Want to create a simple Daniel Fast meal plan? In this post I share how to plan a Daniel Fast. Keep reading for tips, recipes, and meal prep ideas.

YouTube video

Here’s a video about this topic on my YouTube channel:

What is a Daniel Fast?

A Daniel Fast is a fast following Daniel’s diet in the Old Testament of the Bible.

The Daniel fast diet is one that includes only plant-based ingredients. An optimal fast is one that is includes primarily whole food ingredients (unprocessed foods in the most natural state).

• Quick start guide to Daniel Fasting
• Ultimate Guide to Daniel and Fasting Biblically in 2024

How to create a simple Daniel Fast meal plan

Planning a simple Daniel Fast diet is easy. Knowing what to eat and what your schedule is for the duration of the meal plan is important.

Reserve the processed foods for special occasions, or when you absolutely need the extra work taken out of cooking (like when you have a super busy schedule or are unable to stand and cook like during an illness). However, even eating just whole food, plant-based ingredients is easy and possible on a tight budget or busy lifestyle.

Here’s my simple four step process for meal planning for this fast:

Step 1: Take inventory

Before starting the fast go through your kitchen and discard any foods that contain animal products (listed above). Then, take inventory of the plant based ingredients you already have.

“Taking inventory” means creating a list of all ingredients you already have and is easy to do. All you need to do is write a list of every ingredient you have and how much of each ingredient.

Why take inventory?

Taking inventory is important for:

1. Preventing food waste
2. Sticking to a food budget
3. Saving time and effort

Step 2: Choose Daniel Fast meals

Once you have a list of all of the ingredients you already have, it’s time to decide what you want to eat for the duration of the meal plan. Choosing meals is easy, here’s a few considerations to make:

Upcoming schedule

It is important to first consider your schedule of events that will take place during the meal plan. This is important because you probably don’t want to plan a big fancy meal on a night when you’re getting home at 7:30pm and need to have dinner ready quickly.

Alternatively, if you’re planning to enjoy a meal out, you don’t have to have a meal at home already planned into your schedule for this mealtime.

How much time and effort you have to meal prep

If you know that you will have a very busy schedule during your meal plan, it’s a good idea to plan meals that are quick and easy to prepare. This will save time and stress during meal time, and make it more likely that you will actually follow the diet plan.

Meals that are quick and easy to prepare are ones that are packed with Daniel Diet nutrition, contain few ingredients, and can be prepared in 15-20 minutes or less.

• 9 quick Daniel Fast meals

If you know that you want to spend a good amount of time preparing food, it’s a good idea to incorporate into the diet plan new dishes and meals that have more steps and ingredients. These are great for learning how to cook and practicing your meal prep skills. They are also great for when you plan to have guests during a meal, or when you want to treat yourself to an extravagant feast.

• 15 easy Daniel Fast meals (and recipes)

Food budget

Another thing to consider when planning a Daniel Diet diet is to meal plan according to your desired food budget. Plan meals that are inexpensive if you’re on a tight budget. Pair inexpensive ingredients with 1-2 more expensive ingredient to keep your food costs down.

• 15 affordable Daniel Fast meals

Plan meals around the “Daily Dozen”

Lastly, it’s important to consider nutrition while creating a meal plan. I find it very easy to plan a plant-based diet when applying the Daily Dozen.

• Learn more about the Daily Dozen

Here’s a quick list of the foods that are included in the list:

1. Legumes
2. Whole grains
3. Fruits
4. Vegetables
5. Leafy greens
6. Cruciferous vegetables
7. Berries
8. Nuts
9. Seeds
10. Water
11. Herbs and spices

Simple Daniel Fast meal ideas.

Once you have considered all of the above factors, it’s time to create your Daniel Diet meal plan. Here’s a few tips for creating a plant-based meal plan:

Breakfast ideas

Planning breakfasts for this fast can be quick and easy if you plan the same breakfast several days a week.

What I like to do is choose quick and easy breakfasts that are packed with nutrition for days when I know I will be busy. Then, I plan more elaborate breakfasts for days when I know I have less on my to-do list, such as on the weekends.

Here’s 12 breakfast ideas:

1. Cereal and soymilk with fruit
2. Fruit bowl with hemp seeds
3. Yogurt with oats and fruit
4. Daniel Fast oatmeal bars
5. Green smoothie
6. Citrus smoothie
7. Daniel Fast easy oatmeal
8. Breakfast scramble
9. Breakfast burrito
10. Peanut butter, banana and cinnamon toast
11. Avocado toast
12. Breakfast platters

Lunch ideas

Similar to breakfast, I like to have some lunches that are quick and easy to prepare, as well as some that are reserved for special occasions and picnics.

Here’s a list of nine lunch ideas:

1. Hot sandwiches
2. Cold sandwiches
3. Salads
4. Wraps
5. Leftovers
6. Pasta
7. Tofu and rice bowl with vegetables
8. Soup with bread
9. Easy everyday lunch meal prep for Daniel Fast

Dinner theme night ideas

Having a “theme night” for dinner makes it fun and easy to plan a week’s worth of dinners. Here’s a list of eight dinner theme ideas:

1. Leftover night
2. Vegan Queso, Rice, Beans & Greens
3. Stir-fry night
4. Taco night
5. Pasta night
6. Pizza night
7. Feast night
8. Roasted Potatoes and Veggie Night

Step 3: Grocery shop.

Once you have created your simple Daniel Fast meal plan, it’s time to grocery shop.

Making a shopping list is easy, all you have to do is make a reusable list of ingredients you need and the quantity of each. This takes the guesswork out of creating a grocery list and saves time and energy in writing out a list each time you need to shop.

• View my recommended groceries for this fast
• View the 7-Day Daniel Fast shopping list (free printable PDF)

Grocery shopping is easy, here’s a list of seven places to shop for ingredients:

1. Online grocery stores
2. Farmer’s markets
3. Local grocery stores
4. Chain grocery stores
5. Discount grocery stores
6. Health food stores
7. Food banks (for low income shoppers)

Step 4: Meal prep

Once home with your ingredients, the next thing to do is meal prep.

Meal prep is the term used to describe preparing some or all ingredients ahead of time. This saves time, stress and energy during meal times. It also helps you stick to a fast.

Meal prep tips

Meal prep basic ingredients being used in the in next 2-3 days. For example, “meal prep” onions, carrots, and lettuce by washing and chopping them, then storing these ingredients in airtight containers in the refrigerator. This will save time and energy when you’re ready to enjoy salads throughout the week.

Or, meal prep entire meals. For example, many people like to make “freezer meals” that are complete meals stored in the freezer. When you’re ready to eat, simply reheat and serve. Meal prep takes a little bit more time in advance, however can save you lots of time and effort during meal times.

Kitchen tools

It’s a good idea to invest in some quality kitchen tools. My motto is “quality over quantity”.

• View my recommended meal prep equipment for Daniel Fasting

Further reading:

• Quick start guide to Daniel Fasting