20+ Best High Protein Vegan Salads (Easy & Healthy)

Looking for tasty and nutritious high protein vegan salads? You've come to the right place! These salads are not only delicious but also perfect for fueling your body and keeping you satisfied. Whether you're meal prepping or looking for a quick, healthy meal, these salads have got you covered!

Why You Should Eat More High Protein Salads

Plant-Based Protein: While eating plenty of plant-based foods is incredible for our health, we can't forget to eat enough protein as well. Protein helps us build and maintain muscle, manage our weight, keep our blood sugar stable, and stay full for longer.
High Fiber: The high amount of fiber packed into a salad can help us reach our daily fiber needs of 25-38g per day. Fiber helps control blood sugar, keeps us full, and feeds our gut microbiome to keep our guts happy and healthy.
Lower in Calories: Salads (when done right) can be lower in calories than other meals, making them a great option for anyone looking to lose fat or manage weight to get healthier.
Antioxidants: Colorful vegan salads full of vegetables, fruits, legumes, nuts, and seeds provide tons of antioxidants which help to reduce inflammation and prevent health problems like cancer. The more colors you add into your salad, the better!
Vitamins & Minerals: Fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, and seeds provide tons of different vitamins and minerals to keep us healthy, including potassium, magnesium, vitamin K, iron, vitamin A, vitamin C, and more.
Variety of Plants: Consuming 30+ different types of plants per week is associated with improved gut health and microbiome diversity. Salads make it super easy to pack in tons of different vegetables and plant-based foods into a single meal!

Best Vegan Protein Sources to Add to Salads and Bowls

Edamame (⅔ cup = 140 calories and 11g protein)
Lentils (¼ cup dry = 170 calories and 11g protein)
Tofu (3oz = 120 calories and 14g protein)
Tempeh (3oz = 160 calories and 18g protein)
Quinoa (¼ cup dry = 170 calories and 6g protein)
Beans & Chickpeas (½ cup = 110 calories and 7g protein)
Nutritional Yeast (¼ cup = 60 calories and 8g protein)
Hemp Seeds (3 tablespoon = 170 calories and 10g protein)
Chickpea or Lentil Pasta (2oz = 190 calories and 12-14g protein)
Seitan Crumbles (2oz = 100 calories and 17g protein)

Tips for Making Lower Calorie High Protein Vegan Salads

Reduce or omit the oil and dressings
Choose just one fat source (olive oil, avocado oil, dressing, avocado, nuts/seeds, etc)
Pay attention to carb portion sizes and/or choose carbs that are higher in protein like beans and quinoa
Fill up on non-starchy veggies (broccoli, peppers, cucumber, tomato, leafy greens, etc)
Make sure the protein portion is big enough (try to get at least 15-25g of protein in each meal)

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High Protein Vegan Salad Recipes

holding the pesto roasted vegetables and tofu bowl

Pesto Roasted Veggies and Tofu Bowl

I'm obsessed with all things pesto and this salad/bowl provides all the flavor of pesto but with less oil and fats. It's made with roasted potatoes, broccoli, zucchini, chickpea pasta, tofu, avocado, and a homemade pesto sauce. This bowl will be a great addition to your meal prep rotation. Each serving provides 436 calories and 19g of protein.

Easy Vegan Summer Salad with Seitan

This light yet satisfying salad is packed with fresh summer veggies, creamy hummus and pesto, and seitan chorizo for a protein boost. It’s quick to make, perfect for meal prep, and delivers 20g of plant-based protein per serving—ideal for hot days when you want something nourishing and easy.

Thai Salad with Sesame-Crusted Tofu

This Thai salad is made with greens, cabbage, carrots, bell pepper, cashews, sesame-crusted tofu, mandarin oranges, and a homemade creamy Asian salad dressing. It can be ready in just 30 minutes and provides 375 calories and 18g protein per serving.

Tofu Watercress Salad

Ready in just 10 minutes, this Hawaiian salad is made with tofu, watercress, bean sprouts, tomato, red onion, and a homemade dressing. Each serving is small and provides 104 calories and 6g protein, so I would eat at least 3-4 servings for 312-416 calories and 18-24 g protein.

Tofu Avocado Salad

This Japanese-style salad takes just 15 minutes to make and is made with greens, cabbage, tofu, avocado, nori seaweed, and a creamy tahini dressing. Each serving provides 278 calories and 10g protein, so I would double it to make a more filling and meal-sized salad.

Easy Vegan Three Bean Salad

Made in just 10 minutes with the help of canned beans, this salad is made with kidney beans, black beans, garbanzo beans, onion, bell pepper, garlic, cilantro, arugula, spices, and a homemade red wine vinaigrette.

The nutrition facts aren't available, but the beans will be providing the bulk of the protein. In order to increase the protein even further, you can add any of the protein sources listed above or decrease the dressing and eat a larger salad portion.

Easy Edamame Salad

This edamame salad incorporates Tex-Mex flavors with black beans, corn, cherry tomatoes, red onion, cilantro, avocado, and lime. Each serving provides 435 calories and 24g of protein, making it a perfect meal-sized high protein vegan salad to keep you full and satisfied.

