24 Budget-Friendly Vegetarian Recipes to Make for Dinner Tonight
These cheap vegetarian meals will help you stretch your paycheck and enjoy something healthy for dinner. From lemony soup to cozy pasta, there's a little something for everyone in this mix of meatless recipes. Ingredients like lentils (a personal favorite here at EatingWell), pasta, eggs and sweet potatoes make these meals filling and affordable. Recipes like our Lemony Lentil Chard Soup and Cauliflower Tikka Masala with Chickpeas are delicious ways to end your day.
Meals don't have to cost a lot to be flavorful and satisfying. Some of these serve four to six people, and those that serve two can easily be doubled to eke out extra bang for your dollar. Having enough on hand means you can invite a friend over for dinner, too. Best of all, many of these recipes are ready in less than 30 minutes of cooking time, so dinner is on the table fast.
Lemony Lentil & Chard Soup
This satisfying lemony bowlful was inspired by the lentil soup served at the now-closed Lebanese restaurant La Shish in West Bloomfield, Michigan. It keeps well but will thicken, so you may want to thin it with a bit of water or broth when reheating. Serve with warm whole-wheat pita.
Cauliflower Tikka Masala with Chickpeas
In this vegetarian riff on a popular Indian dish, we swap in cauliflower and chickpeas for the chicken in tikka masala. The cauliflower's nooks and crannies are particularly good at soaking up all the intense flavors of the sauce. Serve over rice for an easy healthy dinner that's ready in just 20 minutes.
One-Pot Lentil & Vegetable Soup with Parmesan
This lentil-vegetable soup is packed with kale and tomatoes for a filling, flavorful main dish. If you have it, the Parmesan cheese rind adds nuttiness and gives the broth some body. If you avoid cheese made with rennet, look for vegetarian Parmesan cheese, which is made without it.
Cheesy Marinara Beans
This ooey-gooey dish has baked-pasta vibes but features protein-packed beans instead of noodles. Look for dried corona beans, a larger, creamy white bean, at natural-foods stores or online. Cannellini are a good substitute. Serve with a green salad and toasted baguette.
Sweet Potato, Broccoli & Wild Rice Hash
Cooking this hash in cast iron ensures you'll get crusty bits, but any nonstick skillet will work fine. Serve with your favorite hot sauce.
Black Bean-Quinoa Bowl
This black bean and quinoa bowl has many of the usual hallmarks of a taco salad, minus the fried bowl. We've loaded it up with pico de gallo, fresh cilantro and avocado, plus an easy hummus dressing to drizzle on top.
Cannellini Bean & Herbed Ricotta Toast
Herbed ricotta toast gets topped with cannellini beans and roasted red peppers for a colorful, tasty open-face sandwich.
3-Ingredient Teriyaki Edamame Sauté
Whip up this high-fiber, plant-based stir-fry for a quick and convenient dinner. Look for bottled teriyaki sauce labeled less sodium or reduced sodium to cut back on the salt without sacrificing flavor.
Pantry Peanut Noodles
Choose your own adventure with these noodles! They're delicious with peanut butter and tahini alike. Plus, you can use whatever frozen vegetables you have on hand and finish the dish with any herbs still thriving in your garden or hanging out in your crisper.
Black Bean & Slaw Bagel
This easy open-face sandwich recipe uses a jalape?o-Cheddar bagel, but a plain bagel would work just as well. Top each bagel half with black beans and fresh slaw for a satisfying bite.
Egg-in-a-Hole Fried Quinoa
We used quinoa to bump up the fiber and protein in this stir-fry-inspired dish. Rather than making an omelet or stirring in the eggs as you would for fried rice, we cook them in divots right in the veggie-filled quinoa for a fun presentation. Opt for a flat skillet over a wok so you have plenty of room to nestle in the eggs.
3-Ingredient Cheese Tortellini with Tomatoes & Basil
This Italian-inspired dish is made with just three ingredients—roasted tomatoes, tortellini and fresh basil—to create a delicious, easy dinner. Roasting the cherry tomatoes coaxes out their natural sweetness. It's worth the time—trust us!
3-Ingredient White Bean & Pesto Risotto
Amp up the protein and flavor of a box of risotto by adding some roasted white beans and prepared pesto. You'll be amazed how delicious it is when you combine these three easy ingredients!
Chickpea & Kale Toast
This healthy toast recipe combines chickpeas, kale and feta for a savory bite.
3-Ingredient Refried Bean & Pico de Gallo Tostadas
Making your own tostadas is easy. Use store-bought corn tortillas, brush them with olive oil and bake to crunchy perfection! Here we topped the tostada with refried beans and fresh pico de gallo for an easy three-ingredient meal.
Cauliflower Gnocchi with Asparagus & Pesto
While the cauliflower gnocchi crisp up in a sauté pan, steam fresh asparagus in the microwave to keep it bright green and crisp-tender. Substitute frozen asparagus (or green beans or peas) in a pinch. Toss them together with prepared basil pesto for a satisfying supper.
3-Ingredient Green Goddess White Bean Salad
Bagged salad and slaw blends are great shortcut ingredients for adding variety without needing to wash and chop lots of different vegetables. Toss a kale-and-broccoli slaw mix with canned white beans and yogurt-based green goddess dressing for a crunchy main-dish salad in minutes.
Butternut Squash & Cauliflower Soup with Chickpea Croutons
Bulk up boxed butternut squash soup with frozen cauliflower florets, then top off your bowl with crispy chickpea snacks for major crunch (look for them near the dried fruit and nuts at your grocery store). This impressively easy dinner comes together with just those three ingredients, not including salt, pepper and oil. Because prepared soups are typically higher in sodium, look for light or reduced-sodium versions of your favorites.
3-Ingredient Goat Cheese Pasta with Broccoli
Swap out regular pasta for pasta made with chickpeas, and you'll more than triple the fiber and double the protein in this simple, satisfying dish. Be sure to save some of the pasta water to make a sauce. Feel free to use frozen broccoli in a pinch (you can cook the broccoli in the same water you use to cook the pasta).
Sweet Potato Grilled Cheese Is a Delicious Twist on a Classic
Photographer: Jen Causey, Food Stylist: Julian Hensarling, Prop Stylist: Josh Hoggle
The crispy golden exterior of this sweet potato grilled cheese is thanks to mayonnaise, which spreads easily and browns more evenly than butter or oil. Roasted red onions and sweet potato rounds make up the filling, but you can roast the onion separately and use leftover roasted sweet potato if you have that on hand.
One-Pot Lentils & Rice with Spinach
This hearty vegan dish gets its earthy flavor from cumin and brown rice. If you can handle extra heat, try doubling the crushed red pepper for a bigger punch of flavor.
Kale & Roasted Sweet Potato Hash
This one-pan hash makes an easy fall dinner or a simple dish for a healthy brunch. You can even poach the eggs ahead of time. Slip them into steaming-hot water to rewarm them just before serving.
Eggs in Tomato Sauce with Chickpeas & Spinach
Simmer eggs in a rich tomatoey cream sauce studded with chickpeas and silky spinach for a super-fast vegetarian dinner. Serve with a piece of crusty bread to soak up the sauce. Be sure to use heavy cream; a lower-fat option might curdle when mixed with acidic tomatoes.
Baked Eggs in Tomato Sauce with Kale
You can make these three-ingredient tomato-simmered eggs with things you probably already have on hand in your freezer and pantry. To make these baked eggs more like eggs in purgatory, look for a spicy tomato sauce, and don't forget some whole-wheat bread for dipping.
Read the original article on Eating Well.
Solve the daily Crossword
