5+ Plant-Based Meals You Can Make Without a Recipe

Many people new to plant-based eating get overwhelmed with finding and then following a bevy of new recipes, which often have a daunting list of unfamiliar ingredients. Even those who have been eating this way for a while can find themselves constantly on the hunt for new recipes that will be somehow faster, easier, or cheaper than what they made last week.

The good news is that there are many things you can make without any recipe at all, and you can come back to these things again and again to simplify your food and your life. That will free up time and brain space so if you do want to go ahead and try some fancier meals, your time and budget will better allow it.

1. Beans and Rice

This is a standby of thousands of vegans for a reason. When in doubt, just cook up a pot of beans and a pot of rice.

Here are four ways to simplify this:

• Use canned beans. Just rinse them first! Kidney beans, black beans, or black-eyed peas are all good choices here.

• Use salsa and/or taco seasoning to flavor it. Stir in the salsa afterwards, or add the taco seasoning to your rice cooking water.

• Use a rice cooker (or an instant pot) to take the guesswork out of cooking.

• Make lots and freeze it. It freezes beautifully. Tip: If you ever end up with too-dry leftover rice, throw a couple of ice cubes on it and stick it in the microwave. It’ll be tender again in a hurry.

Here are 10 ways to jazz this up:

• Chop up some romaine lettuce to put on top, or heap your beans and rice on a bed of spinach or arugula.

• Add some chopped cilantro or sliced green onions.

• Throw a can of diced tomatoes with chiles (Rotel) in with your beans.

• Throw some frozen corn in with your beans.

• Make the beans yourself. You can do it in an instant pot or in a slow-cooker. You can soak them or not. But making them homemade allows you to season them while they cook, which is a plus. Again, just a taco seasoning blend will work, but you could also chop some onion, garlic, and bell pepper to put in there, or dried onion and garlic. Beans are VERY forgiving as long as you stick to these type of seasonings. (Cumin, chili powder and paprika also work here.)

• Try blending up those home-cooked beans with some of the cooking water so they are a “refried” consistency.

• You can also use a can of fat-free refried beans. I like to stir in some salsa and warm it up in the microwave before using.

• Toast up some corn tortillas in a dry skillet and make oil-free tostadas.

• Wrap your beans and rice in a whole grain tortilla.

• Add avocado or chopped fresh cherry tomatoes.

• Use a different grain for variety. Quinoa is also a good choice here.

By all means, look up cooking times online and even consult a beans and rice recipe if you want to make sure your seasonings are in the right ball park. But then let yourself wing it and just enjoy the result.

1b. Sweet Potato and Black Beans

Instead of serving those beans over rice, try topping a roasted or steamed sweet potato with beans. Add salsa, avocado, a squeeze of lime, and/or any of the suggestions above. Yum.

Alternatively, you can cube up a sweet potato into bite-sized pieces, sprinkle on taco seasoning and roast it. Add it to any of the bean and rice options.

2. Pasta and Red Sauce

I think this is a standby of many meat-eaters as well, but they often brown up some ground beef to go in it. Totally unnecessary!

Just grab a jar of meat-free marinara sauce and a box of whole-grain pasta, and you’ll be in business.

I can’t make it easier than that, but I can make it more interesting:

• Cook some lentils up (1 c. per pound of pasta is a fine place to start) while you’re cooking your noodles. They’ll take 20-25 minutes to get tender. Then just drain them and add them to your sauce and pasta. They bulk up the meal and add texture.

• Alternative: My kids like rinsed cans of kidney beans added to their sauce.

• I know lots of people add frozen vegetables (especially chopped spinach) to their sauce. We haven’t done this, but I think it could be great as long as you thaw and drain those veggies first. No one likes a soggy sauce.

• Make your own sauce! Plenty of sauteed garlic + crushed tomatoes + dried oregano + time simmering = spaghetti sauce. Of course you can find recipes online, but you can also just keep it simple and still enjoy a yummy bowl of pasta.

• If I have mushrooms, zucchini, or green bell pepper I’ll sauté those up and add them to the sauce as well. No measuring or fussing needed.

3. Green Smoothies

Ok, so maybe this is a recipe. But I don’t ever have to look it up! I just pack my Vitamix with handfuls of leafy greens (spinach or “power greens blend” from Costco, usually) until it’s 1/2 full (for a mild smoothie) or 3/4 full (for a stout smoothie). I add a handful of flaxseed, fill it with water up to the line of the greens and blend it well. In goes a banana or two and whatever frozen fruit I have (mango, strawberries…) . Blend and done!

Yes there are lots of delicious smoothie recipes out there, but this one always works with what I have on hand and it’s so easy to follow that I can have it often.

4. Vegetable Soup

It turns out, you can make a delicious vegetable soup with just the following:

1. A good vegetable broth

2. Quinoa, couscous or barley

3. A type of bean (already cooked) or lentil (will cook in the soup)

4. Diced up vegetables

I often like to add leafy greens once the other vegetables are tender, then serve the soup when the greens begin to wilt.

Jazz it up:

• Start with minced onion, carrot and celery. That makes a delicious beginning.

• Use a bay leaf (remove after cooking) and some thyme, or simply use an Italian seasoning blend.

As before, you can start with an official vegetable soup recipe but once you’ve made a few, shake off the shackles and feel free to use up whatever veggies YOU have on hand, and make it suit your tastes.

5. Asian Vegetables

This can be as simple as combining broccoli, which you chop and cook up (roast, steam or saute), with some soy sauce and serving over rice.

• Jazz it up with roasted seaweed, avocado, or sliced green onions.

• Use a fresh or frozen stir fry blend of vegetables or make your own by adding carrots, green beans, and whatever else suits your fancy.

• Start your veggies cooking with garlic and ginger in the pan. Mmmm.

• Add a can of drained pineapple for a fun twist.

• Cubed tofu fits easily here.

• Use rice noodles instead of rice for a change of pace.

• Soy sauce alone not cutting it? Add Sriracha for some kick, or try: 1 TBS each of soy sauce, brown sugar, rice vinegar, and peanut butter. Yeah it’s sort of a recipe but you won’t have to look it up once you’d done it a time or two.

There are loads of fabulous plant-based recipes out there, and sometimes that leads us to overcomplicate eating this way! There’s nothing wrong with having simple tastes and simply making something from what you have on hand.

What are your favorite no-recipe ways to eat plants?