25+ Easy Vegan Pantry Recipes to Use What You Have

Are you trying to save money on food right now? I can relate! This collection of vegan pantry meals includes dinners, lunches, and breakfasts to help keep things fun while using what you have.

Table of Contents

• Vegan pantry dinners
• Pantry breakfast ideas
• Pantry-friendly lunch ideas
• Vegan pantry staples
• Storing food to make it last

Oof, y'all. Food prices are no joke right now, so one of my goals lately has been to focus on cheap vegan meals and try to cook our meals using as many pantry and freezer items as possible.

Raiding the pantry and freezer can start to feel kind of repetitive after a while, though. These vegan pantry recipes will help you spice up your cooking even as you use what you have.

Vegan pantry dinners

These easy vegan pantry meals lean heavily on shelf-stable and freezer ingredients, so you can use what you have and save money at the grocery store!

Pantry breakfast ideas

Are you getting sick of cereal? These vegan pantry breakfast ideas have you covered.

Pantry-friendly lunch ideas

Of course, any of the dinner ideas above would make a great lunch, too, but sometimes you need something quicker at lunch time.

Vegan pantry staples

What pantry and freezer staples do these meals use? Here's an alphabetical list! Of course, you don't need all of these items. This is the pantry items from all 25 of the vegan pantry meals below.

• broth cubes: vegetable or no-chicken broth. Broth paste is also fine.
• canned beans: black beans, chickpeas, pinto beans,
• canned coconut milk
• canned tomatoes
• canned vegetables: artichoke hearts, hearts of palm, and pumpkin
• crisp rice cereal
• dried fruit: dried cranberries
• dried herbs and spices
• dried lentils
• frozen vegan meats: vegan beef
• frozen vegetables: spinach, corn, cauliflower
• granola bars
• liquid smoke
• maple syrup
• nutritional yeast
• oil
• pasta: rigatoni, shells, and penne
• nuts and seeds: chia seeds, cashews, and walnuts
• sauces: applesauce, soy sauce, tomato sauce, ketchup, and BBQ sauce
• soy curls
• tater tots
• whole grains: grits, oats, quinoa, rice, steel cut oats
• vanilla and almond extracts

I'm really using the word "pantry" as a shortcut to mean "food that lasts a long time."

The recipes below definitely use canned and dried food. Some recipes will use plant milks, which you can get in shelf-stable boxes, if needed.

They also include frozen foods and produce that lasts, like onions and potatoes.

Wondering what produce or other fresh foods to expect? I'm talking about food that keeps for weeks or months when you store it properly, like:

• apples
• bell peppers
• cabbage
• carrots
• cauliflower
• celery
• garlic
• ginger
• grapes
• green onions
• onions
• potatoes
• sweet potatoes
• tofu

Basically, if it's a food with a long shelf life, I consider it a "pantry item" in this context.

Because really, we're talking about stretching the grocery budget by using what you have. And that means making what you have last as long as possible, too!

Storing food to make it last

Wondering what's the best way to store fresh foods, so they last longer? I've got you.

• Store in a cool, dark place: potatoes (Keep them away from onions and garlic.), onions, garlic, uncut ginger, and sweet potatoes
• Store in the fridge: tofu, soy curls
• Store in the produce drawer: cabbage and carrots (Do not store carrots next to apples!)
• Store in a plastic bag in the produce drawer: bell peppers, cauliflower, cut ginger, grapes, celery, and apples
• In a jar with 1" of water near a sunny window: green onions