62 Healthy Vegetarian Recipes You'll Make All the Time

Eating more vegetarian meals can be a great way to fill your diet with good-for-you ingredients like nuts, seeds, whole grain and, of course, veggies. You’ll find that everything from comfort foods to casseroles can go meatless with ease—and still be every bit as satisfying. If you’re in need of some fresh inspiration, you’re in the right place. We’ve got wholesome recipes for vegetarian soups, meatless chilis, veggie-forward slow-cooker options and so much more—starting with this light-yet-satisfying vegetarian pasta. It features whole-wheat pasta plus a few nutritional powerhouses like mushrooms (which are loaded with B vitamins and potassium) and red peppers (which are filled with vitamin C). This dish is delicious as-is but you could also add a few cubes of marinated, seared tofu on top for extra protein.

This hearty vegetarian chili is both nutritious and satisfying, thanks to the protein-packed navy beans and brown lentils. We added a generous dose of dried spices and other pantry staples to boost the flavor and make this dish accessible for any night of the week.

This one-dish healthy pasta bake is the kind of cozy, flavor-packed dish you’ll crave on repeat. Juicy cherry tomatoes are roasted until they burst and caramelize, creating a naturally sweet, jammy sauce that clings to the tender orzo. Artichoke hearts, chickpeas and baby spinach bring fiber, protein and plenty of flavor, while a sprinkle of fresh mint and two kinds of melty cheese tie everything together into one bubbly, golden-topped bake.

This high-protein vegetarian dinner gives tofu cutlets a delicious schnitzel treatment. Slabs of tofu are brined in pickle juice for extra flavor, then breaded in seasoned breadcrumbs and pan-fried until golden-brown and irresistibly crispy. Using tofu labeled “super-firm” or “high-protein” lets you skip the step of pressing the tofu to remove excess moisture, an excellent timesaver. A tangy red cabbage slaw is a classic complement to schnitzel, and a yogurt sauce with horseradish and dill rounds out this healthy meal that has 23 grams of protein per serving.

This vegetarian spin on the Italian American favorite chicken Parmesan starts with creamy cannellini beans simmered in a homemade tomato sauce. The hearty beans are topped with a generous sprinkle of mozzarella and Parmesan breadcrumbs, giving you the flavor and gooey-crispy texture that chicken Parm is famous for. The recipe comes together entirely in one skillet, making for easy prep and cleanup.

This vibrant dish of spinach pesto over whole-wheat penne makes pasta night as healthy as it is satisfying. Our creamy pesto is made with fresh spinach, garlic, almonds and lemon and coats the pasta in a rich and flavorful sauce. Broccoli rabe adds a nice bite, perfectly complementing the velvety pesto, while white beans give the dish a hearty texture and plant-based protein. Together it’s a balanced one-dish vegetarian meal that’s as nourishing as it is tasty.

Nidhi Jalan writes, "This smoky roasted eggplant dish from India is one of my favorites. It’s served as a main course, as part of a selection of dishes in a thali. Different versions are made in various parts of the country but this Punjabi recipe is the most popular. The best flavor and smokiness comes from roasting the eggplant on a direct flame or grill. I never add dried spices to my baingan bharta in order to really taste the smoky eggplant with sweetness from the onions, tang from the tomatoes, a little heat from the green chiles and a burst of freshness from the cilantro. It’s precisely this combination of flavors that makes this dish so amazing!"

Tender tofu and crisp mushrooms are blanketed in an umami-rich tomato sauce in this quick and easy dish, perfect for your weeknight dinner rotation. A bit of heat from gochugaru and sambal oelek is tempered by coconut milk and a touch of miso, bringing a beautiful balance to the sauce. Serve it with plenty of steamed rice to sop up all the flavor.

Perfect for a summer side, these smoky eggplant skewers get their nutty, sweet and spicy flavor thanks to a marinade that stars tahini, honey and chile crisp. Grilling the eggplant creates a crispy exterior while leaving the interior smooth and creamy, and the marinade caramelizes and deepens as it cooks, cloaking the eggplant in layers of deliciousness. A drizzle of the reserved marinade before serving brings it all home.

