isn't even about that.

It's 100% about the sauce.

Most of the pasta sauces I create, I'm using coconut milk due to getting a good creamy sauce from that.

This time, I swapped it out and ended up using soy milk and that purpose would not only increase the protein profit but also I always talk about swapping things but this time I wanted to show you.

Lastly, there's Two additions to this recipe.

One can really make or break the dish.

As for the other it's kind of like adding sprinkles on top.

Matter of fact, are you team sprinkles or team Jimmies? How do you say it? First, make sure you're really scraping the bottom of this pot.

In the beginning, once you get your liquids in there, this dish without that additional fond, it will taste good but it's almost like you're missing additional information to tell the story.

Second, I left vegan cream cheese out of this recipe while it does add good taste and help thicken the sauce.

It's also unnecessarily expensive.

Pay my bills or pay for vegan cream cheese.

Vegan Cheesy Cauliflower Taco Skillet

What is TVP? So I have this weird quirk that is the name of something can make it an immediate turn off so I need to fix it in my head just to stay interested in whatever it is.

This mainly applies to food.

For example cauliflower.

I played sports and there's an injury that references the word cauliflower and I just can't unsee or undo the imagery or the word association.

So, I literally call cauliflower, white broccoli or the other broccoli in my head every time someone says it or I say it and it's a struggle with various foods for me.

This recipe on my website is called vegan cheesy cauliflower taco casserole.

I completely forgot the cheese to top it with.

It should have looked something this.

I wasn't being cheap this time.

I just literally forgot but I did save some money.

So, What you would do is follow all the steps of the recipe and then at the end, you would top it with just a little vegan cheese.

From there, put it underneath the broiler for just a few minutes.

I said first of all, but I didn't say a second of all.

So second of all, I have that same quirk with the word casserole.

I usually swap that one out with the word bake in my head.

I know.

I told you it's a struggle.

In the recipe, we're sort of braising the cauliflower and the textured vegetable protein.

TVP is a soy-based product similar to soy curls except they come in crumbles and other than rehydrating them, they're actually really similar to other crumbles.

If you're allergic, you can replace them with smaller beans.

My go-to replacement are usually lentils as they're similar in size and are a great substitute.

During the cooking process, in the beginning stages of getting your cauliflower and TVP in there.

You want your heat just a little high where you're basically just browning the ingredients.

From there, you're adding in your seasonings and tomatoes with the juices and here is where it can get just a tiny bit tricky if you're not seasoned in the kitchen but it's not hard.

The can of fire-roasted tomatoes every once in a while doesn't completely include enough residual juices to properly braise your ingredients.

Is where I keep a few tablespoons of stock around to fill that gap.

During the process, as you're stirring, you may see the liquid deplete through either being soaked up by the ingredients or just evaporation.

So, here is where I would add just a few more tablespoons of broth but also, I do that because I like just a little bit more juice AKA sauce.

Each recipe here can be found in the description that will link to my website.

I also have some pretty cool news coming up in the next week or so.

So, stay tuned to the community post.

As I finalize a few extra details, I'll share it there.

As always, I'm so lucky to have your support.

Thank you so much.

Believe in good.

Peace.