It is easier than you think to improvise your way through answering the question, “what should I make for dinner?”. Maybe you have committed to Meatless Mondays or are considering going completely meat-free. Plant-based eating should be easy + quick + healthy + yummy! You don’t need to feel overwhelmed simply because you are centering your meals around plants instead of meat! This guide to cooking recipe-free meatless meals will help you effortlessly turn basic pantry staples into amazing meatless meals, no recipe required!
Tara’s Tuesday Tips:
Guide To Cooking Recipe-Free Meatless Meals
Even the most expert plant-based eater will occasionally find themselves needing to be creative to get a meal on the table. The struggle is real. Here in the MVF kitchen, I tend to overstock the pantry or refrigerator on a regular basis. That leaves me needing to come up with interesting + innovative ways to use up the extras before they spoil. On certain other occasions, ingredients that weren’t exactly on the shopping list somehow make their way into the kitchen when another member of MVF does the grocery shopping 🤣. No matter how the situation arises, it is no reason to order takeout or resort to boxed/canned/processed foods.
I can’t tell you how many omnivores tell me they have tried out Meatless Mondays but have failed because they have SO MUCH trouble figuring out what recipe to use. OMG. Let me ask you this … the other 6 days of the week do you follow a recipe? Every meal, every day, other than Meatless Monday? Stop it! That isn’t true. The only difference? Confidence! You CAN make tofu or veggies or beans taste good, I promise!
Follow my tips below for surviving recipe-free meatless meals! Quick + creative + flavorful + made from lots of healthy ingredients you probably already in your kitchen! Once you get the hang of it, you will be a plant-based pro!
Tara’s Top 10 Tips For Surviving Recipe-Free Meatless Meals:
- Don’t lose control of salt and/or spice. There aren’t too many ways to mess up a plant-based dish. Overdoing salt or spice is one of them.
- Have a go-to meat dish? Simply swap out the meat and swap in tofu or tempeh or lentils.
- Know your protein options (beans, nuts, tofu, or tempeh).
- Read this: 10 Things To Do On Weekends To Make Weeknight Cooking Easier. Thank me later.
- Don’t be afraid of combining veggies, one vegetable is good, many are awesome.
- Have some confidence in yourself!
- Not every dinner needs to be fancy. Post the IG pic another night. On recipe-free night anything goes. Yes, a hummus snack plate certainly is a meal. A darn good one.
- Get good at dressings/dips/sauce/salsa. Make a jar on the weekend + use it all week. Total lifesaver. Every. Single. Time.
- How many ways can you cook chicken without a recipe? Why are vegetables held to a higher standard? Long-term kitchen success is reliant on repetition. It is totally acceptable to have a recipe on repeat. Not a believer? Read this: Is Dietary Variety Really That Important?
- The more you practice your recipe-free skills, the better you will get at it. Plant-based perfection in no time!
No-Recipe? No Problem!
Try Building One Of These Recipe-Free Meals
Build A Plant-Based Burrito
- choose a wrap
- add beans (pop open a can or unfreeze leftovers)
- layer in plant-based meat or cheese if that’s your thing
- any and all veggies work in a burrito, simply shred them or dice real small
- salsa not required, any hot sauce or dressing you have on hand will do
- fold + go
- some of my favorites that make this one work every time
Build A Bowl
- choose a grain base: quinoa, rice, pasta, orzo, pasta
- add greens: raw or sautéed will do
- pick a protein: tofu, tempeh, beans
- the sauce makes the bowl: drizzle on your favorite jar or quickly blend up your own
- some of my favorites that make this one work every time
Make A Salad Everyone Will Love
- salad can be a meal, an awesome one
- first priority is don’t skimp on the base: 3-4 cups of spinach or your favorite lettuce
- veggies on veggies on veggies: raw, oven-roasted, chopped, shredded, spiralized
- pick a protein: same rules apply as in your bowl, see above
- top it: nuts, seeds, dried fruit, olives, roasted chickpeas, nutritional yeast, anything you love
- the dressing makes the salad: drizzle on your favorite jar or quickly blend up your own
- some of my favorites that make this one work every time
Load Up A Potato
- the total blank canvas, the wonder of the baked potato
- seriously. no joke. anything goes. stuff the potato + love it.
- no recipe required but get good at baking an awesome potato
- bought too many potatoes this week? pick one and stuff it: sweet, russet, gold, purple
- cook the potato first: How To Air Fry A Baked Potato
- fill it with anything you love: steamed veggies, chili, beans + then apply toppings
- some of my favorites that make this one work every time
Stir-Fry It
- doesn’t get ANY easier, veggies + protein + a grain thrown in a pan and spiced up
- when I have a lot of veggies leftover, this is my go-to
- frozen veggies work too: Guide To Frozen Vegetables (Myths + Methods!)
- when choosing a sauce make sure you include something spicy + something salty + an aromatic: soy sauce + red pepper flakes + garlic or veggie broth + chili paste + onion, the ratios are up to your taste preference
- want to thicken your stir-fry sauce? make a slurry out of corn starch + water, add it to your stir-fry when you are just about done cooking
- my pro-tip for this one: cut your extra-firm tofu into cubes, pop in the oven for 30 minutes to crisp up, while that is baking chop your veggies and stir-fry them with your sauce, when the 30 minutes is up, add the tofu cubes to the veggie pan along with the corn starch slurry. BAM. Dinner. No meat. No recipe.
- some of my favorites that make this one work every time
- change up the veggies or protein but these stir-fry sauces are winners:
- Garlic Tempeh and Broccoli
- Garlic Broccoli Stir-Fry
- Thai Basil Cauliflower Rice
Recipe-Free Plate Of Anything
- plenty of meals in the MVF kitchen are comprised of anything + everything
- my no recipe tips for this one: take inventory of what is in your refrigerator first, then pantry
- load up your plate with lots of veggies first, then nuts or chickpeas or soybeans, add fruit, pair with whole grain crackers or whatever you have on hand
- my plate-of-anything-for-dinner often has some leftover hummus, loads of veggies, Hu crackers + if there is room on the plate I fill it with fruits, never received a complaint about this dinner!!!
- some of my favorites that make this one work every time
Tara’s Guide To Must-Have Staples for
Cooking Recipe-Free Meatless Meals:
- liquid aminos or tamari
- garlic (to make life easier, I always keep a big jar of garlic paste in my fridge that I buy at the Indian grocery store)
- onions
- red pepper flakes or powder
- lemon juice
- garbanzo beans
- tahini
- quinoa/rice/pasta
- frozen veggies
- a blender
- PTFE-free non-stick pan
- air fryer
- Hu crackers
- organic frozen soybeans
- herbs (cilantro/parsley/oregano)
- avocados
- tortilla or pita bread (store in freezer for when you need it)
- nutritional yeast
- extra-firm tofu + silken tofu
- hot sauce/sriracha
- beans/lentils
- nuts
Just another one of my Tuesday guides. Hope it helps you stay healthy, MVF friends 💚
All the best,
Tara 💚
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