Easy vegetarian snacks and meals

[AccountantMum]

Hi,

Looking for some inspiration as my 12 year old daughter is newly vegetarian.

She is very active and enjoys sports training most days including clubs straight from school and I am struggling with quick and easy vegetarian meals and snacks that she can eat between school and clubs and when she gets home she is always starving.

Keen for her to get enough protein too - currently she is eating a lot of cheese, vegetables and carbs, she also doesn't like eggs which makes it more difficult.
We have considered adding a protein shake to her diet to fill the current gap if anyone can recommend one which is appropriate for children/teens but would prefer to find a way to get to a balanced diet through food that she will eat.

Thank you

Carbs + cheese is not great.
The obvious things like mushroom risotto and pasta in tomato sauce aren't great either.
The fake meats tend to be UPF.

She'll need a balanced diet - lots of veg, some protein and some fat.
There are some brilliant suggestions on Old Fashioned Vegetarian Food | Mumsnet

Really easy: hummus (make your own, it's easy), falafels, salads, beans, baked potato with baked beans etc

Pulses are good, not all take ages to cook, and you can buy tinned ones.

Google 'vegan chickpea tuna' there's lots of variations but basically chickpeas mashed with diced celery, add various seasoning and then one of; mayo, salad cream or houmous to 'bind' it... really tasty, decent protein and fibre content. Add sweetcorn or finely chopped peppers for a sweeter version. Easy to scoop into a pitta pocket or make a wrap with or just eat as is. I make a tub of this a couple of times a week, keeps in the fridge 2-3 days easily.

Cottage cheese pots are also decent protein sources.

Halloumi slices (I do mine in the airfryer)

Overnight oats with, chia seeds, nuts, Greek yogurt and berries. You can make them up a day or two before and just grab from the fridge as you need them.

Huel black is 20g of protein / 200kcal scoop so this is a useful top up option too.

Nuts, popcorn, toasted chickpeas (airfryer) also good protein containing snacks.

I also batch cook, vegetarian bean chilli, lentil based curries and ratatouille etc so there's always something that can be got out of the freezer to reheat for a quick warm meal after a run or if I'm too tired to cook. You can add lentils or beans to pretty much anything to boost the protein :)

If she's needing a protein supplement, there's something wrong.
The western diet tends to contain too much protein. She'll roughly be needing about her weight in Kg as the number of grams of protein each day.
(e.g. if she weighs 50 Kg she needs about 50g of protein each day - rough guide only obvs)

The trouble with the carbs+cheese sort of diet is that it's calorific but does not keep you full for long, and the fat is saturated.
Something like lots of veg, some beans or pulses, some carbs and some good oil is more nutritious.

There are lots of different ways of cooking eggs. There's probably one she likes.

Peanut butter is an easy source of protein.

Something like How to go vegetarian - BBC Food might be useful.

Apologies if my pp seem a bit negative; I've been a vege for a long time and have a thing about getting irritated be "vegetarian food".

The "vegetarian food" is what non-veges think vegetarians eat and like. They say things like 'I like vegetarian food, I often pick it when I eat out'. Their idea is things like mushroom risotto, butternut squash anything, beetroot & goats cheese tart etc.

Real vegetarian food is the stuff we veges eat day-to-day. Might be lentil stew or south indian curries, or noodles with tofu, or chips & baked beans & broccoli, or a peanut butter salad sandwich etc

Assuming your DD is the only vegetarian in the household, it's quite easy to make something like a vegetarian sauce or stew, but divide it before the end, adding meat for everyone apart from DD, and adding something like soya chunks, tofu or beans/lentils to DDs.

Most quick snacks are vegetarian already, so things like greek yoghurt with fruit (maybe even some porridge oats thrown in). Wraps with cheese, hummus, veg or with peanut butter and banana (or sandwiches with the same). Crackers and cheese with grapes. Crackers or pita with hummus.

Meals - cheesy pasta with veg, lentil or bean based soups, dal and rice or any veg curry and rice, your standard meat and two veg meals with a replacement for the meat, so feta tart with side of chips and roasted veg, or stuffed pepper with lentils and rice and roast potatoes and green veg. Stir fry with tofu and veg on noodles, you can have this with chicken or whatever for the rest of the family if you're not keen on tofu. Beans on toast. Beans and cheese in a jacket with salad.

If she'll eat any of the 'fake meat' type products, while not amazingly nutritious, they do for the occasional meal - veg sausages with mash and veg, veg sausages in toad in the hole, bean or veggie burger with chips and salad.

She really doesn't need as much protein as you are assuming. And good quality protein is easy to find in a healthy balanced diet.

I am vegan and my snacks include

Hummus and carrot / cucumber sticks

Nuts and dried fruit

Banana and peanut butter

Vegan yoghurt

Does your dd like tofu? If you live near Aldi they do great tofu for 99p and lots of other delicious things.

