Vegetarian Meal Plan: 7 Filling Meatless Dinners
The short answer
This vegetarian meal plan covers a week of meatless dinners that are filling enough for meat-eaters too, with protein from chickpeas, lentils, black beans, white beans, eggs and cheese. It includes two sheet pan dinners, a slow cooker soup and a 15-minute fried rice, and the grocery list below combines everything into one shop.
- 7 dinners
- About 10 min of prep a night
- 51 items on one grocery list
- All meatless
Best for: Vegetarian households, or anyone doing meatless weeks.
Puts these dinners on next week's calendar and builds the grocery list. Free account, no credit card.
The week
- MondayBlack Bean and Sweet Potato Tacos
Roasted sweet potato and smoky black beans make a filling, budget-friendly vegetarian taco night that holds up well as leftovers.
35 minVegetarian - TuesdayChickpea and Spinach Coconut Curry
A fragrant, mild coconut curry made almost entirely from the pantry. Vegetarian, gluten-free and ready in about 25 minutes.
30 minVegetarian - WednesdaySheet Pan Gnocchi with Roasted Vegetables
Shelf-stable gnocchi roasts crisp on the outside and pillowy inside alongside tomatoes and zucchini — no pot of water required.
35 minVegetarian - ThursdayPesto Pasta with White Beans and Tomatoes
Jarred pesto, white beans and cherry tomatoes make a filling vegetarian pasta in the time it takes to boil the water.
20 minVegetarian - FridayVegetable Egg Fried Rice
The best use for leftover rice: eggs, frozen vegetables and soy sauce turn it into a full vegetarian dinner in 15 minutes.
17 minVegetarian - SaturdaySlow Cooker Lentil Vegetable Soup
Pantry lentils, carrots and tomatoes turn into a thick, protein-rich vegetarian soup for well under a dollar a serving.
6h 15mVegetarian - SundaySheet Pan Chickpea Shawarma Bowls
Warm-spiced roasted chickpeas and cauliflower with a quick lemon-tahini sauce. Vegetarian, gluten-free and great for packed lunches.
40 minVegetarian
Grocery list for the week
Every ingredient from all seven recipes, combined and sorted by store aisle. Check your pantry for oils, salt and spices before you shop.
Produce
- 1avocado
- 11 cupsbaby spinach
- 3carrots
- 1cauliflower head
- 2celery stalks
- 5 cupscherry tomatoes
- 1cucumber
- 1/4 cupfresh basil
- 1/4 cupfresh cilantro
- 1 tbspfresh ginger
- 2 cupfrozen peas and carrots
- 9 clovesgarlic
- 3green onions
- 3lemon
- 2lime
- 2red onion
- 2sweet potatoes
- 2yellow onion
- 2zucchini
Dairy & Eggs
- 1/2 cupcrumbled feta cheese
- 4eggs
- 8 ozfresh mozzarella pearls
- 1/2 cupgrated Parmesan cheese
Bakery
- 8corn tortillas
- 1crusty bread loaf
Grains & Pasta
- 1 1/2 cupbasmati rice
- 1 1/2 cuplong-grain white rice
- 1 1/2 cupquinoa
- 1 lbshort pasta
Canned Goods
- 1 canblack beans
- 1 cancannellini beans
- 4 canschickpeas
- 1 cancoconut milk
- 2 cansdiced tomatoes
- 1 1/2 cupdried brown lentils
- 6 cupsvegetable broth
Condiments & Sauces
- 1 jarbasil pesto
- 3 tbsplow-sodium soy sauce
- 1/2 cupolive oil
- 1/2 cupsalsa
- 1/3 cuptahini
- 1 tsptoasted sesame oil
- 1/4 cupvegetable oil
Spices & Seasonings
- 2 tspchili powder
- 2 tbspcurry powder
- 1/2 tspground cinnamon
- 1 1/3 tbspground cumin
- 1 tspItalian seasoning
- 1 2/3 tbspkosher salt
- 2 tspsmoked paprika
Pantry
- 2 packagesshelf-stable potato gnocchi
Prep ahead
- Cook extra rice with Tuesday's curry and chill it for Friday's fried rice.
- Make the tahini sauce for Sunday's bowls up to 4 days ahead.
- Chop the soup vegetables on Friday night so Saturday's slow cooker goes in with no work.
Questions
Is this meal plan vegan?
Not entirely: it uses eggs, cheese and butter in places. The curry, lentil soup and chickpea shawarma bowls are vegan as written (use vegan bread with the soup), and the tacos are vegan without the cheese.
Where does the protein come from?
Beans, chickpeas and lentils in five of the seven dinners, plus eggs in the fried rice and cheese in the gnocchi and tacos.