Start the new year right! Eat healthy home-cooked meals by planning your meals with this Vegetarian Instant Pot Meal Plan. Main dishes for each day of the month, along with sides and dessert options. Follow the complete plan or mix and match to create a plan that is perfect for your family!
I wanted to start the new year by making it easy for my family to eat healthy, home-cooked meals. This meal plan can help us stay on track with our health and well-being goals. And I feel it is possible to stay on track with the help of the Instant Pot!
Importance of meal planning
Let’s put it out there….Meal planning is hard! However, it is also a lifesaver if done well. Here are some advantages:
- Saves time: You are not standing in front of the refrigerator every day and thinking “what to make for dinner”. Trust me…this is a significant amount of time each day.
- Grocery shopping is easier: As you have a plan for the week, you know exactly what to buy. And less wastage of grocery not used.
- Saves money: Less eating out…as you already have a plan in mind.
- You can prep ahead: You can prep some parts of the dishes planned for the week or just make them ahead.
- The most important: The whole family is eating healthy food together!
I totally understand that life happens, and we are sometimes not able to follow the meal plan exactly. But that is completely okay! Tweak the meal plan to suit your needs – strike out the days you will not be eating at home, if you miss a day, add the recipe to start of next week. Try to be as consistent as possible, and you will enjoy the benefits of meal planning.
Meal Plan
Main Dishes
Day 1 – Sunday
Paneer Tikka Masala
A flavorful and aromatic curry, made with marinated and grilled paneer cubes simmered in a rich onion tomato gravy along with warm spices.
Day 2 – Monday
Lentil & Vegetable Khichdi
A one-pot dish made with lentils, rice and vegetables along with simple spices and ghee.
Day 3 – Tuesday
Vegetable Korma
This restaurant style creamy vegetable korma curry is a perfect blend of vegetables with a creamy coconut based sauce.
Day 4 – Thursday
Taco Soup
This hearty soup is a dump-and-go recipe with lots of black beans, corn, peppers, and tomatoes to create a delicious, satisfying dinner.
Day 5 – Thursday
Moong Dal Fry
A quick, easy and low-calorie nutritious lentil soup.
Day 6 – Friday
Creamy Mushroom Pasta
Spaghetti tossed in a creamy cheese sauce loaded with mushrooms, made in less than 30 minutes.
Day 7 – Saturday
Thai Pumpkin Red Curry
Super flavorful, Vegan, Gluten free one-pot curry made with red curry paste, coconut milk, pumpkin and other veggies.
Day 8 – Sunday
Vegetable Biryani
One-pot Vegetable Biryani made in the instant pot, so easy to cook with the same authentic flavors!
Day 9 – Monday
Mushroom Matar Masala
Green Peas and Mushroom curry made in a creamy onion and tomato gravy.
Day 10 – Tuesday
Spinach Rice
Aromatic basmati rice, with spinach and spices, make this Spinach Rice flavorful and healthy!
Day 11 – Wednesday
Brown Lentil Soup
Get cozy with this nutritious and easy to make vegan brown lentil soup.
Day 12 – Thursday
Aloo Baingan (Potato & Eggplant Curry)
An easy vegan & gluten-free curry made with potatoes, eggplants, and aromatic spices.
Day 13 – Friday
Fajita Pasta
Loaded with veggies and lots of flavor, this Vegetarian Fajita Pasta is our favorite pasta dinner.
Day 14 – Saturday
Pav Bhaji (Spiced Mashed Vegetables)
A spiced mashed vegetable curry topped with chopped onions, cilantro, lemon and enjoyed with dinner rolls.
Day 15 – Sunday
Rajma Masala (Kidney Beans Curry)
Red kidney beans cooked with onions, tomatoes, ginger, garlic along with aromatic spices. Make it a meal with pot-in-pot Brown Rice.
Day 16 – Monday
Beet Pilaf
Beet Pulao is a great way to sneak in some beets into your diet. Easy, vegan & gluten-free meal perfect for busy days.
Day 17 -Tuesday
Saag Aloo (Spinach & Potato Curry)
This is a simplified one-pot version of the authentic Saag Aloo, which takes just 30 minutes to prepare.
Day 18 – Wednesday
Cream of Broccoli Soup
Healthy Cream of Broccoli soup made in the Instant Pot in less than 30 minutes.
Day 19 – Thursday
Aloo Matar (Potato & Green Peas Curry)
This vegan and gluten free Aloo Matar Masala is perfect for a delicious warm weeknight dinner!
Day 20 – Friday
Mexican Black Beans
Packed with protein and fiber, and full of flavor, these healthy Mexican Black Beans in Instant Pot are the perfect dish to make for your family.
