Browse recipes

A no-cook chickpea chaat that's tangy, fresh and ready in ten minutes. Chickpeas tossed with red onion, cucumber and tomato, brightened with lemon and chaat masala.

A cheap, batch-friendly workhorse: mixed peppers cooked down until silky with sweet onions and tomato, then folded through chickpeas and finished with red wine vinegar and parsley.

A one-pot Louisiana classic, plant-based. The "holy trinity" of onion, celery and green pepper softened in oil, then rice toasted with Cajun seasoning and smoked paprika and simmered with tomatoes, kidney beans and stock until every grain is tender. Optional vegan sausage pushes the protein higher.

Smoky roasted sweet potato, spiced black beans, and enough lime to wake it all up. The roasting tray does most of the work.

Twenty-five minutes, one pan, mostly cupboard. The beans break down just enough to make the sauce creamy without a drop of cream.

The Sunday-night clear-out-the-fridge dinner, done properly: cold rice, a screaming-hot pan, and tofu crisped until golden. Ready before the takeaway would even arrive.

The Punjabi chickpea curry that earns its place in every weeknight rotation: deeply spiced, made almost entirely from the store cupboard, and better on day two.

Firm tofu pressed and torn (never cut) into craggy nuggets, dipped in mustardy plant milk and coated in seasoned panko. Fry them or bake them; either way they're built for dipping.

A revithada-style chickpea stew: soft, warming and quietly spiced with cumin and smoked paprika. Ready in half an hour and lovely spooned over rice.

Fakes, the Greek lentil soup that's the gentlest way back to solid food. Brown lentils simmered soft with tomato, oregano and bay, then lifted at the end with a slug of red wine vinegar and good olive oil.

A crunchy swap for chips: chickpeas dried hard, roasted until deep golden, then tossed hot with smoked paprika, cumin and garlic powder. Protein and fiber for very few calories.

The weekend indulgence: seitan (or mushrooms) seared with soy sauce and vegan Worcestershire, piled into hoagie rolls with charred peppers and onions, then flooded with a blender cashew cheese sauce.

A silky, gently spiced stew where peanut butter melts into tomato and stock to make something deeply savory. Sweet potato and chickpeas make it a full meal in one pot.

Oat-flour pancakes built on a scoop of vanilla plant protein and soy milk, sweetened by a mashed ripe banana rather than sugar. Cooked as small rounds so the soft batter flips cleanly. Light to eat but genuinely filling. Batch a pile of them and reheat through the week.

Egypt's national dish: rice, lentils and pasta layered together under a sharp spiced tomato sauce and a heap of crisp fried onions. Carbohydrate on carbohydrate, and completely justified.

Chickpeas, tahini, garlic and lemon blended smooth, loosened with aquafaba (the liquid from the chickpea can) so it stays creamy without extra fat. Served with carrot, cucumber and pepper sticks.

Chickpea flour whisked into a spiced onion base until it becomes a thick, smoky, deeply savory stew. One of the fastest genuinely great things you can cook from a cupboard.

Soft yellow lentils finished with a tadka: whole spices bloomed in hot oil and poured over at the last second, so it hits the surface and sizzles.

Herby, crisp-edged falafel baked instead of fried, piled into a bowl with salad and a swoosh of tahini. All the flavor, none of the pan of hot oil.

Smoky, garlicky and thick enough to stand a spoon in. Cheap store-cupboard beans turned into something that tastes like it simmered all day.

Frozen edamame pods boiled for five minutes and tossed with flaky salt, chili flakes and a little toasted sesame oil. One of the highest-protein snacks you can make from a freezer bag.

Red lentils collapsing into coconut milk with Caribbean curry powder, thyme and sweet potato. Ready in half an hour and thick enough to eat with a fork.

Firm green lentils dressed while warm in a sharp Dijon vinaigrette, with plenty of shallot, herbs and walnuts. Good hot, better after an hour, excellent from the fridge.

Raw almonds roasted low until fragrant, then tossed warm with smoked paprika, cumin and a pinch of cayenne. Filling and full of healthy fats. Portion them out.

Chickpeas and sweet potato in a warmly spiced tomato sauce, with dried apricots melting into it for a sweetness that plays against the cumin and cinnamon.

A silky, deep green spinach curry with cubes of golden pan-fried tofu folded through it. All the comfort of palak paneer with none of the dairy.

No cooking, one bowl, fifteen minutes. Chickpeas, cucumber, tomato and kalamata olives tossed in a sharp lemon and red wine vinegar dressing, with plenty of parsley and mint. Holds its own as a light lunch or shrinks to a side.

Twenty minutes from fridge to foil. Black salt is what makes it taste unmistakably of eggs. Don't skip it.

Curry powder bloomed in oil until it perfumes the whole kitchen, then chickpeas and potato simmered in coconut until soft and golden. Warming, cheap and quietly fiery.

