50 Easy Plant-Based Meal Ideas That Are Also Gluten-Free
I’m a vegan and a celiac, which means I plan my meals with time, especially when traveling , going out for dinner with friends, or attending an event. My process was gradual, since I first became a vegetarian in 2010, was diagnosed with celiac disease in 2012, and transitioned to a vegan lifestyle in 2018. Little by little, I learned more about how my good choices had an impact on animal welfare and the environment, but also on my health. When I went vegetarian, I was a teenager who just tried to get by. When I had to add gluten-free to my diet, I went a bit deeper into what was on my plate. Finally, becoming a vegan developed my habit of reading labels, eating for nourishment and health, and prioritizing the environment, animals, and myself all at once. Currently, I eat a 95% whole food 100% plant-based and gluten-free diet, and I love it!
Moreover, I’ve beaten uncertainty with knowledge: not knowing what I was going to eat when traveling to a small town was replaced by the understanding that I knew just what to look for, and that supermarkets always have options for my particular diet. In my world, a meal is easy and whole if it has a nice balance between protein, carbs, healthy fats, and lots of colors, which means a variety of vegetables, seeds, nuts, and fruits– I want a rainbow on my plate. Personally, the easiest plant-based and gluten-free meal is a bowl with a plant protein (usually beans, tofu or tempeh); a sweet potato, quinoa or black rice; an assortment of vegetables; an avocado, and olive oil. I might top it with seeds or nutritional yeast, and voilà! Mixing and matching provides the opportunity to not get tired of this simple combo.
However, there are many other options to consider when trying to whip up a quick and easy plant-based gluten-free meal. That’s why I made this list with 50 healthy and easy vegan meal ideas that are also gluten-free, all of which I’ve prepared or eaten. They might not be Pinterest or Michelin-star worthy, but they are realistic, and perfect for the rookies.
If you’re a super rookie, check out my tips to start a plant-based diet, what I wish I knew before going vegan, and how to eat plant-based on a budget.
50 HEALTHY, DELICIOUS AND EASY VEGAN AND GLUTEN-FREE MEALS
1) THE SIMPLE VEGAN + GF BOWL
This is one of my most popular lunches at work. It’s as simple as throwing a boniato, mushrooms, zucchinis, and tofu to the air fryer, with a bit of olive oil. When everything’s ready, I add a handful of spinach, a pinch of oregano, and enjoy an easy and healthy plant-powered meal.
Mushrooms are some of my favorite foods, since they are tasty but also highly nutritious. They protect brain health, boost the immune system, improve gut health–among many other benefits– and are rich in vitamins and minerals.
2) SUNSHINE VEGAN PLATE
Yellow, orange, and warm greens– I want my food to exude happiness. This is a similar meal to #1, an easy plant-based and gluten-free dish that combines yellow bell pepper, yellow zucchini, cucumber, avocado, half a sweet potato, and tempeh and hummus for protein.
I like tofu’s flavor more than I like tempeh’s. Nonetheless, tempeh offers a bit more protein: about 19 grams of protein in 100 grams (vs. a bit less than 10 grams of protein in 100 grams of tofu). For this reason, I try to eat it every once in a while, as it makes it easier to hit my daily protein goal.
3) BLACK BEAN SPAGHETTI
I’m a devoted pasta lover, as in “I breathe pasta” (and pizza). It must be my Italian roots, which would also explain my freakish fondness for coffee. It doesn’t come as a surprise that I eat more pasta than the average person. However, I eat mostly chickpea and lentil pasta (in each case there is just one ingredient in the pasta), which provide a bit more protein than regular GF pasta, and many nutrients.
I love black bean pasta as well, but it’s more difficult to find at the store. When I do, I prepare it with a homemade vegetable and tomato sauce, which can be made with any veggies you have in the fridge. Then, I top it with nutritional yeast for that extra nutritional punch, and my stomach and heart dance in glee.
4) VEGAN OMELETTE
You can still enjoy the simplicity of an omelette while on a plant-based diet, you just need to know the how. My two favorite ways of preparing a gluten-free vegan omelette is either using chickpea flour or a vegan egg alternative, like Just Egg. You can check out this chickpea omelette recipe, and also read my list of the best vegan substitutes for eggs.
Once that part is covered, just add whatever you like inside. My favorite filling is sautéed mushrooms, kale, bell peppers, and onions.
