If you are not a veggie household how many non meat evening meals do you eat a week?

[AtleastitsnotMonday]

Having recently read a few different threads this is something I’ve been thinking about. We probably have at least three, sometimes four, meat free meals a week. Not for any particular reason (health, environmental, cost saving etc) but just because there are a lot of veggie meals we like as much as meat or fish based.

I wonder if it’s some what generational, I know my parents generation seem to eat more meat based meals and I know for sure my grandparents were a lot more in the ‘a meal isn’t a meal with out meat or fish,’ camp.

We currently have 1 meat dish, 1 fish dish and 1 vegan dish as main meal.... the rest is vegetarian.

Probably 1 or 2 meat free, 1 or 2 fish and then mostly chicken. Only have red meat about once a week.

@HeartsAndClubs

None. We eat meat or fish with every evening meal. It’s just not a meal without some kind of protein iMO and beans on toast certainly isn’t an evening meal, and egg and chips hardly counts as in the healthy steaks so not sure which would be worse there, a meat meal or egg and chips….

I do veg soups for lunch etc and we rarely eat meat based breakfasts etc e.g. bacon rolls and so on, but in the evening we always have some kind of meat or fish. Mostly chicken or fish based though rather than red meat.

Bit cheese, eggs, tofu, beans ettc are all good forms of protein.

Hardly any. I'll have a pasta dish sometimes. I like the taste of meat and fish and what it adds to a meal.

We eat fish or meat most days either for lunch or dinner; or both. Maybe once a week we do a pasta bake or an omelette but mostly we have meat or fish

We all eat meat but aren’t fussed about having it for every evening meal. We like:

Halloumi fajitas
Omelette/salad
Jacket potatoes/salad
Veggie chilli or curry
Richmond veggie sausages/mash/veg
Falafel pittas/chips/salad
Veggie pizzas
Gnocchi with a tomato/mozzarella sauce
Risotto

It’s very easy and much cheaper to eat less meat

Only one or two are meat free. I've been trying more vegetarian recipes to increase it, but I find if I cook something we usually eat with meat in, say lasagne as a vegetarian meal it doesn't go down well. Where as a recipe which they've never had meat in like macaroni cheese is fine.

Only three out of the six of us like meat substitutes so I tend not to buy those or I'm having to do two separate meals.

When I feel like it. Some weeks are all meat-free, some are no meat-free.

Once or twice, jacket potato, falafel, omelette or home made soup and bread for example

We have meat about once a week, sometimes not at all.

Everything seems to be moving towards a more vegetarian/plant-based approach these days, so I'm quite surprised by how many on this thread have nearly all meals meat-based.

We naturally have at least two evening meals veggie without really trying - often curry/pasta with HM sauce/aubergine parmigiana/hummus and pitta and mezze type meals.

Lunches are normally leftovers so depends what there is in the fridge. I don’t really buy extra meat for LG chew other than the odd package of pate.

I would struggle to do vegan though as eggs and cheese feature a lot!

As previous posters have said 2 meals also probably only have small amounts of meat - a handful of bacon or a bit of chorizo to flavour a lentil bake for example. But we do still have steak/sausages/roast chicken weekly and fish also. I make the most of them when I buy them (I make my own stock which gets used in eg risotto or soup).

I find a veg box helps too as it forces me to be creative - this week I e got a new type of squash which I will probably roast with cumin and have with a feta and lentil salad

I notice that a lot of people's meat free meals rely on dairy, which I can't consume much of without it making me ill.

We eat meat probably every day of the week, with the exception if if we decide to have a pasta bake

@PickAChew

I notice that a lot of people's meat free meals rely on dairy, which I can't consume much of without it making me ill.

That's definitely the case for us. I don't think mine could do without cheese in particular. One of the reason I struggle with cutting down on meat is that I don't think many of our meat free meals are especially healthy to be quite honest. Cheese and carbs feature heavily and although I know carbs aren't evil, I find my body doesn't like them as I'm getting older.

One- three depending on the week. I hate the snobbery around it though. So many decry vegans for being "preachy" but it's nonsense! Everybody seems preachy around other peoples food choices now.

Some years ago my answer would have been none because I was poor and cheese is more expensive than a whole chicken and lentils/ beans take a lot of energy to
Cook and I wasn't guaranteed my children would eat it. A few bags of pasta, noodles, a whole chicken ,carrots, swede, peppers, potatoes, peas, and broccoli meanwhile cost me under £10 and offered 5 meals for us without running the gas down too much .

We try to have 2 but it's a real struggle.

I notice that a lot of people's meat free meals rely on dairy, which I can't consume much of without it making me ill.

I’m vegan so mine don’t. I did have to get used to cooking new things as I’d been vegetarian for years so used lots of dairy in meals before. Lots of experimenting at first but I wouldn’t go back to eating animal products now. It’s made me healthier and a better cook!

about 4 or 5, mostly vegan and then the other 2 or 3 are usually fish or chicken. Sometimes get other meat to eat if we're out or ordering a takeway but really don't eat much meat and try to reduce dairy too.

@HeartsAndClubs

None. We eat meat or fish with every evening meal. It’s just not a meal without some kind of protein iMO and beans on toast certainly isn’t an evening meal, and egg and chips hardly counts as in the healthy steaks so not sure which would be worse there, a meat meal or egg and chips….

I do veg soups for lunch etc and we rarely eat meat based breakfasts etc e.g. bacon rolls and so on, but in the evening we always have some kind of meat or fish. Mostly chicken or fish based though rather than red meat.

You don't need meat to get protein though eggs, cheese, tofu and baked beans are all full of protein.

Out of curiosity - would a baked potato with cheese and beans not be a meal for you? What about a baked potato with tuna instead?

2-3 a week.

Veggie pasta bake
Macaroni cheese
Baked potatoes with cheese/beans
Veggie quiche or frittata
Veggie stir fry

icedcoffees baked potato with beans and cheese would be a lunch for me. Potentially a feeling lazy evening meal but definitely not something I'd want to be eating regularly. Just a bit boring and not filling enough.

Interesting point from a pp about reducing meat per meal. That I manage a lot better with. We often put one chicken breast or one pork shoulder in a noodle/pasta dish or we'll have a chicken drumstick each then a tofu and vegetable dish as well.

@Bobsyer

Maybe every other meal on a good week? My favourites would be halloumi and sweet chilli wraps or dhal and rice and naan bread.

My mum will apologise if we go to visit and she ‘only’ feeds us spaghetti or something.

Those of you that say none - don’t you ever do beans on toast? Pasta and pesto? Egg and chips?

Might do beans on toast for lunch every few months but egg and chips yes but with ham and pasta pesto ever eaten it.

Aim for 2 days veggie, 3 days fish and 2 days chicken. Some times it's more. Only eat red meat every couple of weeks.

Used to be in the 'I can't eat a meal without meat' gang. Then I discovered that veggie meals can be even tastier than meat meals.

Half of our household are veggie so we don't eat any meat, the other half eats one fish and one meat meal per week at home. At work/school I am sure they eat meat regularly. I do all the cooking and can't justify or stomach cooking them meat daily. Nobody needs that.

I definitely do the less meat thing. Eg I would make a Dal but Ds2 is having chicken thighs, so I'd give him 2 with his regulation chips while dh and I would have 1 each with our Dal, rice and another veg side which might be something like a chard sabzi or just some simple roasted or boiled cauliflower, depending how energetic I'm feeling, given that I'm also having to prepare something completely different for Ds1, most days.