How to gain weight as a vegan (the healthy way!)

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Last Updated on October 19, 2025 by Tiffany

“You can’t gain weight as a vegan”, “if you go vegan, you’ll always be skinny!”, are just a few things I’ve heard people say. It is a common misconception that all vegans are skinny, underweight, and malnourished.

Coming from a gyal who was all three of those things when eating meat and is now extremely healthy and ~full up a shape~ 8 years plant based; let me show you how to gain weight as a vegan!

To put into perspective, when I started my weight gain journey I was around 145 and am now fluctuating between 175 & 180. That’s a 30 pound increase from a pure vegan, HEALTHY diet!

This article will dive into the tips and tricks of how to gain weight as a vegan, the health way! A friendly and healthy disclaimer, vegan to vegan. The sentiments in this article are coming form personal experience and not to be taken as or replace medical advice. What has worked for me may not work for others.

I am an extremely tall women (5’11) and majority of my weight went straight to my hips and thighs, although this weight distribution may be different for others. It is very important to consult with a medical professional or dietician before making major changes to your diet.

Bulking. This is the start!

One of the main (and most important) aspects of gaining healthy weight on any diet, not just as a vegan, is bulking. Bulking is a “gym bro” term which basically means you’re intentionally consuming more calories than you burn.

Bulking includes an extreme caloric surplus, I would typically aim to consume an extra 500 – 1,000 calories a day that I would normally consume. Protein, carbs, and healthy fats are a must during bulking.

100 G protein per day minimum

Nothing less than 100 grams protein a day, and I mean that babes. Like I said before, one of the most important combos in the vegan bulking journey is protein, carbs, and (healthy) fats.

Probably one of my favorite vegan protein sources is tofu. A lot of people have issues with tofu as it is made from soy, to that I say you do you boo.

I personally consumed mostly fava bean tofu, a soy free tofu with 64 grams of protein per block. I actually preferred soy bean tofu due to taste and the fact it offered more protein than traditional soy tofu!

Some of my other go-to protein sources were lentils, chickpeas, chickpea flour, spelt flour, tahini/sesame seeds, and peanut butter.

Carbs, carbs carbs! Lots of peanut butter jelly sandwiches!

This has to be one of my most controversial methods, but is one of the food groups that was the most important in my healthy vegan weight gain journey. I had to eat a whole heap a carbs fi put on di weight!

One of my favorite carb sources was sourdough bread. I never liked to eat large amounts of bread, but I had to get used to it during my bulking period. The natural fermentation process in sourdough allowed it to be much easier digested compared to regular bread!

More sources of healthy carbs I consumed during my bulking period: white/brown rice, Jamaican sweet potato, dasheen (aka Taro), Jamaican boiled dumpling, banana, dates, lentils, and chickpeas.

Start weight Training, Stop heavy cardio

Back when I used to run miles everyday, I was extremely lean and found it hard to put or keep ANY weight on, especially as someone with a very high metabolism. Basically- I was super skinny.

A few years ago when I talked to a personal trainer, I had emphasised that I wanted to gain weight. The trainer proceeded to inform me that excessive cardio (like running many miles everyday) was pretty much preventing me from keeping on weight.

I started to incorporate weight lifting 3-5 times per week and the only cardio I decided to keep was the stair master for 15 + minutes per gym sesh.

Eat more healthy fats | High calorie high fat foods

No, this doesn’t mean grab a bag of potato chips as your fat intake for the day. Healthy fats are completely different from saturated fats.

When we talk about fats on a HEALTHY plant based diet, we’re talking about avocado, nut butters, tahini, nuts (like almonds, cashews, walnuts, hazelnuts). We’re talking about chia seeds and pumpkin seeds, olive oil, and tofu.

All hail the protein smoothie

What the title says, and make sure to add healthy fats! My berry peanut butter smoothie recipes absolutely SAVED me on my high cakaorie goal during bulking!

Protein smoothies gut healthy food/plant based yogurts with creamy peanut butter for a delicious, high protein digestible meal/snack.

Every aspect meal must have protein and good carbs/fats

Last but not least, I made sure EVERY aspect of my meal had a form of protein and or carbs/fats. I never wanted to have an “empty” section on my plate. Empty meaning a food option that twas not serving towards either portion, carbs, or healthy fats.

Want a step by step guide on what I eat in a day, high protein, calorie dense, and high (healthy fat? Check out this article that shows how I consumed nearly 150 grams of protein in a day, fully vegan!

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