Ever wondered what 70 grams of protein looks like on a plant-based vegan diet? I know I have!
After I wrote my Prenatal Supplement post, I received requests for a post on protein so I thought this would be a good follow up post. When I found out the recommended protein intake for pregnant women is 70 grams I worried how I would fit it all in, but after some trial and error I’ve found a pretty good system most days. In this post I’ll show you a sample breakfast, lunch, dinner, and 2 snacks taken from my own diet. Keep in mind this is an “ideal” balanced day for me which doesn’t happen every single day and it definitely didn’t happen during the 1st trimester when I had zero appetite + loads of nausea! You win some, you lose some. This isn’t about perfection. Some days are lower, some are higher, but I like to think it all balances out for the most part.
Breakfast: High Protein Green Monster Smoothie {makes one 2.5 cup serving}
Lately, this is my basic, super creamy, go-to green smoothie. It’s rather effortless, the ingredients are always on hand, and I’m in and out of the kitchen in 5 minutes flat. Baby likes to dance after I drink this…it’s pretty cute!
Prep time: 5 minutes
- 1 large frozen banana
- 1 cup almond milk, water, or coconut water (I like 1/2c water and 1/2c almond milk)
- 1-2 destemmed kale leaves (or 1 cup baby spinach)
- 1.5 scoops protein powder (Note: I no longer use Sunwarrior protein powder due to recent concerns about heavy metal content in protein powder, so I’m using hemp seeds instead. See smoothie recipe link below!)
- 1 heaping tablespoon chia seeds
- pinch of cinnamon (helps balance blood sugar levels)
- 3 ice cubes
Total protein @ breakfast: 30 grams – this smoothie takes a massive chunk out of that 70g protein requirement! Three cheers for that.
Protein powder-free smoothie: Not into protein powder? This veggie-packed Green Warrior Protein Smoothie using hulled hemp seeds is another great option and clocks in at a respectable 17g protein.
Mid-morning snack: 1/2 cup hummus + veggie sticks/crackers = my fav. snack ever. It tastes even better after a morning workout! Nothing beats crunchy, fresh, water-packed veggies. I feel pretty awesome when I eat this!
Prep time: 5 minutes
Total protein for AM snack: 10g {8g for hummus + ~2g for crackers/veggies}
Tip: To boost the protein of this snack even more, stir 1-2 tablespoons of hulled hemp seeds into the hummus. This boosts protein another 3.5-7 grams, respectively. I might stir in hemp seeds if my breakfast was lower in protein than normal. Or, if I know I have a carb-heavy meal coming up (for example, a pasta meal at a restaurant), I’ll try to boost the protein in my snacks throughout the day.
Lunch: ~2 cups Spiced Red Lentil, Tomato, Kale Soup, 1 slice bread or crackers, 1 cup fresh berries (or other in-season fruit).
You can play around with this soup recipe as much as you want. I’ve made it countless ways and it’s always turned out great. I added in a chopped zucchini into this batch and it was awesome. Nothing is better than a one pot meal!
Prep time: 20 minutes, Cook time: 20 minutes
Total protein @ lunch: ~20g
Tip: If it’s already too hot for soup where you are (jealous!), you can easily turn this meal into a big summer salad. I usually add 1/2 cup cooked French green lentils and 2 tablespoons hulled hemp seeds on top of the salad. This provides 16g protein from lentils and hemp seed alone. I also add sliced avocado, tomato, cucumbers, red pepper, etc. and my go-to Lemon-Tahini Salad Dressing to make one mind blowing salad. You can cook a big batch of lentils at the start of the week so you have some for lunches all week (and you can freeze them so they keep longer). Is it lunch yet??
Mid-afternoon snack: 1 apple with 2 tablespoons nut or seed butter (this snack never gets old either). I rotate almond butter, peanut butter, and sunflower seed butter. This homemade Maple Almond butter with hemp, flax, and chia is also incredible if you want something a bit more fancy pants. It probably goes without saying, but you can stir chia and hulled hemp seeds into your nut butter for a protein/omega-3 boost!
Prep time: 2 minutes
Total protein: 7-8 grams
Tip: Another great snack is 1/4 cup raw almonds (7-8 grams protein). Soak them in water overnight, then drain and rinse well in the morning.