5) HOMEMADE GF AND VEGAN GNOCCHI
Confession time: I’m a gastronomic rebel. I usually don’t follow recipes correctly–to me they are just mere suggestions. Once, I had this sudden urge to make gnocchi, looked for a recipe, read it quickly, understood the general concept, and made delicious gnocchi. Now, all I do is cook half a butternut squash, add a bit of gluten-free all purpose flour (sometimes mix it with chickpea or flaxseed flour, or even tapioca), a splash of olive oil, a pinch of salt, and lukewarm water. I don’t measure any of it–I just eyeball it. Once I make a dough that satisfies my standards, I separate the dough into thin tubes, cut it in cubes, and throw them in boiling water for about 3 minutes. They are incredibly easy to make (it just takes time to shape them), and you can alternate butternut squash with sweet potatoes, potatoes, or beets. I still have to try making purple sweet potato gnocchi, as it sounds like so much fun! When you’re ready to eat, add tomato sauce or olive oil, perhaps some nutritional yeast or vegan cheese, and you’re done.
6) VEGAN SHEPHERD’S PIE
This Vegan Shepherd’s Pie recipe is a life saver for the warmer days (or when the AC is being used at full capacity!). I love to cook this when I have a few people come over for dinner, as it’s easy to prepare and yields many portions.
The concept is simple: replace the base with yummy plants (many ingredients, but the main characters are lentils, pinto beans, kale, and mushrooms), and the top with plant-based mashed potatoes. You can also try it with vegan mashed sweet potatoes. My secret ingredient, which I think gives it an extraordinary flavor, is adding as splash of vegan wine to the base.
Enjoy it as a main dish, or with a salad!
7) VEGAN CHARCUTERIE BOARD
This is another one of my favorite plant-based foods to serve when people come over for dinner. It allows me to develop my creativity, presentation skills, and search for the most perfect ingredients to add to the board, so that when eaten together, the flavors create a beautiful symbiosis.
Grab a wooden board, and a few bowls or vases of various sizes, and just play with the infinite possibilities to combine. I love including a few vegan cheeses, a vegan dip, artichokes, blueberries, dried cranberries, grapes, cherry tomatoes, chips, crackers, olives, jam, and nuts. I promise: it won’t disappoint!
8) VEGAN PASTA SALAD
This vegan pasta salad is an absolute savior for warmer nights. It’s a great way of indulging on pasta, while staying cool during the summer. Also, it’s super easy to make in big quantities, which makes it one of my favorite dishes to bring to a dinner with friends.
I made this pasta salad with GF fusilli, mozzarella, tomatoes, onions, spinach, olive oil, spices, and herbs. However, you can play with mixing different veggies, until you reach that perfect amount of deliciousness.
9) IMPERFECT PLANT BASED SUSHI
I warned you: these meals are not picture-perfect. I’ve never taken a sushi lesson in my life, but I find that an imperfect homemade sushi is an amazing alternative to eat on those days in which we don’t have a lot of time to prepare a “more complex” meal, and we still want to eat healthy.
What I do: I grab a nori sheet, add sushi rice or quinoa, avocado, and any veggie I have, roll it, cut it, eat it. Simple as that. The sushi pieces might not look perfect, but the flavor is the same. Seaweed is a good source of iodine, potassium, and magnesium, to name a few. Usually, I pair my homemade vegan sushi with tamari sauce, as a gluten free alternative to conventional soy sauce.
10) MELI’S FAMOUS NACHOS
Yes, this are my self-claimed Meli’s Famous Nachos. This is one of my special dishes, which always ends up in satisfied stomachs, fulfilled souls, and eating wars, when people start fighting over the last remnants of guacamole or cheese. I like to serve them as a first course, and pair them with a salad.
The secret is in the layers: one layer of chips - filling - layer of chips- filling. In between, you can add whatever you want. My recommendation: vegan shredded mozzarella between layers, and top it with beans, tomatoes, guacamole, green onions, and a spreadable plant-based cheese.
Extra tip: making little sandwiches with the chips is extra fun.
11) BLACK BEAUTY
A dark version of my beloved bowl includes black rice and black beans as main characters, tofu, mushrooms, avocado and kale.
Black beans are a great source of protein for vegetarians and vegans, and they provide several health benefits, including antioxidants, fiber, vitamins, to name a few, and reduce risk of conditions like heart disease and cancer. They are one of the powerful foods mentioned in Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones–a documentary I recommend you watch–that promote longevity and quality of life.
On the other hand, black rice is the superfood of rice, and is full of antioxidants and amino acids, boosts immunity, and protects you against cardiovascular disease and diabetes, among other conditions.
12) VG HUMMUS MAC & CHEESE
The classic mac and cheese made healthier, gluten-free, and vegan! In a pan, I added hummus, cashew milk, a bit of olive oil, nutritional yeast, and spinach, heated it, and then added cooked chickpea pasta.
This way, you can enjoy an American classic the whole-foods-way, and get some extra protein into your diet. Nutritional yeast gives this dish the cheesy flavor, but with additional nutritional perks.
13) AREPA
First dish on the list that wasn’t made by me–I ate this at Love Life Café, my favorite vegan restaurant in Miami. Nonetheless, arepas can make great and easy vegan and gluten-free meals. You can buy corn or arepa flour and make your own, or buy ready-to-eat arepas (check the ingredients for non-GMO corn). Once you have the arepa-part solved, add some jackfruit, tempeh, and avocado inside, and prepare a simple house salad on the side.
14) HOMEMADE GLUTEN-FREE VEGAN PIZZA
Similarly to my homemade gnocchis, I eyeball my pizza dough by adding gluten-free flour, baking powder, olive oil, salt, and warm water to a bowl. Sometimes I add a bit of yeast, but I usually decide to make pizza in the moment, and I don’t have the patience to let it rise. When the dough looks good enough, I spread it on a pizza baking pan (has some holes on it), and take it to a pre-heated at 400 F oven.
Meanwhile, I prepare sautéed onion and mushrooms on a pan with olive oil, so it’s ready when the pizza dough is crunchy. I add marinara sauce, vegan cheese, the onions and mushrooms, oregano, and olives, and I enjoy half of it, and save the other half for the following day, because there’s nothing more beautiful than two slices of cold pizza leftover.
15) AÇAI BOWL
This is one of my favorite merienda meals, but you can also have it for lunch or dinner. Acai has a low glycemic index for being a fruit (just make sure you buy one without added sugar), but you can mix it with a bit of vegan protein to make it a bit more fueling. Sometimes, I also mix it with frozen bananas because I think it creates a nicer consistency.
Now, for the fun part, add anything you would want on your dream fruit bowl. In my case, that would be a GF-VG granola, nuts, almond slices, peanut butter, goji berries, cacao nibs, and any sort of berry.
16) PURPLE RAIN
Another one of my classic vegan and gluten-free dishes, that includes bell pepper, carrots, mushrooms, kale, avocado, tofu, and cherry tomatoes, but with the additional plant-powered goodness brought by sauerkraut and purple sweet potato.
Sauerkraut is a great way to eat fermented foods, which are great for gut health, as they provide probiotics, not to mention other nutrients, the most important being Vitamin K2, also known as menaquinone, which is not easily found in plants.
Purple sweet potato, on the other hand, is a magical (and oh, so colorful) food, that is rich in antioxidants, fiber, and Vitamin C, among other nutrients. Purple sweet potatoes have about three times more anthocyanins (which act as antioxidants) than the average blueberry . It’s also one of the popular foods consumed in some of the Blue Zones.
17) THE PERFECT SIDE
A delicious way to incorporate healthy carbs to your plant-based diet, is by making mashed sweet potatoes! This recipe is a healthy side to any other meal because it is made with the skin (which has a lot of fiber), uses olive oil instead of butter (even if it’s vegan butter), and plant-based milk.
You can pair it with the Vegan Shepherd’s Pie, or eat is as a side to a vegan protein, like tofu or tempeh, and a salad.
18) VEGAN BARBEQUE
If you have a barbeque with friends or family, and you think you’re going to be left out, have no fear. Throw in some vegetables and you’ll be good to go! My favorite veggies for a vegan-friendly barbeque are zucchinis, corn, bell peppers, sweet potatoes, potatoes, and onions.
To make it even better, accompany with a side salad made with spinach, lettuce, tomatoes, apples, nuts, and sunflower seeds, and with a bit of hummus. To make it extraordinary: enjoy a vegan wine in the meantime!