Rice noodles tossed in a sweet-sour-salty tamarind sauce with crisp tofu, beansprouts and a heap of crushed peanuts. Everything happens in about four minutes, so get organized first.

A warm rice bowl with each vegetable seasoned separately, crisp pan-fried tofu, and a sweet-sharp gochujang sauce stirred through at the table. The point is the contrast: you mix it all together yourself.

A hearty one-skillet breakfast: sweet potato diced small and browned until tender, then folded through smoky paprika, cumin and black beans. High-fiber, high-protein, and it holds you well into the afternoon.

A cold-noodle bowl built for lunch: crisp lemongrass tofu, rice noodles, herbs and a sharp lime dressing. Assembles from the fridge in minutes once the tofu is done.

White beans and vegan sausage baked slowly under a breadcrumb crust until the top is golden and the beans beneath have gone completely creamy. A weekend pot.

A clear, aromatic broth built by charring onion and ginger and steeping it with star anise and cinnamon, poured over rice noodles and tofu with a plate of herbs to add at the table.

A composed salad of blanched vegetables, potato, fried tofu and tempeh under a thick, sweet-savory peanut sauce. Substantial enough to be dinner.

Green curry paste fried in thick coconut cream until it splits and turns fragrant, then loosened into a fresh, hot, herby curry with eggplant, beans and tofu.

Tortillas crisped in a pan and then folded through warm salsa verde just long enough to soften at the edges without collapsing. Topped with black beans, avocado, onion and lime.

A thick, gently spiced lentil stew softened with squash-sweet carrot and finished with a hard squeeze of lime. Everyday Peruvian home cooking: cheap, filling and quietly excellent.

Numbing, savory and fast. Mushrooms stand in for the pork and nobody misses it. The chili bean paste and Sichuan pepper are doing the real work.

Cannellini or butter beans forked into a chunky, garlicky spread with olive oil and lemon, piled onto good toast and topped with sliced tomato, herbs and chili flakes. Ten minutes, and far more filling than it looks.

The Ethiopian red lentil stew. Almost nothing in it, and yet the berbere and a genuinely long onion cook do all the heavy lifting.

A fragrant, coconut-rich curry that comes together in the time it takes to cook rice. Sweet, salty, sour and hot, all balanced in one pan.

Lentils and rice cooked together under a heap of deeply caramelized onions, warmed with cumin, coriander and a whisper of cinnamon. The most filling plate in the set: the lentils make it stick with you far longer than rice alone.

A fragrant tomato, lentil and chickpea soup thick with herbs and finished with lemon. Traditionally eaten to break the fast during Ramadan, and restorative at any time.

Cold buckwheat noodles in a nutty sesame dressing, loaded with edamame and crunchy raw vegetables. Fifteen minutes, and it is better after an hour in the fridge.

Giant white beans baked slowly in a sweet tomato sauce with dill and plenty of olive oil, until the top catches and the beans turn to cream. Greek taverna cooking at its simplest.

A fiercely savory red stew built on well-fermented kimchi, tofu and gochujang. Sour, spicy and bubbling. The older your kimchi, the better this gets.

Thin, lacy gram-flour pancakes studded with onion, tomato, chili and cilantro. High-protein, naturally gluten-free, and on the plate in twenty-five minutes.

Cool rice noodles under a pile of herbs, raw vegetables and crisp tofu, with a sharp lime-and-chili dressing poured over just before eating. A hot-weather dinner that never feels heavy.

A smooth, golden lentil soup finished with paprika butter and a hard squeeze of lemon. Cheap, fast, and one of the most comforting bowls there is.

Cornstarch-dusted tofu fried until the edges shatter, then tumbled in a glossy teriyaki glaze that thickens around it in seconds. Steamed broccoli and rice make it dinner.

A block of chilled silken tofu turned out whole and dressed with soy, sesame oil, ginger and scallion. No cooking at all, and on the table in five minutes.

A smoky red pepper and tomato sauce, simmered down until it is thick enough to hold a hollow, with seasoned crumbled tofu nestled into the wells where the eggs would go.

Tortillas toasted flat until they snap, spread with warm cumin-spiked black beans and topped with avocado, red onion and lime. Fifteen minutes, mostly from the cupboard.

The Egyptian breakfast: fava beans warmed through and crushed roughly in their own liquid, sharpened with lemon and garlic, then flooded with olive oil and scattered with tomato and parsley. Eaten with bread, out of the same bowl.

The North Indian kidney bean curry that's built for batch cooking: onions taken deep golden, tomatoes cooked until the oil separates, and a few beans mashed against the pan for a thick, creamy gravy without a drop of cream.

Marinated tempeh grilled until the edges blacken, served with a thick peanut sauce for dipping. Nutty, smoky and very high in protein.