Meatless Mondays are a popular way to meal plan during your week. These 18 meatless meals that are not pasta are perfect to feed a family and come together quickly, so you can spend less time in the kitchen and more time doing what you love. Add a few of them to your meal plan for the week!

It took me a long time to learn how to cook. 

My idea of a gourmet healthy meal was a box of whole wheat rotini pasta with a can of drained lentil soup dumped over the top and piled with parmesan. 

Delicious. Yes. 

Gourmet. Not even close. 

My other go to meal was cutting up a chicken breast into bite-sized pieces, sautéing them, and adding them to canned sauce to serve over pasta. 

Clearly, I was a cook to be reckoned with. 

Now, 12 years after those first attempts at cooking for myself, I have graduated from the pasta only dinners. 

You can ready more about my health and fitness story here.

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Rob and I both really like to cook and take turns in the kitchen. We used to cook together, but these days one of us is trying to keep the kids from melting down while the other gets the food on the table. 

For a couple of years, Rob and I have been eating meatless dinners at least twice a week. It started out as once a week (shout out to Meatless Mondays) and then increased to twice as we experimented with more vegetarian and plant-based recipes that we both truly enjoyed. 

Note that Rob and I do not eat red meat, but rather stick to turkey (mostly ground), chicken breasts, and fish. We occasionally eat red meat when we eat out, but that is pretty infrequent.

Considering Rob is born and raised in Minnesota, it took a touch of convincing to get him to agree to eat meatless twice a week. At once a week he knew he was making me happy, but twice meant he was actively participating in the decision to do this. 

Recently, we challenged ourselves to eat meatless for a full week, something I had been wanting to try for a while. Not just for the challenge of it, but for the curiosity of if we could do it, how it would make us feel, and could we find enough meatless recipes that we both enjoyed to get through the week. 

It was a success! 

Not only did we have lots of meal options to choose from, but we both found the challenge to be really easy. Neither one of noticed any significant physical or energy level changes after just a week, but we certainly had a full cart at our weekly Costco trip. 

We are asked a lot why we opt to eat meatless sometimes, but the questions really ramped up during our vegetarian challenge week. Here is why we opt to eat meatless meals a minimum of twice per week: 

• Saves on our grocery budget. Meat is really expensive!
• Quicker meals. When most of what we have to do is chop vegetables, dinner gets on the table much faster. 
• Less bloating and lethargy. This might not be true for all bodies, but for mine, meatless meals usually mean I will feel more energetic overall. 
• Finding value in other protein sources. There is plenty of protein in vegetables, legumes, and grains.

Many of my clients and friends alike are intrigued by the idea of instituting Meatless Mondays, at the very least, but are not sure what to make. These are the 18 non-pasta recipes that Rob, myself, and the kids all enjoy for meatless meal ideas. 

Before we dive into all these tasty meals, make sure you snag your free Meal Planning Guide. This free download gives you the step by step process I use to quickly meal plan every single week. 

Southwest Quinoa Dip

A serious fan favorite and so simple and cheap to make. The only cooking involved? Making the batch of quinoa. Then it comes down to opening a few cans and mixing it all together. I like adding avocado, salsa, sour cream, and shredded Colby Jack cheese. Served warm and with tortilla chips, there is never much left over.

Get the full Southwest Quinoa Dinner Dip recipe here.

Quesadillas 

Are you sensing a theme here yet? We do love us some Mexican inspired foods. Quesadillas made as standard cheese, or with a bean and rice mix are always a crowd pleaser. The crunch, customization, and the toppings make this an easy meal to cater to everyone’s different needs. For instance, William will skip the avocado and Zoey will skip the salad, but everyone goes for the sour cream. 

Rice Bowls 

I vividly remember the first time we had rice bowls. When I started assembling them with rice, eggs, and sautéed teriyaki mushrooms, Rob gave me the look he reserves for when I have a crazy idea he does not agree with, but will go along with because he loves me. 

Turns out, he loved it and regularly requests it for our vegetarian nights. Even Zoey asks for rice bowls and reminds me to add the apples if I forget them.

Enchiladas 

While enchiladas are a bit more labor intensive from filling tortillas, everyone loves them. We typically make our enchiladas with ground turkey, but I sometimes make them with sliced zucchini, peppers, onions, and mushrooms. They are still filling and satisfy the taste. 

Enchiladas make a great freezer meal as well for those busy nights. You can get a list of 15 of my favorite freezer meals here.

Dinner Egg Bake 

Have too many eggs at the end of the week? Trying to make space in the fridge? 

Dinner egg bakes are a great way to use up a lot of random vegetables you may have laying around and clear out some room before your next grocery trip. They are versatile as you can add almost any vegetable you have on hand. Our favorite combinations involve peppers, onions, tomatoes, zucchini, broccoli, and mushrooms. Sprinkle with your favorite cheese (we have done both Feta and Colby jack) and let it bake! 

Get the full Dinner Egg Bake recipe here.

Giant Salads 

This is a staple during the summer months especially.

Simply chop up all the vegetables, add a bit of your favorite dressing, a sprinkle of cheese, and you are done! It is our go to dinner any time we are feeling like we need more vegetables, or have just returned from traveling and craving more greens. 

Grilled Cheese and Soup 

A warm weather crowd pleaser, it is beyond easy to make. While Zoey and William do not love the soup part, they will gobble up grilled cheese any day of the week. 

I know your mouth is watering by now. Make sure you add some of these recipes to your meal plan for the week by using the Meal Planning Guide. You do not want to continue to leave what you eat up to chance!

