25 Delicious Meatless Meals

There are so many reasons to incorporate meatless meals into your diet, but for those who don't do it often it can be a challenge (especially for husbands) to find good meals and come around to giving up the meat for even a meal or two a week. We began making meatless every Friday, which is especially helpful during Lent when we make meatless options much more frequently.

For some of these, fish is included, and some are vegetarian and vegan. If you're looking for even MORE options, check out my lenten meals Pinterest board which has many more recipes that we have not made yet, but would be a great place to get ideas.

For ones that we have made and go back to often, here are our family favorites:

1. Quiche
You can put mushrooms, veggies, or just plain cheese in this delicious quiche.

2. Sweet and Sour Salmon 

This is probably my all time favorite salmon recipe, but we love many different preparations of salmon and I've made a list of some of our favorite salmon recipes here

3. Shrimp or Vegetable Lo Mein
Homemade lo mein is delicious! I use sesame oil, soy sauce, ginger, and lime juice to make it taste more like take out lo mein.

4. Grilled cheese with Granny Smith Apples (or tomato soup)
Sometimes we make plain grilled cheese and soup, but recently I've been frying them up in butter on the stove with sliced granny smith apples and they are SO GOOD. The kids gobble them down. The apples are a game changer.

5. Tuna Melts
This is another very basic family favorite. We make them in the toaster oven. If you've never heard of a tuna melt, it is just a toasted tuna fish and cheese sandwich.

6. Tuna Casserole
2 cans cream of mushroom soup, 2 cans tuna, 1 box cooked pasta, half a bag frozen peas, and some breadcrumbs or potato chips on top in the oven at 350 for about an hour til it's crispy. There are healthier ways to make this with real mushrooms and milk, which are healthier but to be honest I only make them when we don't have canned soup in the house.

7. Rosemary White Bean Soup
This soup is SO good. We make it meatless, and we make it with bits of meat put in when we aren't avoiding it. Definitely worth a try.

8. Red Lentil & Carrot Soup
This is a delicious lentil soup, and the red lentils have a much shorter cook time than french lentils! They don't have that strong flavor either so it's perfect for children or those who aren't accustomed to other lentil dishes.

9. Shrimp Pasta
Any kind of shrimp pasta really. I sometimes make an alfredo sauce, or just put butter and parmesan. Peas or asparagus go well in shrimp pasta too.

10. Loaded Nachos
You can load your nachos with whatever you like, but I like to make them with black beans, frozen corn, sometimes jalepenos, and cheese and serve with sour cream, avocado, and salsa on the side.

11. Black Bean and Corn Quesadillas
Black bean and corn is a winning combination in our house, they go great in quesadillas too.

12. Parmesan Crusted Tilapia
This recipe is really delicious, and I often serve it with potatoes or rice and a vegetable or salad. To make it, mix parmesan cheese, panko bread crumbs, and olive oil in a dish and press it onto your fish filets. Bake in a 425F oven until it is nice and crispy.

13. Tofu and Veggie Stir Fry
I know that there is a lot of controversy surrounding tofu, and it's not something I make often but I do love it and a tofu veggie stir fry is an easy and delicious meal to make. Alternatively, you could do a shrimp stir fry and serve it over rice.

14. Instant Pot or Stovetop Fried Rice

I will definitely come back and write a post on my fried rice recipe, but for now I'll just share that my favorite ingredients are lime juice, peanuts, and sesame seeds!

15. Fish Curry
I make a very inauthentic fish curry, it is basically just stir fried fish and veggies and onion with coconut milk, curry powder, and sriracha added. It's delicious and takes 20 minutes, but not the same depth of flavor as an authentic curry dish.

16. Homemade Pizza
I've told you before and I'll tell you again, Uncle Jerry's pizza crust is the best quick and easy pizza dough.

17. Ravioli and marinara sauce
From a bag and a jar. Don't @ me.

18. Macaroni and Cheese
My Mom makes THE BEST real homemade macaroni and cheese. My mother in law does too. I make a runner up to theirs, but it only takes one pot and doesn't require me to have cream on hand.

19. White Bean Pasta
My husband isn't a huge fan of beans in pasta, but I think this is delicious.

20. Cheese Fries
So good. Questionably healthy. Can be made at home fairly easily, just cut potatoes into fry shape, toss in oil and salt and bake at 425F til they start to get golden brown on the edges. Pop some cheese on at the end

21. Polenta with Roasted Veggies and Parmesan Cheese
This sounds weird, but it is so good. It's like creamy corn bread with veg. Yum. My recipe is similar to this NYTimes one, but I cook the polenta on the stove first and then once the veggies are almost roasted I put them on top of the polenta in a baking dish and heat them all together at the end.

22. Fish sticks and peas
Not at all homemade, but still delicious and in our Friday rotation.

23. Fish n' chips
I have only made this at home once or twice, but it is so good and so worth doing if you have the time and willingness to fry in hot oil. We did a beer battered cod, may have to try it again this year.

24. Coconut Crusted Tilapia
This one is so good. Similar to the Parmesan tilapia recipe above, but dip it in egg and then coconut flakes instead of the parmesan / bread crumb crusting.

25. Trout or Flounder
My top two favorite fishes to eat are trout and flounder, because I grew up catching them with my family and we'd cook em up that night and it was so fresh, and fresh is the best in terms of taste. You can pan sear them in butter, or do whole cooked trout on the grill or oven, however you prepare these beautiful white fish they are delicately delicious on their own and don't need tons of extra flavoring.

Those are my faves! Need a recipe for one of these? Did I miss anything good? Let me know in the comments!