Plant-based diet beginner? Use this 3-day whole food plant-based diet meal plan to get started!

Two bowls of mulligatawny soup on a checkered kitchen counter.
Bright and beautiful soups like this vegan mulligatawny make a great addition to a plant-based diet.

I know when you’re just starting out on a plant-based diet it can feel overwhelming. Where do you even begin?

This plant-based meal plan should point you in the right direction and give you idea of how to put together a few days of eating. When done right, a plant-based diet can be sustainable, delicious, healthy and much easier than you think.

Let’s get started!

Why Are you Doing This?

What’s your reason for wanting to eat a plant-based diet? It for your health? For animal welfare? To lose weight?

It can help to nail down your why then keep that reason front of mind. Write it down and refer back to it often.

Start Slow and Keep Going

If you want to reduce the amount of meat you eat, eating plant-based a couple times a week is a great place to start.

This 3-day meal plan could be broken up and used Monday, Wednesday, Friday or 3 days in a row, or mixed and matched in any way that works for you.

If you’re coming from a Standard American Diet or any heavily animal-based way of eating, switching to a plant-based diet overnight may not be realistic. It’s not necessary either. There is nothing wrong with taking things step by step!

If you start eating plant-based a couple days a week, or even just a few meals a week, that’s great! Build on that with the goal of moving towards a completely plant-based diet.

3 lentil meatballs with tomato sauce topped with fresh basil in a bowl.
These vegan lentil meatballs with bolognese are one way to enjoy all your favourite foods while eating plant-based.

What is a Whole Food Plant-Based Diet?

As we go through this vegan meal plan, keep in mind that the focus here is a whole food plant-based diet. That means we’re not eating processed foods or refined grains and sugars and instead focusing on whole foods such as vegetables, fruits, nuts and grains.

That’s just what a whole food plant-based diet is all about, mainly eating whole, real foods and avoiding highly refined processed foods.

Here are the food groups that make up this meal plan:

  • whole grains
  • vegetables
  • fruits
  • nuts
  • seeds
  • legumes (including soy)
  • fermented foods

There is no dairy, no eggs and no meat and this particular meal plan is based on all whole foods. Processed meat and dairy alternatives have a time and a place and can certainly be helpful when you’re transitioning but just like all processed foods, they should be eaten in moderation, if you’re including them at all.

That being said, there are some amazing dairy-alternatives available today such as coconut yogurt and cashew cheese that can certainly be included in a whole food diet. Reading ingredient lists can help you determine if a packaged food is or isn’t a good choice.

Ingredients to Avoid

  • hydrogenated oils
  • high-fructose corn syrup
  • MSG (monosodium glutamate)
  • sucralose and aspartame
  • artificial flavours
  • artificial colours (may just be listed as “blue”, for example)
  • preservatives such as BHA (Butylated hydroxyanisole), BHT (butylated hydrozyttoluen), TBHQ (tertiary butylhydroquinone)

The easiest way to avoid these ingredients is to breeze past the processed food aisle and straight to the whole foods.

There are also many ways to make healthy alternatives to your favourite processed foods, so if you feel like you’re not ready to give certain things up, try investigating a homemade healthier version and giving that a try instead.

You can also review my vegan grocery list for more tips on shopping as a plant-based eater.

What about sugar, oil and salt?

Some plant-based doctors recommend a completely SOS-free, or sugar, oil and salt-free, whole food plant-based diet. You can decide if that’s something you want to do.

I include oil, sugar and salt in my diet. I don’t use a lot of oil but I sometimes use olive oil for cooking and I occasionally use coconut oil in dessert recipes.

I definitely try to minimize added sugar in my diet but I still enjoy lots of treats and desserts. Same with salt, I add it to my food but since I don’t eat much processed foods, it’s easy to keep my sodium in check. If you eat mostly whole foods this all happens naturally so it’s not something I think too much about.

Is this a vegan or plant-based meal plan?

This particular plan is both vegan and whole food plant-based. What’s the difference? Well, someone who is vegan may not necessarily eat a whole food plant-based diet but they could be and someone who eats whole food plant-based may not be vegan.

You could be vegan and subsist on Oreos, vegan meat alternatives and chips but you’re not going to feel very good or get enough micronutrients in your diet. If you are vegan, leaning towards a whole food diet is definitely a great way to go for your health.

