Do you want to eat healthy? But you just cannot find the time and energy during the week to prepare healthy meals that also taste delicious? Then check out this simple 5-day vegan meal prep with black beans. This meal prep guide includes a 5-day vegan meal plan and step-by-step instructions for your meal prep session.
5-Day Vegan Meal Prep With Black Beans
- Why you should start meal prepping
- Instructions for this 5-day vegan meal prep with black beans
- 5-Day Vegan Meal Plan With Black Beans
Why You Should Start Meal Prepping
Making weekly meal plans and meal prepping has become an integral part of my everyday life. It makes eating healthy and nutritious meals so much easier, especially after a long day at work.
Here’s what’s so great about meal prepping…
- meal prepping helps cut down your grocery bills because preparing your own meals at home is way cheaper than buying take-out meals or eating at restaurants
- meal prepping saves you time (and stress!) during the week because you don’t have to worry about cooking and grocery shopping – you do that once on one day (typically on Sundays) and then you’re done for the upcoming week
- it supports a healthy and balanced diet and you avoid eating ready-made highly-processed meals or unhealthy takeouts
- no more worrying about what to eat or cook because you already took care of that
- meal prepping does not mean that you eat the same thing all week – with smart planning and clever combination of different ingredients you can add a lot of variety to your weekly meals
- meal prepping stops you from buying too much when you go grocery shopping – if you already know exactly what you’ll cook and how much you need, you avoid buying too much food which then goes to waste
Sounds good? If you want more ideas and detailed step-by-step instructions, check out this 3-day vegan meal prep guide for lunch and dinner. I have created the recipes in such a way that you only need to spend 60 minutes and you will have lunch and dinner ready for 3 days!
Meal Prep Day – Instructions For This 5-Day Vegan Meal Prep With Black Beans
For this vegan meal prep, here’s what meals we’re going to prepare:
- vegan meal prep burrito bowls
- mushroom and black bean patties
- quinoa and black bean lettuce wraps
- vegan tofu and black bean chili
- loaded sweet potatoes
Not interested in the entire meal plan? Then you can also find the individual recipes linked below.
- Vegan Meal Prep Burrito Bowl
- Vegan Lettuce Wraps with Quinoa and Black Beans
- Tofu and Black Bean Chili for Meal Prepping
Vegan Meal Prep Instructions
Here are the instructions for this 5-day vegan meal prep with black beans (instructions for 2 persons, so 10 meals in total):
- Preheat the oven to 180C. To prepare the mushroom and black bean patties, take 5-6 large mushrooms (~180g), wash them, cut into quarters and fry in a pan until all edges are browned. Add to a food processor with 1 1/2 cup (~250g) cooked black beans, 1 small red onion, 1 clove of garlic, 1 tsp paprika powder, salt, pepper and 2 tbsp flax seed meal or psyllium husks. Pulse until no more large chunks remain and the mixture starts to come together. Add flour or oats if the mixture is too wet. Form 4 patties and bake in the oven for ~20 minutes, flipping after 15.
- Next, we’ll prepare the vegan burrito bowls. Take 2 medium sweet potatoes (~400g), peel them and cut into bite-sized cubes. Season with spices (I like paprika powder, cumin, cayenne, salt and pepper) and place on a baking tray. Take another 2 medium sweet potatoes (for the loaded sweet potatoes), cut in half lengthwise and place on the baking tray as well.
- Take 2 bell peppers and wash them. Cut one into bite-sized pieces and set aside. Cut the other one into thin strips, season and place on the baking tray as well. Bake in the oven together with the sweet potatoes for ~30 minutes.
- Bring a pot of water (or vegetable broth) to a boil and cook 1 1/2 cup of quinoa (~250g). We will use that for the vegan burrito bowl and the lettuce wraps and the loaded sweet potatoes.
- Take 2 red onions and 2 cloves of garlic. Dice the onion and mince the garlic. Add half of the onion and half of the garlic to a large pan and saute for a few minutes, then add 2 tbsp tomato paste, paprika powder, cumin and a splash of water. Cook for another few minutes, then add 3 cups of cooked black beans (~500g) as well as 1 can of crushed/pureed tomatoes (~250g). Let simmer for ~10 minutes on low heat.
- To make the tofu and black bean chili, add the remaining onion and garlic to a large saucepan and saute for a few minutes. Then, add 1 finely diced red chili and 1 tbsp tomato paste. Add water if necessary to prevent burning. After 2-3 minutes, add 300g of firm tofu, 1 cup black beans (~170g), the other bell pepper, 1 small can of sweet corn (~150g), 1 can of crushed tomatoes (~250g), paprika powder, chili flakes, cumin and cayenne pepper. Stir well and cook for 10-15 minutes until the chili has thickened.
- Almost done! Next, prepare the tomato salsa. Finely chop 4 large tomatoes and 2 spring onions and combine with juice of 1 lime, salt and pepper in a bowl.
- For the tahini sauce, combine 6 tbsp tahini, 2 tbsp maple syrup and the juice of 1 lemon in a bowl. Then add water until a runny but not too thin consistency is reached.
Finally, here’s a quick check list for you of all meal prep steps:
Meal Prep Monday: Vegan Meal Prep Burrito Bowl
To serve (or assemble) these delicious vegan meal prep burrito bowl, divide the following between 2 bowls or meal prep containers:
- the cubed baked sweet potatoes
- the baked bell pepper strips
- a third of the cooked quinoa
- a third of the black beans in tomato sauce
- a third of the tomato salsa
- a third of the tahini sauce
Alternatively, you could serve this with rice or couscous (or any other grain) but with this meal prep I went for quinoa, as we will use that for other meals as well.
Meal Prep Tuesday: Mushroom and Black Bean Patties
You can serve with some oven-baked potato wedges and a burger bun – or, make a burger bowl and serve with some leafy greens and fresh veggies.
I like to reheat prepped patties by frying them in a pan on high heat for 2-3 minutes on each side. I feel like this doesn’t dry out the patties as much as putting them in the microwave.
Meal Prep Wednesday: Quinoa and Black Bean Lettuce Wraps
For Wednesday’s meal, you will need some lettuce leaves (romaine or iceberg works great!) and one third each of: black beans in tomato sauce, cooked quinoa, tomato salsa, tahini sauce.
Meal Prep Thursday: Tofu and Black Bean Chili
This one is easy! Simply reheat the chili and serve with bread, tortilla chips, rice, quinoa, vegan sour cream… it is up to your preferences!
Meal Prep Friday: Loaded Sweet Potatoes
Top the halved sweet potatoes with the remaining black beans and quinoa and reheat in the microwave. Then finish with the tomato salsa and tahini sauce. Enjoy!
Hopefully, you find this vegan meal prep with black beans helpful! If you’ve never tried meal prepping before, I encourage you to give it a try. It will take so much stress away during the week as you don’t have to worry about what’s for lunch/dinner. If you want more ideas and detailed step-by-step instructions, check out this 3-day vegan meal prep guide for lunch and dinner.
If you try this meal prep or any of the meals included in it, I would love to hear from you! Leave a comment below or say hi on instagram!
