These are some of my favorite gluten-free and vegan dinners of all time! They’re all super tasty and easy to get on the table. When everyone is asking what’s for dinner and time is short, I have 5 types of simple recipes I turn to:
One-pot meals
Salads and bowls
Pasta recipes
Soups & stews
Plant-based powerhouses
All these dinner recipes are full of flavor and made for the whole family to enjoy. Get your meal planners ready – here are 25 of my go-to delicious gluten-free and vegan dinner recipes for this time of the year!
25 Easy Weeknight Gluten-free and Vegan Dinners
One-Pot Meals
What’s easier than one-pot meals? They’re usually super quick to make, and with only one pot to clean up afterwards, they don’t make a complete mess of your kitchen! These are some of my favorite one-pot gluten-free and vegan dinners specifically for weeknights because they are so simple to make while being full of flavor and nutrition too!
1. Quick & Easy One-Pot Curried Quinoa & Chickpeas
This is the perfect recipe for when you need a fast nutritious meal. It comes together in less than 10 minutes, is colorful and is full of flavor!
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2. One-Pan Mexican Quinoa and Black Beans
This one-pan vegan meal is quick to pull together, uses mostly pantry ingredients and keeps clean-up a total breeze. It is loaded with Mexican flavor from the jalapeno, cilantro, lime juice, garlic and red onion.
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3. One-Skillet Baked Butternut Squash Pasta with Sage
This one-skillet dish is perfect for an easy and comforting weeknight meal. It is light and cozy all at once. This pasta dish is vegan, dairy-free, soy-free, gluten-free, refined sugar-free and nut-free.
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4. One-Pot Sweet & Spiced Quinoa Lentil Salad
This sweet and savory salad is ready in just 25 minutes and makes enough for leftovers. This is an excellent meal prep recipe since the salad stores well and can be enjoyed either cold or hot.
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Salads and Bowls
These aren’t your usual salads. They are far from plain, boring and unsatisfying. In fact, they might be some of the best salads you have ever eaten! Full of flavor, powerful plant-based ingredients and quick to make too – what could be better for a weeknight dinner?
5. Avocado Kale Salad with Cashew Ranch Dressing and Crispy Chickpea Croutons
This entirely plant-based recipe makes for a stunning and filling entree salad. It is savory, satisfying and easy to pull together. I kept the process simple and streamlined.
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6. Plant Powered Fall Quinoa and Arugula Salad with Apples and Figs
This hearty fall salad recipe is nourishing and is sure to make you feel balanced this time of year when pumpkin spice temptation and treats are everywhere. This salad is vegan, dairy-free, soy-free, nut-free, refined sugar-free and gluten-free.
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7. The BIG Vegan Greek Salad
It has all the classic Greek salad ingredients (cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, red onions, red bell peppers and Kalamata olives) plus sautéed chickpeas. It is topped with a generous drizzle of a lemony, creamy dressing that ties this Mediterranean salad together perfectly.
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8. Roasted Veggies & Crispy Chickpeas over Quinoa with Garlic Maple Tahini Drizzle
This is one of my go-to recipes that can be 100% made ahead of time and enjoyed for dinner with enough leftovers for lunch. It is that perfect make-you-feel-light-and-yet-full meal.
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9. Fall Quinoa Buddha Bowl with Apple Cider Maple Dressing
All the flavors of fall come together in an easy and refreshingly sweet Fall Quinoa Buddha Bowl that will satisfy everyone.
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10. Mexican Veggie Burrito Bowls
These bowls are great for a packable lunch or simple weeknight dinner. If you are planning to meal prep more, these bowls would be a great recipe to add to your weekly rotation.
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Pasta Recipes
There’s a reason there are so many pasta vegan dinner ideas listed here. Pasta is one of the easiest meals to make on weeknights and I’m sure it’s a staple in many homes. Work these hearty, protein-packed pasta dinner recipes into your weekly dinner rotation and I’m sure the whole family will be begging for them to be a regular feature!
11. Chunky Tomato Basil Spaghetti
Everyone needs a killer pasta recipe in their back pocket. This one is mine and it is a total classic. It is always a hit and always surprises people when they find out how simple and quick it is to make this homemade sauce.