Lentil Salad with Fresh Herbs

This Mediterranean lentil salad is packed with flavor from shallots, garlic, pine nuts, lemon juice and zest, Aleppo pepper, fresh herbs, and arugula. It's ready in 30 minutes and each serving provides 417 calories and 16g of protein.

Garlicky Sesame Edamame Salad

There's plenty of protein in this East Asian-inspired salad from the edamame and peanuts, and there's plenty of flavor from the sesame seeds, coconut, scallions, serrano pepper, garlic, cabbage, tahini, tamari or soy sauce, lime, cilantro, and mint. Each serving has 371 calories and 17g of protein.

Vegan Kale Caesar Salad with Pickled Red Onions and Roasted Chickpeas

It's all in the name -- this kale salad is made with pickled red onions, crispy chickpeas, capers, spices, and a homemade caesar dressing from white beans and nutritional yeast. Each serving is 268 calories and 17g protein, so you could eat one serving for a light meal or double up for a bigger salad.

Cold Noodle Salad with Peanut Sauce

This Asian-style salad has a base of noodles with cabbage, bell pepper, carrots, tofu, green onion, peanuts, sesame seeds and a homemade peanut sauce. It will make for a tasty lunch and will provide you the energy to push through your day. Each serving has 390 calories and 15g of protein.

Green Bean Salad with Grilled Corn and Smoky Tempeh

Perfect for a barbecue, this salad is made with green beans, grilled corn, tomatoes, fresh herbs, smoky-marinaded tempeh, and a homemade caper vinaigrette. Each serving has 287 calories and 9g protein, so I'd recommend doubling up if you're making it your full meal or you can stick with the smaller serving for a side salad.

Vegan Taco Salad

When you're from Texas like me, you can never go wrong with a high protein Tex-Mex salad like this one. It's made with lettuce, bell peppers, pico de gallo, black olives, vegan chorizo, guacamole, vegan sour cream, vegan shredded cheese, and cilantro. There's also instructions for how to make the tortilla shell bowl if you're feeling up to it! Each serving provides 356 calories and 28g of protein.

Edamame Crunch Salad

This Asian-style salad is raw vegan, gluten-free, oil-free, and refined sugar-free. It's made with green cabbage, romaine, cucumbers, edamame, cilantro, green onion, almonds, and a super simple homemade peanut dressing. The nutrition information isn't available, but based on the ingredients, this salad is likely moderate in calories, low in carbs, high in healthy fats, and with a good amount of protein from the edamame and peanut butter.

Strawberry Balsamic Tofu Pasta Salad

In this Mediterranean-American salad, there's tofu, rotini pasta, cherry tomatoes, spinach, basil, vegan feta, and strawberries with a homemade balsamic vinaigrette. Each serving has 441 calories and 18g of protein.

Asian Broccoli Salad with Peanut Dressing

Ready in just 20 minutes, this salad is made with broccoli, carrots, red onion, edamame, sesame oil, peanuts, cilantro, and a homemade peanut sauce. Each serving has 388 calories and 18g of protein.

High Protein Tempeh Tofu and Chickpea Salad

This protein-rich salad has many of the best vegan protein sources all in one! It's made with marinated tempeh, baked tofu, broccoli, arugula, chickpeas, hemp hearts, cucumber, tahini, and avocado. Each serving will surely be filling and satisfying with 596 calories and 31g of protein.

Easy Vegan Pasta Salad

With chickpea pasta instead of traditional pasta, and combined with edamame and red kidney beans, this pasta salad has plenty of protein to keep you full throughout your afternoon. It also has romaine, bell pepper, cherry tomatoes, and a creamy cashew-based dressing. Each serving provides 356 calories and 23g of protein.

Vegan Quinoa and Chickpea Salad

This Mediterranean vegan chickpea and quinoa salad is a mix of tomato, pepper, cucumber, red onion, cilantro, avocado, and a homemade lime dressing. Each serving has 206 calories and 7g protein, so I'd recommend doubling or tripling the recipe for a full meal.

Crunchy Asian Tofu Salad

In just 20 minutes, you can whip up this vegan high protein salad made with crispy tofu, bean sprouts, radishes, cucumber, baby spinach, pineapple, and a homemade creamy dressing. Each serving has 496 calories and 24g of protein.

Instant Pot Pearl Couscous and Lentil Salad

Last but certainly not least, this lentil and couscous salad is chock full of flavor from garlic, onion, carrots, bell peppers, cherry tomatoes, veggie broth, fresh herbs, olives, red wine vinegar, and a little olive oil. Each serving has 510 calories and 22g of protein.

Now you've got a lot of high protein vegan salads to test out. They are perfect as light dinners or make-ahead lunches to take on the go. Any of these salads will not only make for a flavorful meal, but will also help you get in that extra protein to meet your goals.

With this huge list of delicious salads from a variety of cuisines and full of colorful veggies, fruits, legumes, nuts, and seeds, I hope you found some great new high-protein salad recipes to try. Let us know in the comments which ones you've tried and which are your favorite!