The New Year is a good time to make changes in our lives. We might try to break bad habits and make better choices that will improve our health, our minds, and our lives. If eating less or no meat is one of your goals for the New Year, we can help.
You may not realize that you can make all your favorite dishes with vegetables. Look at these10 Vegetables that Can Substitute for Meat. If you love the taste of meat and are worried you just won’t get that same savory, umami taste from veggies, we’re here to tell you it is entirely possible. Check out The Ultimate Guide to Vegan Meats and Meat Substitutes to see all the ways we can make “meaty” meatless dishes. With a few creative tips, you can have all your favorite dishes in meat-free versions. Get lots of creative advice in5 Tips to Make Meatless Food Taste Meaty.
Of course, we have lots of easy and delicious recipes to help you achieve your goals. Take a look at 15 of Our Easiest Recipes to Help You Cook Meat-Free, 15 Classic Meaty Dishes Made Meatless, 25 Vegan Recipes That Will Make You Forget About Meat, and 10 Meaty Vegan Recipes to Choose if You’re Trying to Eat Less Meat. Then get ready for even more – here are 25 “meaty” meatless recipes from our Food Monster App that will make eating less meat easy and delicious. Trust us, you’ll never miss the meat.
1. Lentil Loaf with Carrots, Onions, and Portobello Mushrooms
Source:Lentil Loaf with Carrots, Onions and Portobello Mushrooms
If you like meatloaf, you’ll love Alex and Linda Meyer‘s Lentil Loaf with Carrots, Onions and Portobello Mushrooms. This savory loaf gets its meaty taste from lentils and mushrooms. Fire-roasted tomatoes make it tender, moist, and the wide variety of roasted veggies adds depth of flavor. This is an entree that will satisfy your cravings for a hearty, comforting dinner.
2. Seitan Meatballs with Homemade Tomato Sauce
Source:Seitan Meatballs with Homemade Tomato Sauce
Take the meat out of your meatballs. Maria Loghin‘sSeitan Meatballs with Homemade Tomato Sauce are so delicious and easy to make. These seitan meatballs are full of flavor and are just perfect with the rich tomato sauce. All you need now is a big plate of spaghetti.
3. Portobello Mushroom Steaks with Cheesy Rosemary Polenta
Source:Portobello Mushroom Steaks with Cheesy Rosemary Polenta
Get out your knives because you want to cut right into Michaell Johnson‘sPortobello Mushroom Steaks with Cheesy Rosemary Polenta. These meaty mushrooms, drizzled with a balsamic reduction, sit atop a bed of cheesy, creamy homemade polenta. Serve it with some veggies, a big salad, and a glass of wine for a sweet and complete date night “steakhouse” dinner.
4. Lentil Chile Pot Pie with Pumpkin Cornbread Topping
Source:Lentil Pot Pies with Pumpkin Cornbread Topping
Leah Moldowan‘sLentil Pot Pies with Pumpkin Cornbread Topping are perfect for a cold winter’s day. They’re filled with a hearty veggie-filled lentil spicy chili and then topped with a slightly sweet and fluffy pumpkin cornbread that also happens to be gluten-free. You probably feel warmer just reading about them.
5. Crispy Seitan Fingers
Source:Crispy Seitan Fingers
No one wants to eat actual body parts when they can eat Casey Muir Taylor‘sCrispy Seitan Fingers. These are so versatile and hit all the right notes – they’re crunchy, savory, juicy, and mega flavorful. They would make an amazing appetizer, finger food, filling for a sandwich, or topping for a salad. Serve them with your favorite dipping sauces.
6. Mushroom Bourguignon
Source:Mushroom Bourguignon
This meaty Mushroom Bourguignonby Maggie Jones is the perfect addition to any table. It combines the savory taste of the traditional entrée with the unique earthiness of mushrooms. Serve these over a bed of roasted potatoes or steamed rice. If you’re looking for something to impress dinner guests, this recipe is it!
7. Smoky Paprika Beet Burgers with Spicy Tahini Sauce
Source:Smoky Paprika Beet Burgers with Spicy Tahini Sauce
When beets are cooked with smoky spices, they look and taste meaty. These Smoky Paprika Beet Burgers with Spicy Tahini Sauce made with beets, eggplant, and chickpeas are smoky, spicy, a little sweet, and incredibly juicy and tender. The spicy sauce adds even morerich flavor to these incredible burgers.
