5 Meatless Weeknight Dinners for National Vegetarian Month

Monday: Rach's Vegetarian Meatballs with Red Sauce

Hazelnuts, cauliflower, and bread crumbs come together to make these herby meatless meatballs that you'll devour immediately—especially when paired with the homemade  fire-roasted tomato sauce.

Recipe: Try Rach's Vegetarian Meatballs with Red Sauce 

Tuesday: Black Bean, Papaya & Goat Cheese Tacos

Zesty black beans with juicy papaya and crumbled goat cheese, enveloped in a toasty, grilled corn tortilla? Pure vegetarian perfection.

Recipe: Try our Black Bean, Papaya & Goat Cheese Tacos

Wednesday: Rach's Ratatouille with Oven-Poached Eggs

This recipe requires a lot of slicing and dicing, but the prep will be 100% worth it. With the addition of the extra easy oven-poached eggs, it's 100% filling, too.

Recipe: Try Rach's Ratatouille with Oven-Poached Eggs

Thursday: Crispy Gnocchi with Mushrooms & Arugula

Leftover gnocchi gets a makeover when it's pan-seared and tossed like a salad. But really, it's still just delicious carb-loaded pasta.

Recipe: Try our Crispy Gnocchi with Mushrooms & Arugula

Friday: The Best-Ever Veggie Burger

This burger is a meatless miracle! It's chock-full of walnuts, lentils, farro, and mashed sweet potato—but the real magic is in the toppings.

Recipe: Try our Best-Ever Veggie Burger

Shopping List

For the vegetarian meatballs with red sauce:

• 3/4 cup skinned hazelnuts or sliced almonds
• 4 cups (two 12-oz. bags) mixed frozen riced broccoli and cauliflower or 4 cups leftover cooked broccoli and/or cauliflower
• Salt and pepper
• 1 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
• 1/2 to 2/3 cup plain dry breadcrumbs
• 1 large egg
• 3 large cloves garlic
• 1 tbsp. fresh thyme or 1 tsp. (1/3 palmful) dried thyme
• 2 tsp. fresh lemon zest or 1/2 tsp. dried lemon zest
• 1 tsp. (1/3 palmful) ground cumin
• 1 tsp. (1/3 palmful) crushed red pepper
• Cooking spray for spraying, or olive or canola oil for brushing
• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 small onion
• Pinch of ground cinnamon
• 1 can (about 14 oz.) crushed or diced fire-roasted tomatoes
• 1 can (8 oz.) tomato sauce
• Hot sauce (such as Sriracha or Chipotle Tabasco)

For the black bean, papaya & goat cheese tacos:

• 2 cups papaya
• 1/3 cup red onion
• 3 tbsp. fresh cilantro
• 1 tbsp. fresh lime juice
• 12 (6-inch) corn or flour tortillas
• 3 cups shredded red cabbage
• 3 cups Tex-Mex black beans
• 4 oz. soft goat cheese

For the ratatouille with oven-poached eggs:

• 1 firm medium eggplant
• Salt and pepper
• 2 medium zucchini
• About 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 sweet red Italian frying peppers, red field peppers (large rectangular sweet peppers), or red bell peppers
• 1 package (1 qt.) Capri or cocktail tomatoes
• 1 large onion
• 1/4 cup mixed fresh herbs (such as rosemary, thyme, tarragon, and parsley)
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1 fresh red finger chile pepper or 1 tsp. crushed red pepper
• 8 large Araucana eggs or other organic eggs
• Crusty baguette

For the crispy gnocchi with mushrooms & arugula:

• 1 tbsp. olive oil, plus more for drizzling
• 12 oz. sliced mixed mushrooms
• 2 shallots
• 2 tsp. each fresh rosemary and sage
• 3 tbsp. butter
• 16 oz. refrigerated gnocchi
• 1 1/2 cups baby arugula
• Shredded Parmesan

For the best-ever veggie burger:

• 4 scallions
• 1/2 cup walnuts
• 1/4 cup old-fashioned oats
• 2 cups cooked lentils (from one 17.6-oz. package or from two 15-oz. cans)
• 1 cup farro
• 1/2 cup mashed roasted sweet potato (about 1 medium potato)
• Butter
• 6 sesame-seed hamburger buns
• 2 tbsp. canola oil
• 12 slices Muenster cheese 
• 1 1/2 cups iceberg lettuce
• Smoky Scallion Mayo
• Zucchini Pickles
• Oven-Roasted Tomatoes
• Balsamic Onion Relish