Obviously it’s a bit more difficult to bulk on a vegan diet, but gaining mass is still doable with a little extra work.
To make it a little easier for you, I’ve compiled the best vegan bulking recipes on this page. 8 recipes with a high amount of calories and protein, the 2 ingredients for packing on lean mass.
Before we get to the recipes, I’ve also compiled a list of about 20 vegan whole foods that are highest in calories, and have at least a bit of protein. (Alternatively, see my list of vegan foods highest in protein for good individual ingredients.)
Any good vegan bulking recipe will incorporate at least one of these (in one form or another):
- Oats
- Rye grain
- Buckwheat groats
- Macadamia nut
- Pine nuts
- Brazil nut
- Hazelnut
- Peanuts (or peanut butter)
- Sesame seeds
- Cashew
- Walnut
- Vital wheat gluten
- Coconut meat
- Pistachio nuts
- Pecans
- Wheat flour (whole-grain)
- Almonds
- Adzuki beans
- Pumpkin seeds
- Chickpeas
- Navy beans
Power Protein Salad
Calories: 829
Protein: 34 grams
This recipe incorporates multiple foods from the list of good vegan bulking foods.
It has almonds, edamame, kidney beans, and chickpeas. If that sounds like too much work, I’m sure you could combine the last 3 into 1 type of bean and have the same macros.
Tempeh Cauliflower Butternut in Teriyaki Sauce – Date Sweetened
Calories: 772
Protein: 29 grams
Tempeh, made from soybeans, will always results in a decent amount of protein in a recipe.
This recipe is pretty simple if you use a pre-bought sauce. The food itself is made of tempeh, cauliflower, squash, and sesame seeds.
Sesame Soba Noodles with Collard Greens and Tempeh Croutons
Calories: 770
Protein: 35 grams
Soba noodles are made from buckwheat flour, which is one foods on the high calorie list at the beginning.
On top of that, this recipe gets a lot of protein from tempeh, and has a good amount of vitamins and minerals by collard greens and other vegetables (bell pepper, onion, cabbage).
Satay Tofu Stir Fry
Calories: 685
Protein: 40 grams
Tofu is the main ingredient of this recipe and is a great start to any bulking recipe. There’s also quite a few vegetables included in this stir fry.
Red Cabbage Salad with Curried Seitan
Calories: 672
Protein: 50 grams
This recipe has 2 main ingredients that contribute to the calories and protein content.
First is seitan, which is the highest protein vegan food that exists (I’m pretty sure).
Second is peanut butter, which is incorporated in the vegan salad dressing. The salad looks pretty sparse, but has a lot of calories and protein, making it a great bulking recipe
Tempeh Reuben Club Sandwich
Calories: 609
Protein: 28 grams
This is the last tempeh recipe on this list. It gives the sandwich a good amount of protein.
A lot of the calories come from the bread, which is sourdough in this case. You could substitute it for a rye bread and get a few extra calories.
Peanut Butter Rye Toast with Hemp Seeds
Calories: 623
Protein: 25
This is a personal favorite because it’s so simple it doesn’t even need a recipe, and it only takes a few minutes to make.
Toast some bread (rye or sourdough), then put some sort of nut butter on it, and top it with a big scoop of hemp seeds.
I calculated the nutritional information here based on 2 pieces of toast, 3 tbsp of almond butter, and 3 tbsp of hemp hearts. You can easily eat 3-4 pieces if you want to up the calories.
Peanut Butter Overnight Oats
Calories: 454
Protein: 15 grams
Next on this list are overnight oats.
A single serving doesn’t have too many calories, but you can scale it up. I find it to be more filling than the other recipes on this list however.
It incorporates nut butter with oats, and you could also add in a scoop of vegan protein powder for extra protein.
One Pot Creamy Garlic Pasta
Calories: 1080 (per recipe)
Protein: 42 grams
While pasta isn’t that high in calories, it’s also super easy to eat a ton of it.
This one pot recipe is a convenient way to make a bunch at a time that tastes good, which will save you from having to spend as much time cooking.
It uses a sauce based on non-dairy milk (a common vegan heavy cream substitute).
This concludes the list of vegan bulking recipes, I’ll add any new ones I come across to this page.
