Staple foods to have on hand in a vegan diet?

Question

I have recently become a vegan ( I was a vegetarian, but not a very healthy one) and I was wondering if someone could offer me some advice on things to always have on hand in my kitchen.

Answer 1

What I did was buy the vegan version of the things I make for my boyfriend so that I can still eat with him, just a healthier version.  The "chicken" boca bugers are super good!  I buy a lot of fruit and vegitables and "veggie cheese" so i can get my cheese fix in.  You should look through some vegan cook books and try things you like so you can start having the right foods for you on hand and you will enjoy your new litestyle more by being a great vegan cook!

Answer 2

Various grains, including brown rice.  It's also okay to have boxed rice mixes on hand.

Frozen veggies.  Frozen veggie burgers.  Other analogues.  On nights when you're too lazy to cook, these come in handy.

Olive oil.  Flax oil and flax seeds.  Keep the flax products in the fridge or freezer because they go bad very easily.  And never heat flax oil--use it in salad dressings, drizzle on vegetables, etc.

Nutritional yeast.  This pops up in a number of vegan recipes.  It's also good to sprinkle on pasta or other foods.  It has a nutty, cheesy flavor, and the Red Star brand has vitamin B12.

I always have tofu in my freezer.  I have a couple of cakes of tempeh in my fridge.

Soup mixes or canned soup--if you're feeling ill, you'll want something you can fix easily.

Canned beans.  Look for low-sodium versions.  They do exist.

Flour, turbinado sugar, seasonings, spices, herbs, etc.

Answer 3

Seitan (wheat meat, made from gluten). You can make it yourself (some stores, like Whole Foods carry it in the dairy/oj area, it's made by White Wave). See the source link below for the "seitan o'greatness). This is wonderful stuff. Add it to stir frys, grind it up in the food processor for sloppy joes, or anything calling for ground beef

Beans, beans and more beans

Veggies

Fruit (fresh and dried...dried apricots are the best)

Brown rice

Oatmeal

Quinoa

Couscous

Veggie stock (I love Imagine's No-Chicken broth)

Tofu

Temphe

Nuts: pine nuts, almonds, pecans, walnuts

Flaxseed (great omega-3 source! and you can use it with some water to replace eggs in recipes

Unsweetened applesauce (great for replacing eggs in baking)

Unsweetened soy yogurt (Silk is a good option, mix w/unsweetened applesauce and fresh fruit of choice)

Nutritional yeast (make sure it's the Red Star brand, it has your very-needed B12 vitamin in it!)

Answer 4

baby carrots!

I'm no longer a vegan, but when I was.. this was the best

Answer 5

Veganism is HARD; I really don't recommend it.  The only real protein choices you have are nuts, seeds, beans, other legumes, and things like tofu and soy products which are made from them. That gets soooooooooooo boring, so it can be really hard  to stick with veganism and be totally healthy.  It gets too boring.

Be sure that you are getting enough protein and iron..... if you want to do the vegan thing, it is EXTREMELY important to be on a  daily multivitamin and get enough protein.  Please talk to your doctor before you make any drastic changes; he or she can help you come up with a plan of  staples to eat.

Answer 6

Barley, beans, veggies/fruit, tofu.  They are all filling and the beans and tofu will get you your protein (which vegans need to be creative about getting!)  Good Luck on getting healthy!!

Answer 7

Quinoa

Whole wheat pasta

Vegetable broth

brown rice

fresh and frozen veggies

beans

canned diced tomatoes

nuts

peanut butter

fruit spread

vegan friendly bread ( I buy a 100% whole rye bread at a specialty store that is vegan friendly)

Minced garlic

dried spices and herbs

Answer 8

oh my...you really need meat you know...and milk and eggs n stuff really are something you need. Protein is pretty much only in meat which is a must... Although Beans have a lot of protein so have a lot of those. (why would you ever go Vegan, vegetarian isn't so bad, but jeez..)

Answer 9

lots of fruit.ummm unbuttered popcorn?maragarine.

Answer 10

I make vegan chili, so we always keep:

chili magic

Morningstar Farm's ground

Large cans of crushed tomatoes

Chichi's corn cake mix

Creamed corn.

