Emergency Meals for Vegetarians and Vegans

By Brody Danielson February 20, 2020

Emergency Meals for Vegetarians and Vegans

Because we frequently advise people on how much food they need to store for emergencies, we keep up with the U.S. Dietary Guidelines as they’re updated each year. Last week we wrote about how many calories adults and kids need to maintain their current weight (or even lose a little). We provide nutritional information on our website for all of our dehydrated meals and snacks so you can easily figure out how much food to store to meet your emergency plan goals.

Each year when we talk about dietary guidelines and calories, we get the same question: How can vegetarians and vegans get the nutritional balance they need from stored food? It’s an excellent question. A new Gallup poll reports that 5% of Americans consider themselves vegetarian (no meat, seafood or poultry) or vegan (no animal products including eggs and dairy). An even greater percentage are reporting they’re “flexitarians” – meaning they have purposefully reduced the meat or animal products they consume for health or ethical reasons.

Being a vegetarian takes a certain amount of forethought for meal planning because they have to carefully consider how to get enough protein. It’s far too easy to substitute carbohydrates for protein, which results in weight gain and health problems down the road. In an emergency, vegetarians need to be sure they’ve got enough stable protein stored to keep their meals balanced. We have many vegetarian-friendly entrees in our dehydrated meal and snack selections, but we also want to pass along a couple of veg-friendly recipes that pack a ton of protein and are tasty enough that even carnivores will enjoy them.

Vegetable and Hummus Dip

This is a vegan-friendly dip or spread that is a great main dish or side dish. Hummus is an ancient food that is high in protein, fiber, iron, vitamin C and B6. It can be made from shelf-stable foods and ReadyWise freeze dried vegetables. This recipe provides over 30 grams of protein for the entire recipe.

1 can beans of any kind, drained. (Garbanzos are a popular choice for hummus and happen to have the highest protein of any legume!)
3 tablespoons creamy peanut butter2 tablespoons of olive oil
Salt to taste
ReadyWise freeze dried green beans or broccoli

Reconstitute the ReadyWise green beans, then mash with a fork or the back of a spoon until they’re a paste. Stir in the peanut butter and olive oil and add salt to taste. We’ve also used this recipe to make a pasta sauce and find that adding ReadyWise freeze dried peas ratchet up the protein content and the taste.

Fruit Protein Shake

This protein shake is tasty enough to work as dessert, but has enough nutrition to be an entire meal. If the electricity is out, it’s also fun to make because you have to do things the old fashioned way. This recipe gives you 25 grams of protein per serving. We like pea protein as a replacement to whey protein (for those who are vegan) and soy protein (for those concerned about the estrogen-like effects of the isoflavones in soy). Although pea protein can taste vaguely like peas if you don’t doctor up the flavor, this recipe is delicious:

1 scoop Pea Protein powder (we like NowSports)
1 cup ReadyWise Long-Term milk (vegans substitute water or shelf-stable nut milk)
1 serving any ReadyWise Freeze Dried Fruit

Rehydrate the fruit and mash to a paste with the back of a spoon. Add the fruit, the protein powder and the milk or nut milk to a shaker and shake until well blended (a coffee to-go cup works too, just be sure the hole in the lid is closed). You can also make this shake with ReadyWise Creamy Yogurt Style Dessert or even our Vanilla Pudding. (We have been known to add a little of our Caramel Sauce to the mix!)

Keep in mind that ReadyWise sells a wide variety of meatless dehydrated meals and snacks: