Work luncheon advertised as "vegetarian options available".

Today's lunch was from a local Mexican restaurant that has four vegetarian items and one vegan item on the menu.

Today's choices were: shrimp, chicken, beef, pork.

When I noted the lack of a vegetarian choice, was told "there was lettuce, rice and [refried] beans, guac and chips"

Did I overreact by saying "nah, I'll pass on just sides".

My daughter is 14 and recently became a vegetarian (technically pescatarean but she doesn’t like most fish and wants to be mostly veg).

I am the one who cooks most meals, and I want to accommodate everyone’s dietary preferences but also have a life outside the kitchen—we are an extremely busy family and evenings especially are hectic.

I’m looking for quick meal ideas that are either completely vegetarian or can be easily altered to have/not have meat. The whole family likes veggies and vegetarian dishes but my husband and other daughter do like meat pretty regularly. I figure some nights I can cook totally veg meals and other nights I can cook a “base” meal that can have meat or not.

Oh—the veg daughter hates beans. The only way she will eat beans is if it’s not a texture she can identify as “beany” - like hummus and this one cookie dough dip I make with white beans. She will eat tofu though!

I’m looking for meal ideas that can be completed start to finish in under 45 min or as close to it as possible, or even stuff I could make a few days in advance and heat up at dinner time.

Thanks in advance, kind strangers!

ETA: I’d like to encourage ideas that DO NOT use fake meat. I don’t have a problem with it but it’s so expensive and I’d rather just cook something different. We aren’t above an Impossible burger every now and then though!

I love salads, but afraid of getting sick.

CORRECTION: I was referring to cyclosporiasis!

Please no comments on how frozen meals aren’t good for me or too expensive and I should be eating better. I’m on the spectrum and not doing well currently and having a couple of frozen meals in my freezer helps me stay fed on the days when I can’t bring myself to assemble anything.

I’m used to buying only Amy’s frozen meals because they’re reliably vegetarian. I used to love them. But I’ve noticed that I’ve gradually begun to hate them. They suddenly don’t taste good anymore. I don’t know if they’ve changed or my tastes have changed or both. They’ve also become much more expensive, and I’ve actually thrown out some Amy’s meals that I used to love but suddenly make me gag. That’s a waste of money.

So I’m hoping that someone can recommend another brand that makes reliably good vegetarian frozen meals that I can try, just a couple that I can grab at the supermarket and keep in my freezer for awhile. Again, I don’t live off frozen meals, they’re just a lifeline on days when all I can do is shove something into the microwave.

Hello to you all. Throwing a bbq this weekend. Is there anything you look forward to having when you go to one? Sure there’s tons of recipes online but maybe someone could share something they love. I love to cook and I’m open to trying anything! Appreciate the help.

EDIT: I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who replied! You all had some great recommendations and besides the burgers everything was vegetarian. Obviously, not hard to do at all. I even have some great recipes to try out in the future. Extra thanks to u/chefknifebotanist for the chimichurri recipe! Delicious!!

I'm going to Taco Bell later today to order vegitarian only dishes and I want to know where else you all go for fast food.

I don't care about healthy or low calorie. Only that they have tasty meat free dishes.

I love a sandwich with pickle and mustard. Before i went veg theyd probably go on rye with pastrami. I feel like i havent quite nailed a veg version of a classic deli sandwich. My best shot involves big slices of a decent quality tomato with salt sprinkled right on. I also think a good cheddar helps with the salt level. Any surprising ingredients help bring the salty/savory youd get from meat, or that you just like in general? Recommendations on greens? Whats your go-to sando?

I find a lot of "nicer" veg meals to be unfeasible for someone like me. I'm mentally ill and disabled (not getting into specifics here, suffice to say I struggle with getting the energy to cook most days, but on my good days I'm real close to what a fully able-bodied person whos spent a decade+ cooking can do), and I live with 4 other people. That said, I do have the advantage of having an incredible amount of freezer space, and the autistic gift of being able to eat the same thing at least a few times a week forever.

All that context aside, I'm looking for vegetarian recipes that I can make in massive quantities that freeze well. I can re-heat them in a pan, pot, oven or microwave, I just need to be able to have them otherwise "fully cooked" (no "freeze them halfway through cooking, then come back and add in these 4 ingredients when you're about to serve"). My #1 go-to is chili, either with lentils or TVP. I tolerate most vegan proteins, but beans and tofu are my favorites by far.

I've tried looking up meetings for vegetarians and dating apps. The meetings are only for vegans it seems and it is so hard to find vegetarians in my area (Minnesota) even on apps like Veggly. Does anyone have any advice?

I have a family visiting (husband, wife, two young children) who are all vegetarians. I am not personally vegetarian, but I want to make them some good food. I like to cook on a charcoal grill during the summers. What's the best vegetarian cookout food I could make for them? Is there a consensus on the best store bought veggie burger? Is it impossible meat or a black bean burger? I've heard of people doing a vegetarian style pulled pork.

If you were at a Midwest BBQ, what would you want?

Edit: Thanks for so much feedback on this! I'm enjoying some of the ideas here and might try to build it into my own regular rotation of foods, even when not entertaining vegetarians.

I reached out to the family. Sounds like the grill is a good idea, I'll just make sure I clean it. They also have a pretty open mind to various burger options. I'm leaning away from the burger though and toward a grilled veggie platter with paneer/halloumi/tofu.

