How to make your favorite meals meatless
Remove the meat.
This works really well in casseroles and dishes where the meat might already be serving as a condiment rather than a star player.
- Omit the bacon from the Potato soup.
- Make the overnight casserole without ham or chicken.
- Make the pizza cheese only.
Replace the meat.
There are lots of recipes where you can simply substitute beans, eggs, cheese, tofu, or tempeh for the meat.
- Replace the ground beef with black beans in Lawnmower Taco.
- Have an egg in your Asian bowl instead of chicken.
- Put boiled and crumbled tempeh in place of the ground beef in the Quick Sauce for Meats.
Melissa W says
We like black bean burgers with a little slaw on top and brown rice and lentil casserole. My 3yo and 1yo both love the casserole, we clean out the pan every time!
Susan says
“Whole hog” Ha!
Jessica Fisher says
I was hoping someone would catch that. 😉
Jessie says
There’s no sneaking a meatless meal past my man! 🙂 However, he doesn’t notice when I use 1/2 or 3/4 the amount called for in many recipes, so that’s my solution!
Jessica Fisher says
I used to think that with my husband, too. But, I found that I could make spicy enchiladas without meat and he didn’t really notice, especially if there was beans and rice on the side.
Sandi says
My “meativore” teenager is the same way. None at all gets noticed 90% of the time. The more cheese, the greater the possibility of sliding it past, but too much cheese is not necessarily good for the body either. (gasp! Did I really say that?) If I use 1/4 lb of something slivered/shredded/ground in the whole 4-serving panful of food? Perfectly acceptable. It’s all in the psychology! That works with everything except seafood (which counts as meat to him) because he is a huge seafood lover and most definitely notices if it is only a tiny quantity.