34 Low-Calorie Vegetarian Dinners to Make Tonight (2024)

These light but satisfying meatless meals are sure to add flavor to your evening. There's something to appeal to whatever you're craving, whether it's a lemony soup, a veggie-packed pasta or a couple of irresistible tacos. Recipes like our Crispy Rice Bowls with Fried Eggs and Orange-Mint Freekeh Salad with Lima Beans are low in calories but full of tasty, healthy ingredients for a delicious night at home.

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Lemony Lentil & Chard Soup

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This satisfying lemony bowlful was inspired by the lentil soup served at the now-closed Lebanese restaurant La Shish in West Bloomfield, Michigan. It keeps well but will thicken, so you may want to thin it with a bit of water or broth when reheating. Serve with warm whole-wheat pita.

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Frittata with Asparagus, Leek & Ricotta

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Serve this spring-vegetable-loaded frittata with an arugula salad and a hunk of crusty bread. Tip: This recipe cooks quickly, so be sure to have all your ingredients prepped and ready to go.

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Cheesy Spinach-Zucchini Lasagna

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Thanks to jarred marinara sauce and oven-ready lasagna noodles, this labor-of-love kind of meal can be ready in about an hour.

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Winter Vegetable Mulligatawny Soup

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Our meatless version of the Indian-inspired British colonial soup includes parsnip and squash to keep it hearty and satisfying.

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Mushroom Ragout with Herbed Ricotta & Pappardelle

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This mushroom ragout is topped with dollops of ricotta, which cut through the acidity of the tomato-based sauce for a balanced flavor and creamy texture.

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Crispy Rice Bowls with Fried Eggs

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We topped this rice bowl recipe with avocado, carrot, radishes and spinach along with eggs, but whatever vegetables you prefer will be just as delicious.

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Cheesy Marinara Beans

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This ooey-gooey dish has baked-pasta vibes but features protein-packed beans instead of noodles. Look for dried corona beans, a larger, creamy white bean, at natural-foods stores or online. Cannellini are a good substitute. Serve with a green salad and toasted baguette.

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Cajun-Spiced Tofu Tostadas with Beet Crema

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Crumbled tofu spiced up with Cajun seasoning is layered onto these tostadas with a juicy mango slaw. A dollop of sour cream zhuzhed up with beet and lime adds even more flavor. Look for precooked beets in the produce department of your grocery store.

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Mushroom & Carolina Gold Rice Stuffed Cabbage Rolls

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At Fork and Plough in Greenville, South Carolina, chef Shawn Kelly creates dishes packed with herbs and veggies from his partner, Greenbrier Farms. The restaurant also sources from local makers, like Dark Spore Mushrooms in nearby Piedmont and the Dutch transplants at Forx Farm, who make buttery Gouda for these cabbage rolls.

Orange-Mint Freekeh Salad with Lima Beans

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This salad is loaded with colorful produce: fresh mint, snap peas, radishes and oranges. For pretty snap pea slices, cut them into long, thin strips.

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White Bean Soup with Pasta

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We use mirepoix—a combination of onion, celery and carrots—to flavor this soup. Keep a store-bought bag of the mixture in your freezer to ensure you always have some on hand without worrying about it going bad.

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Cauliflower Fajita Skillet

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Thinly sliced cauliflower florets mimic the signature shape of fajita meat in this dish. We cook it in a cast-iron skillet for that tableside sizzle you'd get at a restaurant.

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Chipotle Chilaquiles

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Chilaquiles usually start with a base of fried corn tortillas. We bake ours instead to save some calories and give them a crispy texture, perfect for absorbing all the smoky, spicy sauce.

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Pantry Peanut Noodles

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Choose your own adventure with these noodles! They're delicious with peanut butter and tahini alike. Plus, you can use whatever frozen vegetables you have on hand and finish the dish off with any herbs still thriving in your garden or hanging out in your crisper.

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White Bean & Sun-Dried Tomato Gnocchi

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Sun-dried tomatoes are the star of this recipe— providing texture and umami. Combined with the spinach, they make this dish a great source of vitamins C and K.

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Egg-in-a-Hole Fried Quinoa

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We used quinoa to bump up the fiber and protein in this stir-fry-inspired dish. Rather than making an omelet or stirring in the eggs as you would for fried rice, we cook them in divots right in the veggie-filled quinoa for a fun presentation. Opt for a flat skillet over a wok so you have plenty of room to nestle in the eggs.

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Grilled Halloumi & Summer Vegetable Tacos

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Because of its semi-firm texture, halloumi is prone to sticking to the grill. Be sure to oil the grill grates well before adding the brined Cypriot cheese.

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Crispy Pea Fritter Salad

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We mashed together peas, fresh mint and lemon zest with breadcrumbs to make small pan-fried cakes perfect for topping a salad.

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Summer Vegetable Gnocchi Salad

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This riff on pasta salad is best served warm while the gnocchi are nice and tender. Plus, the grilled veggies taste extra-good fresh off the fire in this easy gnocchi recipe.