19) VEGAN AND GLUTEN-FREE QUICHE/TARTA
In Argentina we eat a lot of tarta, which is similar to a quiche. It consists of a dough used as a base, and a filling on top. Sometimes, people add an extra dough layer on top.
My gluten-free and vegan tarta is made with buckwheat and chickpea flour, psyllium husk, olive oil, water, and salt (eyeball it, of course). Once I’ve kneaded it, I spread it on a cake pan. Simultaneously, I prepare some sautéed veggies on a pan, mostly my favorites: broccoli, leeks, kale, and onions. Once I put it on top of the dough, I add some “chickpea egg”, for which I beat chickpea flour and water by hand with a fork (probably 16-18 tbsp of chickpea flour, and the same with water). This unifies the filling, gives it a nice texture, and adds flavor.
20) AVOCADO TOAST
The classic order for the hedonist millennials, for which we have been widely criticized. But, let’s own it! We love an avocado toast, and it’s an easy plant-based option for when you’re running late. Make sure to use a vegan and gluten-free egg, and that’s it.
Next: the avocado. You can play with it, by smashing it, spicing it, making it look cute. I love mashing it straight on the toast (unlike guacamole, which I prepare in a bowl), and add a sprinkle of black salt, paprika and ground ginger on top. When I want to add some protein, I prepare scrambled tofu to eat together, or spread some hummus before adding the avocado to the toast.
21) FALAFEL PLATE
Another yummy way to incorporate vegan protein into your diet is by making falafel, which is as easy as processing dried chickpeas, parsley, cumin, onion, and olive oil, and making little balls. Some stores also sell ready-to-eat falafel, but make sure to check out the back for nasty ingredients.
They go great on a plate with several sides (as in the photo on the left), or in wraps or pita breads (they pair well with avocado, lettuce, and tomato).
22) VEGAN QUESADILLAS
One of the easiest plant-based meals you can make are quesadillas, especially if you buy the tortillas. There are several brands that sell gluten-free and vegan ones, but some are healthier than others, as their ingredients list is cleaner. I love Siete’s products, which includes their tortillas.
However, you can also make your own tortillas at home, to make sure you eat only the best ingredients. There are various types of wraps you can make, like red lentil tortillas, or quinoa and brown rice tortillas.
Once you decide what kind of tortilla you’re going to use, put it in a pan with a bit of olive oil, add some vegan cheese, sautéed mushrooms, fresh spinach, sliced bell peppers, or whatever veggie of choice, and top with guacamole and pico de gallo.
23) TOFU RICOTTA ANYTHING
This vegan ricotta is amazing, and it’s made with tofu, which means protein! The consistency is amazing, and is great to add to a homemade lasagna or cannelloni, which would be the “conventional choice”. However, we’re rebels and we choose to eat it however we want to! This could mean using it as a spread on toast, add it to pasta, to a wrap, or even to an arepa. Use your imagination!
While preparing it, you can also play with ingredients, and make ‘chives vegan ricotta’, ‘garlic vegan ricotta’, or ‘olive vegan ricotta’, just like hummus, which comes in different flavors.
24) GREEN WITH HUNGER
I came up with this meal by putting together things I had already prepared, and were available in my fridge. I tend to cook quinoa in bulk, to have enough to eat for a couple of days, as it’s one of my favorite plant-based foods: it’s delicious, filling, versatile, and a very complete food. Fortunately, the day I prepared this meal I had enough to use it as a base, and not a side. Then, I grabbed edamame, which is another high-protein plant-based food I love, and avocado, because I love it and avocado doesn’t need an explanation. What adds color to this meal is the beetroot paté, which I prepare by blending cooked beets, olive oil, garlic, cumin, and sometimes I add tahini, which makes it a colorful alternative to hummus.
25) GLUTEN-FREE VEGAN TACOS
I can reminisce the taste of these tacos just by looking at the photo–a commemoration of one fleeting moment in time when contrasting flavors united to create one that reunited them all. When well prepared, tacos can have a poetic effect on the spirit, and not just on the stomach.
My preferred way of preparing tacos is with crunchy corn taco shells (either yellow corn or purple corn), spreading vegan cream cheese in their inner side, and adding shredded lettuce, rice, corn, pinto beans, guacamole, salsa, and shredded vegan cheese. It sounds like a ton of ingredients for such a small taco shell, but there’s not one of those ingredients I could go without. This is one of my favorite vegan and gluten-free meals ever, and I could probably eat them everyday forever!
