Fortifying a vegan diet

If you require extra calories and energy from your food

You should:

• Try to eat more small meals and nourishing snacks every two to three hours.
• Choose full fat/full sugar food options.
• Include nourishing drinks in your diet, for example, milk alternatives, sweetened juice-based drinks or a vegan meal replacement drink like Huel®.
• Keep snacks in easy reach place where you spend a lot of time.
• Try having a vegan suitable dessert after your meals.

Add additional calories to your diet through extra fats and sugars

You can do this by:

• Using oils or nut/seed butters over pasta and salads as a dressing.
• Cooking oven chips with a little oil, and potatoes and vegetables (parsnips, carrots) can be roasted in oil and syrup.
• Adding extra oil, nut butters, vegan cheeses and vegan creams to drinks, sauces, soups, casseroles, porridge, puddings, mashed potatoes, vegetables, sauces, cookies and muffins, and puréed foods.
• Using peanut butter and other nut butters in sandwiches, on crackers, biscuits or pretzels, or used as a dip; as well as being blended into baking.
• Adding white or brown sugar, glucose powder, jams and preserves, syrup and treacle, seeds i.e., chia or flaxseed, a scoop of Huel® or cacao powder to cereals, puddings, desserts, and drinks.
• Using extra sauces or gravy with meals.
• Tomato ketchup or brown sauce can be spread on hot sandwiches and used as a condiment, or added to soups, casseroles, and sauces.
• Vegan mayonnaise and salad creams can be spread in sandwiches, mixed into potatoes (mashed or to make potato salad) and used as a condiment, dressing, or garnish.
• Adding lentils, chickpeas and beans to soups, stews and casseroles, or a scoop of meal replacement powder.
• Grate vegan cheese onto foods (such as beans on toast, pasta dishes and soups).

Eat high calorie snacks between meals to help boost your daily nutritional intake

You can do this by adding the following to your diet:

• Oat or muesli bars, or flapjacks.
• Savoury biscuits or pitta breads with dips such as hummus, salsa or guacamole.
• Crisps, nuts, and fried foods such as Bombay mix and vegetable samosas.
• Toast with jam, marmalade, mashed avocados or bananas, nut butters and syrups.
• Fried bread.
• Dried fruit.

Add additional nutrition to your diet through nourishing drinks

You can do this by:

• Increasing your consumption of added calcium milk alternatives like coconut, rice, oat, or soya milk.  
• Using a vegan protein powder such as Huel® or by adding extra scoops of protein powder to other drinks.
• Making hot drinks such as hot chocolate, cocoa or malt drinks with milk alternatives and sweetened to taste.
• Making smoothies with peanut butter, banana and chocolate flavoured milk alternative or use mixed berries, almond butter, chia seeds and a milk alternative. You can also add a scoop of protein or meal replacement powder.
• Making instant soups with milk alternatives.

Soya milk provides more protein than other milk alternatives and so is a better choice.

Your dietitian may also be able to prescribe products to help supplement your diet and boost your nutritional intake if needed.