First you make the corncake with the corn.  It takes longer than the chili

You can combine the ground, chili max, and tomatoes and heat them to a boil.  Let the chili boil for 7 to 8 minutes.

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We also keep:

Good bread rolls

Manwich

and more ground

We use that to make pretty decent sloppy joes.

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Sweet potatoes, pineapple, and brown sugar put together makes a pretty good dish too.  We keep those items on hand.

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Canned vegetables are handy, but frozen ones retain their nutritional value better than canned ones...Canned vegetables have way to much salt too.

We go shopping every 2 weeks.  When we shop we buy all sorts of frozen vegetables.  The steam bags work well, but they cost more.  We just buy the regular kind, pour it in a dish, add a little water, cover with plastic wrap (poke some holes) and microwave them however long we need to.

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We always keep  whole grain pasta.

Spaghetti sauce in jars or cans

Stewed tomatoes in cans

and soy cheese.

We make pasta and tomato sauce and macaroni and soy cheese.

I am sure you know how to make spaghetti, but I will tell you how we make mac and soy cheese.

Boil the pasta to aldente while you prepare the cheese sauce.  It's really easy.  Cut soy cheese up into tiny cubes and put it in a small sauce pan.  Add a little soy milk and stir it continuously until the cheese melts.  Drain pasta and add sauce.  It's nice to serve it with stewed tomatoes if you like them.

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We also buy bagels and freeze them.  They are great with tofutti better than cream cheese and jelly.

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Fried smart dogs on hotdog buns with vegetarian baked beans is also an easy meal.

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Whole grain premade pizza crusts are good to have too.  Just add tomato sauce, soy cheese, and any kind of veggie you like.  Bake it and that's a meal.

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brown rice

dried beans

vegetarian bullion cubes

vegetable stock

potatoes

onions

soup crackers

canned vegan lentil and vegetable soup

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Soy milk keeps for a while so we usually just buy a lot of it at once.

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Whole grain fortified cereal, oatmeal in the can, and dried fruits are good to have.

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Healthy snacks like wheat thins

nuts

vegan cookies crackers

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tea bags for tea

drink flavor syrups or powders for flavored soy milk

cocoa powder to make hot chocolate

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natural peanut butter

jelly

rice mallow (like marshmallow fluff, but vegan)

I could probably go on, but I don't want to take up any more space.  I hope I helped a little.

Answer 11

Brown rice, any kind of beans (high protein, like red, garbanzo, soy); I like to keep different flours on hand, like oatmeal, rice, and soy flours - so I'm always baking goodies with date sugar.  I eat lots of nuts and nut butters and keep lots of them handy.  The big thing for me is getting enough protein.  The old time vegans used to say it was importnat to mix vegetable protein sources to make sure you're maxing your amino acids.  Newer articles say not to worry about it, but I like to stick with the old folks to be on the safe side, so I'm always mixing rice and beans - two or three different kinds of flours when I bake.  I also use tons of whole grain tortillas - they have great protein and I throw everything into them.  Good luck!

Answer 12

Congrats on going vegan!

List of vegan staples:

http://www.vegcooking.com/guide9.asp?Cat...

Good vegan non-dairy products and faux meats:

http://www.vegcooking.com/guide-favs.asp

Especially good staples are:

Tofu

Soymilk or other non-dairy milk

Other non-dairy products like soy cheese, soy cream cheese, soy ice cream, etc.

EnerG Egg Replacer (for baking without eggs)

Red Star vegetarian nutritional yeast (for a cheesy flavor)

Nuts and seeds

Beans (canned or dried)

Fruits and veggies

Faux meats like Tofurkey Deli Slices and Gardenburger Meatless Riblets

Vegetable broth

Peanut butter

Spike seasoning or favorite spices

I hope this helps!

Answer 13

Pearl barly

Garlic

Vegan stock.

hi fellow vegan lmao :)

Answer 14

Meat is a major source of a number of vital nutrients required for human function, and vegans are most often at risk of deficiencies. Visit a site like mypyramid.gov, or http://www.veganfoodpyramid.com/vegan-py... which will give you a Vegan's food pyramid and show you the importance of food complimentaion and other techniques important for vegans to understand.