26) LENTIL STEW
A friend of mine once gave me a slow cooker as a present, and although it probably has endless uses, my habit-driven mind has only one word for it: stews.
Stews are all about marketing: the bare minimum looks as if you’re a chef. All you have to be good at is cutting vegetables, as the only thing you must do is throw vegetables and legumes on the slow cooker. This can also be done in a regular pot, but you will have to be more careful about cooking it in low heat.
As for the slow cooker: add sweet potato or butternut squash cubes, lentils or beans, chopped kale, onions, garlic, tomato paste or tomatoes, and some herbs and spices, like thyme, rosemary, paprika, and even salt. Once everything is in place, add enough water to cover all of it–or just a tiny bit more–, as we don’t want the stew to be watery. I use the 4-hour cooking mode, and eat it as a full meal (perhaps with a slice of bread), or together with rice or pasta.
27) MUSHROOM STEAK
As I’ve told you before, my diet is 95% whole foods. For the remaining 5%, I occasionally buy a more processed (but not ultra processed) product, mostly to try what’s new in the vegan world.
Not long ago, I tried a mushroom steak, by the Eat Meati company, who sells various products made with 95% mushrooms. The classic steak (the one you see in the picture), is made with mushroom root (mycelium), and less than 2% of other ingredients. They are quite nutritious, and are notably rich in protein, fiber, riboflavin, folate, niacin, and zinc.
I prepared it in the air fryer, and paired it with cauliflower, broccoli, vegan mashed potatoes, and spinach. Nevertheless, you can find numerous recipes on their website, although not all of them are plant-based (you can replace their cheese ingredients with vegan cheese, and make them PB!). You can also try another of their products like the classic cutlets, as all of them are plant-based and gluten-free.
28) SOFT TACOS
An alternative to quesadillas and hard tacos are soft tacos! These are also sold at the supermarket, or you can make your own, as suggested in the quesadilla section. I like to heat them a bit so they are soft enough to fold, once I fill them up with plant-based goodness, like quinoa, green onions, chickpeas, spinach or aurugula, and sriracha.
It’s very convenient to always have some wraps around, as all you have to do is fill them with whatever you have available in your kitchen. They are and easy and quick vegan and gluten-free meal to make when you’re in a hurry or feeling tired/lazy.
29) VEGAN PAELLA
Confession time: even though you’ve probably figured it out by now by common sense, I did not make the paella featured in the photo. Surprise! Actually, this is one of the delicious vegan meals I had when walking the Camino de Santiago, which means it’s a legitimate Spanish paella.
But fear not! You don’t have to be Spanish to eat delicious paella, as you can follow any online recipe for GF and vegan paella, or you can embrace the Rookie mentality, just like I did with the sushi, meaning you can just grab the general concept of this meal, and make your own version from it. In this case, it would mean cooking rice and veggies together in a pan, ideally with vegetable broth and saffron, and look at it as an exploration and not a master chef moment.
30) PESTO PASTA
Pesto and pasta go so well together, that they only differ in their vowels!
Because I love pasta so much (is it the millionth time I mention this?), I look for different ways in which to enjoy it. To make it a perfect gluten-free and vegan meal, choose a GF pasta, like red-lentil penne, and buy a vegan pesto, or make your own. Conventional pesto won’t be vegan, because it’s usually made with parmesan cheese.
Optional: you can add extra veggies, or roasted tomatoes, to make a firework of flavors.
31) VEGAN SCRAMBLED EGGS
One of the foods I eat the most are vegan scrambled eggs. Not only do I love the taste, but it’s my go-to-meal when I come home late from working out, or a great merienda when I feel hungrier than normal before going to the gym.
Silken tofu would be the most accurate substitute for scrambled eggs, but I prefer firm tofu. The secret ingredient to add to your scrambled tofu, if you want it to have a similar taste to eggs, is black salt. If you want anything but your food to resemble the flavor of animal products, skip it. Black salt has that eggy flavor but is fully vegan, and when combined with nutritional yeast, turmeric, ground onion and garlic, it comes super close to those scrambled eggs you might have eaten before going plant-based, or the ones you want to give up little by little if you’re trying to eat more plants without going all-vegan. Another thing you can try is pouring some water on the mixture, which will make the tofu fluffier.