Dinner: Quick & Easy Chana Masala (p.163 from The Oh She Glows Cookbook).
We are big fans of this quick and easy chana masala recipe. It requires just 15-20 minutes of prep time and it’s total comfort food.
Prep time: 15-20 minutes, Cook time: 20 minutes
Total protein @ dinner: 17g per serving (based on 4 servings)
Other high-protein dinner options: Protein Power Goddess Bowl. Another quick meal is my Marinated Balsamic, Maple, and Garlic Tempeh (p. 199 from OSG cookbook) with 1 cup cooked quinoa and 1 cup grilled/sautéed/steamed vegetables. Also check out my entire entrée category for other ideas!
You didn’t think I skipped dessert did you? Cue more baby dancing! For the first 4 months of my pregnancy, I couldn’t be bothered with sweets which was really strange because I usually love sweets. Nope, I was much more interested in salt and vinegar chips and dill pickles. However, over the past month I’ve had more cravings for chocolate so I think I’m going to be ok after all. This is a square of my Two-Layer Raw Chocolate Brownies (recipe coming soon). It’s an awesome way to end the day, all-natural, and there’s even protein snuck in there thanks to hemp seeds and walnuts! My rough estimate is that there is around 4g of protein per raw brownie. I’ll take it!
Protein @ dessert: 4g
TOTAL PROTEIN FROM ENTIRE DAY = approx. 88 grams (or 63 without protein powder)
As you can see, I blew by the 70g requirement on this particular day thanks in part to that high protein smoothie I started my day with. Even if I removed the protein powder from the morning smoothie, I would’ve still hit 63 grams which is very close. Some days I might only hit 50-60g of protein while others could be up to 90g…it totally varies (as I think it does for most people). We all have those days when life just gets in the way and it’s nearly impossible to eat balanced despite our best efforts so I try not to stress about it too much. As long as I’m mindful of my nutrition most days I think it all balances out in the end.
Notes:
All of these recipes can be made in advance. An hour of prep work on Sunday goes a long way. You can make a double batch of soup and freeze half of it. Likewise for cooking lentils, grains, and beans! I’m trying to get into the habit of large batch cooking so it helps when the baby is here…I’m sure I’m going to need it.
And yes, the green smoothie can be made the night before. Store the smoothie in an air tight jar in the fridge (travel mugs work nicely and keep it cold) and just give it a good stir before guzzling.
This is awesome! I am always trying to convince meat eaters (which, I am, but I eat a heavily plant-based diet) that it really isn’t nearly as hard as you think to get a lot of protein from a plant-based diet. I have my veggies and hummus at my desk for a snack right now and that picture makes me want to get into them already (one of my favorites too!). I cannot wait for that Two-Layer Raw Chocolate Brownie recipe! I don’t like to turn the oven on much in the summer, but I need brownies year-round, so this is perfect. :)
So I really struggled with freezer meals for after the baby is home. Please be sure to share what you do to prepare meals in advance of baby for those first few weeks with baby.
Great post! I’m loving my morning shakes and apples with peanut butter for snacks. I wasn’t sure how much protein I was getting when I found I was pregnant, so I started tracking, and turns out it’s very easy to get plenty of protein on a plant-based diet! Thanks for sharing these recipes :)
This is awesome, thanks Ange! It’s great to see that it’s totally possible to get a lot of protein and no animals should be killed for that.
I’m not pregnant, however my husband has been wanting to gain weight (like muscle and stuff) and in order to replace the protein powder (or even hemp) from time to time, a cheap and wholesome alternative would be to add a cup of white beans to the smoothie. I know this takes it to another level, but it actually doesn’t affect the taste. We’ve also added frozen green peas and a couple of brazil nuts too (that selenium, eh?).
I’ve heard of people adding beans to smoothies and I’ve always been curious to try it out! So it doesn’t taste beany? Yes, frozen peas are also high in protein too – another good option to add to the plate.
You can feel it slightly in the texture, it’s creamy but a TINY bit grainy (not gaggy though at all). We did have it just with fruits, so not sure if adding greens to it would make it into a stir fry :)
But really, try it! I made it with bananas, mango and almond milk. Oh and chia/flax for omega-3’s.
