The vegan lifestyle has become more and more prevalent throughout the world, with more people opting to change their diet to save countless animals from unnecessary harm and death .
Many people have now seen the benefit of not eating animal products. Non meat, non-dairy, fresh food is always the safer option.
But gone are the days where all vegans are jobless hippies, many professionals these days are choosing the vegan lifestyle and have had to adapt their busy lives to suit. While many vegans and health-conscious people may argue the negative aspects of frozen foods, there are some conveniences that easily outweigh the cons, and some frozen vegan food that is truly too good to be true .
When we first think of frozen foods, we might think of the awful food presented to us in the 80s and 90s that was full of preservatives and harmful salts and sugar. Many people would look at Vegan food in those days and conclude it was better to take the chance with tasty and fresh meat than to eat those early (for the West) Vegan ready meals.
If they visited friends or family those early Vegans would have to take their own frozen foods. Nobody could figure out what to cook for them, what was allowed, or not allowed. It was seen as a ‘craze’ only for crazies or those that had religious reason for giving up on the precious meat and dairy. Now, most people have at least tried a Vegan meal and the food has got so much better.
Breakfast
What comes to mind when you think of frozen breakfast foods? For me it’s definitely just hash browns, but it turns out there is a whole world of delicious frozen vegan breakfast items just waiting to be devoured!
If breakfast bowls are your style, you’ll be happy to know that Gardein not only provides vegan options, but they’re actually better than their meat-based counterparts. With all kinds of flavours available, I have to personally recommend the shakshuka bowl as it is reminiscent of my childhood and an absolute treat.
Breakfast sandwiches are almost as old as breakfast itself, and just because you don’t want a grizzly sausage patty in the morning doesn’t mean you should miss out on this phenomenon. Check out Gardein’s breakfast pockets or Sweet Earth’s meatless breakfast patties.
For those with a sweet tooth first thing in the morning, it’s damn near impossible to beat waffles. Making vegan waffles from scratch can seem like brain surgery to a tired head, that’s why I love Van’s gluten-free vegan waffles, which are quick, easy and delicious. What more could one ask for?
Lunch
Perhaps the most commonly rushed meal of the day for most people, lunch can be a headache to organize in advance whether after a long day of work or just before. Frozen lunch options can be a saviour in our busy lives.
If you’re a fan of Asian cuisine for lunch, there are some truly wonderful options out there wrapped up into neat little packages. Vegan spring rolls have sprung up in CostCo’s across America, I’m a big fan of Royal Asia, a Vietnamese company which makes a delicious spring roll set that comes with its own dipping sauce. The amount of rolls in the package is usually enough for a few lunches over a week, and gives me a chance to be creative with my dipping sauces.
Next of course are the Mexican-inspired options from wonderful companies like Alpha Foods who produce a beautiful range of vegan tamales and burritos . Sure to give you your fix of our nation's favourite cuisine in the press of a button. Also check out Starlite Cuisines range of taquitos which are some of the best pre-made taquitos on the market.
Dinner
Perhaps the most frustrating meal to prepare and even to plan for is dinner. Often we’re cooking for more than just ourselves, so making sure each meal is gonna make everyone eating it happy truly is a balancing act. Thankfully there are a huge variety of vegan frozen foods which can be used for dinner.
An obvious starting point would be burgers, easy to throw together and fun for kids and adults alike, burgers have in recent years evolved to accommodate vegans massively. With products like Beyond Burger , it's hard not to enjoy a classic meal with omnivores and vegans able to eat side-by-side. Dr Praegers also do an incredible range of vegan burgers which are packed with the nutrients you and your family need.
Next of course has to be pizza. Frozen pizza has been in American freezers so long that it has become part of the culture, but does it have to be unhealthy? Absolutely not! Daiya have a wonderful range of vegan and gluten-free pizzas, all of which are nutrient dense and delicious.
Dessert
Considered the most important meal of the day in my household, dessert doesn’t have to be sickeningly sweet and innately unhealthy. There are some great vegan treats out there, with vegan ice creams made with soy milk, almond milk, coconut milk, and oat milk.
It’s damn-near impossible to avoid the elephant in the room, of course that would be Ben & Jerry’s, and thankfully they have started their own range of vegan ice creams which are if anything better than their dairy counterparts.
Finally fruit cakes and fruit pies, now many of these turn out to be “accidentally vegan” in that they don’t use any meat or dairy products by nature. My favourite brand for fruit pies has to be Claim Jumper, with their immense range of flavours it's hard to do yourself a disservice when buying their pies.
With so many beautiful and delicious vegan frozen foods out there, I hope you are feeling better equipped for your busy life! If you found this helpful please feel free to share it with any friends or family , even as a suggestion for what they are missing out on.
The vegan lifestyle has become more and more prevalent throughout