My preferred way of eating my vegan scrambled eggs is with a GF/VG toast or half a potato/sweet potato, avocado, sautéed mushrooms, and cherry tomatoes with a bit of olive oil and oregano.
32) PLANT-IFUL PLATTER
I love how all these foods taste when eaten together. I’ve already told you about the perks of purple sweet potatoes, but did you know that asparagus also have a lot of health benefits? They contain Vitamin E and K, is great for gut health, and is full of antioxidants, to name a few. My favorite way of cooking them is in the oven, with a generous amount of olive oil, minced garlic, and salt.
To add some extra green and healthy fats to this combo, add avocado, which also has highly nutritious qualities, including but not limited to being a source of Vitamins C, E, L, and B6, as well as riboflavin, niacin, folate, pantothenic acid, magnesium, and potassium.
Last, include lentils, which will provide additional amounts of potassium, folate, and iron. A great way of boosting that iron content is to add some drops of lemon on the lentils, as Vitamin C facilitates iron absorption.
33) VEGAN EVERYTHING BOWL
Another delicious plant-based meal alternative is a poke bowl, or an everything bowl. Poke bowl would be a deconstructed sushi bowl, consisting of rice as a based, cubed raw fish (which can be replaced with watermelon to make it vegan), sesame seeds, green onions, and a wide range of toppings.
We can go beyond poke, and just claim to make ‘vegan everything bowls’. As a base, quinoa or zucchini noodles work wonders. You can make zucchini noodles by slicing a zucchini with a vegetable spiralizer, and work great in bowls, stir-fries, or to replace spaghetti in any pasta dish.
Follow with protein, adding anything from edamame to tofu, tempeh, or vegan meat alternatives. Then, proceed with greens: kale, spinach, or chards, add some cabbage, pineapple or watermelon for that beachy vibe, cherry tomatoes, and avocado (always avocado).
34) HEALTHY VEGAN GLUTEN FREE PASTA
This recipe could be considered the warm-version to my vegan pasta salad, which makes it more suitable to my preferences, as I’m not very fond of cold food.
To make this, simply cook any gluten-free pasta you have at home (my GF pasta of choice most of the times is the red lentil Barilla penne or fusilli), and add cooked veggies like broccoli, carrots, or peppers, and maybe some sliced cherry tomatoes, because apparently I’m addicted to them.
Once you put all those ingredients together, add olive oil to taste, and nutritional yeast. Nutritional yeast is my favorite way of adding cheesy flavor to vegan dishes, but it’s also a great source of protein, B vitamins, and trace minerals.
35) FRITTATA
Vegan and gluten-free frittata is possible, as long as you have the wonderful ingredient that makes it all possible: chickpea flour. As I’ve stated before–and even mentioned it on my list of the best vegan substitutes for eggs– chickpea flour works wonders when it comes to plant-based recipes that require eggs as a binding ingredient, and without which the recipe wouldn’t be the same.
You can try a proper vegan frittata recipe, or you can just eyeball it, the Rookie way. My way of preparing it is more similar to Spanish tortilla de papas, in which I slice potatoes, boil them, add chickpea flour egg, cooked onions, salt, pepper, pour the mixture in the pan, and flip it once one side is cooked. Another way of doing it is using Just Egg, but I’m more into healthier alternatives, making garbanzo flour my go-to vegan egg replacer.
36) GRILLED PIZZA
Ok, I know it doesn’t look so tasty in the photos, because it’s a bit messy, not Insta-worthy, and the shapes are not symmetrical. There are even 3 pizza slices that happened to be a whole piece before the dough gave in and broke (as that day I’d run out of my usual GF all-purpose flour, and used a different brand that didn’t do well on a pizza recipe). But, you know what? None of it mattered, because these were AMAZING.
The secret wasn’t in the dough (you can get the details on #14), or the tastiness of the tomatoes in the marinara sauce, or whether I used the best vegan mozzarella for pizzas (which, by the way, this is my favorite one). The key was in the way it was cooked. Yes, the pizza dough has to meet certain quality standards, and the marinara sauce must be well prepared, but the most important part of that night was that we threw these on the barbeque, which made it crispy and extra delish. You can try various toppings to see which one you prefer on your pizza. My favorite pizza is plain marinara, or plain marinara with caramelized onion (for which I use coconut sugar).
