You/Partner is vegetarian and you/partner is not.

My husband and I are not vegetarians, but my parents who we rented the basement apartment from before they moved are. I did most of the cooking though because while I love my mom dearly she could burn water lol. The easiest way I found to deal with this issue is to just plan meals such as Sloppy Joes which has a vegetarian alternative, I would make our burger or turkey in one pan, then in another pan I would use Morning Star Meal Starts crumbles and just do it like I would the normal sloppy Joe. Same with stir fry I would make the veggies and rice and whatever meat, and just leave it all separate so then that way everyone could kind of build their own stir fry. Also a great alternative for burgers is portabello mushroom caps with garlic, salt, pepper, and McCormicks steak seasoning and then with some melted cheese of their favorite variety in them. They're a great crowd pleasure because my husband and Grandfather who are meat eaters love them as well. Hope this helps, feel free to message me/add me as a friend if you need any more help with meal ideas!

My wife is vegetarian, and so me and my son eat about an 85% vegetarian diet as well (flexetarian). If you are the vegetarian and you do most of the cooking tell them they eat what you make or they have to make their own.

I'm a vegetarian, my husband and sons are not. My husband does almost all the cooking, though since going vegetarian, I do jump in and do more cooking than before. It really hasn't been a problem. I eat mostly what they eat, replacing whatever meat they're eating with a sweet potato or other veg. When we stir fry or make pasta sauces, we just add the meat/tofu separately. When they have burgers or sandwiches with meat, I have a veggie burger. Honestly, if your partner supports you even a little, there shouldn't be a huge problem.

I'm vegetarian, my boyfriend isn't. It's not a big deal. We like to cook together and he's not one of these people that feels like a meal isn't complete without meat in it. He's actually said he'd rather eat a tasty, vegetarian meal than some cheap grade F burger before. If he wants meat, he generally just cooks it himself. We're moving in together in a few months and we'll cook together when we want something similar, but are equally fine with making our own, separate meals.

My husband and I had this issue the first 4 years of our relationship. Either he ate what I cook or he cooked for himself. Usually he ate what I cook. He had meat when we went out, and if we were having burgers at home - whoever cooked made 1 veggie and 1 hamburger. The first answer on this thread had it in a nutshell perfectly.

I'm a vegetarian, my husband is not. A typical meal in our house is a vegetable, starch and some type of near for him. I just ready the sides (which are the best part anyways). Thankfully, my hubby doesn't mind veggie meals so probably 3 or 4 nights a week dinner is all vegetarian. If I make fajitas or a stir fry, I'll cook chicken (our pork or beef) for him separately from the veggies.

I am pescatarian & hubby is a fully fledged meat eater!! He eats fish & veggie most of the time as I do the cooking!! We are tight for time during the week due to work & fitness schedules so it makes life easier.

I am not adverse to cooking him meat (although I don't like touching raw meat or like the smell) so I do cook him meat at least once a week or sometimes cook something that can be done both ways ie casseroles.

If we go out to eat hubby will generally always have meat ie steak.

Only time it causes an issue is when I think of doing something in the slow cooker as only have one & it would always be veggie!!

Been interesting to read how others deal with this issue!!

i have stocked my fridge with my favorite meat substitutes, and it has become a weekly tradition for him to try one of them. So far he likes the fake chiken patties a lot so thats become a regular veggie meal for us. Also he is very sweet and always makes sure to have some sort of soup or sandwich makings at his place that i can eat when his and his rommie are ordering super meaty pizzas.

I'm vegan. My husband and children are omnivores. When I first went vegan two years ago, I asked my hubby if he'd be okay with a meat meal one night, a vegan meal the next. He said yes. But since that time, we have all discovered that the vegan meals generally disappear and the meat meals don't - and no one eats the leftovers and so they must be tossed. I hate to waste food. So now we all largely eat vegan/vegetarian in the house, but they will eat meat when they are out.

I also don't have a problem occasionally cooking meat/fish. Hubby will cook it himself occasionally. But if he's willing to go along with me changing the course of our eating habits after 25 years, then I can give a little, too, and will certainly cook meat for him. Now, the longer I have been vegan, the more raw meat grosses me out and makes me gag. I totally didn't expect that. But I'll still cook it; however, if it they want burgers, hubby will mix it up and make the burgers as that is way too much touching/smelling for me. I have never asked him - he just does it. :^)

I guess my main advice would be to think carefully about marrying someone who finds it so hard to respect your basic value system. If you're willing to be flexible and to accomodate him, then absolutely there needs to be some give and take and he needs to accommodate you.


I can't help thinking that this is a very big overreaction on his part, and I do have to wonder whether this is the *real* issue, or whether there's something else going on that's being expressed via the Big Meat Debate. I've lived with three different meat eating partners, and none of them has ever made a big thing out of it like this.