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Korean BBQ Tempeh Grain Bowl

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If you're a tempeh skeptic, you've probably never had the firm soy-based slabs slathered with a sweet-and-spicy barbecue sauce. We give this easy BBQ tempeh combo a punch of umami with tamari and add a little heat courtesy of gochujang. It's easy to put your own spin on this recipe; see Variations (below) for some riffs.

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Arepas with Spicy Black Beans

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These corncakes are a common style of flatbread in Colombia and Venezuela. Arepas are made with precooked cornmeal and served warmed with butter or cheese, or split open and filled, or topped, as we've done here. Our arepas filling is loaded with fragrant spices and vegetables to elevate the dish.

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Buttermilk Fried Tofu with Smoky Collard Greens

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Dipping tofu in buttermilk makes the coating stick for a crispy pan-fried tofu, reminiscent of fried chicken. Spicing up the collards with paprika coats them with smoky flavor while keeping this dish vegetarian. And this quick, easy and healthy dinner comes together in just 25 minutes, so it's great for busy weeknights.

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Linguine with Creamy Mushroom Sauce

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This easy pasta recipe is an excuse to buy wild mushrooms, available at many grocery stores these days. Or if you prefer white buttons, those will work well too. The creamy linguine is ready in 40 minutes, so it's quick enough for an easy weeknight recipe but it feels fancy enough for entertaining.

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Cauliflower Tikka Masala with Chickpeas

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In this vegetarian riff on a popular Indian dish, we swap in cauliflower and chickpeas for the chicken in tikka masala. The cauliflower's nooks and crannies are particularly good at soaking up all the intense flavors of the sauce. Serve over rice for an easy healthy dinner that's ready in just 20 minutes.

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Zucchini-Chickpea Veggie Burgers with Tahini-Ranch Sauce

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This vegan burger recipe is one you'll want to make again and again. Savory chickpea and zucchini patties are topped with a creamy, herb-flecked tahini ranch sauce, juicy tomato slices and peppery arugula for a satisfying and healthy homemade veggie burger. Serve them on buns or stuff them in pitas. We recommend making extra sauce--it's a great dip for veggie sticks and, thinned with a little water, it makes a wonderful salad dressing.

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Spinach-Mushroom Frittata with Avocado Salad

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Frittatas are like omelets, only easier--and they taste great hot, warm or cold. This vegetable-packed version is spiked with Mediterranean flavor and paired with a cool salad of lemony cucumbers and tomatoes with creamy avocado. This easy recipe is perfect for brunch, lunch or dinner!

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Jackfruit Barbacoa Burrito Bowls

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Jackfruit, a tropical fruit with a dense, chewy texture, is a blank canvas that takes on flavors well. In these vegan burrito bowls, the jackfruit is simmered in a warm and spicy chile sauce that's so good you'll never know you're eating a plant-based protein instead of pork or beef.

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Easy Pea & Spinach Carbonara

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Fresh pasta cooks up faster than dried, making it a must-have for fast weeknight dinners like this luscious yet healthy meal. Eggs are the base of the creamy sauce. They don't get fully cooked, so use pasteurized-in-the-shell eggs if you prefer.

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Beans & Greens Enchiladas

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Any type of canned bean will work in these easy layered enchiladas, but our favorite combination is a mix of black and pinto beans. Serve as a vegetarian main dish or as a tasty side for roasted pork or chicken.

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Vegan Coconut Chickpea Curry

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To make this 20-minute vegan curry even faster, buy precut veggies from the salad bar at the grocery store. To make it a full, satisfying dinner, serve over cooked brown rice. When shopping for simmer sauce, look for one with 400 mg of sodium or less and check the ingredient list for cream or fish sauce if you want to keep this vegan. If you like a spicy kick, add a few dashes of your favorite hot sauce at the end.

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Vegan Eggplant Parmesan

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Classic eggplant Parm is filled with cheese, but this vegan eggplant Parmesan combines nondairy mozzarella cheese with nutritional yeast for a dairy-free cheesy substitute that gives you the comfort food factor without animal products. For the breading, use egg replacer, which you can find in natural-foods stores and the special-diet section of large supermarkets.

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Baked Eggs in Tomato Sauce with Kale

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You can make these three-ingredient tomato-simmered eggs with things you probably already have on hand in your freezer and pantry. To make these baked eggs more like eggs in purgatory, look for a spicy tomato sauce and don't forget some whole-wheat bread for dipping.

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Lemony Linguine with Spring Vegetables

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Instead of cooking pasta in a huge pot of water, here we use just 3 1/2 cups for this one-pot pasta recipe. When the pasta is al dente, most of the water has evaporated and the bit that's left is thickened with the starch that cooks off the pasta. With just a few add-ins like lemon and Parmesan cheese you have a delicious silky sauce. Want to use up your veggie stash in the freezer? Swap in 8 ounces frozen spinach for fresh.