Calabacitas literally translates to "little squash," and a la Mexicana means it incorporates the colors of the Mexican flag—white, red and green—from onions, tomatoes and chiles. This vegetarian dish can be served as a side dish, main dish or with tortillas to make tacos. If you can’t find summer squash, zucchini works just as well.

Sweet summer produce is the star of this dish, thanks to the creamy corn sauce and herby Fresno topping. We opted to grill the corn and chiles for a touch of smokiness; that also tames the heat of the chiles a bit as opposed to using them raw. Serve with pan-seared store-bought gnocchi for an easy, full-flavored meal.

Inspired by Hasselback potatoes, here we slice an eggplant almost all the way through, leaving it attached at the stem so we can fan out the slices and fill them with tempting Greek-influenced ingredients. The key to success is choosing a large eggplant that’s smooth and firm and feels heavy for its size. Salting the sliced eggplant softens it just enough so that you can fan out the layers and create the Hasselback effect. The technique makes a beautiful presentation and guarantees that lots of surface area gets deliciously browned on the cheesy eggplant.

This dish looks particularly vibrant when you use a combination of sweet yellow, red and orange bell peppers. Pick the largest ones you can find, with the flattest, most stable bottoms so they remain standing once they're stuffed and baked in the tomato sauce. These peppers are delicious hot out of the oven or served Mediterranean-style at room temperature.

The usual meat-based Bolognese sauce gets a vegetarian makeover in this healthy pasta dish. We combined a whopping seven different vegetables in the hearty sauce, including mushrooms, butternut squash, carrot, onion, bell pepper, celery and tomato. All the veggies work together to create depth of flavor and a satisfyingly thick sauce, and ground cashews add a perfect bit of meaty texture. We love the Bolognese over al dente rigatoni, a shape perfect for holding this rich sauce, but you can use any pasta of your choosing.

Sambar is a delectable and versatile South Indian dal that’s particularly easy to make in an Instant Pot®. The term dal (sometimes spelled dahl) refers to both split peas and lentils and the type of classic stew made from them. For sambar, split pigeon peas are cooked with a medley of vegetables and flavored with tamarind, a unique sambar masala blend and a mustard and curry leaf tadka (a traditional technique of blooming spices in hot ghee). Not only is sambar scrumptiously tangy and flavorful but also filling and satisfying. Cooking dal in a pressure cooker is common, but an Instant Pot® makes it quick to cook both the peas and the vegetables. Sambar is great paired with rice, but it’s also a common accompaniment to a variety of South Indian snacks such as idli, dosa, uttapam and vada. You can also break with tradition and have it as a soup.

These smoky cabbage steaks make a hearty side dish, but they're also substantial enough to serve as a main dish if you add a grain or some beans. Our easy herb sauce made in the blender is light, bright and very versatile. If you have any leftover, it can serve as a salad dressing or a drizzle for other grilled foods.

Made with hearty lentils and lots of vegetables, Alton's soup is comforting and satisfying.

The most amazing egg recipes in India are found in the Parsi community, but papeta par eda (eggs over potatoes) is hands-down my favorite. You can have it for breakfast, lunch, dinner or a snack. Sometimes it’s even prepared with potato chips instead of sliced potatoes! If you have any leftover cooked potatoes, you can reheat them in a small skillet and poach a fresh egg on top. Sprinkle with some more chopped cilantro and you have a delicious dish in minutes.

Honeynuts look like baby butternut squash but are sweeter and with a thinner skin -- making them perfect for stuffing. This recipe makes a hearty vegetarian main course or flavor-packed side to a roast or steak.

Red lentils stand in for mung beans and team up rice to make a super-easy Indian dish (also called kitchari) that is reminiscent of porridge, but with plenty of lively flavor from the ginger, cumin and jalapeno. Fresh cilantro stirred in at the end adds nice flecks of bright green.