8. Spanish Chorizo with Chickpeas
Source:Spanish Chorizo with Chickpeas
The flavors of chorizo are amazing and you can get those same flavors with meatless chorizo. This Spanish Chorizo with Chickpeasby Maggie Jones is a simple meal that tastes like it’s been simmering on the stove for hours. It’s flavorful and full of protein that will keep you satisfied, plus you can make a large batch and keep it in the refrigerator to eat all week!
9. Mushroom Walnut Pâté
Source:Mushroom and Walnut Pâté
Liz Mochrie‘s Mushroom and Walnut Pâté is rich, creamy, earthy, and surprisingly easy to make! Enjoy it on sandwiches, toast, or as a dip for vegetable crudités – but however you choose to spread it around, this pâté will instantly make your meal more memorable.
10. Seitan and Mushroom Stroganoff
Source:Seitan and Mushroom Stroganoff
A meatless meal doesn’t get any meatier than Sarah Pethier‘s creamy Seitan and Mushroom Stroganoff. With garlic, oregano, and white wine, this dish is filled with flavor. The homemade cashew cream makes it rich and decadent. Serve this over your favorite noodles for a comforting and satisfying dish.
11. Easy-Peasy ‘Hamburger’ Soup
Source:Easy-Peasy ‘Hamburger’ Soup
Emilie Heck‘s Easy-Peasy ‘Hamburger’ Soup has all the hearty, savory, “meaty” goodness of a burger, but there’s no meat involved here! Carrots, potatoes, beefless crumbles, and bold spices make it full of flavor. It’s a great recipe if you want a filling dinner but are short on time – you can just throw all the ingredients in a crock pot and you’re good to go!
12. Homemade Andouille Sausages
Source:Homemade Andouille Sausages
Andouille sausages are an immortal culinary staple down in good ol’ Louisiana and now you can make Renee McKenzie‘sHomemade Andouille Sausages that are meatless. These are a plant-based, gluten-free version that you will definitely want to add to your jambalaya or gumbo … or just eat them on their own!
13. Un-Chicken Salad
Source:Un-Chicken Salad
Casey Muir Taylor‘s Un-Chicken Salad is uncomplicated, un-boring and completely unmissable. Made with texturized vegetable protein, red onions, celery, pecans, sliced grapes, and vegan mayo, this salad is a symphony of textures, colors, and flavors. Put it on a sandwich, eat it straight out of a bowl, put it in a wrap, atop a salad, or spread it on crackers. It’s undeniably delicious.
14. Buffalo Cauliflower Pizza with Blue Cheese Spread
Source:Buffalo Cauliflower Pizza
Caitlin and Riley Gladney-Hatcher‘s Buffalo Cauliflower Pizza is to die for. It is spicy, savory, and crunchy. Who needs wings when you can make Buffalo cauliflower instead and still get all the flavor and texture you remember. The blue cheeze spread really makes this pizza – it tastes really close to dairy blue cheese; most people wouldn’t know the difference.
15. The Best Veggie “Big Mac” with Radicchio Slaw
Source:The Best Veggie “Big Mac” with Radicchio Slaw
Say goodbye to the drive-thru and say hello to Jennifer Rose Rossano‘sThe Best Veggie “Big Mac” with Radicchio Slaw. These burgers are all-veggie – nothing that hasn’t grown straight out of the ground was used to make these incredibly flavorful and hearty burger patties. To make them even better, the burgers are topped with a crunchy and tangy radicchio slaw and creamy avocado.
16. BBQ Jackfruit Buns
Source:BBQ Jackfruit Buns
BBQ pork buns are a staple on any Chinese dim sum menu, but let’s leave the pigs alone and use jackfruit instead! These BBQ Jackfruit Bunsby Chelsey Johns are just as meaty, juicy, and tender and jackfruit absorbs the BBQ marinade perfectly. Stuffed in soft and fluffy dough and dipped in soy sauce – pure dim sum heaven!
17. ‘Sausage’ Sweet Potato Breakfast Sandwich With Sriracha Maple Aioli
Source:‘Sausage’ Sweet Potato Breakfast Sandwich with Sriracha Maple Aioli
Eating meatless doesn’t mean you have to give up your favorite breakfast sandwich. Jennifer Harmon‘s ‘Sausage’ Sweet Potato Breakfast Sandwich with Sriracha Maple Aioli is salty, sweet, saucy, crunchy, hot, and chewy. The Sriracha maple aioli gives this sandwich spiciness not generally found in breakfast foods, but the maple reins it in to perfection. The breakfast sausage supplies that saltiness you crave, and the sweet potato coins add texture to make one amazing first meal of the day!
18. Sloppy Joes with Simple Slaw
Source:Sloppy Joes with Simple Slaw
There’s nothing like a good old-fashioned Sloppy Joe! Dora Daily‘sSloppy Joes with Simple Slaw are made with veggie crumbles, but they have all the flavor of the traditional sandwich – and not to mention the prerequisite sloppiness! These sandwiches are taken to the next level when topped with a mound of crunchy coleslaw.
19. Better Than Steak Tacos
Source:Better Than Steak Tacos
If you’re craving something hearty and “meaty,” Michele Elizabeth‘sBetter Than Steak Tacos are just want you need. Portobello mushrooms make the most amazing taco filling that you can definitely sink your teeth into. Topped with fresh veggies and avocado cream sauce, these tacos can’t be beat!
20. Korean-Style Spicy Tofu and Sesame Cucumber
Source:Korean-Style Spicy Tofu and Sesame Cucumbers
You don’t need beef to enjoy the bold flavors of Korean food. Maikka Vasala‘s Korean-Style Spicy Tofu and Sesame Cucumbers is a delicious dish of tofu triangles sizzling in a flavorful spicy hot pepper sauce … who wouldn’t want that for dinner? Cool it down with a side of fresh and crunchy sesame cucumbers and some steamed rice and you’ve got yourself a Korean-inspired feast that couldn’t be easier to make!
21. Not Your Mama’s Seitan Pot Roast
Source:Not Your Mama’s Seitan Pot Roast
There’s nothing like a comforting dish of pot roast and this Not Your Mama’s Seitan Pot Roastby Dawn Kriss has all the familiar flavors of the stew you love but meatless. Plus, this lip-smacking veggie stew is made in a slow cooker, so you can just throw everything in, go about your day, and come home to a warm, comforting meal.
22. Bœuf Bourguignon Végétalien
Source:Bœuf Bourguignon Végétalien
Renee McKenzie‘s Bœuf Bourguignon Végétalien is not a pale imitation of the beloved traditional French dish. Made with tofu, mushrooms, and veggies and cooked in a rich mushroom stock and dry red wine, this dish is rich, hearty, and delicious. Julia Child would be proud!
23. Tofu Chorizo and Lemon Cauliflower Rice
Source:Tofu Chorizo and Lemon Cauliflower Rice
Here’s a meatless and lighter take on a classic sausage and rice dish. Natalie Tamara‘s Tofu Chorizo and Lemon Cauliflower Rice is a smoky, lemony delight with a delicious mix of textures – from the chewy tofu and crunchy vegetables to the light fluffy cauliflower rice. You get all the flavor in a dish that is good and good for you.
24. Hearts of Palm Carnitas
Source:Hearts of Palm Carnitas
If you haven’t discovered hearts of palm yet, you are in for a real treat! These veggies are a really amazing gluten-free alternative to seitan or any other meat substitute. In Emilie Heck‘sHearts of Palm Carnitas, the hearts of palm are hearty enough to stand up to being long-simmered in a marinade, and they magically take on a texture that’s similar to pulled pork. They’re tangy, saucy, “meaty,” and so delicious!
25. Unbelievably Simple One-Pot Seitan Chili
Source:Unbelievably Simple One-Pot Seitan Chili
Everyone loves a hearty bowl of chili and Natalie Tamara‘s Unbelievably Simple One-Pot Seitan Chili is going to blow everyone away. It’s filled with meaty seitan, beans, mushrooms, and lots of veggies. Smoky spices and a bit of heat make it perfect for a cold night. Plus, you can freeze it so it’s ready for you any night of the week.
These recipes just go to show that you can make any dish meatless and still have all the savory flavors and familiar textures you love. Try any of these dishes and you won’t miss the meat one bit. For more delicious recipes, download our Food Monster App where we have over 15,000 vegan and allergy-friendly recipes you’re sure to love!
Lead image source:Sloppy Joes with Simple Slaw