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12. Chickpea Bolognese Pasta
This recipe has all the authentic flavors of a classic bolognese sauce but is made vegan with chickpeas instead of ground meat.
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13. Instant Pot Chickpea Bolognese with Spaghetti Squash
On busy weeknights, this plant-based meal is ready fast. I am much more likely to make spaghetti squash cooked in the pressure cooker instead of the oven where it takes 45 minutes. With the pressure cooker it cooks perfectly in just 7 minutes.
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14. Pasta Fresca
This light and easy recipe is my husband’s all-time favorite pasta dish. This light pasta fresca sauce is made with just olive oil, balsamic vinegar, white wine, fresh parsley and salt.
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15. Spicy Red Lentil Veggie Pasta
There is not a drop of dairy in this dish and I promise you that with all that is going on with this spicy red sauce, you will not miss it in the least. This dish is already bursting with so much flavor.
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16. Parsley-Pea Pesto Pasta
This is the most flavorful, yummy, sweet, fresh, garlicky pesto sauce ever. Just five ingredients (plus salt and pepper) make this so easy peasy (pun intended). Go ahead and get your greens on!
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17. Noodles & Company Copycat Indonesian No-Nut Saute
This is one of my favorite vegan dinners! It is warming, filling and full of incredible flavor. It sure does beat a regular jarred tomato sauce pasta night!
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Soups & Stews
Soups are great to meal prep as they can easily be stored in the refrigerator or frozen. A soup that is hearty and full of goodness is the perfect one-pot dinner for the family on a colder day.
18. Three-Bean Chili
Chili is the perfect meal in a bowl this time of year. I love to make it on Sundays and enjoy as leftovers throughout the early part of the week.
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19. Spicy Red Lentil Veggie Stew with Crispy Chickpea Croutons
The beautiful thing about this recipe is it only requires that you chop up four things: the onion, red bell pepper, jalapeno (if using) and sweet potato. Everything else you just throw in the pot and let stew.
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20. Moroccan Tomato & Chickpea Soup
This soup will feel so good going down your throat. The base is simple: white onion, carrots and celery. Then I added fresh garlic and fresh ginger. You all are going to love this one!
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21. Split Pea & Red Lentil Creamy Vegetable Turmeric Soup
This soup is like a big, warm healing hug for your entire body. It is full of good-for-you colorful ingredients.
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Plant-based Powerhouse Meals
These meals are completely packed with plants! These recipes are family friendly and perfect for any weekday dinner. With a variety of fresh, healthy vegetables (and some fruits!) these dishes are so good for you. Ready in a flash, they are some of the best easy dinner recipes to make for weeknights.
22. Sweet Potato Veggie Burgers
The ingredients are simple and nutritious. The process to make them is easy. The result is full of flavor and the perfect crispy-on-the-outside, firm-yet-tender-on-the-inside texture that you want in a veggie burger.
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23. Turmeric Spiced Millet Veggie Burgers
These veggie burgers are perfectly moist, have great texture and flavor and are also pretty to look at. They are egg-free, dairy-free, gluten-free, wheat-free, nut-free, corn-free, coconut-free, soy-free and refined sugar-free.
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24. Chickpea Flour Pizza with Pesto and Roasted Beet Noodles
When I discovered you can literally make a light, soft, chewy and flavorful pizza crust out of just chickpea flour and water, I was skeptical. I thought, this seems too healthy, too easy and too right for me. Well, I was right! It was all those things and more! This chickpea flour pizza tastes incredible and actually doesn’t require much effort at all. Before you know it, you will be shouting “pizza night!”
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25. Roasted Beet Noodles Over Quinoa with Parsley Pesto
Sweet and savory roasted beet noodles served with garlicky, herby pesto over fluffy quinoa is completely addictive. Roasted beet noodles are like candy to me. With just a little olive oil, salt and pepper, the oven magically transforms them into soft, delicious noodles.
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That’s it! 25 easy weeknight dinners that are allergy-friendly, delicious and so quick to make too! If you try any of these easy weeknight gluten-free and vegan dinners, please let me know in the comments below. I would love hearing from you.
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