What Should Vegetarians Eat To Be Healthy
Often, if you are beginning a vegetarian diet, it is common to be concerned that you will not get enough protein.
However, it is quite easy to incorporate enough protein in your diet from plant sources, if you are consuming a well rounded healthy diet.
Making sure you include the following foods in your daily diet, will ensure that you are getting the vitamins, nutrients, and protein you need to ensure you do not have any nutritional deficiences.
Fruits and Vegetables: Including a wide range of fruits and vegetables is key. Eat the rainbow, as they say. Be sure to include leafy greens such as spinach, and kale. Apples, bananas, oranges, stone fruit, berries, broccoli, carrots, zucchini, squash, tomatoes, cucumbersthe list goes on and on!
Whole Grains: Stay away from refined carbohydrates such as anything made with white flour. These foods have minimal nutritional value, and turn straight to sugar when consumed. Instead fill up on whole grains that are high in fiber, such as whole wheat pastas, bulgar, brown rice, farro, oats, barley, and buckwheat.
Healthy Fats: Using olive oil, coconut oil, or avocado oil in your cooking provides you with mono-unsaturated fats. You do not need a lot of these fats. Just a little, but it is important to incorporate them into your diet. Avocados are also an excellent source of healthy fats!
Smoothies: An Easy Morning Breakfast
When it comes to smoothies, its a great way to get your fruits, veggies, and protein together in one meal that you can take on the go.
Thanks to my Vitamix, Green Smoothies have been all the rage in our house. My Fruit and Veggie Smoothie has grapes, oranges, bananas and apples for sweetness and then a ton of spinach and carrots for veggies.
Another favorite smoothie of mine is with spinach, kale, banana, apple, pear, and unsweetened soy milk!
Use a healthy protein powder, add a cup of veggies, and half of a cup of fruit, and youve got a delicious and filling breakfast. Here are a few of my other favorite morning smoothies!
Butternut Squash Chipotle Chili With Avocado
Gluten free and vegan
This was soooo delicious! I served it to company last weekend and they scraped the pot clean, even though one of them usually prefers meat at every meal. My two modifications: I added one extra can of diced tomatoes with green chilies, and served with sour cream. My boyfriend keeps asking Are you sure there arent leftovers? Julie
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Sweet Potato & Black Bean Veggie Burgers
Gluten free and vegan
I devoured one in a burger bun with cheese, red onion, tomato, gherkins and guacamole. I too love spice so I add a few birds eye chillies to my mole. My carnivore husband also was amazed at the flavour from them and was asking for more! This recipe will be one Ill use for a long time to come. Thank you so so much for sharing! Cat
Meatless Meals For Kids
Your kids are going to love these meatless hot pockets! They are a huge hit with my daycare kids and I can make a ton of them ahead and freeze them so it saves me time too.
I find that noodles are a great vessel to employ picky kids to eat a lot of different things. This easy coconut curry noodle bowl tastes rich and creamy with a flavorful coconut broth. This recipe comes together in 15 minutes with just a handful of pantry staples!
This vegan spaghetti bolognese is full of traditional Italian flavor but without the meat!
These easy vegetarian black bean nachos are made with tortilla chips, cheese, black beans, and a quick garlic yogurt sauce. Perfect for a quick dinner or game day!
The BEST healthy Vegetarian Quesadillas for lunch, dinner, or an appetizer. Filled with black beans, sweet potato, avocado, and cheese, and ready in under 30 minutes!
Use three cheeses for a grilled cheese to get a flavorful but melty sandwich youve been dreaming of without sacrificing quality. To make grilled cheese even better, after the sandwich is toasted on each side, cut it down the middle and sear the inside before eating. The ultimate quick and easy comfort meal.
This recipe is deceptively simple, with just a few ingredients that add up to surprisingly big, big flavors! Oven-roasted cauliflower and broccoli make this easy pasta recipe deeply flavorful and then parmesan cheese, garlic, and bright lemon juice are all you really need to round out the salty-umami-tangy symphony of tastes.
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Make A List Of All The Foods You Like
In step two, lets focus on the positives by grabbing a pen and paper and making a list of all the foods that you like and love. Youll probably find that the list is longer than you first thought.
If you like a particular food, but only when its cooked or served in a particular way, add it to the list. Dont stress over the details at this stage.
Popular Vegetarian Meals For Kids They Will Actually Eat
Here are our favorite 30 popular vegetarian meals for kids perfect for picky eaters and kids who should be eating more vegetables! These quick and easy vegetarian meals for kids are a great way to sneak more veggies into a childs diet or add more meatless dinners to your weekly meal plan.
Looking for more quick & easy recipes? Check out some of our favorite meatless meal ideas:healthy veggie spiralizer recipes, easy ways to cook salmon, kid approved meatless meals
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Keep Your Cooking Method Simple
The 30 minute meal is not the time to try out a new cooking technique! Its also not the best time to decide to work with a new and unusual ingredient. Instead, stick to the basics, and follow easy and familiar recipes.
Opt for one pot meals, Instant Pot dinners, or sheet pan meals. These are easy and quick to pull off!
How To Become Vegan When Youre A Picky Eater
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Do you want to become a vegan but youre worried that, as a picky eater, youll have nothing to eat?
When people are thinking of becoming vegan, worry that therell be nothing good to eat is very common. If you think of the vegan options on a restaurant menu, only 5% of the menu may be vegan, and you may think that this is true of vegan food in general.
However, I promise this is not the case. There are so many yummy vegan foods. And the great thing is, youve probably never tried most of them. A plant-based diet has great potential.
But what about those who dont like fruit and vegetables? Can they be vegans too?
Whether youre transitioning your kids to a vegan diet, or you just have the diet of a child yourself, its certainly possible to become a vegan. Dont fall into the trap of becoming an unhealthy vegan that lives off of French fries, Pot Noodles and Spaghetti Hoops. There are so many healthy, nutritious and low-calorie vegan recipes to discover.
With this simple, step-by-step guide, even the pickiest of eaters can embrace the vegan lifestyle with ease.
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Healthy Kid Friendly Vegetarian Dinner Recipes
Today Ive rounded up my favorite Healthy Kid Friendly Vegetarian Dinner Recipes! Even if your child is picky, youre sure to find a few new easy go-to dinner recipes here! All are easily adapted to be vegan or gluten free, if they arent already!
I know that the phrase Kid Friendly can be very subjective! What one kid gobbles up, another kid wont even touch. Some kids are more adventurous and are willing to try anything while others have their staple meals that they eat over and over again. So, I most definitely cannot promise that your kid will enjoy every single one of these Healthy Kid Friendly Vegetarian Dinner Recipes!
I can tell you that my almost 2 year old has enjoyed all of these meals though and I definitely wouldnt call him the most adventurous eater! We all know our own kids and their palettes, so some of these recipes might require a little tweaking to get just right for your kiddos, but Im hoping you will find this list useful and that your kids will enjoy at least a few of these Healthy Kid Friendly Vegetarian Dinner Recipes!
A lot of these healthy kid friendly vegetarian dinner recipes can be made in 30 minutes or less and all of them are very easily modified to make gluten free or vegan, if they arent already
Meatless Recipes That Carnivores Will Love
Ive rounded up the hearty recipes that get the most accolades from meat lovers below. Youll notice a few common threadsthey are presented in a familiar form and include hearty ingredients like beans, lots of veggies, quinoa and nuts. None of them are trying to be a meat dish, mind you, and you wont find any meat substitutes with funny ingredients here.
One of the most common myths about meatless meals is that they wont fill you up. When youre cooking hearty vegetarian recipes made with fiber- and nutrient-rich whole foods, I dare you not to feel full! Protein comes in many forms, such as whole grains, nuts and seeds, eggs, dairy, tofu and even kale. Furthermore, most Americans are consuming more than enough protein in their diets. Ive been a vegetarian for over seven years now, and I am stronger than ever ! Lets get on to the recipes.
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How To Get More Vegetables Into Your Kids Without Any Hassles
Incorporating vegetables into your everyday diet shouldn’t be a hassle. Vegetables come in all shapes, flavors, and textures and bring in heavy vitamin and mineral content without harmful fats. Sadly, many kids and adults avoid vegetables altogether because they think they don’t like them.
But, there’s hope! The following collection of recipes brings you easy and flavorful ideas for the veggie-averse to dip their toes in the vegetable world and get them more acquainted with the options. Before you know it, the picky eaters in your household will be happily chowing down on everything from broccoli to Brussels sprouts!
Thai Mango Cabbage Wraps With Crispy Tofu And Peanut Sauce
Gluten free and vegan
Thank you so much for these delicious and easy to make recipes! My husband and two young children really enjoyed the fried rice and mango tofu lettuce wraps. I have bookmarked your site for more help in the future! Your site has really helped me as I navigate a full time career and eating vegetarian and gluten free. Erin
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Hidden Vegetable Recipes With Broccoli
Broccoli gets such a bad rep. I love love it, and one of my boys does as well. My oldest? Eh.. not so much. Recipes where I can hide it away to get the ever so important exposures in? A total win!
Zucchini grates well into hidden vegetable recipes and adds moisture to baked goods peel off the green skin if you think your picky eater will balk.
Minute Vegetarian Meals For Busy Weeknights
Anjali Shah This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Please read my disclosure.
These quick and easy 30 minute vegetarian meals are your answer to healthy and nutritious weeknight dinner ideas! Plus, learn all my tips and tricks to making meals in a snap!
You know the feeling when youve come home from work, youve had a long day, but dinner needs to be made!
