Sure, you can spend hours creating an elaborate, vegan dinners, but you don’t have to. These 30-minute vegan meals are perfect for busy weeknights when you want something delicious but cooking isn’t your top priority.
Y’all, I get it. I’m a full-time working mom, and while I love cooking, the fancy meals of my dreams aren’t always practical. When time is of the essence, these are the 30-minute vegan meals that I turn to to feed my family and maintain my sanity.
Wait, what?
You probably think that food bloggers eat like kings every night of the week, but that is so far from true! Sure, if I’m developing a dinner recipe, life is easy. But if I spend two weeks testing a chocolate chip cookie, my meal-planning is just as complicated as anyone else’s.
Though, I’m sure my 6-year-old would love to hear that we are having giant cookies for dinner.
30-Minute Vegan Meals
These quick, easy, flavorful vegan dinner recipes will feed your family without stressing you out.
All of the 30-minute vegan meals below take half an hour or less to prepare. Some take as little as 10 minutes!
1. Red Pepper Pesto Fettuccini
This red pepper pesto sauce is my new favorite! It’s veggie-packed, so I just pour it over some pasta and sprinkle on some Fairy Dust for dinner in a flash. It basically takes a long to make as it takes you to boil that pot of pasta.
2. 30-Minute Vegan Ramen
Who doesn’t love a cozy bowl of noodle soup for supper? Quick-cooking ramen noodles and my shortcut broth recipe are the secrets to this super quick and easy meal.
3. Mashed Potato Bowls
Fire up your air fryer to create my family’s favorite mashed potato bowls in 30 minutes flat. While the tofu cooks in the air fryer, you have plenty of time to mash the potatoes and saute the veggies.
4. Instant Pot Vegan Beef Stew
Not only is this one-pot meal ready in about half an hour, but you don’t have to be there for most of the cooking time! After a quick saute, just toss the rest of the ingredients into the pot, and let the pressure cooker do its thing.
5. Magical Tofu Egg Salad
Serve these easy tofu pita pockets for a quick lunch or dinner. Prep your veggies while your tofu presses, then mix and mash everything together for a flavorful sandwich in under 30 minutes!
6. 30-Minute Sheet Pan Butternut Squash Tacos
It might seem wild that you could roast butternut squash in under 30 minutes, but you totally can! It’s all about size. These tacos are super flavorful, and the fillings all cook up on a single baking sheet.
7. Kung Pao-Inspired Tofu
If you love Kung Pao Tofu but can’t find the right kind of chili peppers, this shortcut recipe is for you! It’s definitely not authentic, but it will hit the spot in less time than it takes to wait for delivery.
8. 30-Minute Vegan Coconut Curry Soup
This flavorful red curry soup is deliciously quick and easy. And since you make it in the Instant Pot, most of the recipe is hands-free, so you can focus on other things while it cooks.
9. 30-Minute Vegetarian Chili
Amy’s easy black bean chili is easy to throw together on a busy evening, and it’s a total bowl of comfort food! Serve it with cornbread or chips for dipping.
10. 20-Minute Vegan Alfredo
Brandi’s 20-Minute Alfredo is one of the top recipes on her site, and it’s easy to see why! It’s rich, creamy, and sneakily healthy. And it comes together in 20 minutes!
11. Lentil Sloppy Joes
Sarah’s Lentil Sloppy Joe recipe is kid-approved! She uses a combination of lentils and vegan beef-style crumbles to balance healthiness with amazing flavor and texture. These are way better than the canned sloppy Joes we ate in the 80s, y’all.
12. Kimchi Noodle Soup
Quick-cooking noodles and flavorful kimchi make Kristina’s quick vegan kimchi noodle soup come together in 10. MINUTES! Can you even believe it? Believe it!
13. Instant Pot Saag Aloo
I love how quickly the Instant Pot makes a meal. If you’re craving an Indian curry, Meeta’s tasty, easy Saag Aloo recipe is what you’re after.
14. Easy BBQ Cauliflower Bites Bowl with Tangy Avocado Slaw
That might sound like a lot to cook i just half an hour, but as long as you keep moving, it’s totally doable. The sticky-sweet cauliflower with creamy slaw and zesty quinoa are so worth the effort!
15. Cauliflower Scampi
While your cauliflower roasts in the oven and pasta cooks on the stove, you have plenty of time to prepare the lemony, garlicky sauce for Jenn’s Cauliflower Scampi.
16. Teriyaki Tofu Stir Fry
Dianne makes the teriyaki sauce for her stir fry recipe from scratch, and it still clocks in well under 30 minutes! If you want to make this even easier, you can use bottled teriyaki sauce instead, but Dianne’s sauce recipe is fantastic!
17. BBQ Chickpea Salad
This BBQ chickpea salad only takes 20 minutes to make! While your chickpeas simmer, whisk together the easy dressing and toss the veggies together for Deryn’s easy dinner salad.
18. 30-Minute Vegan Cauliflower Tacos
Toss steamed cauliflower with a few simple ingredients, and you’re ready to make Ginny’s super delicious cauliflower tacos! They’re so delicious drizzled with creamy vegan ranch.
19. 15-Minute Vegan Lentil Burgers
Shanika’s Spicy BBQ Lentil Quinoa Vegan Burgers use cooked lentils to save time. The best part? You bake these hearty, spicy burgers in the oven, so you don’t have to stand over the stove after work on a Tuesday!
20. 30-Minute Vegan Lasagna for One in the Air Fryer
Only half an hour stands between you and a perfectly-portioned pan of vegan lasagna! Cadry has cracked the code on how to make perfect, one-serving air fryer vegan lasagna.
21. 10-Minute Vegan Rice Stir Fry
Got leftover rice or quinoa in the fridge? Then you only need 10 minutes to make Dreena’s veggie-packed stir fry for dinner!
22. 30-Minute Vegan Caprese Pesto Sandwiches
Pile on the PESTO! These tasty vegan Caprese sandwiches work great for lunch or dinner. Layers of rich pesto, creamy vegan mozzarella, and fresh tomatoes are an easy yet satisfying lunch or dinner.
23. 30-Minute Vegan Taco Rice Bowls
This is another great recipe for making leftover rice a lot more fun. Pile on some simple taco fillings, and you’re ready to eat. Gwen’s taco rice bowls recipe is super easy without sacrificing any of the flavor.
24. Instant Pot Vegetable Chow Mein
Did you know that you can make noodles in your Instant Pot? Soniya’s Instant Pot Vegetable Chow Mein only takes 15 minutes to make. Once you do a quick saute, you lock the pot, and walk away until supper is ready.
25. Chickpea, Cashew & Broccoli with Garlic Sauce Skillet
This simple, tasty skillet meal comes together in under 20 minutes. Larisha’s skillet chickpeas with cashews and broccoli are as delicious as they are healthy!
Dianne
So many yummy recipes! Thanks so much for including my tofu teriyaki!
Becky Striepe
Of course! Such a great recipe!