Carleigh Bodrug has made a career out of proving that plant based cooking does not have to mean complicated recipes, endless prep, or another sad bowl of greens. As the founder of PlantYou and a #1 New York Times bestselling cookbook author, she has built a massive following around food that is practical, satisfying, and actually doable on a busy night.
Her latest cookbook, Quickies: 140+ Nourishing Plant-Based Recipes for Busy People, leans even further into that idea with low effort dinners, smart pantry meals, dump and bake recipes, and shortcuts designed for real life. We caught up with Bodrug to talk about the meals she makes on repeat, the kitchen tricks she swears by, and the Quickies recipes worth starting with first.
In the Kitchen with Carleigh Bodrug
When you first started eating plant based, you’ve said the transition was actually pretty rough. What were you cooking in those early days, and what did you have to learn the hard way before food started becoming genuinely enjoyable?
I really thought that eating plant based meant a never ending Instagram feed of nourish bowls. So it was a lot of plain spinach, brown rice and tofu. I learned the hard way that a new lifestyle is not sustainable if you’re not enjoying it, which is what led me to start veganizing my favorite foods I had grown up eating, like bolognese pasta, tacos and burgers!
You didn’t come into this as a trained chef, which you’ve actually said became part of the magic of PlantYou. How has being a self taught cook shaped the kinds of recipes you create and what you consider “easy” for the average person?
I think part of the success of PlantYou has been that people are able to see themselves in me when I cook. I look at my cookbooks, especially Quickies, as very utilitarian. The recipes are developed by a regular, busy mom who understands what it means to get an accessible, family friendly dinner on the table in 20 minutes.
PlantYou has grown from an Instagram account into cookbooks, meal plans, a team, and a community of millions. As the audience grew, what did you become more protective of keeping the same?
My relationship to my audience is sacred to me. Even though the audience has scaled so much, I still see familiar faces pop into my email inbox and Instagram DMs daily. Believe it or not, I’m still the only person on my team who has access to my social media accounts and interacts with my audience. I think keeping a pulse on the changing needs and desires of your audience is the secret sauce to maintaining success in social media.
If we opened your fridge and pantry on any random weeknight, what are the ingredients we could almost guarantee would be there, and what do you usually turn them into when you have absolutely no plan?
I can almost always guarantee we have a can of chickpeas because we buy these in bulk from Costco! I love to transform these into my Tuscan beans dish, which is actually on the cover of Quickies. It’s an amazing, simple recipe that combines chickpeas with sun dried tomatoes, coconut milk, tomato paste and spices, and is awesome served with naan, toast or rice. It’s almost entirely pantry staples!
You created Quickies for days when both time and energy are in short supply. How did becoming a new mom change the way you think about what actually makes a recipe quick, easy, and realistic?
Becoming a mom was transformative in so many ways, but I finally understood intimately the time constraints that parents are under. I really feel that people don’t have a motivation problem. They struggle most with time. Everyone wants to get a healthy dinner on the table, but sometimes that isn’t realistic. Developing recipes that truly take five minutes to dump into a casserole dish or onto a sheet pan, while also limiting the amount of dishes, became a necessity.
I love the “Got This, Make That” idea in Quickies. What are a few ingredients people often overlook in their fridge or pantry that you immediately see as the beginning of a meal?
When I think about pantry meals, pasta always comes to mind because the possibilities are endless. You almost always have a half empty box sitting in your pantry, and it can come together so quickly. One of our go tos is the Edamame Pesto Pasta in Quickies, where you start by boiling your pasta, then whip up a quick blender sauce of edamame, basil and a nut or seed like cashews, walnuts or sunflower seeds. It’s a dinner that delivers big on fiber, protein and deliciousness with so little effort and so few ingredients.
One of my favorite shortcuts you’ve shared is cooking vegetables right in the same pot as your pasta. What are some other “while this is cooking, do this” tricks that save both time and dishes?
I’m the biggest fan of dump meals. Some people won’t agree with me on this, but I really think a quick meal can still take an hour if the active cooking time is only five minutes. I actually dedicated a full chapter to this in Quickies, where you take five minutes to dump everything into a casserole dish, then pop it into the oven for 50 minutes and out comes a delicious dinner. If you’re a busy person, that allows you to take advantage of that oven cooking time and do some work, a load of laundry or whatever is on your to do list!
What is your “save it before it dies” hierarchy? If you notice herbs, greens, vegetables and fruit all reaching the end of their life at once, what gets frozen, blended, roasted or cooked first?
If I ever see herbs about to go bad, I love to throw them into a quick sauce like my Herbalicious Dressing in Quickies. You just blend yogurt, lemon or lime juice, your herbs and some salt together, and you have the most amazing dressing for salads or dipping.
I also love to save any veggies about to go off, or my scraps, in a big reusable bag in my freezer to make stock. This is an awesome way to get a second life from your scraps. When it’s full, you simply transfer everything to a large pot, fill it to the brim with water and let that simmer for a few hours. Then you have your own vegetable stock!
You’ve shared a lot of blender based sauces and dressings over the years. What ingredients do you rely on when you want something creamy without dairy, and how do you keep those sauces from tasting heavy?
I’m a huge fan of cashews or hulled sunflower seeds in sauces because they add so much creaminess without the dairy. To avoid these sauces from seizing, I always recommend adding more plant milk or pasta water before serving so they stay silky and light.
If someone gave you 20 minutes and said, “Make me the PlantYou dinner you personally never get tired of,” what would you make?
I think it would be the Walnut Sun Dried Tomato Ragu. This is a dish that comes together in 20 minutes but tastes like it’s been cooking on the stove all day. Honestly, I could eat pasta every day of my life.
Which recipe in Quickies do you personally cook the most?
We’ve been on a massive Tofu Chocolate Mousse kick. My husband is either making it every few days or bugging me to because it’s just the most delicious, quick and high protein dessert that keeps well.
Is there a sleeper recipe in Quickies that might not immediately jump off the page, but you think could become one of the recipes people make over and over?
The Secret Ingredient Cookies! I am obsessed with these cookies because fiber is such an important, overlooked nutrient, and with a full can of chickpeas secretly in the batter, you’re checking off that box while getting to enjoy dessert.
If someone only cooked three recipes from Quickies, which three would you want them to start with and why?
This is like choosing a favorite child, but let me take a gander at it. I think I’d recommend the Immunity Stew, Tofu Chocolate Mousse and Edamame Pesto Pasta. I feel all three recipes bring maximum flavor and health benefits for the least effort possible, and would please anyone on the spectrum from meat eater to plant lover!