This perfectly grilled eggplant is inspired by chef Thomas Keller’s TikTok-famous preparation of zucchini, which is halved lengthwise, then scored with shallow, diamond-shaped cuts. The crosshatching helps increase the surface area of the eggplant for more even grilling while also allowing water to evaporate more quickly. The result is more nooks and crannies for soaking up marinades, sauces or glazes, and the most tender grilled vegetables. For this recipe, you’ll need the larger globe variety of eggplant. Look for one with a more bulbous shape (rather than long and slender), so you’ll be able to cut a deep crosshatch pattern that will open up (or blossom) during grilling, creating lots of nice crevices for the tahini sauce. We’ve topped the eggplant with feta, honey, fresh herbs and sumac. Serve it as a vegetarian main course or a side for grilled pork, chicken or fish.

While there are many kale salads out there, this one – combining quinoa, chickpeas, fresh summer vegetables and spiced pumpkin seeds – is designed to be high in fiber (11 grams per serving) and protein (15 grams per serving). Even the creamy green garden dressing includes fiber in the form of pureed avocado and tomatoes. For the tenderest kale, be sure to thinly slice the raw leaves and take the time to massage them with the dressing. Serve the salad as a side dish or enjoy it as a well-rounded, healthy and satisfying plant-based main course.

This healthy vegan “egg” salad recipe uses tofu in two ways: First, to make a creamy delicious “mayo” that holds the salad together with bright and fresh flavors, then cut into small cubes to resemble chopped egg whites. We use a shelf-stable extra-firm silken tofu (instead of refrigerated silken tofu), because it has an ideal texture for both preparations. Enjoy this “egg” salad, which brings 14 grams of protein, on toasted sliced vegan bread or lettuce leaves, or simply on its own.

This quick, flavorful and healthy side is done from fridge to table in under 30 minutes. We trim off the top and bottom of the squash, poke it all over and cook it in the microwave in a fraction of the time it would take to roast it. If you wanted to make this a complete meal, juicy turkey meatballs would be a delightful accompaniment to this pasta alternative.

This vegan soup offers a beautiful balance of flavors with earthy lotus root, sweet carrots and jujubes dates, warming ginger and savory mushrooms and peanuts. Although most recipes for lotus soup contain pork ribs we made this one vegan, using shiitake mushrooms to give the broth depth of flavor instead. Many of the ingredients require soaking, so be sure to start the process either the night before or in the morning so that you can have this nourishing hot soup ready by dinner.

This creamy vegan soup is hearty enough for a whole meal, thanks to chickpeas and a host of vegetables. To make it even more filling, you can add a scoop of cooked rice or noodles just before serving. When selecting a vegetable broth for this recipe, try to find one that is lighter in color and flavor so it doesn't overpower the other components.

This homestyle Punjabi curry is made with peas (matar or mutter in Hindi) and fresh Indian pressed cheese (paneer or panir) cooked in a lightly spiced onion-tomato gravy. It’s easy, delicious and a particularly hearty, comforting vegetarian dish. Serve it with rice or any Indian flatbread for a satisfying meal. Stirring sour cream into the gravy is optional but adds delicious richness.

A nod to the richly flavored lentil stews enjoyed throughout India, this dal comes together fast and is scented with curry paste and garam masala.

For a hearty and healthy meatless dinner that’s on the table in under an hour, we caramelize cabbage wedges until golden, then oven-braise them in a classic piccata sauce until they're melt-in-your-mouth tender. A swirl of butter at the end makes the lemony sauce extra luscious and perfect for spooning over the cabbage and parsley-studded rice.

This delicious vegan recipe combines the flavors of bulgogi with pan-seared eggplant -- but instead of marinating the vegetable in the gochugaru and soy mixture as you do with beef, we use it as a pan sauce. The eggplant is excellent served with rice, kimchi, lettuce greens and your favorite banchan for a meatless Korean barbecue rice bowl.

Inspired by the iconic miso-marinated cod from Nobu, here we use tofu as a base to make an inspired healthy vegan version that’s paired with quick-pickled cucumbers and rice. The savory and sweet marinade is perfect for the “blank slate” nature of tofu and includes aromatics such as ginger and garlic. We highly recommend pressing the tofu first to make room for it to absorb the flavorful marinade, then tearing it by hand along the short sides to create a jagged surface for even more absorption. The recipe provides instructions for pressing the tofu using equipment you probably already have in your kitchen, but if you own a tofu press, feel free to use that instead.