There are some nights when my energy is low, and my family is hungry! Thats when simple 30 minute vegetarian meals are the answer to this common weeknight dilemma.
The infamous 30 minute meal is necessary! But sometimes it feels like even the so called 30 minute meal doesnt actually take that short amount of time.
I loved watching Rachel Rays 30 minute meals, and Id watch in awe as she quickly and seamlessly gathered her ingredients, chopped her veggies like a pro, and prepared a meal in no time at all.
But she was a professional, and I was just a home cook, or so I thought. Then I figured out that creating a 30 minute meal just took a little ingenuity.
With these tips and tricks, plus my favorite 30 minute vegetarian meals, youll have simple to make dinners that are family friendly, easy, and absolutely delicious!
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Hidden Vegetable Recipes With Butternut Squash
Butternut squash is a fun vegetable to hide in food. Like carrots, its naturally sweet, but the texture adds a creaminess and thickness to recipes.
- Butternut Squash Fries. Not necessarily hidden, but its a familiar and kid-friendly shape.
- Hidden Veggie Quesadilla. Quesadillas on their own dont have a ton of nutritional value. But add in some squash and it takes it to a new level!
- Chocolate Butternut Squash Muffins.Veggie muffins are a favorite in my house. These chocolate ones dont even look good for you!
- Flourless Butternut Squash Peanut Butter Cookies. This is a great example of keeping the color similar!
- Butternut Squash Potato Tots. Such an iconic kids side! I love that they look similar but have more nutrients than a bagged of frozen potato ones.
- Hazelnut Butternut Squash Brownies. I could probably eat a whole tray of these, they look that amazing!
- Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese. The OG hidden veggie! Ive made butternut squash mac and cheese both by stirring it in diced and by adding puree to the sauce. Both are amazing!
Cinnamon French Toast Sticks
The Spruce / Diana Rattray
Kids will ask for seconds of these French toast sticks flavored with cinnamon and vanilla. The recipe makes a large batch for easy breakfasts throughout the week. Just freeze portions in plastic bags for reheating on the griddle or in a toaster oven. Serve with maple syrup.
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Meatless Meals For Picky Eaters
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Even the pickiest eaters can enjoy meatless meals. Check out this great list of meatless meals for picky eaters for your next family meal.
Sometimes it seems like there is nothing a picky eater will eat. But there are many things that you can get them to eat. A lot of picky eaters automatically dont like meat, so that can be a help.
This taco soup is beloved by almost every child Ive ever had in my daycare. Im stopped on the street by teens and adults and they reminisce about this soup.
Over the past 26 years of feeding kids in my home daycare, I have seen every level of pickiness. Here are a ton of tips on getting picky eaters to like more foods.
Our homemade black bean burgers are perfectly seasoned with chili powder and cumin and served with a creamy aioli sauce bursting with the fresh flavors of cilantro and lime.
These crispy halloumi burgers might possibly be the quickest, easiest, and best veggie burgers youll ever make. Just coat halloumi cheese slices in flour, shallow fry, and assemble your delicious burger!
Bright and full of flavor, this chili sin Carne is our go-to one-pot family dinner for busy weeknights. It is fresh, affordable, and ready in just 10 minutes!
Its Okay To Use Shortcuts
When youre making 30 minute vegetarian meals, its totally okay to use shortcuts. Not everything you prepare has to be made from scratch. For example, you can use frozen stir fried vegetables that are already chopped. Or prepared pizza dough for a homemade pizza.
This also applies to prepared sauces, or quick flavor enhancers like soy sauce, dijon mustard, harissa, garlic paste, etc. These add tons of flavor without a lot of cooking time.
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Vegetables For Egg Lovers
Eggs are a great source of protein and easy to incorporate in recipes. Egg-based preparations can hold plenty of vegetables without the fresh flavor of veggies overpowering the creamy eggs. Serve these easy recipes with potatoes or a quick salad for an extra serving of fiber:
- Crustless Spinach Quiche: Bacon pieces could be an incentive for picky eaters to give this quiche a try. The spinach brings a lot of texture and you won’t even miss the crust. Add more veggies like peppers or onions to pack more nutrients per bite. If you want to stay away from gluten, replace the flour with gluten-free all-purpose flour but do add 1/4 cup of milk or non-dairy milk to the mix.
- Carrot Souffle Recipe: If your picky eaters aren’t convinced about trying out a souffle, this recipe, served as dessert, might make them change their minds. Once it’s baked, use powdered sugar to dust the top and pair with berries or baked apples for more healthy sweetness.
- : Leeks have a beautiful flavor and texture, but a little goes a long way. Great additions to soups and stews, leeks get sweeter when cooked and are a lovely ingredient to introduce to veggie newbies. The recipe calls for Emmental cheese, but replace it with a milder cheese if your guests aren’t used to aged cheeses. Choose a mild shredded mozzarella and serve your souffle with a fresh fruit salad.