What does Vegan Mean?

Veganism is the practice of minimizing harm to all animals by abstaining from animal products such as meat, fish, dairy, eggs, honey, gelatin, lanolin, wool, fur, silk, suede, and leather.

It is more than a diet, it is a way of living that seeks to exclude all forms of exploitation and cruelty to animals for food, clothing or any other purpose.

What Does Plant-based mean?

A plant-based diet, on the other hand, is just about the food. You can pretty much guess what it’s all about from the name. If you eat a plant-based diet you may not necessarily be vegan and you might have other reasons for eating that way than just compassion.

Plant-based may not mean you never eat meat. A plant-based diet is simply a plant-rich diet, or a consistently eating mostly of plant-based foods.

You have to choose what it looks like for you.

Can you be vegan and whole food plant-based?

Of course! The terms are used fairly interchangeably these days though and that’s ok. I eat plant-based because I whole-heartedly believe in the health benefits but I also do my best to reduce harm in all areas of my life.

I eat plant-based for both health and compassion, as well as my desire to reduce my environmental impact.

Colourful bowl of rice, tofu, edamame, cabbage and grated carrot.
Colourful bowls like this tofu edamame buddha bowl are an easy way to include more veggies and plant-based proteins in your diet.

Plant-Based Diet Meal Plan

I’m including everything I ate and drank, including supplements, tea, coffee and snacks during 3 days of real life. The only thing I didn’t include is water, which I aim for about 3 L a day.

Rather than an exact plan, this is more of a guideline to act as an inspiration to create your own plant-based diet plan.

Calories and Macronutrients

The meal plan below consists of approximately 2300 calories per day with a ratio of 50% carbs, 20% protein and 30% fat. If you need more food than this, increase the serving sizes or add an additional snack, if you need less food, reduce the serving sizes and/or omit the snacks.

This might be on the higher side for most people however I’m highly active and training in the gym 6 days a week so this works for me. If you’re interested in vegan flexible dieting you can find all my posts on the topic here.

Mix and Match

You can mix and match the snacks listed below with other ideas from my list of Easy Vegan Snack Ideas. For more breakfast ideas, check out my list of Healthy Vegan Breakfast Recipes.

At the end of the meal plan, I’ve included more ideas for plant-based meals and snacks.

Plant-Based Meal Plan Day 1

Upon Rising (Pre-Workout)

  • 1 L of warm water with lemon
  • Coffee
  • Omega-3 with EPA and DHA (I use NutraVeg), Vitamin B12, Vegan Vitamin D3

Breakfast

Veggie Hash: 100 grams each of cooked sweet potato, kale, cooked lentils, mushrooms and bell peppers. Cooked over medium heat for 5-10 minutes. Topped with Chipotle Sauce and kelp granules.

Tip: adding seaweed such as kelp to your diet is a great way to get enough iodine.

Blueberry and Mango Smoothie: 140 grams of frozen blueberries, 70 grams of frozen mango, a handful of spinach, 4-5 slices of cucumber, 1 serving vegan protein powder (can be replaced with 1/2 a frozen banana), 1 tbsp ground flax and 1 cup of almond milk, or more if needed to get it to blend.

You can substitute any frozen fruit, any plant-based milk or water and any plant-based protein you like. I like my adaptogens and superfoods, so I also added spriulina, ashwaganda and holy basil. Read more about that here.

Tip: check out my vegan protein smoothies e-book for 66 amazing smoothie recipes.

Snack

1 Apple and Mixed Raw Nuts

Lunch

Vegetable Chickpea Chowder: I’d made this for dinner the night before so I had the leftovers for lunch today. This is an awesome recipe that’s very flavourful and easy to make. Get the recipe here.

Small Salad: I also had a small salad with greens, grated carrot, a few black beans, a few pumpkin seeds, sliced cucumber and a drizzle of tahini and lemon.

Tip: pumpkin seeds are a great source of antioxidants, iron, zinc and magnesium.

Whole Wheat English Muffin: I had half with smashed avocado, sea salt and broccoli sprouts and half with almond butter. You could do the same on toast or crackers.