LOL…@ stir-fry!
Thanks for your tips :)
This is great! Wish I had it during my whole pregnancy (I’m due in 3 weeks!). Just wondering if you could estimate how many grams of protein are in your Glo Bars? Thanks!
You are awesome! I am neither pregnant or have kids, but I was so excited to read this info! I am so glad we have vegan role models like you.
So glad you added the dessert… no meal is complete without chocolate :)
I always turn to your socca recipe for a high protein recipe. I’ve been enjoying it pizza-style all this week :-)
I’m so thankful for this post! I’m about 10 weeks pregnant – still in the nausea + no appetite phase – and I’ve been at such a loss of what to eat, since I rarely want to! There are only so many spoonfuls of peanut butter I can eat in a day, so I’m excited to try out some ideas you posted! :)
This is great and looks so good! I’m currently nursing and eating meat again–about one serving a day–because of the whole protein thing. I love seeing that it’s really not difficult to do it on a vegan diet.
Thanks for this post! I know I need more protein. As background, I’m pescatarian, though on a normal basis I don’t eat fish very often. I told myself I’d allow myself to eat meat during pregnancy if I really craved it, but so far (almost 11 weeks), not only have I definitely not wanted any meat (or eggs!), but I’m having trouble with protein in general. Beans and tofu cause me major bloat these days! Maybe I’ll try the Sunwarrior stuff.
I’m hoping I can catch up with my needs in trimester 2.
Here is some ideas :-)
I love “what I ate today” posts! please post more eating plans like this!
This post is so perfect and timely for me. I KNOW that I don’t get enough protien and have been trying to come up with ideas that don’t involve too many things like tofu or veggie ground round. Which I like, but definetly don’t love and I would much rather eat these yummy recipies! Thanks sooo much. You have been a huge inspiration to me on my vegetarian journey!!
Thanks for the tips! I would have never thought to add hemp/chia into hummus or nut butters! Congrats on the baby! I am so excited for you (long time reader and have your book, it’s fabulous!). Looking forward to more baby posts!
Thank you for your congrats Katie! Glad you are enjoying the posts.
Have you tried PlantFusion vegan protein powder? It’s got 21 grams of protein and I like it. Not sure if it’s available in-stores in Canada, but you could order it if you were interested in trying something new. plantfusion.net/products/plantfusion
Thanks so much for doing this! Your entire day looks delicious. I’ve definitely been feeling much better the past few days about my protein intake (thanks to you!) and I’ve even been hitting almost 70g a day without my soon-to-arrive Sunwarrior. I think I’ll just use it as a backup, or just add a bit (not a full serving) to my smoothies as a boost. Good protein supplements are not cheap, so I suppose it would be good to stretch them further as long as I’m getting close to enough protein without their help :)
YES! Nut butter and apples have been a favourite snack of mine since I was a kid, so I’m glad to see you give that some credit. I don’t think I can even eat an apple without nut butter, I’m that conditioned to them being a combo, haha.
Oh, and I’m totally with you on pre-cooking legumes/grains and freezing as much as possible. My mission this weekend is to mass cook my protein sources; beans especially since I rarely buy canned… they’re such a pain to remember to soak/cook when needed on a whim! A GIANT batch of hummus to freeze into single servings is also on the agenda! There’s nothing worse than a sudden hummus craving (let’s be honest, that’s pretty frequent) and no cooked chickpeas in sight. Devastating.
heh I hear ya!
And you just reminded me to soak some chickpeas tonight. I’m already excited for freshly cooked chickpeas this weekend…they are just so much better than canned.
Angela, have you tried the Manitoba Harvest Hemp Protein Powder? What do you think about it?
Hi Katy, I personally find the flavour of hemp protein powder to be quite strong (I tried some a few years back and never ended up buying any), but I do know people who do like it. I find with protein powder it’s such a personal preference thing. I would suggest trying some small samples before buying a big tub.
This is great! I’m a tall lady & thus healthfully weigh more like the average man, so my daily protein needs are on par with that 70g even while NOT pregnant. I am still learning how to get enough protein without relying on protein powder or “fake meats,” and these are excellent suggestions…that are even tasty!