Be wary of protein supplements, they aren't really regulated so some of then could have anything in them and also it's not a great way of getting protein.

Also watch out for iron deficiency - especially as she hits puberty.

Nuts, peanut butter, quinoa, wholegrain rices are all good. @mindutopia suggestions are all good.

Btw I stopped eating meat at a similar age to your dd - age 10 and I'm 34 now. I'm really fit and healthy and actually have more iron since quitting eggs (blood test confirmed). I also recently ran a half marathon. You deffo don't need meat to be healthy so ignore the negativity you sadly inevitably get.

@KirstenBlest We eat butternut squash dishes and goats cheese tart all the time! What's un-vegetarian about them?

Also, what in God's name is a "peanut butter salad sandwich" ?!

Peanut butter on toast, hummus on veg sticks or pitta bread, mashed avocado on bagels.

For main meals my go to proteins are tofu, tempeh, lentils, chickpeas, butter beans, quinoa, nuts added to salads, pine nuts added to pasta, nut butters made into stir-fry sauces.

@zaxxon,Also, what in God's name is a "peanut butter salad sandwich" ?!
It's two pieces of bread spread with peanut butter with salad in the middle. What did you think it was?

@zaxxon , I think you missed my point about "vegetarian food". My gripe is with the idea that vegetarians only eat a limited range of special food, mainly those offered on repetitive restaurant menus.

Butternut squash is a fruit that anyone can eat but it seems to be offered as the vegetarian dish on menus quite often but it's quite low in protein. Goat's cheese is fine if you like goat's cheese, but not everyone likes it.
As I said earlier, there's plenty of dishes that are naturally vegetarian, and I'd prefer not to be limited to an omnivore's idea of what vegetarians like.

I have nothing against butternut squash, but there are more flavoursome squashes, and I eat lots of them when they are abundant. Because I eat it often at home, I don't really want to see it on a menu if I eat out.

Snack-wise lots of snacks are suitable for vegetarians but aren't particularly thought of as 'veggie'.

Agree with @KirstenBlest Lots of 'normal' everyday foods are vegetarian.

And, although KB does not say this, lots of fake meat /ready meal products targeted at the vegetarian market taste awful and have a texture that is even worse. They're expensive and ultraprocessed too. Protein shakes come into the similar category - we do not need that much protein, and it's found in bread and milk and yoghurt and nuts and grains.....

My personal vegetarian dislike in many eating-out places is sweet potatoes with/in everything. Yes, they have their place but they are SWEET and I don't have a sweet tooth. One of the worst concoctions (to my taste) that I've seen - on the menu of a posh (well, expensive) restaurant - was a main-course 'sweet potato and apricot burger', served in a white bun.

As others have said, for a very quick snack, nothing wrong with peanut butter or hummus on toast (ideally serve with raw veg sticks/mini tomatoes ) or even good ol' Marmite on hot buttered toast. Or a little bowl of toasted seeds and nuts - easy to do in the overn - perhaps with a sprinkling of tamari soy sauce. Even Twiglets (wholemeal flour, relatively low nasties) might be possible as a very occasional instant something-to-munch.

@OP I know you say your daughter does not like eggs, but will she eat them hidden in home-made pancakes? As you know, these are almost instant to make and very nutritious, and can be served with all kinds of vegetarian things, from simple lemon juice and a scattering of sugar to fresh fruit (or high-fruit jam) with cream or yoghurt or butter, or with something savoury such a thinly-sliced cheese. I like little pancakes topped with home-made hummus and grated carrot or with aubergine, garlic, parsley and yoghurt dip (a more 'grown up' flavour, perhaps). Large, thin pancakes can be used instead of wraps.

More 'hidden' eggs: some cakes - eg brownies/blondies and Nigella's chocolate olive oil cake - have a fairly high egg content, and contain very nutritious nuts as well. You can also hide eggs in fritters- eg sweetcorn or courgette.

on the menu of a posh (well, expensive) restaurant - was a main-course 'sweet potato and apricot burger', served in a white bun.
Ugh! Were there any other vegetarian main dishes?

There's a michelin-starred place not far from me and the last time I looked it had one vegetarian main dish, beetroot and goat's cheese tart. I'd rather not bother.

... lots of fake meat /ready meal products targeted at the vegetarian market taste awful and have a texture that is even worse. They're expensive and ultraprocessed too. Protein shakes come into the similar category - we do not need that much protein, and it's found in bread and milk and yoghurt and nuts and grains.....
Yes to this.

@KirstenBlest It was over a year ago, so I can't really remember. It was in Inverness. Not a hotspot of fancy cooking, although now terribly touristy.

