Vegetarian Meal Plan: 7 Days of Meals and a Grocery List

Hello lovelies,

the biggest kitchen decision of our week happens on Sunday: what's going on the table over the next 7 days, and what do we need to buy for it? Ever since I started answering that question once a week instead of every evening right before dinner, our weekdays have felt noticeably calmer.

Here's my vegetarian meal plan for one fall week, with breakfast, dinner and leftovers for lunch. You'll also get the weekly rhythm I plan with, a grocery list you can check off, and the food safety basics that keep your leftovers good the next day.

How do you make a vegetarian meal plan?

Check your calendar first, give every night a theme, slot in recipes that fit and turn them into a grocery list. After that, the daily "what's for dinner?" question is gone.

Here's how I do it every week:

1. Check the calendar: Which nights are short on time, who's out, when are guests coming? Longer recipes go on the quiet days, quick ones on the busy days.
2. Set the rhythm: Every night gets a theme, like pasta on Tuesday and oven night on Wednesday. Instead of choosing from every recipe in the world, you choose from a handful.
3. Pick recipes that share ingredients: Look for dishes with overlap. You buy carrots or bulgur once and use them on 2 nights, so less goes to waste.
4. Plan for leftovers: Cook more of a few dishes on purpose, for the next day's lunch or a whole extra dinner.
5. Write the grocery list: List every ingredient from the plan first, then cross off what you already have.

That last step is the easiest one to skip. Utah State University Extension's guide to meal planning against food waste suggests taking an inventory first, then listing only the ingredients you don't already have for the meals in your weekly plan. That's exactly what the grocery list further down is for.

Research backs up the habit, too. In a large French study on meal planning of more than 40,000 adults, 57 percent said they planned their meals at least occasionally. Meal planners were more likely to follow the French nutrition guidelines and ate a more varied diet. The study shows an association, though, not proof that planning itself is the cause.

My vegetarian meal plan for one fall week

This week's plan has 7 dinners from 6 recipes, 7 breakfasts and 3 lunches made from leftovers. The times come from the recipes. Weekday breakfasts are set up the night before, and weekend breakfasts are warm.

The plan really starts on Sunday, because Sunday carries the week. The minestrone with savoy cabbage and white beans is ready in 45 minutes and makes a rewarding make-ahead dish. Cook a double batch, and Monday's dinner is already waiting in the fridge. Cook the risoni separately and add them only when serving, otherwise they soak up all the broth overnight.

On Monday night, when the minestrone only needs reheating, fry the zucchini slices for Tuesday after dinner. Layered with basil, they keep for 24 hours in the fridge, and that turns spaghetti alla Nerano with crispy zucchini into a 20-minute dinner. The Parmesan means this pasta isn't vegan.

Wednesday is oven night. The colorful roasted vegetables with bulgur take 60 minutes, 40 of which are cooking time. Pack what's left for Thursday: the leftovers reheat easily or can be eaten cold as a salad with a simple dressing, which makes them perfect to take to the office.

Thursday belongs to beans and lentils. The lasagna soup with red lentils and spinach is on the table in 45 minutes and brings 22 g of protein per serving. Cook the noodles separately so they stay al dente, even when you reheat the leftovers on Friday.

Friday is clean-out-the-fridge night. The curry with broccoli, coconut milk and bulgur is ready in 35 minutes, and cauliflower, zucchini or peas work just as well as the broccoli. It has no heat at all, so it's mild enough for kids, and you'll still have bulgur in the pantry from Wednesday.

On Saturday, dinner can take a little longer. Plan 80 minutes for the pear tarte flambée with gorgonzola and honey, but you can knead the dough the day before and keep it wrapped in the fridge. With crème fraîche, gorgonzola and honey, it isn't vegan.

Spaghetti alla Nerano with Crispy Zucchini

Colorful oven vegetables with bulgur

Lasagna Soup with Red Lentils and Spinach

Curry with Broccoli, coconut milk and Bulgur

The weekly rhythm: every night has a theme

A weekly rhythm means every day of the week gets a fixed theme. The recipes change, the rhythm stays, and that's what takes the effort out of planning.

Here's my rhythm:

• Sunday, the big pot: a soup or sauce in a double batch that covers Monday too.
• Monday, leftovers night: reheat, cook a fresh side, done.
• Tuesday, pasta: a short cooking time, ideally with something prepped the night before.
• Wednesday, oven night: the sheet pan cooks while you do something else.
• Thursday, beans and lentils: filling, and they bring protein.
• Friday, clean out the fridge: a curry or stir-fry that takes whatever is left.
• Saturday, time to cook: dough, oven and toppings everyone adds together.

At our house, this rhythm has hung on the fridge for years. I swap the recipes with the seasons, so in fall it's squash, savoy cabbage and pears in the pots, and in spring it's something else. Whoever gets home first can see right away what's on and get started.

For the nights when nothing goes to plan, it pays to keep a stash of vegetarian freezer meals. A few of those portions rescue any week that gets away from you.

Cook once, eat twice: plan your leftovers

In my meal plan, leftovers aren't an accident, they're scheduled: for 4 dishes, you cook more on purpose, for a lunch or a whole extra dinner.