Dinner

Farro Salad: I followed the recipe for my Mediterranean Farro Salad which has farro, kale, olives, parsley, roasted red peppers, tomato, chickpeas, onions and tahini sauce. I also added tofu feta.

Evening Supplements

  • Magnesium

Drinks Throughout the Day

More Reading: How to improve your sleep for better health.

A big bowl filled with chickpeas, farro, kale, roasted red peppers and red onion.
This stunning Mediterranean farro salad features roasted red peppers, chickpeas, olives and delicious lemon tahini sauce.

Plant-Based Meal Plan Day 2

Upon Rising (Pre-Workout)

  • 1 L of warm water with apple cider vinegar
  • Matcha tea
  • Omega-3, Vitamin B12, Vegan Vitamin D3

Breakfast

Stovetop Oatmeal: I cooked 1/2 cup of rolled oats in water with 1 tbsp of chia seeds, 1 tbsp ground flax, 3/4 cup frozen blueberries, 1/2 cup grated zucchini and half a scoop of plant-based vanilla protein powder. Cook it over the stovetop until the oats are soft and it has thickened, then add your toppings. I topped it with peanut butter.

For more oatmeal recipes try my sauteed apple oatmealcarrot zucchini pumpkin oatmeal, blueberry oatmeal, chocolate oatmeal or simple banana oatmeal.

Snack

Strawberry Smoothie: Blend 1 cup of frozen strawberries with a handful of spinach, a few pieces of steamed then frozen cauliflower, a chunk of fresh ginger, 1 scoop of vanilla protein powder and almond milk or water. I also added maca and chlorella. You can read more about these in my post on the best superfoods to add to smoothies.

Lunch

Leftover Farro Salad: The beauty of making healthy dinners at home is you always have lunch ready for the next day.

Snack

Nutty “Cereal”: To make this, add up to 1/2 a cup of various nuts, seeds, coconut and dried fruit to a small dish and top with a splash of almond milk. You can add a bit of fresh fruit too if you like. If you don’t want to add the milk, just enjoy it as trail mix.

Dinner

Quick and Easy Zoodles: Spiralize zucchini then add it to a pan and saute it for a few minutes in some water or stock. Pour your choice of pasta sauce over it, heat it through then add it to a bowl and top with vegan parmesan or nutritional yeast.

Other Supplements

  • Magnesium

Other Drinks

3-Day Whole Food Plant-Based Diet Meal Plan for Beginners
Oatmeal makes a delicious, nourishing breakfast. Try adding blueberries and your favourite nut butter like in these peanut butter berry oats.

Plant-Based Meal Plan Day 3

Upon Rising (Pre-Workout)

  • 1 L warm water with apple cider vinegar
  • Yerba Mate tea
  • Omega-3, Vitamin B12, Vegan Vitamin B12
  • Spelt toast with 1/2 banana and almond butter

Breakfast

Chickpea Flour Pancakes: I followed my recipe for chickpea flour pancakes and topped them with thawed frozen raspberries, peanut butter, date caramel sauce and a sprinkling of hemp seeds.

Lunch

Easy Macro Bowl: Because I did food prep ahead of time, it was easy to make a quick macro bowl for lunch. I used a base of quinoa and topped it with massaged kale, roasted sweet potato, roasted brussel sprouts, sauerkraut, baked tofu, kidney beans, tahini, hot sauce, salt, pepper, lemon. Mix and match your choice of grain, legume and veggies to create your own macro bowl.

For more easy bowls try my Vegan BBQ Tofu BowlsRoasted Potato Avocado Buddha BowlsVegan Sweet Potato Tofu Bowls or Brown Rice Burrito Bowl.

Snack

Blueberry Pineapple Smoothie Bowl: I blended 1 cup of frozen blueberries, 1 cup of frozen pineapple chunks, 1/2 a steamed and frozen sliced zucchini, 1/2 a frozen banana and 1 rib of celery with 1 scoop of plant-based protein powder and then topped it with almond butter, walnuts and hemp seeds.

Dinner

Coconut Red Lentil Dahl: I make this dish often and it’s one of the most popular recipes on the blog. I added some kale, diced carrots and diced zucchini and served it with a scoop of brown rice and lots of cilantro. Get the recipe here.