Very few restaurants are imaginative when it comes to vegetarian food. However, we were in Glasgow about a month ago and I was very, very pleasantly surprised by several places. To name just one - because it's well known - the Ox and Finch in trendy Finnieston. It's very 'macho' cooking - by which I mean strong not-so-subtle flavours and large portions - but the vegetarian options were generous and sometimes really creative. I'm not advertising them - they don't need that; they are booked up far in advance - but (if you scroll down) their vegetarian menu is here. It just shows what can be done if chefs want to take the trouble:
https://www.oxandfinch.com/media/1058/ox-and-finch-all-menus.pdf

@nameXname , that looks wonderful. So much choice! Thanks.

When I was vegetarian, these were my staples -

Snacks: Babybel + fruit, peanut butter + apple slices, cottage cheese, hummus on crackers or wholegrain crispbread. Small salads with feta and croutons. Greek yoghurt with honey. That kind of thing. I also ate crap foods like crisps and stuff because I enjoyed them.

Meals: Basically lived off quorn (can't touch the stuff now). Bean burritos, quorn with pesto and pasta was a big one, risottos, homemade pizzas with things like tofu toppings, lentil stews.

Maybe check out some subreddits, I just did a cursory google of 'high protein vegetarian meals reddit' and quite a few decent threads popped up!

Also regarding protein powders - some brands are awful and you have no idea what's going in them, but MyProtein are great. Been using them for nearly 10 years now, even back when I was vegan, and they've never given me any issues. Obviously if you are chugging 2 or more a day, you're going to give yourself an upset stomach, but they're great. Get the Impact Whey powder in the natural chocolate flavour. It's without a doubt the best chocolate protein powder out there flavour wise (I've tried dozens, this one never tastes bad!). I mix it with yoghurt when I make overnight oats and it makes almost like a pudding! It's really nice for breakfast.

Overnight oats with, chia seeds, nuts, Greek yogurt and berries. You can make them up a day or two before and just grab from the fridge as you need them.

This is my go-to breakfast. I usually have a tub of frozen berries on the go & just drop a handful in when making it up, then slice a banana in just before eating it for extra potassium & protein.

Protein powders are really not necessary. We can obtain all the protein we need and more from a normal healthy (inc. vegetarian) diet. See here:
https://www.bhf.org.uk/informationsupport/heart-matters-magazine/nutrition/protein

Personally, I would not dream of feeding my child the stuff (see link below) the previous poster has suggested. In particular, artificial sweeteners are thought to be very much NOT a good thing.

From the source recommended by pp:
Ingredients: Whey Protein Concentrate (Milk) (96%) (contains Emulsifiers (Soya Lecithin, Sunflower Lecithin)), Fat Reduced Cocoa Powder, Flavouring, Sweetener (Sucralose).
https://www.myprotein.com/sports-nutrition/impact-whey-protein-powder/10530943.html

from probably the world's most authoritative source, about sucralose:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3856475/

Just let's feed ourselves and our children normal healthy unprocessed food. I am so sorry for today's young mothers who have so very little time. When I was younger, things were much easier. But - I honestly believe - healthier.

@KirstenBlest Thank you. Our meal was made even nicer by a very pleasant Irish waitress (by her accent), and by the generally buzzy atmosphere. But really - it's very clear: good simple quality ingredients + thoughtful cooking = a really nice - and (on the whole) - healthy and most enjoyable meal.

I didn't say they were necessary. I just found them useful when I was a vegan/vegetarian and needed to up my protein. Yeah, it has sweeteners in, but most vegetarian/vegan/health food is ultra processed, despite being peddled as healthy. At no point did I claim for it to be healthy. I'd rather enjoy what I was eating than live in fear of an ingredient, I've got to be honest. But you do you!

Tin of chickpeas, frozen butternut squash, jar of curry sauce, put in microwave, stir through half a bag of spinach, have with rice, poppadoms or flatbreads (mix flour, salt, baking powder & nigella seeds with yoghurt into a dough, flatten and cook in a dry pan). 2 mins for curry, 3 mins for flatbread.

No, protein shakes are not necessary but I'm not suggesting YOU should stop them. That's entirely up to you. But the OP was asking about food for her 12 year old. And reputable sources eg here https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/how-much-protein-do-you-need-every-day-201506188096- say that we do not need lots of the 'extra' protein that is being marketed to us in shakes and other ultra-processed foods. Indeed, too much protein is very bad for us: https://www.health.harvard.edu/nutrition/when-it-comes-to-protein-how-much-is-too-much My comment was not just about the sweeteners.

I - and others - were also saying that there is absolutely no need for a vegetarian to eat ultra processed food at all. I've been a vegetarian since probably before you were born and definitely before all the ultra-processed (and often nutritionally very poor) industrial food landed on supermarket shelves. I said in my most recent post that in the past we often had more time to cook 'proper' unprocessed foods, and lamented the fact that many people do not have so much time nowadays. But I still maintain that simple, unprocessed, natural foods are the ideal. And that simple home cooking - not factory processed stuff with additives - is better. And that the patterns laid down in childhood - as with the OP's daughter - are important as the basis for long-term good health.