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What is your favourite healthy vegetarian meal?

(77 Posts)
hungercafe Wed 29-Jul-26 02:38:42

Hi everyone,

I've been trying to include more healthy vegetarian meals in my diet and I'm always looking for new ideas. My favourites include chickpea salad, vegetable khichdi, paneer dishes, and grilled vegetables.

What are your favourite vegetarian meals that are healthy, filling, and easy to make? I'd love to hear your recommendations and any recipes you enjoy.

Romola Sat 15-Aug-26 17:23:02

A South American salad based on a quinoa and sweet corn mixture, with avocado, pepper, tomatoes, chilli, nuts, fresh coriander and dressing of corn oil and lime zest and juice.
That's vegan, but with it you can serve hard boiled eggs or chorizo or mabe cold chicken.

Susieq62 Sat 15-Aug-26 17:23:22

Halloumi fajitas
Courgette and goats cheese pasta
Veg kebabs
Veg chilli
Ratatouille
Courgette quiche
( we have a glut of courgettes from the allotment 😁)

Gracey Sat 15-Aug-26 17:43:37

I'm not vegetarian but I made a lovely bean casserole a few weeks ago with chopped sweet potatoes and veggie stock as the base and added onions, butter beans, chickpeas, garlic, lentils and tomatoes. I also used cumin and a few chilli flakes, so it was a bit like a veggie chilli con carne.

It went down very well with Mr G and my strapping meat-eating sons. I envisaged all of them pulling faces or commenting on the lack of meat. The boys even asked if they could take a portion home. I was pleasantly surprised.

My reason for making it was that I needed more fibre in my diet as my digestive system had been sluggish for a while. This dish certainly reset it! grin

MissAdventure Sat 15-Aug-26 17:48:38

That sounds a nice dish, Gracey
Not so sure about the reset, though.

I love comfort type foods, shepherd's pie, stew, etc.

I'm always looking for a basic veggie "mince", but have only got it right a couple of times.

Oreo Sat 15-Aug-26 17:58:00

I haven’t got a favourite one, they always seem a bit lacking to me without some meat 😊

Oreo Sat 15-Aug-26 17:59:22

Just thought, I do like a simple pasta dish with cheese and tomatoes now and then.
This is often improved with some tuna.

Silvertwigs Sat 15-Aug-26 18:30:23

Homemade Vegetable curry, ooooh it’s delicious. I batch cook it

owaisrazaquest Sat 15-Aug-26 18:38:42

My favorite would be a vegetable stir-fry with brown ricesmile—simple, filling, and packed with colorful vegetables and plant-based protein like tofu or chickpeas.

Gwyllt Sat 15-Aug-26 18:43:52

I’m with you Miss A Baked potato and cheese and if really need comfort grated cheese and noodles. I do eat healthily most of the time

MissAdventure Sat 15-Aug-26 18:47:48

I was going to jabe that for tonight, but it seems to be getting hotter.
Phew! Too hot for me.

Greyduster Sat 15-Aug-26 18:49:07

Asparagus and sun-dried tomato risotto. Simple, delicious.

nightowl Sat 15-Aug-26 19:15:09

The Vivera salmon fillet that Sarnia mentioned is actually vegan, so great for anyone who likes fish!

Witzend Sat 15-Aug-26 19:19:57

Now and then I make dal, with plenty of spinach and cauliflower. Very good with fresh naan bread.

In colder weather I make a lot of multi-veg soups -nearly all seasonal, UK grown.

Cauli-mac cheese is a favourite here - cauliflower and macaroni cheese combined - breadcrumbs and grated cheese on top, whack under the grill - lovely.

If you have a glut of French beans, even if past their best, look up fasolakia, a Greek green bean stew. Delicious. I have also made it with frozen green beans. Plenty of nice fresh bread mops up the juices.