Warm Farro Vegetable Toss 

I experimented with this recipe during our vegetarian challenge week and absolutely fell in love with it. I often dream about food that was particularly tasty and this one made the list on the very first bite. You could easily serve this for dinner as well. 

Udon Bok Choy Stir Fry 

While I am keeping this list to non-pasta based meals, this udon dish was worth the add. It is just so easy to make! Simply saute chopped bok choy and mushrooms in teriyaki sauce and cook the udon noodles according to package directions. Mix it all together and top with sesame seeds. Tasty and quick!

Make Your Own Pizza 

Like the dinner egg bake, make your own pizza is an easy alternative to use up some random ingredients you may have laying around the fridge. We buy our pizza dough pre-made, but you can also make your own if you prefer. Our three go to topping combinations include: 

• BBQ sauce, chicken, red onion, bell pepper 
• Pepperoni, chopped spinach, mushroom 
• Pineapple, chopped spinach, bell pepper 
• Blue cheese apple walnut pizza 

Vegetable Stir Fry

We love our stir fry around here. Traditionally, we make a vegetable-loaded stir fry with chicken, pineapple, water chestnuts, and chopped nuts. It is a simple meal any night of the week made even more simple by taking the chicken out of it (hello not forgetting to defrost the breast!). 

The vegetables that most often make an appearance in our stir fry include: bell peppers, onions, mushrooms, broccoli, and green beans. Depending on what we have left over, we might add some spinach, brussel sprouts, or asparagus. The more vegetables, the merrier the dish!

Burritos 

Maybe it is all the time we spent in the Southwest, but Rob and I both love us some burritos. They are so easy to make in your own kitchen and can come together in minutes for those busy nights when you have zero time to cook but want to avoid the takeout situation. 

There are endless choices for what to include in your burrito, but we generally stick to these variations: 

• Breakfast burritos – These come with their own endless variations.
• Sour cream, avocado, tomatoes, cucumbers, shredded Colby jack cheese. We call this one the Zoey special because it has to be one of her favorite things to eat apart from fruit. 
• Black beans, corn, sour cream, tomatoes, shredded Colby jack cheese
• Hummus, cucumbers, tomatoes, lettuce, feta

Vegetable Dip 

I really enjoy this recipe from Averie Cooks, but we add a few different things to fit what we have on hand. For my family, I double the recipe to fit in a 9×13 inch pan, and top it with a full can of black beans and full can of corn. I also add green chili to one half (Rob loves it) and regular salsa to the other half.

This recipe seemed a little intimidating at first because it involves the food processor, prebacking, adding ingredients, then more baking, but it truly requires very little kitchen effort. Definitely a win over here! 

I do recommend that you sweat your zucchini before you combine it with the carrots. This just means you rough chop some slices, put them in a strainer, add a dash of salt, and let it sit for 30 minutes. Once it starts to sweat, pat it dry with a paper towel. This will help prevent the dish from being soupy.

Quinoa Lunch Bowl 

While this is dubbed as a lunch dish, you can easily serve it for dinner too. I really like the light fill and the customizable vegetables and dressing choices. It is not one of Rob’s favorites because it does not call for salsa, but there is no reason why you could not play around with it. 

Get the full Quinoa Lunch Bowl recipe here.

Chia Breakfast Pudding 

I started to get really into chia pudding right after William was born. I could it eat one-handed (so important when you are nursing and chasing a toddler) and it is easy to take on the go. This is a great option if you want to get past the traditional breakfast eggs or are trying to limit your simple carb intake at your morning meal. 

It is also worth it to note, that as a non-breakfast person, this was perfectly manageable to get into my system without feeling overwhelmed by having to eat something.

Get the full Chia Breakfast Pudding recipe here.

Smoothies

Another non-egg and simple carb breakfast option, I am a huge fan of my Go To Blueberry Smoothie as well as a green smoothie. Recently, I got into adding carrots to my smoothie and it is so tasty! 

To make smoothies easy to throw together in the morning before work, you can meal prep a few smoothie packs for your week. Separately freeze yogurt and blended spinach into ice cube chunks. Then put a few chunks of each, some fruit (fresh or frozen) into a bag in the freezer. When you are ready for your smoothie, just grab the bag and dump it all into your blender with water (or almond milk) and other additions like protein powder or chia seeds. 

Almond Joy Bites 

These little bites of healthy heaven are seriously addictive. I regularly make batches to keep in the freezer and find them to be a quick and easy dessert or energy boost depending on what I need. 

Seriously, go make these right now! 

Get the full Almond Joy Bites recipe here.

Vegan Blueberry Bites 

If you are looking for a meatless snack or a vegan dessert, these little guys fit both bills. They are naturally sweet and addictive. I like to double the recipe and freeze a batch. They do need to be kept cold, otherwise they crumble quite fast.

Get the full Vegan Blueberry Bites recipe here.

With this list of meatless meals, I hope you are feeling a little more inspired and confident to try out a day or two week of meatless meals in your own house. My biggest recommendation would be to have fun with it! If cooking dinner is stressing you out, you need to find how to bring the joy back into it. For me, that usually involves trying a new recipe or a new ingredient. Happy cooking! 

Ready to take the guesswork out of what you eat during the week? In the Healthy Meal Plans, Confident Meal Prep course, you learn exactly how to build a nutritious plate, meal plan for the week to reduce food waste and save money at the grocery store. This course also teaches you how to prioritize kitchen tasks so you can meal prep here and there and get back to spending time with your family and doing other activities you enjoy.