Vegetarian Weeknight Meal Prep Plan

This vegetarian plan gives you five weeknight dinners from about two hours of Sunday cooking: a chickpea coconut curry, black bean and sweet potato enchiladas, red lentil soup, pesto pasta with white beans and veggie egg fried rice. Beans, lentils, eggs and dairy keep every dinner filling.

Vegetarian food is some of the best meal prep there is. Bean and lentil dishes don't dry out the way chicken can, many of them taste better on day two, and plant proteins are usually cheaper than meat. The only real challenge is making sure dinners have enough protein to keep you full, and this plan is built around that.

If you're vegan, the curry, soup and pasta work as written (choose a vegan pesto and skip the Parmesan). Swap the eggs in the fried rice for crumbled firm tofu and use a dairy-free cheese for the enchiladas.

The plan at a glance

Night	Dinner	Main protein	Storage
Monday	Chickpea and spinach coconut curry with rice	Chickpeas	Fridge
Tuesday	Pesto pasta with white beans and cherry tomatoes	Cannellini beans, Parmesan	Fridge
Wednesday	Veggie egg fried rice	Eggs	Fridge
Thursday	Black bean and sweet potato enchiladas	Black beans, cheese	Freezer, thaw Wednesday night
Friday	Red lentil and carrot soup with crusty bread	Red lentils	Freezer, thaw Thursday night

Freezing the last two dinners keeps every meal inside the 3-to-4-day fridge window that FoodSafety.gov recommends for cooked leftovers.

Grocery list (for two people)

Produce: 2 onions, 1 head garlic, 2 sweet potatoes, 3 carrots, 1 bag baby spinach, 1 pint cherry tomatoes, green onions, 1 lime

Dairy and eggs: 6 eggs, shredded Monterey Jack, Parmesan

Grains: Long-grain rice, short pasta, red lentils

Canned and jarred: 1 can chickpeas, 1 can coconut milk, 1 can cannellini beans, 1 can black beans, 1 can enchilada sauce, 1 carton vegetable broth, 1 jar pesto, curry paste

Frozen: Peas and carrots

Bakery: Flour tortillas, crusty bread

Pantry: Olive oil, soy sauce, ground cumin, salt and pepper

The Weekly Prep Planner can build this list for you and scale it to any number of servings.

Prep-day order of work

Follow this order to keep the oven, stove and rice cooker busy at the same time.

1. 0:00 Set up. Oven to 375°F. Rice on (cook enough for the curry and the fried rice). Pot of water on to boil for pasta.
2. 0:10 Chop everything. Dice both onions, the carrots and the sweet potatoes. Mince garlic. Halve the tomatoes. Slice green onions.
3. 0:25 Soup. Sauté half the onion and the carrots, then add lentils, cumin and broth. Simmer about 25 minutes.
4. 0:30 Enchilada filling. Simmer the diced sweet potato in a little water until tender, about 12 minutes. Drain and mash with the black beans and a pinch of cumin.
5. 0:35 Pasta. Cook the pasta a minute short of al dente, drain and toss with pesto and white beans.
6. 0:45 Enchiladas. Roll the filling in tortillas, top with sauce and cheese, and bake for 20 minutes.
7. 0:50 Curry. Sauté the rest of the onion and garlic with curry paste, add chickpeas and coconut milk, simmer 15 minutes and stir in spinach.
8. 1:05 Fried rice. Spread half the rice on a tray to cool. Scramble the eggs until no liquid egg remains, then stir-fry the rice with peas, carrots, soy sauce and green onions.
9. 1:10 Blend the soup if you like it smooth.
10. 1:15 Cool and pack. Divide everything into shallow containers. Fridge the curry, pasta and fried rice. Let the enchiladas and soup chill in the fridge, then move them to the freezer that evening.
11. 1:30 Clean up.

Getting enough protein without meat

Protein needs vary from person to person, but these habits help most people get enough from a vegetarian prep:

• Build every dinner on a legume, eggs or dairy. Beans, lentils and chickpeas are the backbone of this plan.
• Add a second protein when you can. Cheese on the enchiladas, Parmesan on the pasta, a dollop of Greek yogurt on the curry or soup.
• Use whole grains sometimes. Swapping white rice for brown rice or quinoa adds a little extra protein and fiber.
• Snack on nuts, seeds and yogurt if you're especially active.

If you follow a vegan diet long term, talk to a healthcare professional about vitamin B12, which is found naturally almost only in animal foods.

Storage and reheating notes

• Curry and soup thicken as they sit. Add a splash of water or broth when reheating.
• Pesto pasta is good warm or cold. Add the tomatoes just before eating if you prefer them fresh.
• Fried rice should be reheated until steaming hot throughout.
• Enchiladas reheat best covered, in the microwave or a 350°F oven.
• Reheat everything to 165°F.

## Make it your own

Once you've made this plan once, swap freely:

• Use butternut squash instead of sweet potato.
• Swap chickpeas in the curry for cubed tofu or paneer.
• Try kidney beans or pinto beans in the enchiladas.
• Change the pesto pasta to a marinara and white bean bake.

Why this plan works on busy weeks

The plan is designed so that no single step needs your full attention for long. The soup and curry simmer on their own, the enchiladas bake in the oven, and the rice cooks itself, which leaves your hands free for chopping and assembling. Two dinners go into the freezer, so the week stays safe even if plans change and you end up eating out one night. And because the dinners use different flavor profiles (Indian-style curry, Italian pasta, Chinese-style fried rice, Mexican-style enchiladas and a cumin-spiced soup), the week doesn't feel repetitive even though you cooked it all in one go.

Next week: easy swaps

To keep the plan fresh, change one or two dinners each week rather than the whole thing. Try a black bean chili in place of the lentil soup, a vegetable lasagna in place of the enchiladas or a peanut noodle bowl with tofu in place of the fried rice. The prep-day order stays almost the same, so you won't have to relearn the routine.

Frequently asked questions

How long does vegetarian meal prep last?

Cooked vegetarian dishes follow the same rule as other leftovers: eat them within 3 to 4 days of refrigerating, or freeze them.

Can this plan be made vegan?

Yes. Use vegan pesto, skip Parmesan, swap the eggs for crumbled tofu and use a dairy-free cheese on the enchiladas.

Do enchiladas freeze well?

Yes. Cool them in the fridge, wrap or seal tightly and freeze. Thaw overnight in the fridge and reheat to 165°F.