Other Supplements

  • Magnesium

Other Drinks

  • Liquorice Spice Tea
  • Green Tea
  • Americano misto with almond milk
A bowl of red lentil dahl topped with fresh cilantro.
This coconut red lentil dahl is a plant-based favourite. Nutritious and easy to make with amazing flavour, it’s a great staple dish to include in your diet.

Plant-Based Can Be Simple

I hope that this meal plan points you in the right direction when it comes to creating a full day of plant-based meals. To be honest, it doesn’t even have to be that complicated. A plant-based diet can be as simple or as elaborate as you decide to make it.

Sometimes it might be amazing plant-based diet recipes and sometimes its throwing leftover veggies and lentils in a bowl. There’s no right or wrong answer. As long as you’re eating a wide range of whole plant foods, you’re all set.

I’ve listed more meal ideas below. You can also check out my One-Week Vegan Meal Plan for further inspiration.

Plant-Based Breakfast Ideas

For breakfast, think oats, smoothies, granola, tofu scrambles and toast. You can also check out my list of healthy breakfast smoothies and easy, healthy vegan breakfast recipes.

Dairy-Free Yogurt Parfaits. Layer non-dairy yogurt such as Silk, So Delicious or Yoso in a bowl with berries, banana, nuts and seeds.

Sweet potato or squash breakfast bowls. Add some mashed sweet potato or squash to a bowl and top with things like nuts, seeds, coconut, yogurt, peanut butter and granola.Try my Sweet Potato Breakfast Bowls or Stuffed Acorn Squash Breakfast Bowls.

Toast, Bagels and English Muffins. Top you choice of bread with nut butter or tahini and layer with things like sliced apple or banana, seeds. If you’re not doing nut butter, go for avocado. You can keep it simple with plain avocado or combine it with hummus and something like broccoli sprouts. Chickpea scrambles are great on toast too.

Easy Breakfast Wraps. Roll a tortilla up with a quick chickpea or tofu scramble, roasted sweet potato, spinach and avocado. To make it more substantial, add a Field Roast sausage. Try my Vegan Sweet Potato Breakfast BurritosHealthy Vegan Breakfast BurritosVegan Black Bean Burritos with Red Rice or Vegan Breakfast Burrito Bowl with Chipotle Sauce.

Chia Pudding & Overnight Oats. Chia pudding and overnight oats, or a combo of the two are great for food prep. They take just minute to make the night before and then they’re ready to go in the morning. Try one of these chia seed pudding recipes, peanut Butter chia pudding, brownie batter oats, zucchini chocolate chip or carrot cake overnight oats.

Granola and Fruit. Store-bought granola makes an easy option but granola is also a breeze ot make at home. Try my peanut butter granola or Cinnamon Raisin Healthy Homemade Granola with almond milk and banana.

Oatmeal. You can’t go wrong with oatmeal or porridge of any kind. I love using quinoa for porridge and brown rice is really good too. I usually combine my oats with chia seed or flax and some protein to create a more balanced meal. For toppings, use nuts, seeds, fruit, nut butters, coconut, dried fruit and cacao.

Try my peaches and cream oatmeal, peanut butter blueberry oatmealGolden Coconut Apple Oatmeal or Peanut Butter Chocolate Oatmeal. You can also do breakfast quinoa.

Close up of a baked sweet potato in a bowl topped with berries, almonds, peanut butter and coconut.
Try a stuffed sweet potato for a healthy and delicious plant-based breakfast!

Plant-Based Lunch Ideas

For lunch, think leftovers, sandwiches and wraps, soups and salad bowls.

Sandwiches and Wraps. Who doesn’t love a good sandwich? Try vegan cheese, avocado, lettuce, tomato and cucumber or vegan “tuna” salad. Slabs of marinated baked tofu or crispy tempeh slices work well in sandwiches too, try them with lettuce, tomato and coconut bacon. If you don’t want to do a bread, you can use romaine lettuce or collard greens to make veggie wraps. Vegan maya, avocado and hummus work great as spreads in sandwiches.

Quick Salads. You can buy packaged salad greens if that makes things easier. Add a few big handfuls to a bowl and top with a scoop of quinoa, chickpeas, grated carrot, sunflower seeds and tahini. Check out more plant-based salads here.