37) VEGAN PROTEIN ON BAGEL
In #31, I told you how I love scrambling some tofu as a replacement for scrambled eggs in any meal, whether it is breakfast or merienda. But why limiting it to those two times of day? I usually have breakfast for dinner, mostly that bowl I told you about that includes scrambled tofu, avocado, sweet potato, mushrooms, and cherry tomatoes.
This is a brand new view on the same concept, but instead of eating the scrambled tofu on a plate or bowl, I put it on top of a bagel, and pair it with fruit, and, of course, avocado.
Another way of doing it, is doing the English classic: beans on toast.
38) PLANT-BASED CARBONARA PASTA, THE GF WAY
To make a longer list on vegan and gluten-free ways of eating pasta–because to me, to live without pasta is to deprive the soul of many a blessings–I’m suggesting to also try a plant-based carbonara.
There are some recipes online, like this one, which only takes 15 minutes to prep, and 15 to cook. A vegan carbonara can be made with a cashew base (cashews are one of the most popular ingredients in vegan cheeses, and offer an amazing consistency), and the rest will depend on the specific recipe. The linked recipe, for instance, adds white miso paste, parsley, cloves, vegan bacon, and nutritional yeast (which, again, serves as a cheesy add-on).
Try the carbonara sauce with gluten-free spaghetti or fusilli, and make your vegan Italian dreams come true.
39) SIMPLE SALAD
I mentioned above that I’m not much into cold meals. For that reason, I tend to avoid eating salads, and they’re mostly an emergency dish I order when I eat out at vegan-unfriendly restaurants, or when I’m emptying my fridge before going grocery shopping.
Nonetheless, this salad I had during my Camino de Santiago adventure, is mostly made with warm food, and it was so good I needed it to recommend it in this post.
The salad is as simple as white rice, chickpeas, mushrooms (which add most of the flavor, as they were sautéed in olive oil, garlic, and herbs), lettuce, tomatoes, and raw onions.
40) SOUP & SALAD
The days I do eat salad at home, which are rare, I like to partner it up with a soup, for the classic gastronomic duet. I love soup, so sometimes I even have it as a main dish.
The soups I make are creamy and heavier than a regular minestrone or broth, so they fill me up enough during dinnertime (not lunchtime, as I get annoyingly hungry at noon).
My favorite soup to make is also one of the easiest vegan and gluten-free recipes there are. What I do is cook onion an garlic in a pan with olive oil, boil butternut squash, add it all together, spice it up, and blend it. If it’s too thick, I add a splash of plant-based milk or water. The vital part is being careful with the amount of liquid you add, so it’s not too watery.
Also, make sure to save your butternut squash seeds, and follow these instructions to turn them into nutritious and tasty snacks.
41) SMOOTHIE BOWL
Following the same notion of “breakfast as a meal”, comes the smoothie bowl, which is a medley of a smoothie and an açai bowl.
In this case, you either swap the açai for another fruit, or you add less liquids to your smoothie, to create a paste that’s more comparable to yogurt or ice cream. When the fruit used is frozen, you get the best consistency. About once a week I cut and freeze bananas, pineapples, and strawberries, to make smoothies or smoothie bowls.
Once you have the base, add your favorite fruits, nuts, and seeds on top, or even cacao nibs, shredded coconut, goji berries, and peanut butter.
42) PLANT-BASED GLUTEN-FREE NOODLES
Another way in which I love to eat carbs is noodles, and your safest and yummiest gluten-free vegan alternative is classic Asian rice noodles.
My favorite way to cook them are the following:
Sautéed in olive oil, with a wide variety of vegetables and mushrooms
As PB/GF Chow Mein, which means stir-fried with vegetables and tofu cubes
A pseudo Pad Thai I like to prepare. For this, I cook rice noodles, add broccoli, green onions, tofu, and my special sauce, made by mixing peanut butter, tamari sauce, and olive oil. Top it with sesame seeds.
43) VEGAN GF PANCAKES
Pancakes can make a great meal if you prepare them the right way. You can check out this recipe for chickpea-flour pancakes, and use coconut sugar instead of white sugar.
Other ways of adding healthier sweetness to your pancakes or any bake goods, is using monk fruit, agave syrup, or brown sugar.
