You definitely don’t need to be a vegan or vegetarian to enjoy the countless health benefits of enjoying meatless meals every now and then. And eating meatless doesn’t need to be complicated either. Some of the recipes in this post take literally 5 minutes to prepare!
In general, meatless meals get a bad rap because they’re often centered around “fake” meat products attempting to masquerade as chicken, beef, or pork. But non-processed vegan foods and recipes are so incredibly delicious in their own right that there’s really no need to think of them as a second-rate substitute for meat.
If you’re not a fan of fake meat products—or even if you are—you will be happy to know that none of the 31 meatless meals recipes below include meat substitutes!
Meatless Meals – Main Courses
1. Cheesy Baked Pasta Casserole
Full recipe—> Cheesy Baked Pasta Casserole
2. Homemade Panda Express – Orange Cauliflower “Chicken”
Full recipe—> Healthy Panda Express
3. Greek Yogurt Mac & Cheese
Full recipe—> Greek Yogurt Mac and Cheese
4. Homemade Spaghetti Os (reader favorite)
Full recipe—> Homemade Spaghettios
5. Sweet Potato Burgers From Kathy Patalsky
Full recipe—> Sweet Potato Burgers
6. Green Coconut Noodles
Full recipe—> Coconut Green Noodles
7. Thai Peanut Butter Curry
Full recipe—> Thai Peanut Butter Curry
8. Homemade Amy’s Mexican Tamale Pies
Full recipe—> Homemade Amy’s Mexican Tamale Pies
9. Polenta Casserole
Full recipe—> Vegan Polenta Casserole
10. Loaded Baked Sweet Potato Skins
Full recipe—> Baked Sweet Potato Skins
11. Vegan Mac & Cheese From Dreena Burton
Full recipe—> Vegan Macaroni And Cheese
12. Spaghetti Squash Lo Mein
Full recipe—> Spaghetti Squash Lo Mein
13. Lentil Sloppy Joes
Full recipe—> Lentil Sloppy Joes
14. Bread Free Lentil Stuffing
Full recipe—> Bread Free Lentil Stuffing
15. Portobello Mushroom Burgers
Full recipe—> Portobello Mushroom Burgers
Soups & Stews
1. Loaded Veggie Miso Soup
Full Recipe—> Veggie Miso Soup
2. Butternut Squash Soup
Full recipe—> Butternut Squash Soup Recipe
3. No Chicken Noodle Soup
Full recipe—> No Chicken Noodle Soup
4. Million Veggie Lentil Stew
Full recipe—> 1 Million Vegetable Lentil Stew
5. (No Cream) Cream Of Broccoli Soup
Full recipe—> (No Cream) Cream Of Broccoli Soup
Meatless Chili Recipes
1. Three Bean Vegan Chili
Full recipe—> Three Bean Vegan Chili
2. Sweet Potato Chili (reader favorite)
Full recipe—> Sweet Potato Chili
3. Classic Vegetarian Chili
Full recipe—> Vegetarian Chili Recipe
Meatless Appetizers & Side Dishes
1. Cool Ranch Doritos Hummus
Full recipe—> Cool Ranch Hummus
2. Nacho Cheese Doritos Hummus
Full recipe—> Nacho Cheese Hummus
3. Blueberry Ketchup
Full recipe—> Blueberry Ketchup
4. Slow Cooker Veggies
Full recipe—> Slow Cooker Roast Vegetables
5. Flourless Cheese Bread
Full recipe—> Flourless Cheese Bread
6. Barbecue Baked Beans
Full recipe—> Baked Beans Recipe
7. Quinoa Pizza Bites
Full recipe—> Quinoa Pizza Bites
8. Healthy Corn Muffins (reader favorite)
Full recipe—> Healthy Corn Muffins
Do you have any go-to favorite meatless meals?
Any quick weeknight meatless recipes, fancy Sunday dinner recipes, or a favorite soup, salad, or meatless appetizer recipe? As always, please feel free to leave ideas and links to your own meatless meals recipes in the comments to inspire other readers.
Cassie Tran says
Tofu-veggie stir-fries can never do you wrong! I so want to try your orange cauliflower chicken, oh and your peanut butter curry 🙂 how about evvvveeeeeryyyyyything???
cupcake recipes says
I really want to try loaded Veggie Miso Soup, I already taste it in a resto but I didn’t know how to make it, is there some ingredients liste for that meal?
Aubrey says
MMMMM…. These had some great ideas:D
Jules @ WolfItDown says
Wow! These all look fantastic! I still need to try and make your Doritos hummus, it sounds incredible 😀 I had tandoori sweet potatoe wedges with hummus today, and a sneaky piece of chocolate, veggie aint boring 😀
I hope the week has treated you well so far 🙂 xx
Maria says
Thanks for this compilation. A nice variety and an excellent quick reference for that big question…what to make for dinner!?! Might have to start with the cheesy baked pasta (I LOVE baked pasta, yours looks so delish) and just work my way down the list!
MaryAnn says
Is there any chance we will see these in a book? ( hint, hint) 😉
Chocolate Covered Katie says
I am starting to get ideas together for a savory book 🙂
Wendy@TheNomadicVegan says
Oh wow, that’s great news! Way to go you.
Rachel says
Yaaaaaaay! I mean…*composing self* that’s good news. 😉
Julia Mazzucato says
YAY! I love your sweets cookbook. A Savory CCK book is all i need now!
MaryAnn says
YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Life is good 🙂
Wendy@TheNomadicVegan says
Hi Katie,
Glad to see you still posting non-dessert recipes every once and a while. I’m a HUGE fan of your Coconut Green Noodles and your Cool Ranch Doritos Hummus. And now I see lots more delicious-looking recipes here I’m going to have to try!
Nicole {VeganShowOff.com} says
Oh wow, this is a great collection! I really need to try your Quinoa Pizza Bites ASAP, they look so good!!
Gluten Free Babe says
This is a great post! I love all the ideas. The quinoa pizza bites look fantastic. I just did a post on tomato quinoa with summer veggies. I can’t wait to make this one. Being gluten free I eat a lot of quinoa – I love it too – so that’s good 🙂
lisa @bitesforbabies says
These all look like hearty, delicious vegetarian meals! I agree as well that one does not have to be a vegetarian to enjoy these! My husband is a big meat-eater however, he also enjoys the vegetarian meals that I prepare. I made some eggplant ‘meatballs’ the other day and he deovured them!
http://www.bitesforbabies.com/recipes/eggplant-meatballs/
Paula says
Saw this and decided I *had* to have the cheesy bread immediately, and even though I had just went shopping made an extra trip to my favorite local natural foods store for daiya. Somehow still wound up with a $50 grocery bill due to so many tempting distractions! Am I the only person that is incapable of going into one of these places and not stuffing my cart with bulk bin items and at least 10 things I decidedly “forgot” the last time I was there (which in my case was yesterday!)?
Either way, big thanks for the inspiration! So so good!
Grace says
Great list! I’m especially interested in trying the Copycat Amy’s Mexican Tamale Pies. One of the best dishes I’ve ever made (I’m vegetarian so I eat meatless all days of the week, haha) were Bean Balls (meatless meatballs). You can check them out here: http://www.heartfulhabits.com/recipe/bean-balls-vegan-meatballs/
Mary Frances says
This is a great round up. Lots of ideas for those Meatless Mondays or those days when you just want something lighter.
Jan says
I’ve tried so many of these meatless meals and everything I’ve made from your site has turned out really well. We’re not vegetarians but we like to not eat too much meat in our house. Thanks for not using meat substitutes either. Those are not healthy for anyone.
nora says
love your new site .everything looks so yummy