The Make Ahead Vegan Cookbook: 125 Freezer-Friendly Recipes

by Ginny Kay McMeans

A plant-based diet that is as satisfying as Mom's home cooking Vegan food with down-home appeal is the sort of vegan food Americans want to eat. Sit down to a dinner that looks and tastes great, but just happens to be completely plant-based so it's also good for you. That's how Ginny McMeans cooks, and here she shares 125 of her favorite recipes. Every recipe can also be made-ahead and frozen for later, as these meals are designed for the busy person. This is delicious, homemade, everyday food that you can cook fresh on a whim or pull from your freezer for a quick healthy supper. Recipes It's the kind of food you'll simply want to make and eat. 125 color photographs

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Vegan, Nonfiction, Food

304 pages, Hardcover

First published January 4, 2016

Reviews

[Tisha (IG: Bluestocking629) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was bummed to see I did not shelve this cookbook here on GR. It is my most oft used cookbook. It contains my fave recipe for pasta sauce. (Yes I needed a recipe - my Irish mother served us doctored up Ragu [she added salt and pepper]).

Fabulous cookbook filled with fabulous freezer-friendly recipes and useful information.

[John’aLee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Found this cookbook at the library for a buck today and have really enjoyed it. There are lots of recipes I want to try.

[Jaq · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic range of really yummy vegan recipes. Inspirational and practical.

[Blue · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh.

I have a few food rules, like no fake meat, so anything mentioning vegan sausage is right off the menu. As is tofu, which I realize isn't a fake meat product, but I just don't like it. And vegan butter? I shudder to think of it.

So there were some recipes that, no matter how fabulous they may be, are never going to be tried in my kitchen.

If you don't eat vegan, but your uncle from Goshen Indian does, and he's coming for a visit, this would be a fabulous cook book. And freezer friendly recipes mean that if your college aged child is home for the holidays you'll always have something you can pull out of the freezer when the rest of the family if chowing down on pizza.

The recipes look like they are good enough, but they don't look so amazing that I'm going to replace the recipes I'm already happily using. And, unlike my college years, I'm no longer attracted to the idea of a frozen burrito.

In summary, a reasonable vegan cookbook for someone who has never cooked vegan food, but if you already have a number of recipes that you enjoy making and eating this book really isn't for you.

[Max · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great idea for a book. I have saved some recipes to try, so will edit the review when I made some. :-)

[Rowan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ll come back to this book to try out a couple recipes in the future, it seems like a simple blueprint for recipes that can be experimented with and altered however you’d like.

3.5 rounded to 4 because I don’t necessarily have complaints other than the fact the recipes aren’t anything extraordinary or unique. It’s a good book to borrow from the library and flip through but not one I’d feel the need to purchase.

[Adrienna · Rating 3 out of 5]

There was only a few recipes I may try. I did read the freezing part since some foods don't freeze well and depends on the airtight storage used. I prefer glass but all is not microwave or freezer proof. I am gradually trying to get away from the microwave it possible.

Leisure read 2018.

[Romy]

overall just way too much oil and sugars, I was hoping for more freezer tips.

[Cathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I get the make ahead. I just wanted recipes with a little less ingredients. The simple factor is missing for me.

[Dhwani Swadia · Rating 2 out of 5]

No original racepie.

[Lorraine · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. This cookbook is much more user friendly and the recipes turned out well. A great bonus was the numerous photos!

[LemontreeLime · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this but never made any of the recipes.

[Drew Noble · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought the protein bar recipe was great. I also bookmarked a few others to try later. For having a few restrictions (vegan, freezer friendly) I thought the recipes seemed pretty creative.

[Juli Anna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Recipes not great, copy worse, and some of the photos didn't seem to go with the pictures? Overall, disappointing.

[Lesli · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting mix of recipes. I'm not really digging the make ahead vibe for these recipes. Tons of photos.

[Arlian · Rating 5 out of 5]

I frequently say in my reviews how much I adore preparing for my week by cooking large batches of food on sunday. I also love to liberally use my freezer and slow cooker together, so I can prepare for fancy potlucks and parties without having to rush around the day or two before trying to gather ingredients and what not. I'm the kind of person who tends to be crushingly busy for months on end, only to end up with long bouts of complete freedom for a time. In other words, I'm a student, haha.

I frequently read freezer-friendly cookbooks, but most of the time they aren't *vegan* cookbooks. I often read omnivorous books, and then tweak the recipes to suit my palate. So I'm over the moon to discover a book that doesn't require any tweaking. These recipes look utterly *amazingly*. Some of them, like the cauliflower-tots are something I a) haven't seen anywhere b) wondered why I hadn't thought it it myself and then c) immediately decided I needed to cook ASAP.

This book has a truly wide array of delicious looking meals--from the fancy and complicated, with many steps and ingredients for parties or special occasions, to easy and no-frills items. I believe it's a book that will get a lot of use in my kitchen. I also *definitely* put it in the "great gift for a vegan parent" category. A lot of these menu items look kid-friendly to me...but to be fair, I don't have kids, so maybe take that with a grain of salt. Feel free to leave a comment if you are a parent who has this book and has an opinion one way or the other!

[Marathon County Public Library · Rating 4 out of 5]

Are you looking for healthy, delicious recipes that fit a hectic lifestyle? Or do you or family members have food allergies, or are clean eaters wanting new ideas for meals? This is a great new cookbook packed full with tantalizing vegan recipes, all freezer friendly to fit anyone's busy schedule. I appreciated that all of the recipes included were freezer friendly and could easily be reheated, as I routinely have prep days every few weeks where I cook large portions of food that equal a week or two of meals. Add in my food allergies, and this cookbook was a perfect fit for me!

Sarah M. / Marathon County Public Library
Find this book in our library catalog.

[Denise · Rating 2 out of 5]

A lot of "some assembly required" recipes (sandwiches, tacos, burgers, and a weird fried polenta disks + topping thing), whereas I was hoping for one-pan freezer meals and dump-and-go slow cooker dishes. It's also a lot of very "fakey" vegan food (the sort that's basically "normal" food converted vegan), requiring either buying or preparing things like meat substitutes and cashew cheese, while I was hoping for simple plant-based recipes that aren't trying to be what they aren't.

[Mark]

Sara brought this home for DPL a couple weeks ago and we both found lots of interesting things in it and have made a few so she ordered a copy for us. I plan on making 3-4 more things from it and her a couple too over holiday break.

Is nice in that it tells you how/at what point to store things, how to defrost if necessary, and how to reheat once stored.

[Naomi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I saw so many yummy recipes that I want to try in this book. I will be reading it again and doing some cooking.

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm excited to try these recipes! They look simple and delicious! There's also a wide variety of recipes, and they don't require intimidating ingredients.

[Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love getting new cooking ideas!

[Cyndi · Rating 3 out of 5]

The photos are lovely and a quick flip at the library seemed promising. But I didn't really learn anything or feel very inspired. I don't want recipes where the meat is just swapped for a vegan alternative. And did you know you can freeze soup? and cookies?

Anyway, I think it might be good for a beginning cook...