Soups. Soups are perfect for easy lunches if you make them ahead of time. I have so many good ones on the blog. Try my Mulligatawny Soup, Curried Lentil Soup, Vegan Zuppa Toscana or view all of my vegan soup recipes here.

Bowl of cauliflower, carrot and wild rice soup topped with a few sliced green onions.
This creamy vegan cauliflower wild rice soup makes a nourishing meal any time of day.

Plant-Based Dinner Ideas

Dinners are where things get really yummy! Curries, pasta, pizza, burgers, tacos, noodles, rice…there are so many options.

Bowl of colorful salad with brown rice, peanut sauce, tofu and veggies. Jar of sauce in background.
Salads don’t have to be boring! This beautiful Thai-inspired tofu and rice salad delivers on flavour, texture and nutrition.

Creating Plant-Based Meals

When you’re creating plant-based meals, think about combining the three macronutrients, fat, carbs and protein. This helps create more balanced meals that will prevent a spike in blood sugar and help keep you fuller for longer.

Fats

Fat comes from nuts, seeds, soy, coconut, avocado and cacao.

Carbohydrates

Carbs come from beans, starchy vegetables (sweet potato, potato etc.), whole grains such as rice, quinoa and whole grain products like pasta and bread.

Also consider fiber. Fiber is very important for digestion and gut health, blood sugar, blood pressure, cholesterol and more. A good place to start is 25 grams a day but that’s the minimum so try to work your way up from there. High-fibre foods include fruits and vegetables, legumes and whole grains and whole grain products.

Protein

Protein comes from hemp seeds, beans and lentils, nuts, soy products such as tofu, tempeh and edamame, whole grains and if needed, plant-based protein powder. Read my post on the best vegan protein sources.

 Vegan Roasted Sweet Potato Breakfast Burritos

Easy Plant-Based Desserts

Some of my favourite vegan treats are these 3-ingredient oatmeal cookies, flourless peanut butter cookiestahini date cookies and peanut butter blondies but dessert doesn’t always have to be a recipe.

Some of my favourite simple vegan desserts are:

  • Chocolate Avocado PuddingBlend together avocado, maple syrup or dates and cocoa powder.
  • Quick Baked Apple and Cinnamon. Chop up an apple and place in an oven safe dish and bake with cinnamon until soft. You can enjoy as is or top it with things like coconut butter, cacao nibs or almond butter. This is delicious with pears too, try them in this recipe for cinnamon baked pears.
  • Raw Vegan Chocolates. Use the recipe for the chocolate portion of my vegan peanut butter cups and freeze in silicone muffin cups or just spread on parchment paper to make a quick chocolate bar.
  • Protein Cookie Dough. Blend chickpeas with vanilla protein powder, a little maple syrup, peanut butter and pinch of sea salt. You can use powdered peanut butter to and add a bit of water to thin it out.
  • 2-Minute Cookie Dough. Use the recipe for the cookie dough topping portion of my tiramisu smoothie and just eat it as is or crumble it over some blended frozen banana or non-dairy yogurt.
  • Stuffed Dates. My all-time favourite. Take a big, soft date, stuff it with peanut butter, almond butter, tahini or coconut butter and enjoy. You can also sneak a nut in there or better yet, coat them in vegan chocolate.
  • Banana ice cream. All you need it bananas! From there add whatever else you like such as cocoa powder, strawberries or peanut butter. How to make banana ice cream.

Those are just a few ideas. I could go on forever so I’m going to leave it at that today. You can browse all of my vegan dessert recipes here.

Stack of 4 tahini date cookies sitting on a cooling rack.
These simple, 3-ingredient tahini date cookies make a great option for a healthy dessert.

Helpful Resources

Before you begin your meal plan I wanted to stare a few resources you might find helpful. I would highly recommend browsing through these posts so you feel more confident getting into the meal plan below.

In particular, read my vegan nutrition guide, resources for plant-based nutrition, tips for plant-based beginners and how to transition to a plant-based diet.

Plant-Based Eating Articles

Plant-Based Nutrition Books

Educating yourself on plant-based nutrition makes it that much easier to stick to it. I

What’s Next?

Now that you’ve got an idea of what a day of plant-based eating looks like, come on over and join my FREE closed Facebook group for more inspiration. Click here to join.