Vegan Food Pyramid, Updated — the Free Printable Plate
See exactly what fills each of the five groups when nothing comes from an animal: cups, ounces, and the fortified soy that still counts as dairy. Free to print.
Build a Vegan Plate
See exactly what fills each of the five groups when nothing comes from an animal: cups, ounces, and the fortified soy that still counts as dairy. Free to print.
1. Half the plate: vegetables and fruits
Fill half with vegetables and fruit and vary the colors across the week: leafy greens, red and orange vegetables, beans, starchy vegetables, and whatever fruit is in season. Two cups of raw leafy greens count as one cup of vegetables, so a salad is smaller than it looks.
2. A quarter: whole grains
Brown rice, whole-wheat pasta and bread, oats, quinoa, barley, corn tortillas. One slice of bread, half a cup of cooked rice or pasta, or half a cup of cooked oatmeal is one ounce-equivalent. Make at least half your grains whole ones.
3. A quarter: protein foods
Beans, lentils, chickpeas, tofu, tempeh, edamame, nuts, seeds, and nut butters. A quarter cup of cooked beans, one ounce of tofu, half an ounce of nuts, or a tablespoon of nut butter each count as one ounce-equivalent.
4. Alongside: fortified soy for the dairy group
The dairy group stays on a vegan plate. The Dietary Guidelines count calcium-fortified soy beverage and soy yogurt there, because their protein, calcium, and vitamin D line up with cow's milk; one cup of soy beverage is one cup-equivalent. Other plant milks can be fortified but aren't counted in the group.
5. Oils, quietly
Plant oils are already doing the cooking here, from olive, canola and sunflower, and the oils inside nuts, seeds, olives, and avocado count toward the same small daily allowance. Oils aren't a food group; they're the vitamin E and essential fatty acids riding along with everything else.
6. Beans get to pick a group
Beans, peas, and lentils count as either a vegetable or a protein food, whichever the day is short on. That flexibility does real work on a plate with no meat, seafood, or eggs on it, and it's why the same cup of chili can settle two different gaps.
7. The nutrients worth planning for
A fully plant-based plate needs a deliberate source of vitamin B12, and calcium and vitamin D land much more easily when fortified soy is actually in the cart. That's a shopping decision more than a cooking one, and it gets made once a week.
Original one-sheet from MyPlate.food, built on the five MyPlate food groups, USDA serving-size equivalents, and the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020-2025, which counts calcium-fortified soy beverage and soy yogurt in the dairy group. The USDA has never published a vegan food pattern; this sheet applies the general guidance to a plant-based plate. General nutrition education, not medical advice. MyPlate.food is independent and not affiliated with the USDA.
Related printables
- Vegan Grocery List by Food Group — The same five groups, written as a shopping list.
- Plant-Based Protein Sources Chart — What one ounce-equivalent looks like for each plant protein.
- 7-Day Vegan Meal Plan — The plate put to work: a week of real USDA recipes, every meal plant-based.