If you’ve had a busy day at the office or shuffling children, sometimes tackling dinner is the last thing on your mind, but I know you want wholesome plant-based food. What’s a busy cook supposed to do? Pull from your canned and packaged whole food cupboard quickies.
Although you may have time to prepare homemade beans and cook your whole grains, this list is for those days when you just don’t have the energy or willpower to make it happen. We all have days like this. I think even purist will find these products have all the nutrition that a whole-foods, plant-based cook needs although you might want to watch the sodium content. And, while many canned and packaged items are not whole foods, many do fit the bill for sticking to a plant-based diet. So be sure to see the list of recommended brands from Forks Over Knives.
You might also be interested what else I recommend for stocking your pantry. This post, "How to Stock Your Plant-Based Pantry" includes everything and also a downloadable list of what I usually purchase every week.
49 Quick Recipes from Your Cupboard
Here's your list of items for your pantry and 49 recipes that can be made using them. Be sure to purchase low sodium versions is you're concerned about salt.
Canned organic tomatoes-diced, chopped, crushed, stewed and whole tomatoes and tomato paste. Look for those that are BPA-free if you can find them (Trader Joe's And Eden Brand).
Classic Marinara Sauce
Easy Chana Masala
One-Pot Penne Pasta
Slow Cooker Italian Soup
Bean Chili
Jarred pasta sauce Trader Joes’ Fat-Free Organic Classic Tomato Pasta Sauce, Whole Foods 365 Brand
Pasta Puttanesca with Spinach
Sweet Potato Veggie Lasagna
Pasta with Veggies
Stuffed Peppers
Chickpea Omelet with Curried Spinach
Pre-made rice and/or quinoa. Seeds of Change has several pre-made styles of rice: quinoa and brown rice, Spanish rice, Caribbean rice, brown & red rice with kale & chia, that can be purchased from several stores: Costco, Target, Whole Foods, Vitacost, Amazon and more.
Pineapple Fried Rice
Curried Chickpea Rice Salad
One Pot Thai Coconut Curry
Mexican Rice Salad
Mushroom Pilaf (with Quinoa or Rice)
Boxed or Canned Pre-Made lentils from Trader Joe’s or Eden canned cooked lentils from Whole foods or Target. Eden and Trader Joe’s canned products are preferred because they have no BPA lining.
Lentil Shephard’s Pie
Hearty Lentil Kale Soup
Curried Coconut Lentil Yam soup
Lentil & Oats Power Porridge
Lentil Salad with Swiss Chard
Frozen organic vegetables like broccoli, corn, cauliflower, peas, spinach, kale, peppers, mixed veggies, potatoes, green beans, edamame, butternut squash, asparagus, mixed root veggies, mixed mushrooms. I don’t typically use frozen vegetables when I cook so I’m not sure how these will work for you. I’d love to hear what works for you.
Cauliflower Sweet Potato Mash
Cauliflower No-Cheese Sauce
Cheezy Veggie Divan
Creamy Potato Kale Soup
Baked Corn Casserole
All Whole-grain pasta including spaghetti, rigatoni, capellini, and more.
Pasta Primavera
Pasta with Spinach Pesto
Baked Macaroni & Cheese
Macaroni Salad
Mushroom Stroganoff
BPA-free Canned beans from Eden or Trader Joes or see this list of BPA-free cans. Aduki, black, black-eyed peas, black soybeans butter, cannellini, garbanzo, kidney, navy, pinto, and small red beans. Also, refried beans.
BBQ Baked Beans
Broccoli Waldorf Salad
Tamale Pie
Black Bean Soup with Sweet Potatoes
Low-Fat Hummus
Vegetable Stock. There are many brands, but Imagine won the taste test at thekitchn.com
Vegetable Soup with Ravioli
Easy Fat-Free Vegan Gravy
Lentil Pea Soup
Beefless Stew
Vegan Creamed Spinach
Whole grain flour and corn tortillas. Corn tortillas are made with very few ingredients, usually corn and water. Look for non-GMO. Flour tortillas are made with wheat and oil. Some are more nutritious than others so read labels carefully.
Vegan Huevos Rancheros Casserole
Oil-Free Chips
Black Bean Sweet Potato Quesadilla
Lightly Curried Vegetable Wraps
Veggie Tacos
Chia Seeds. A great source of omega 3s and for using as a thickener, egg replacer or added nutrition.
Blueberry Lemon Bars
Cherry Chocolate Smoothie
Overnight Chia Oats
Pumpkin Chia Pudding
Easy Peach Crisp
I'm working on recipes that use Soy Curls and Jackfruit.
Soy curls from Butler Foods*. These are made from select, non-GMO whole soybeans grown without chemical pesticides. 
Re-hydrate them with water or warm vegetable stock and use in any recipe you want a meaty texture.
Green Jack Fruit. Green jackfruit is not sweet and is a good substitute for shredded meat. You can purchase it at Amazon*, Whole foods, and other stores.
There are certainly more cupboard staples that can be used in your whole-foods, plant-based recipes and I'd love to hear what you've made with the items you keep in your cupboard. Please share in the comments below.
*This post contains affiliate links that will help support plantbasedcooking.com
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This sounds great and I have used many of these products myself. My only caution would be that many of these are high in sodium so read labels carefully!
👍You are so right. Check those labels for sodium! Thanks.
So what about the sodium? Is there an amount that’s good or non at all. I want to do the plant based bit really don’t know a whole lot about it.
All of the plant-based advocates I follow do not recommend using salt. That said, I know it can be difficult at first so I recommend cutting back. You’ll find your taste buds changing over time. Since you’ll be eating more whole foods and less processed and packed items on a plant-based diet, that should help because that’s where we get a lot of salt in our diets. Here’s a great article that may help you from plantplate.com that gives you ideas on how to replace the salt so you can reduce your chances of disease. Good luck on starting a plant-based diet. You’ve made a great choice! 👍🌷