Need a non-obvious meatless dinner recipe

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  • JazzFischer1989
    JazzFischer1989 Posts: 531 Member
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    A couple of my favorite meatless dishes that I've made in the past:

    - Baked mac 'n cheese w/spinach or broccoli. Both if you want!
    - Thai style fried rice w/tofu
    - Cauliflower lasagna

    eta: just thought of a few others. Spinach and broccoli quiche, spanikopita, butternut squash soup (actually never made this but my dad has and it's the sht.

    I dunno if these things are "obvious" or not but they're so tasty you don't think about the fact that they're meatless.
  • bohemian124
    bohemian124 Posts: 153 Member
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    I'm a huge fan of beans and quinoa, and there are an easy place to start for vegetarian meals. You could do southwest stuffed bell peppers with black beans, quinoa, corn, tomatoes, and salsa. Tup with a bit of cheese and bake. Very filling and tasty.

    Black beans and brown rice are also great. You could serve them in tacos, burritos, etc. Or go Cuban and top with a fried egg and sauteed onions - yummy and lots of protein.

    You could also do lentil loaf or nut loaf (mix with lentils if you need to watch fat).
  • dklibert
    dklibert Posts: 1,196 Member
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    http://soupspiceeverythingnice.blogspot.com/2013/08/santa-fe-rice-and-beans.html
  • blukitten
    blukitten Posts: 922 Member
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    Last night we had meatless / total vegetarian spaghetti! Thats a good one that can be vegetarian and people usually wont complain if you put alot of veggies in the sauce!

    ours was even vegan becuase we used spaghetti squash for the pasta so super healthy and super filling and no one noticed there was no meat- even my three children!

    Just an idea!
  • my_chrystal82
    my_chrystal82 Posts: 46 Member
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    Not sure if anyone else mentioned this but my family absolutely loves Yves Ground Round.

    You can buy it in the fruit & veg section of your grocery store and you use like you would ground beef. Our family favorite is soft tacos, but the kids also like it in pasta, meatloaf, chili, layered mexican dip. It's basically beans lol
  • jules92761
    jules92761 Posts: 55 Member
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    Not sure if anyone mentioned this already or not but the vegetarian crumbles, like Boca or Morningstar farm can be substituted in your spaghetti or lasagna or pretty much any meal you would use ground beef in and not be totally obvious. Also, since you mentioned you are doing it to save some money rather than necessarily trying to go vegan - how about some tuna dishes? Tuna is less expensive than some of the vegetarian options and tuna mixed with brown rice and broccoli is quick and easy and super yummy!
  • lorifisher9546
    lorifisher9546 Posts: 6
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    have you ever taken a look at the website www.meatlessmonday.com ?
    it is one of my favorite websties to go to for new ideas
  • willrun4bagels
    willrun4bagels Posts: 838 Member
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    I make vegetarian high-protein lasagna. I make two trays - one with veggies, one without. My man eats the vegetarian high-protein one without the veggies (he won't eat them), and I eat the one with. This is what I would use for my tray with veggies:


    -1c tomato sauce of your choice
    -2 servings of no-boil lasagna noodles
    -1 smaller container of Breakstone's 2% cottage cheese (I am the first person to hate on cottage cheese. I detest it. But this recipe makes it edible). I think there are 2 servings per container? Or maybe 4? I create a new recipe each time I make this lasagna on MFP and log my ingredients separately each time because my quantities/brands that I buy vary.
    -450g frozen zucchini
    -6 servings of Trader Joe's meat-less ground beef - cooked
    -40g fresh mozzarella


    Preheat oven to the temperature dictated by the packaging on the no-boil lasagna noodles (some are 350 degrees fahrenheit, some are 375, etc.)
    Spray a casserole dish with a non-stick spray.
    Spread a small amount of tomato sauce on the bottom of the dish.
    Layer 1/3 of your little pile of lasagna noodles on the bottom of the dish.
    Add 1/2 of the frozen zucchini, like 1/3 of the remaining tomato sauce, half of the cooked meatless ground-beef.
    Add half of the container of cottage cheese.
    Layer half of the remaining lasagna noodles over this mixture.
    Repeat the toppings for the next layer, top with your remaining lasagna noodles and save some tomato sauce to pour over the top (if the noodles on top are not covered with at least a little tomato sauce, they get crunchy and brittle in the oven).
    Add 40g chopped mozzarella on top.
    Cover with foil, bake for 10-15 minutes longer than dictated on the no-boil lasagna noodles (to account for the frozen zucchini).

    As I mentioned, I make this somewhat differently each time based on what I have on hand at that time, but generally each dish makes 3 servings for me, and each serving is somewhere around 500-550 cals and 35-40g protein. I use a food scale for everything and just create new recipes on my diary dated with the day I made it so I can keep track.

    It's DELICIOUS. And I normally hate zucchini. And cottage cheese. My man is also normally a veggie ground-beef hater but he loves this dish.

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