How much time can pass between cooking and eating the leftovers? The USDA's guide to leftovers and food safety says leftovers can be kept in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days or frozen for 3 to 4 months. They need to go into the fridge within 2 hours of cooking. In my plan, there's never more than 1 day in between. For dish-by-dish fridge times, see my guide on how long meal prep keeps in the fridge.

To make it work, I set aside the portion for the next day as soon as we clear the table, before anyone goes back for seconds. Large amounts go into shallow containers, as the USDA advises, so they cool down quickly. Utah State University Extension puts it simply: don't forget about leftovers, and plan to use them later in the week or freeze them for another meal.

In this plan, that's 3 lunches. You eat Wednesday's roasted vegetables cold as a salad on Thursday, Thursday's lasagna soup on Friday with freshly cooked noodles, and Friday's curry tastes even better reheated on Saturday. There are more high-protein vegetarian lunch ideas in my lunch guide.

How much you cook depends on your household. All 6 dinner recipes are written for 4 servings. For 2 people, a single batch covers 2 meals, including the minestrone for Sunday and Monday. For 4 people, you double the dishes that have leftovers.

Whatever doesn't get eaten should go into the freezer in time. The minestrone freezes in portions for up to 3 months, best without the risoni, and the lasagna soup without its noodles for 3 months as well.

Breakfast: made ahead on weekdays, warm on weekends

On weekdays, we have a breakfast that's set up the evening before, in a jar or a bowl. In the morning, everything is ready in the fridge.

Stir the chocolate overnight oats together in the evening, and they soak in the fridge overnight, about 6 to 8 hours. Berries, figs and coconut yogurt complete them. The recipe makes 3 servings, so double it for a bigger family.

On alternate days, there's Bircher muesli. For the autumn Bircher muesli, mix everything in the evening, cover the bowl and let it soak in the fridge overnight. By morning it's lovely and creamy, and the toppings go on only then. The recipe makes 2 servings.

On weekends, breakfast can be warm and take a little longer. With the sheet pan apple pancake, nobody stands at the stove while the others eat: everything goes into the oven once and comes to the table together.

And on Sunday, there are pancakes. My kids ask the night before whether the mini banana pancakes with caramel sauce are on again tomorrow.

Chocolate overnight oats

Autumnal Bircher Muesli

Sheet Pan Apple Pancake with Cinnamon and Almonds

Mini Banana Pancakes with Vegan Caramel Sauce

The grocery list for the week

For this plan, you do one big shop and pick up fresh fruit midweek if you need it. Ingredients that show up in more than one recipe keep the list short.

Carrots show up in 4 of the 6 dinner recipes, bulgur in 2. And the pears left over from the Bircher muesli end up on Saturday's tarte flambée. Planning so that ingredients do double duty is the easiest way to waste less.

A note on cheese: traditional Parmesan is made with animal rennet. If you eat strictly vegetarian, check the label when you buy cheese.

Here's the list to check off. It's sorted by store section, as Utah State University Extension suggests, to make shopping quick and easy. You probably have spices, salt and oil already, and the exact amounts are in each recipe.

Is a vegetarian meal plan balanced?

It can be, as long as vegetables, beans and protein are spread across the week. Harvard's Healthy Eating Plate suggests filling half your plate with vegetables and fruits, and it names beans and nuts among the healthy protein sources.

That's how the Healthy Eating Plate from Harvard's Nutrition Source puts it, adding that the more vegetables and the greater the variety, the better. Most dinners in this plan are built around vegetables, from the zucchini in the pasta to the broccoli in the curry. My plan leans on fall produce like savoy cabbage, squash and parsnips, and you'll find what's in season when in my guide to fall vegetables.

Beans and lentils show up on 4 nights: white beans in the minestrone on Sunday and Monday, red lentils in the lasagna soup on Thursday and edamame in the curry on Friday.

For protein, 4 of the 6 dinner recipes list a value per serving. It ranges from 12 g for the minestrone to 26 g for the spaghetti alla Nerano.

If you'd like more protein on the plate, add tofu, tempeh or extra lentils. Which foods bring the most, I show you in my overview of plant protein sources.

How to adapt the plan to your week

The plan is a framework, not a rulebook. Swap out recipes that don't land at your table and keep the theme of the night.

Not in the mood for soup on Thursday? The mujadara with lentils, rice and crispy onions is another lentil dish and is classic meal prep food that tastes even better on the second day. It takes 70 minutes, so it suits a quieter night.

Tacos that everyone fills at the table work well on Saturday, too. The sweet potato tacos with avocado cream are ready in 45 minutes, and the roasted sweet potato cubes keep for 3 days in the fridge.

At our house, the kids eat almost everything as long as the heat gets added at the table and not in the pot. Friday's curry is a good example: season individual portions with chili or fresh ginger.

A meal plan doesn't have to be perfect to work. Start with the Sunday pot and one theme per night, and the rest falls into place week by week. Which night of your week is the hardest, and what do you cook then?

Yours, Verena

Recipes to try

Mujadara with Lentils, Rice and Crispy Onions

Sweet Potato Tacos with Avocado Cream

Stuffed Pumpkin with Rice, Feta and Pomegranate

Easy Vegan Chop Suey with Colorful Vegetables and Rice Noodles