Your Favorite Midweek Vegetarian Alternatives

Cutting down on meat or even cutting it out altogether is proven to be healthier for you. But it isn’t as easy as you think. So, here are some midweek vegetarian alternatives you can try out.

Creamy Cheese Bakes

Who doesn’t love gooey, stringy, creamy cheese? It works wonders in your mouth and can liven up any old boring dish. This is why it’s good to start your vegetarian journey with cheesy dishes. For instance, you can swap your favorite classic shrimp parm dish for baked eggplant parm instead. Or how about broiled cauliflower cheese in place of your Monday night chicken dinner. It isn’t that hard when you add cheese to anything. Cheese is good, and know you want it.

Hot and Hearty Stews

Of course, most stews already have vegetables in them. But almost all of them rely on a cut of meat as the main source of flavor and texture. Yet you can easily replace these with vegetables that can stand up to a low and slow way of cooking. Perfect examples include almost all root vegetables, such as potatoes, turnips, and carrots. Additionally, the starches in these release over time and not only add much more flavor to your stew but will help thicken it naturally too.

Midweek Vegetarian Alternatives to Steaks

Red meat is known as the worst you can eat. And you are at serious risk of heart issues if you consume more than 350g of red meat per week. But, of course, steaks and lamb chops are delicious. But there are alternatives you can try. And all of these taste amazing from a BBQ or griddle. You can try bell peppers, zucchini, and chunky mushrooms like chestnuts. You can even combine these on skewers for amazing kebabs that give any cut of pork a run for its money.

Cheap and Easy Pasta

Pasta is one of the most widely eaten dishes in the world. Mostly because it’s tasty, cheap, and goes well with pretty much anything. And this almost always includes some type of meat. But why? Pasta can stand up well on its own and doesn’t need meat to be tasty. So you can substitute meat with vegetables instead. You can layer up root vegetables in a lasagna, try cauliflower alfredo, or cook out some squash and blend it for a special sauce with spaghetti.

What to Throw in the Air Fryer

Air fryers are great tools to have in the kitchen. They save you tons of time and also reduce how much you use on electricity compared to the oven and/or hob. Yet the best thing about air fryers is that they are excellent for crisping up food. Yes, this applies to meat. But you can also roast sweet potato fries, delicious sweet corn on the cob, and even Brussels sprouts in no time. Air fryers make these so good you can reduce how much meat is on your plate for each meal.

Summary

There is no end to how many midweek vegetarian alternatives you can use when trying to reduce meat. You can add cheese to anything, grill chunky vegetables, and use an air fryer.

Samantha

Samantha hails from Virginia and is a proud wife to a retired Deputy Sheriff and mother to two amazing little boys named Jack & William. A veteran product reviewer; Samantha has been reviewing products for 8 years and offers high quality product reviews with original photography.