High-protein vegan Pantry essentials: 6 shelf stable essentials for fast muscle meals

Sometimes the week doesn't go to plan and you end up getting Court short with no fresh food in the house. And before you know it you are ordering take away. and that's probably not best suited for your goals:

•  tends to be higher fat

•  tends to skimp on the protein

•  Expensive

•  Calorific

This post is gonna look at six shelf stable essentials you can keep in your cupboard that mean you can still get a meal without having to rely on a takeaway just because it was the easier option.

Before we look at the shelf-stable essentials for your pantry so that you can still piece a high protein meal together when you are caught short,  let's talk briefly about why it is important to get plenty of protein into your calorie budget.

We already know protein is essential for normal healthy function of your immune system of growing skin looking after your organs, and then after that essential stuff is taken care of it's also good for growing your muscles.

In 2022  Nunes et al published a systematic review in the Journal of Cachexia, Sarcopenia and Muscle.  It confirmed a lot of things we already know, clarified some things there is mixed information on and then supported something we vegans have long suspected was true.  Let's get into it.

The systematic review itself looked at 16 randomized control trials, looking at plant-based and animal-based protein intake, and accounts for a total of 503 healthy adults across those studies. Across those papers the subjects were measured for their lean body mass muscle cross-sectional area and muscle strength in response to protein dosing. The two key findings were as follows:

• The ceiling for muscle growth is around 1.6 grams per kilo of body weight. For most people, high protein diets hitting 2.2 grams per kilo are unnecessary.

• The body does not care where that protein came from;  whether it was plant-based or animal based was irrelevant 

Textured vegetable protein or dried soy chunks

This is an incredibly affordable way of getting your protein in.  of course it will vary by Brand and as I have discovered from posting online also vary by country.

It also has a near indefinite shelf life.

Depending what form you buy in it can be a bit fiddly to make but it will still be quicker than arguing over which takeaway you want to get choosing your meals and waiting for it to arrive.

Vital wheat gluten

This is cool to have around for several reasons.  You can make seitan with it very quickly. 

But perhaps even more fun to think about is that you can use it  in baking. 

It also has a very long shelf life 

Nutritional yeast

If you've got soups or baked beans or just pasta with pasta sauce,  nutritionally yeast adds a nice savoury flavour as well as four grams of protein per tablespoon.

And because it doesn't add any bulk you can very quickly turn a pasta dish with maybe 10 grams of protein into a 30 gram-of-protein meal.

Plus it often comes enriched with B vitamins including B12

Canned beans legumes and lentils

There's no denying these have protein in them but most beans are not protein sources. So these are an in-a-pinch option. It's better to think of them as a high protein version of a complex carbohydrate source with fiber.

Some of the best and most affordable options are black beans, chickpeas, split peas, lentils. 

High protein pasta 

Edmamme pasta can have up to 45g protein per serving.  A meal made from a high protein pasta, a bolognese sauce made with TVP mince with a little nutrition yeast can easily put together a 60g+ protein meal in 10 minutes.