Day 21 – Saturday
Dal Makhani (Madras Lentils)
Black lentils and red kidney beans cooked with lots of ginger, garlic, onions, tomatoes and aromatic spices.
Day 22 – Sunday
Chana Masala (Chickpea Curry)
This one-pot recipe for the authentic Chana Masala. A healthy protein-rich vegan and gluten free chickpea recipe.
Day 23 – Monday
Black-eyed Peas & Spinach Rice
A healthy and wholesome dish, perfect for weeknight meals.
Day 24 – Tuesday
Soya Chunks Curry
A flavor-filled dish made with soya chunks or meal maker cooked in a delicious Indian sauce.
Day 25 – Wednesday
Spinach Artichoke Lasagna
A healthy vegetarian lasagna with lots of fresh spinach, marinated artichokes and cheese layered between noodles.
Day 26 – Thursday
Aloo Beans (Potato & Green Beans Stir Fry)
Less than 15 minutes and a quick 4-step recipe to make this delicious Aloo Beans in the instant pot.
Day 27 – Friday
Spaghetti in Pesto Sauce
Spaghetti tossed in pesto sauce along with sun-dried tomatoes and a drizzle of lemon juice.
Day 28 – Saturday
Thai Green Curry
This vegan and gluten free green curry is so creamy and perfect to enjoy over jasmine rice.
Day 29 – Sunday
Potato Curry (Aloo Rasedar)
Easy and comforting Potato Curry in Tomato Gravy made in the Instant Pot.
Day 30 – Monday
Bulgur Pilaf (Dalia Pulao)
A simple, healthy and delicious Bulgur or cracked wheat pilaf cooked with lots of veggies.
Day 31 – Tuesday
Paneer Butter Masala
A restaurant favorite Paneer Butter Masala, made with chunks of paneer or cottage cheese cooked in a mildly spiced tomato gravy.
Side Dishes
Steamed Broccoli
Brown Rice
Desserts
Oats Kheer
Brownie (contains egg)
Orange Semolina Cake
Zarda Sweet Rice (Meethe Chawal)
Pumpkin Halwa (pudding)
Bookmark this page as I will be adding all future meal plans on this page!
Meeta,
I’ve been looking to make a meal plan like this forever but the thought of putting it together and finding the recipes has been so daunting. Thanks sooooo much for this, it’s exactly what I needed and most importantly I love your recipes too! Do you recommend an app that can pull in your plan and recipes so I can have the weekly grocery list too? I’m trying one now but I have to import each recipe and then plan it out again in it’s own calendar. Once again, thanks so much for this and I’m so excited to start using it right away!
Hi Rupa – So glad to hear you are finding the meal plan useful. It is definitely in the cards in the future to add this meal plan to a existing app, however I have not done that yet. I will definitely share on the mailing list when I do put this plan on an app or if I include a shopping list with the plan. Thanks!
Great recipes thank you for putting them together so much
You are welcome, Nadia. I hope you enjoy them!
You did not …this is exactly what I was looking for. Great site, amazing work. Thank you. Would love to see the grocery list as well.
Thank you, Sam. Glad you found the meal plan useful!
This is awesome! Love your meal plan idea. Will be even better if you had a weekly shopping list to go with this
Hey Hema – Glad you like the meal plan. It is definitely on my list to add a shopping list in the future. Thank you for the suggestion.
This is sooooo wonderful. I love all your recipes. Being a vegetarian and finding all vegetarian recipes for instant pot- you made my life easy. Thx for this monthly plan recipes. Makes it sooo easy – not to think about what’s for dinner tonight and every night. Thx again
Hi Deena – So happy to hear you are finding the meal plan useful. Thank you for sharing back!
Hi Meeta ,
Thanks for the amazing meal plan! I have recently started following your page and have recommended to my friends as well .
One suggestion : it would be great if you had an ingredient list for the week so it would be easy to buy all of the ingredients over the weekend .
Thanks again!
Hey Abi – So glad to hear you are following the page and the meal plan. Thank you!
This is the first time I put out the meal plan. It is definitely on the card to improvise and add more features in the future. Thank you for the feedback 🙂
This is wonderful! Thank you, it’s just what I needed! Also, I love to read off-screen so I would be very happy to buy a printable ebook version if you make that available sometime!
Thanks Loreli. I will share a printable version soon!
I really love your recipes! Thank you for the plan.
I’m hoping that most of them will be plant- based and not just vegetarian. I’ve already adjusted most of your recipes to eliminate animal products and oil… they’re just wonderful!
Hey Janet – Thank you so much for always being a part of my journey. I am glad that you are able to customize the recipes to make them vegan and eliminate oil. Happy New Year!