MissAdventure Sat 15-Aug-26 19:58:47

I buy sainsburys dahl soup.
It is absolutely delicious, both as a soup, or eaten with rice and naan bread.it also has a long sell by
date, too, so worth keepimg, "just in case".

merlotgran Sat 15-Aug-26 20:22:31

Veggie stir fry tonight (M&S as I’m too lazy to do all the slicing) with sriracha rice.

A chilled glass of Pinot Grigio is just the ticket as well!

Wyllow3 Sat 15-Aug-26 20:45:13

BlueBelle

I m just a simple stir fry woman with whatever flavouring and veg I fancy thrown in I m a simple cook the simpler the better for me 😂

Thats me. I actually like ginger and lemon flavouring a lot. I do a 3 night batch sometimes and keep in the fridge.

I have with some fish and new potatoes. Sometimes walnuts in (so good for you)I actually do these in the microwave.

I'd use pulses but they are high FODMAP so not my tum friendly.

PipandFinn Sat 15-Aug-26 20:49:03

Anyone tried courgette lasagne. One of the tastiest and easiest dishes I've ever made. It's now on the menu every week ...

Magenta8 Sat 15-Aug-26 21:00:56

nightowl

The Vivera salmon fillet that Sarnia mentioned is actually vegan, so great for anyone who likes fish!

I am sorry I didn't realise that.

From the start of my vegetarian diet I have avoided meat and fish substitutes for a number of reasons but I still yearn for bacon sometimes.

I am eating a lot of salads at the moment with pecan nuts, beetroot, radishes, grated carrot and cold cooked french beans as well as the usual cucumber, lettuce and tomato. Lovely with fresh yogurt mayo.

Doodledog Sat 15-Aug-26 21:21:44

This recipe is from a 70s cookbook when veggie meals were quite limited, but they are lovely, and children tend to like them too:
Finely chop an onion and sauté it.
Mix with equal quantities of cooked brown rice, grated cheese and ground nuts (4oz of each makes around 8 'burgers', but you can adjust to your needs).
Season well and add dried thyme.
Shape into burgers or sausage shapes.
Dip in beaten egg, and coat in wholemeal breadcrumbs then shallow fry until browned and heated through.

Serve with salad if you are being healthy or chips/baked potatoes if you prefer.

MissAdventure Sat 15-Aug-26 21:49:10

That sounds good.
You could make a sort of veggie meat loaf with it, I reckon,and oven bake it.

Madmeg Sat 15-Aug-26 22:21:56

I've only ever made one totally vegetarian meal and it was about 50 years ago when entertaining some new friends who lived near us, who were vegetarians. I made a nut roast. No idea where I got the recipe from or what else was in it or accompanied it but to me it was WONDERFUL Why did I never make it again?

I do use a lot of pulses and lentils and huge handfuls of veg in any kind of casserole, but I don't do anything that's totally vegetarian - basically cos I am generally not a good cook and DH is a fish-and-chip type man.

Dempie55 Sun 16-Aug-26 00:02:23

Mushroom omelette

Rosiebee Sun 16-Aug-26 08:03:41

I love roasted veg, usually aubergine, courgettes, mixed peppers and red onions. Sometimes we have them in the Boursin sauce with pasta, adding a couple of spoons of M&S red pepper paste. Also like to drizzle the veg with a bit of maple syrup, pile it up a bit in the roasting tin and drape it with a sheet of puff pastry. Tuck pastry in and bake. Turn out carefully for a veg tarte tatin.

Frenchgalinspain Sun 16-Aug-26 13:12:57

Napoli Pizza ..
(not Thin Crust) ..

(see Photo) ..

Fratelli: Calle Alonso Cano 37 - The Madrid Capital ..

Riccardo & Vittorio won the award for the best Italian Pizza outside of Italia but in The European Union.

Juneandarchie1 Sun 16-Aug-26 21:49:59

Quiche and salad.
Stir fry veg
Omelette
Jacket potato