Twenty-three plant-based recipes with enough protein in them to be worth the name.
We went through each one and pulled the protein figure the recipe publishes about itself. They run from 37 grams a serving down to 6, and the list below is ordered that way.
Eight of them do not publish a figure at all. Those are at the end, with what they are built from instead.
Three are ours. The rest are from cooks we read.
1. Root Vegetable Lentil Stew
Thirty-seven grams of protein a serving, which is the highest figure on this list and it comes entirely from lentils.
Lentils, frozen root vegetables and peas in broth with thyme and tomato paste. Forty-five minutes, mostly unattended, and it makes three big bowls.
Get the recipe from Plant-Based on a Budget.
2. Vegan Italian Sausage
Thirty-six grams a serving at 270 calories, which is the best ratio here by a distance.
Vital wheat gluten with miso, sun-dried tomato, fennel seed and oregano, steamed into six sausages. Just under an hour.
Fennel is what makes it taste Italian rather than generic. Do not skip it.
Get the recipe from Cinnamon Snail.
3. Vegan Chocolate Protein Waffles
Thirty-six grams, and it is honest to say where it comes from: three scoops of protein powder.
That also puts it at 659 calories for three waffles. If you are training hard that is the point. If you are not, it is a lot of breakfast.
Get the recipe from Yum Vegan Lunch Ideas.
4. Lupini Bean Hummus
Lupini beans instead of chickpeas, which is the whole trick. They carry roughly twice the protein and almost no starch.
Five minutes in a food processor with tahini, lemon, garlic and cumin. The 788 calories quoted are for the entire batch, not a portion.
There are three tablespoons of olive oil in it. Use the bean liquid and more tahini instead.
Get the recipe from Nuts and Twigs.
5. Spiced Lentils and Crispy Tofu Bowl
Twenty-eight grams a serving from lentils and tofu together, which is what a bowl like this should look like.
Lentils simmered in broth with paprika, thyme and basil, crisped tofu on top, brown rice underneath. Serves four and keeps three days.
Get the recipe from When Salty and Sweet Unite.
6. Red Lentils Peanut Butter Casserole
Ours, and the highest-protein thing we publish at twenty-four grams a serving.
Red lentils and peanut butter sound strange together until you have eaten it. Thirty minutes, serves six.
7. Sardinian Fregola with Chickpeas
Twenty grams a serving. Fregola is a toasted Sardinian pasta that behaves more like a grain, and it goes into the pot with the chickpeas.
Tomato passata, celery, onion, cherry tomatoes. Somewhere between a soup and a pasta, and it serves four.
Get the recipe from The Pasta Project.
8. Red Lentil Curry
Thirteen grams a serving. Red lentils break down as they cook so the curry thickens itself without cream.
Forty minutes, serves four, and the leftovers are better than the first night.
Get the recipe from A Cedar Spoon.
9. Chickpea Falafel Burgers
Eleven grams each and it makes eight, so the batch is the reason to do it.
Chickpeas and mushrooms with cumin, paprika and a lot of cilantro. They keep five days in the fridge and freeze well.
Get the recipe from The Hangry Chickpea.
10. Scarlet Runner Bean Salad
Eleven grams a serving from eight ingredients and five minutes of work.
Cooked runner beans with cider vinegar, pumpkin seed oil, horseradish and chives. Masala Herb says it keeps seven to ten days, which almost no salad does.
Get the recipe from Masala Herb.
11. Spicy Stir Fried Tofu with Bok Choy
Nine grams a serving, fifteen minutes, and gochujang does most of the flavor work.
One thing to check before you cook it. The sauce calls for honey, and the recipe offers brown sugar in its place. Take the sugar.
Get the recipe from The Forked Spoon.
12. Spicy Buffalo Chickpea Wrap
Nine grams a serving. Roasted chickpeas tossed in hot sauce, wrapped with cabbage and a cooling sauce.
It is the closest thing here to something you would order rather than cook. Vegan mayonnaise carries the sauce, so blended cashews if you would rather not.
Get the recipe from Foodess.
13. Vegan Chickpea Meatloaf
Also ours. Seven grams a serving across eight slices, so it is the Sunday one rather than the post-training one.
Fifty-five minutes and it slices properly cold, which matters more than it sounds.
14. Spicy Jackfruit and Kidney Bean Burgers
Seven grams a burger, and worth being clear about why. Jackfruit has almost no protein in it. The kidney beans and the chickpea flour are doing all of the work here.
What jackfruit gives you is the shredded texture. Eighteen minutes, makes eight, and they freeze.
Get the recipe from Dishing Out Plants.
15. Vegan Tostadas with Tofu Chorizo
Six grams a tostada at 151 calories, which is the lowest figure here. The serving is small, so count on two or three.
Refried beans and tofu chorizo under a quick cabbage and carrot slaw with lime. Twenty-four minutes.
Get the recipe from Cinnamon Snail.
Eight that do not publish a number
These are all built on beans, lentils, peanuts or tofu, so they belong on the list. We just cannot put a figure on them without guessing, and we would rather tell you what is in them.
16. Vegan Meatballs
Brown lentils and quinoa, bound with flax instead of egg, baked and finished in tomato sauce.
Makes sixteen, which is a proper batch cook. Gluten-free and nut-free, if that matters in your house.
Get the recipe from Strength and Sunshine.
17. Air Fryer Falafel
Two cans of chickpeas, a lot of parsley and cilantro, chickpea flour to bind. No oil and no deep frying at any point.
Twenty minutes and it makes fourteen. This is the one on the list we would make first.
Get the recipe from Strength and Sunshine.
18. Langar Wali Dal
Two different lentils in one pot, split black gram and chana dal, which is what gives it the thick creamy texture without any cream.
This is the dal served free at gurdwaras, cooked in enormous quantities for whoever turns up. Thirty-five minutes in an Instant Pot.
The recipe lists ghee first and plant-based oil second. Take the second, or use a splash of the cooking water.
Get the recipe from My Spice Trunk.
19. Boiled Peanut Chaat
A cup of boiled peanuts tossed with tomato, onion, pepper, green chili, lime and chaat masala.
Peanuts are a legume, not a nut, and they carry more protein than any other thing in this style of salad. Twenty minutes and it serves four.
Get the recipe from VegCookBook.
20. Air Fryer Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms
Portobellos filled with a chickpea and tahini mash, cumin, lime and nutritional yeast, then air fried.
Serves two and eats like a main. The mushroom is the plate, so there is nothing else to wash up.
Get the recipe from She Wants to be Good.
21. Chickpea Tuna Salad
Ours, and the most popular recipe on the site. Mashed chickpeas with nori stirred through for the flavor of the sea.
The creaminess is tahini rather than mayonnaise. Sandwich, cracker, or straight out of the bowl.
22. Pina Colada Overnight Oats
Oats, chia, coconut milk, pineapple and vanilla protein powder, left overnight.
The protein here comes from a supplement rather than from food, which is a fair choice if you already keep powder in the house and a pointless purchase if you do not.
Get the recipe from The All Natural Vegan.
23. Vegan Chocolate Protein Ice Cream
Cashews, medjool dates and coconut milk churned with chocolate protein powder. Seven ingredients, no dairy, no refined sugar.
It needs about four hours in the freezer, so it is a thing you start in the afternoon.
Get the recipe from The All Natural Vegan.
Where the protein actually comes from
Lentils, beans, chickpeas, tofu and peanuts do the heavy lifting on this list. Powder shows up in three of the twenty-three and we have said which.
If you want the plain version of this, we wrote about the fifteen plant foods worth building meals around.
And, always, seek health consciously.