Cauliflower and potatoes come together with fragrant spices like turmeric, coriander and cumin in this hearty veg-forward curry enjoyed throughout India and Pakistan.

These falafel-inspired broccoli balls are perfectly crisp on the outside, creamy on the inside and loaded with vibrant fresh herbs and spices. Paired with a tangy and spicy harissa-yogurt sauce, they can be perfect guilt-free hors d'oeuvres for your next party, a fiber-packed vegetable side dish or a crunchy addition to a salad. Since harissa pastes can vary widely in spiciness, feel free to adjust to your liking. They freeze really well, so make a double batch and freeze some for another night.

This Cauliflower and Lentil Parmesan is a healthy and hearty plant-based twist on the Italian American classic. Roasted cauliflower steaks and tender lentils replace the traditional chicken or eggplant, bringing a satisfying texture and depth of flavor. Baked in marinara sauce and layered with gooey mozzarella and toasted breadcrumbs, this dish is comforting and nourishing – plus, it’s easy to clean up! It’s the kind of bold and savory meal that proves vegetables can hold their own at the center of the plate, and it’s perfect for weeknight dinners or a cozy weekend bake. Serve it with crusty bread or a side salad to round out the experience.

Tofu is an excellent substitute for chicken or eggplant in the classic Parmesan sub. The sandwiches still have plenty of flavor, thanks to garlic, basil, Italian seasoning and some part-skim mozzarella.

Inspired by a traditional Chinese banquet restaurant dish, this healthy main course combines egg tofu, shiitake mushrooms, bok choy and snow peas in a savory brown gravy. Egg tofu is a combination of eggs and tofu, and has a soft, pudding-like texture that’s perfect for this dish. Typically, the egg tofu is deep-fried, but for a lightened-up spin, we pan-fry it with less oil, use low-sodium soy sauce and swap oyster sauce for mushroom oyster sauce to make it vegetarian-friendly.

Aarti Sequeira shares her mother's simple dal recipe. Like the name suggests, you're sure to add them to your weeknight rotation.

The words "vegetarian," "pate" and "caviar" don't necessarily go together, but this creamy, flavor-packed appetizer spreads like pate, and the tart bursts of pomegranate seeds are a little like caviar. This vegetarian (in fact, vegan) dish is inspired by the country of Georgia's dish pkhali, a spinach spread that can also be made with beets or mushrooms.

If you're looking for a hearty and healthful meal, consider this dried mushroom and barley soup. The barley adds nuttiness, a sprinkle of flour lends viscosity to the broth and the dried mushrooms provide meatiness and umami. If you have fresh mushrooms on hand, you can add them, too. The result is a deliciously nourishing, vegetarian dish that everyone will love.

You don’t need meat for a delicious and filling chili. Fresh eggplant and firm tofu ensure a crave-worthy texture, while fire-roasted corn and tomatoes provide the classic flavors of your favorite cozy dish.

Vegetarians can now enjoy this classic comfort dish. Starring tofu and eggplants, this meatless meatloaf is as satisfying as the original. Finish it off with a rich mushroom gravy.

This delicious combination of sorghum, Greek yogurt and cinnamon-ginger sauteed apple is a nourishing and comforting breakfast for a cold winter's morning.

Busy families, this recipe is for you. I crave the comfort of homemade lasagna in the winter, but I dislike the lengthy assembly time that often accompanies the dish. The slow cooker makes the entire process really simple: no boiling noodles, no precooking the vegetables and no need to worry about making neat layers.

Packed with meaty mushrooms, filling brown rice and hearty walnuts, these burgers are guaranteed to beat anything you grab from the freezer aisle. Serve the veggie burgers with sweet pomegranate ketchup for a flavor profile that you’ll crave again and again.

Anne's fresh take on pesto uses broccoli rabe and pistachios in place of the traditional basil-and-pine-nut combination.