Top it with blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, and strawberries, a bit of maple syrup, banana slices, sliced almonds, and coconut whipped cream if you want to be a bit crazy.
44) VEGAN GF MEATBALL BOWL
Vegan meatballs have main character energy, and they’re great to add in bowls, or to spaghetti with marinara sauce.
There are recipes you can check out to make gluten-free and plant-based meatballs, and you can alter the kind of protein you use so your meals are more varied. Make them with tempeh, chickpeas, or beans, and experiment with what you add to them. When you everything in a blender, you will get a nice dough with which you can make small balls with your hands or a spoon, cook them, and eat them however you want, even with your fingers!
45) BALANCED PLANT-POWERED PLATE
This is the 1/3 plate, in which you divide a plate in 3 parts: one with a carb, one with a plant protein, and the third one with a variety of vegetables.
In this example, you can see my plate has rice (cooked with saffron, veggie broth and herbs), lentils, and a some vegetables.
You can also add half an avocado or some olives for your healthy fat daily intake.
46) NOT THAT HUNGRY MEAL
Sometimes we want to eat a little something, but nothing too heavy because we’re not that hungry or it’s too late at night and we don’t want to overwhelm our digestive system.
In those cases, I love to eat a fruit plate with a spoonful of peanut butter, and an iced oat latte with a spoon of vegan protein (if you’re drinking it at night, make it decaf, or swap for a decaffeinated tea).
47) HEALTHY PLATE + HORS D’OEUVRE
I prepared this meal at a friend’s house when I was visiting her in Barcelona. It was an easy gluten-free and vegan meal to make, because it’s what I usually eat at home, times two. A baked potato divided in two, a tofu tray, a bunch of cherry tomatoes, half an avocado each, and some sautéed veggies, easy-peasy.
What we added to the menu to make it more fun and special, was a little something extra, which you could call an appetizer or hors' d’oeuvre, a.k.a. some chips and vegan brie.
48) VEGAN BURGER
There a lot of vegan and gluten-free burgers in the market, but some are made healthier than others. Perhaps, every now and then you want to buy an Impossible or Beyond burger, but they aren’t ideal if you want to focus your diet on whole foods. Some processed burgers at the supermarket offer a cleaner ingredients list.
However, if you want to make it the healthiest you can, consider making your own GF PB burgers at home! Here’s a recipe you can try.
I love pairing vegan burgers with my vegan sweet mashed potatoes.
49) BUTTERNUT SQUASH
Continuing on the whole foods plant-based diet line, another food you can add to your plant-powered meals is butternut squash. Sometimes, instead of a sweet potato or potato, I cut some butternut squash slices and bake them with some olive oil (I don’t peel them). The best part is I can also separate the seeds and bake them to have a healthy snack for the day.
As I mentioned before, you can also make delicious butternut squash soup by blending it with onions, garlic, spices, and plant-based milk. Another great way to cook them is steaming them, retains vitamins and phytochemicals in vegetables better than boiling.
You can invest in a bamboo steamer basket, or a stainless steel basket.
50) BRUSSEL SPROUTS & WAKAME
Green, green, green. Anything green will go great on a gluten-free plant-based meal, but let’s talk about these two powerful ones: brussels sprouts, and wakame.
Brussels sprouts are a polemic and polarized subject, as people either love them or hate them. As a kid, I used to dislike them viscerally, until adulthood kicked in, found the perfect way to cook them, let go of the fear of not being able to digest them, and ended up loving them. Brussels sprouts are rich in vitamins and minerals, help prevent damage to DNA that can cause cancer, have carotenoids which are great for eye health, among other benefits.
Wakame, on the other hand, is a species of kelp, an edible seaweed. It will add a unique flavor to your dishes; in other words: the taste of the ocean. Wakame is low in calories but rich in nutrients, is high in iodine, may reduce high blood pressure and heart disease risk, lower cholesterol, to name a few.
I hope this list is particularly useful for the Rookies, who want to eat a gluten-free plant-based diet, or increase their intake of these kind of meals. These are easy and quick vegan and gluten-free meals that are healthy and filling, and of course, delicious!
What dish are you most excited to try?
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Hi, I’m Melina,
I’m the creator of Sustainable Rookie, and my goal is to share what I learn throughout my sustainability journey, so that I can help other people live a more conscious life.
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