What is your family's favourite vegan or vegetarian meal?

[JulieYS]

I want to reduce our family's meat intake, so will try meat-free Mondays again. It's going to be hard for my son, because he's a carnivore, and to him, any meal without meat isn't right.

So can you please give me inspiration with a vegan or vegetarian recipe that all of your family really love? We don't eat dairy, but we can substitute with vegan cheese if it's a cheesy dish.

Currently this one www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/coconut-squash-dhansak quick, cheap, delicious!

Mushroom and Guinness pie with colcannon and whisky. (Not as healthy due to pastry!)
Aubergine, Olive and Butterbean cassoulet.
Chickpea curry- my favourite!
DH almost always needs meat unless there are beans/mushrooms. He’s made his own chickpea curry as he loves it. Healthier and I’ve lost weight!
Rather than use meat subs, DH prefers to use lentils, beans and herbs. I do eat the meat subs. I’m not a huge dairy fan anyway- vegan or otherwise.

I look at Bosh, Stylish London Living and plant based mag, hurrythefoodup.com & BBC websites.

www.allrecipes.com/recipe/268002/sweet-potato-spinach-and-halloumi-curry/

This curry. Serve with rice and naan. Can leave out, or replace halloumi with a dairy free option or use tofu

I had a lovely vegan dinner last night. It was aldis katsu “chicken” pieces with sauce. I made rice, brocolli in a sweet sticky type sauce, and bean sprouts.

I also like using the small quorn chicken pieces in place of chicken for fajitas. Lots of big flavours so the quorn fits in fine. Works in fried rice, and noodley stirfrys too.

A fried or soft boiled egg with a vegetable stirfry or a lentil curry is also a go to for me when I want protein that isn’t meat, but also isn’t plant based.

I should say that my kids are fussy buggers and won’t eat any of the above- with it without meat. Maybe yours are more adventurous. Also, I’m a meat eater, as is DH and he’s happy enough with all of the above.

I realise this is for chicken.
I substitute for tofu I've drained, patted dry and marinated in soy sauce.

www.gousto.co.uk/menu?recipeDetailId=&uuid=d83e1f81-19f5-41b6-84e9-fa6d203278bb

Not sure if the link will work but it's gousto hat yai chicken

Burritos
Curries, especiallysweet potato and coconut made with pataks kirma paste( not sauce).
Pasta bake made with meat free “ meatballs” , frozen from JS and a tomato sauce.
Baked potatoes

DD: macaroni cheese; pizza margarita; jacket potato with anything; roasted vegetables and halloumi.

DS: spicey tofu baguette & salad; tinned spaghetti and toast; tomato soup / tomato and red pepper soup; chips; pasta and marinara sauce; jacket potato and olive spread.

Burnt aubergine chilli from BBC Good Food. It's incredible.

I really like this, not sure what you could substitute the feta with- any salty vegan cheese I'd say.

www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/pasta-recipes/squash-spinach-pasta-rotolo/

Spinach and ricotta cannelloni!

Or Kenyan rice. It's brown rice, loads of different beans, carrots etc, I use tinned tomatoes then add paprika, crushed chillis, onion powder, fresh garlic and one onion. Once the rice is cooked add it to the sauce, then bake it in the oven with cheese on top for around 20 minutes.

My hubby does a nice Japanese style tofu noodle soup. Tofu needs to be marinaded to have flavour.

Also tofu fajitas. 😋

Veggie stir fries using whatever is on the fridge with a sauce made from chilli , garlic, ginger, soy sauce, fish sauce.

Loads of different veggie curries such as various types of dal, cabbage and potato curry, cauliflower curry. I prefer vegetarian/vegan curries.

Veggie chilli with fried halloumi on top.

The Green Roasting Tin book has some lovely recipes. Our favourite at the moment is the crispy tamarind sprouts. I'm a lifeline Brussel Sprout hater but this has converted me - it's totally delicious!

That burnt aubergine chili mentioned upthread really is good too. It's got a lovely smokey flavour.

Jacket potatoes with cheese and baked beans
White bean and spinach with feta bake

Chickpea curry

Red lentil dahl with onion bhajis and flatbreads.

Minestrone soup is lovely. I use this recipe, you can leave out the bacon and parmesan, it will still be delicious. Serve with good crusty bread.

www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/soup-recipes/minestrone-soup/

wallflowerkitchen.com/tomato-roasted-mediterranean-vegetable-risotto-vegan/

Butternut Squash lasagne (I leave out the mushrooms)

www.waitrose.com/home/recipes/recipe_directory/m/mary-berry-s-butternutsquashandspinachlasagne.html

thehappyfoodie.co.uk/recipes/roasted-aubergine-courgette-and-macaroni-bake/

this, I am obsessed with it it is delicious!

Thank you everyone for your suggestions - they all sound super delish!

I think I'll print out a file of all the online recipes you've included. Will be a good go-to for when I need inspiration.

I'll also have a look at the cooking books you suggest.

Looking forward to trying them out.
Thanks again!!

@QforCucumber thanks for this, I'm making this now as I had both courgette and aubergine that needed using up.

Ooo hope you love it as much as we do @CheshireChat, we never bother with panko, literally just blitz up a slice of a frozen loaf of bread, dh prefers it with goat cheese I love the Boursin!

I'm afraid mine has Turkish feta and cream cheese as that's what I had in and can't go out due to Covid .

My daughter loves gnocchi with a butternut squash sauce (basically just blended butternut squash).