Vegan Meal Prep UK: 5 Meals in 1 Hour

Spending one hour on a Sunday making five lunches or dinners saves you money, reduces food waste, and means you always have something to eat that isn’t toast. All of these use UK supermarket ingredients and the total shopping list costs under £20.

The five meals

Meal 1: Chickpea curry (2 portions)

Follow our chickpea curry recipe but halve it. Cook the full batch first while everything else is prepping. 15 minutes active time.

Meal 2: Lentil bolognese (2 portions)

Use our bolognese recipe with red lentils (faster than soya mince for meal prep). Cook the pasta separately and keep it in a different container so it doesn’t go soggy.

Meal 3: Bean chilli (2 portions)

Simplified version of our chilli recipe. One tin kidney beans, one tin chopped tomatoes, diced onion, smoked paprika, cumin. Simmer for 20 minutes. Serve with rice.

Meal 4: Peanut noodles (2 portions)

Cook 2 nests of noodles. Mix 3 tbsp peanut butter, 2 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tbsp sriracha, juice of 1 lime, and splash of hot water into a sauce. Toss with noodles and leftover vegetables from the other recipes. Serve cold or reheated.

Meal 5: Loaded jacket potatoes (2 portions)

Bake 2 large potatoes (microwave for 8 minutes then oven for 15 for crispy skin). Fill with leftover chilli or curry from the batches above. Top with vegan sour cream if you like.

The shopping list

• 1 bag dried red lentils (£1)
• 1 tin chickpeas (40p)
• 1 tin kidney beans (40p)
• 3 tins chopped tomatoes (£1.20)
• 1 tin coconut milk (80p)
• 3 onions (50p)
• 1 bag carrots (50p)
• 1 head celery (60p)
• 500g spaghetti (60p)
• 2 nests noodles (50p)
• 2 large potatoes (40p)
• Peanut butter (£1.50 — you’ll have loads left)
• Spices: curry powder, smoked paprika, cumin (if you don’t already have them, £3–4 total but they last months)
• Soy sauce (£1 — lasts months)
• 1 bag stir fry veg (£1)

Total: roughly £12–18 depending on what you already have. That works out to about £1.50–2 per meal.

Storage

All meals keep in the fridge for 3–4 days in sealed containers. The curry, bolognese, and chilli also freeze well. Glass containers are best for reheating.

Get glass meal prep containers on Amazon →