During my recent quest to put on a couple pounds of muscle, I have found it hard to get enough calories in without eating tons of shakes or bars because of my crazy schedule.I don’t like or recommend getting a lot of calories from shakes or bars because they are highly processed and often have less than optimal nutrition stats. When my search for a vegan whole-food weight-gainer yielded nothing, we began experimenting…

And the result is a weight gainer shake with mostly whole-food ingredients and excellent nutrition stats:

VEGAN WEIGHT-GAINER

INGREDIENTS (Calories/Carbs/Protein/Fat/Fiber):

• 2 tbsp hulled sunflower seeds (105/4/4/9/2)
• 1/4 TVP [textured vegetable protein] (80/7/12/0/4)
• 1 scoop NitroFusion, or similar protein powder (190/9/25/2/2)
• 1 cup soymilk (90/7/7/3.5/1)
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 banana (121/31/1/0/4)
• 1 can canellini beans, rinsed [aka white kidney beans] (420/73/28/0/35)
• 1 tbsp agave nectar (43/11/0/0/0)
• 1 tsp vanilla
• [optional] cocoa powder to taste

Total stats: 1049 calories, 142g carbs, 77g protein, 14.5g fat, 48g fiber

DIRECTIONS:

Add first 2 ingredients to blender and process to a powder.

Add remaining ingredients and blend for at least 2 minutes, adding more cold water while blending if the shake is too thick.

I know it may look questionable, but it actually tastes quite good and packs a much better nutrient punch than your average gainer shake!

A Word of Caution: If you are not used to eating high fiber foods (like beans) I would try half shakes or even smaller portions at first. This shake contains a whopping 48g of fiber from whole foods, (roughly twice the recommended daily allowance which most Americans still don’t get) and if you are not used to it you will have indigestion and gas, guaranteed. These are not signs that you should avoid such foods, these are signs that your diet is deficient in fiber. Once your body is used to high fiber fruits, vegetables, and legumes they won’t cause you any trouble.

So, if you’re looking to add a few pounds but don’t want to choke down another powder gainer, give this one a shot!