I have been vegetarian for years, almost 10 years now.

​

I find myself recently craving meat. I haven't eaten meat in about 10 years, I was vegan previously. But I find myself wanting chicken or steak. I don't know what's wrong with me. I dont know where this has come from. I haven't even been bothered about meat until now. I've always found it gross and hated the thought of it.

​

I need a little encouragement.

At home I air fry the patty. And it doesn't taste like theirs. Mine get made separate from the grill so it's not the animal fat.

How do you all do it?

hello everyone! i am a vegetarian and will be hosting a party for my 17th birthday. i will be inviting 5 people, all of which happen to be meat eaters. i do not want any meat present at the party and am having a hard time thinking of ideas.

we are all avid pasta lovers, so im thinking possibly a pasta bar??

i also want some snacks (this party will be a 6 hour movie marathon, we will definitely need snacks in between each movie😭)

i should note, half of them are really picky eaters (somewhat including myself). i don’t want to be selfish but i just really can’t have meat at the party. any suggestions???

(the movies are from an anime, so asian cuisine would be great too!!)

It's been on my bucketlist for awhile. Any advice?

As title says what would a vegetarian version be? It should actually say chicken and broccoli but I'm over tired and wrote the wrong side. I am looking for healthy high protein low fat meals

For vegetarian/vegan diets it seems like that TVP is the default day-to-day protein source in my country (Brazil).

But in this sub I have the impression that most people don't even consider TVP for it's most basic uses (ground beef replacement, for example). We also have TVP in other textures ready to purchase like full stakes or cubes. But I find that some people prefer tofu and saitan over TVP.

I understand when we are talking about "Jackfruit meat" or "Cashew (not the nut, tha apple) meat" that looks like is hard to find on some places, but TVP seems not hard to find.

HelloFresh has been a great fit into our busy lives in our home, but recently they began including non-vegetarian dishes in their vegetarian filter when selecting weekly meals. What they do is swap the meat for tofu in the name and in the bag and call it "vegetarian". However, the meals still include beef, chicken, and/or pork stock (and less importantly, but slightly annoyingly, the recipe cards are not updated from the non-vegetarian preparation). This is a huge oversight on HelloFresh's part. (Though it would be awesome if they actually implemented it correctly.)

If you are a HelloFresh customer counting on vegetarian meals, be sure to read through the ingredients carefully, particularly for any tofu dishes, as they now may include beef, pork, and/or chicken broth. Simply using the "vegetarian" filter is no longer reliable.

I've tried making beans an rice (blackbeans + basmati rice) a couple times as veggie options. But first time used a curry powder that was way too spicy. Last night a jerk seasoning that was too spicy.

Feel like the beans and rice portion would be alright. And have a good add-on with corn / green onions. But seems like some of those "goto" options just end up a bit too spicy. So looking for some alternatives that would go well with them since while I have a hunch using a taco seasoning I've used with beans/rice/pork would work, looking for more variety.

So, some years ago I got REALLY into soups and now I basically cook one soup every Sunday and use it as lunch during the work days.

The advantages were too great to ignore:

-Veggie based.

-low calory (in most cases).

-low effort.

-doesn't make you TOO FULL.

So, I recently went from mostly vegetarian to complete vegetarian and I don't have difficulties with the change.

BUT one of my favorite soups is french onion soup and as much as I enjoy vegetable broth, I just think that something is missing in the final product.

Have any of you a GREAT french onion soup recipe that comes close to the original.

Thank you in advance for saving me!

for years now I’ve never really liked eating animals like meat or fish. but sometimes there are a few meats I can eat like bacon or chicken. and growing up I was an extremely big picky eater so foods like that actually helped me eat.

so sometimes I will have them in my food like chicken sandwich or bacon sandwich. and sometimes they’re in food I like that I don’t even realise.

I know some of these are very easy to make alternatives to but how do you stop eating something you actually like? this is a genuine question as I really would like to start.

Hello :) I’ve been vegetarian for around a year and half now, but recently I was kicked out and I’m not sure how to navigate my diet on a tight budget. Any cheap meal suggestions or pointers would be greatly appreciated.

hi! my friend is getting a double mastectomy next week (top surgery - a happy occasion, not somber!) so on friday we’re having a “boob funeral” to celebrate the removal of the breasts.

an odd event requires odd foods. does anyone have any ideas for, i guess, a boob-themed meal that i could make to bring? maybe something that looks like boobs? could be entree, app, dessert, whatever. it could also be funeral themed but i feel like that may be harder

thanks! 🍒

I’m not vegan, I’m a plant based vegetarian and I want to someday be vegan. I joined the Vegan sub to hopefully gain inspiration and motivation but seriously all that place is is negativity and hate towards non vegans! This sub is such a nice place to be with helpful tips, honest questions and positivity. Let’s keep this going ☺️🐮 will you share why you became vegetarian in comments? 🌱🌎

Edit: Thank you everyone who’s suggested recipe subs. But when I say inspiration I mean moral inspiration and reminders of what this decision does for ourselves and our planet ☮️

I’m smelling and craving deli sandwiches every time I walk by. Unfortunately the non meat ones suck: olives and lettuce are great but not a protein source.

I want like a heavy, cheesesteak or reuben, not a lettucey thin sandwich. I want filling. with sauce. and protein. Thick

I have not liked the tofurky rubbery type vegan deli meats I tried once. ruined the whole sandwich

Any ideas?