Dinner in Minutes: The Best Vegan Ready Meals

Grubby offers plant-based meal kits. It works with local organic farms to provide the veggies, so the only thing that tastes of cardboard is the box! Plus it has recently launched its own ready-meal deliveries).

Although it’s good to make your own food, sometimes life gets in the way. So rather than stock up on expensive supermarket ready-meals, if you have freezer space it’s often a good idea to stock up on some good plant-based ready meals.

If you’re on a budget, just eat half and bulk up with spuds and veggies (or bread), then eat the rest the next day. Still better food, at half the price! Keep dry ice away from children and pets, and recycle any other packaging. Read more on food safety for people & pets.

$Tex-Mex protein bowl grubby$

The range includes:

Creamy cashew carbonara
Creamy rose harissa butter bean stew
Spicy Noodles with soya and mushroom mince
Sweet potato tagine with apricot
Harissa cauliflower with muhammara sauce
Tofu saag curry (potato and spinach)
Tex Mex Protein Bowl (with broad bean smash)
Mexican Five Bean Chilli with sweetcorn salad

All meals delivered within the M25 area are carbon neutral, and for each meal kit sold, they donate another to a child in need. There are also discounts for students, and if you refer a friend.

BOL (one pot vegan ready meals)

BOL offers one-pot ready meals in easy-to-recycle pots. These ‘power pots’ are packed with nutrition, and easy to eat on the go. Each one has an impressive 20+ grams of protein and fibre, plus two of your five-a-day, the perfect way to squeeze some goodness into your day.

Before choosing a vegan ready meal, do a quick scan of the label to ensure it has ingredients you recognise (beans, lentils, rice, vegetables, herbs, and spices). Ensure it has plenty of fibre and not too much salt, and a good protein source (pulses, tofu, tempeh, seitan or sustainable soya).

Avoid sneaky ingredients (often labelled vegan) like honey. And beware of fish sauce, anchovies or shellfish in Asian meals. Some meals are made in factories where there are milks or eggs, so avoid for severe allergies. And remember that some brands may be ‘accidentally vegan’ (say a vegetable chilli) without a label.

Choose from:

Chickpea jalfrezi
Teriyaki style rice
Thai green curry
Italian lentil bolognese
Chickpea tikka masala
Spanish butter bean stew
Coconut lentil turmeric dal

These meals don’t freeze well but the Power Soups do:

Tomato red pepper and lentil
Butternut squash and chilli
Garden pea and spinach
Thai green noodle

Lazy Vegan (ready meals from Europe)

Lazy is a brand of fast-frozen ready meals, which are easy to cook up, for a nutritious plant-based dinner. They are a bit more expensive, but you can use half the pack and fill up with spuds and veggies, then chill the rest to heat and eat the next day. All are packed with fresh veggies and protein.

The range includes:

Gnocchi alla pesto (spinach gnocchi with grilled veggies, olives, red pesto and plant-based Parmesan).
Korean Noodles (kale, romanesco, shiitake and edamame in a delicious Asian sauce)
Risotto Funghi (Arborio rise with frozen asparagus, mushrooms and cherry tomatoes in a vegan cream sauce, with garlic, spring onion and black pepper).
Tikka Masala (cauliflower, spinach, red bell pepper and carrots, in a rice curry with chilli, garlic, coriander and chicken-style pieces).
Thai Green Curry (sugar snap peas, baby corn, green bell peppers, carrots and rice, with chicken-style pieces in a ginger/garlic/coriander sauce).
Pasta with Pesto (courgettes, roasted peppers and cherry tomatoes, with fusilli in creamy pesto, topped with garlic, basil and vegan cheese).
Mexican Fiesta (green beans, kidney beans, red bell pepper, sweetcorn and potatoes, with a chilli Mexican sauce).
Chili Sin Carne (beans, vegan mince and tomato sauce with a hint of lime). Not too spicy!)
Mexican Falafel Bowl (brown rice, quinoa, mini falafel, sweet potato, bell pepper, broccoli, corn and kidney beans, in a coriander-lime dressing).
Lebanese Bulgur Falafel Bowl (fresh veggies, chickpeas, lentils, bulgur and mini-falafel, in a lemon-herb dressing).

Strong Roots (vegan ready meals from Ireland)

Strong Roots is known more for its healthier frozen chips, but also makes a small line of ready meals. Find them in the frozen section of your local supermarket. Choose from:

Thai green veg curry
Vegan mac and cheese
Veggie masala

Strong Roots is an Irish food brand that prints its carbon footprint on the packs of all its frozen meals. It specialises in frozen chips, with natural ingredients and all styles (skinny, thick-cut and crinkled). Plus chips made from sweet potatoes, hash browns and other goodies!

Although it’s good to make your own food, if you’re going to stash the freezer with back-ups, this is the brand to go to. You can recycle all their packaging at supermarket bag bins.

It also sells some frozen vegetable sides. So again these are a good back-up to get some quick veggies into a meal, if you don’t have fresh to hand. Or to ‘hide’ veggies in meals when certain people refuse to eat them! It’s a good everyday brand that you can find in all supermarkets too, at affordable prices.

Plenny Pot (need no refrigeration)

Plenny Pot has sold millions of its popular ready-meals worldwide. You order a shaker pot with a scoop and your first trial pack. Then you just add hot water and leave the meal to infuse for five minutes, then enjoy a nutritionally complete meal in 5 minutes.

These meals are highly nutritious, but based on average servings for an adult, they say to therefore avoid for children and consult your GP if pregnant or nursing, due to different nutritional needs.

These meals are great if you don’t have a fridge or are going camping etc, as the meal packs can be resealed and stored in a cupboard or bag.

Choose from:

Creamy Cajun pasta
Mac n Cheeze
Vegetable korma rice
Mushroom & buckwheat risotto
Satay noodles
Tikka masala lentils

The Plant-It Food Co (Irish ready meals

The Plant-It Food Co offers cook-from-frozen ready meals in easy-to-recycle packaging from a family company in Dublin. Sold in supermarkets, the range includes: