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Here are the best vegetarian meals for meat eaters to satisfy even the most passionate carnivores. They may even ask for seconds!

Best vegetarian meals for meat eaters

Are you cooking for meat eaters? We get it, making vegetarian meals that please the staunchest of meat eaters is quite the challenge! When Alex and I first started eating more vegetarian and plant based recipes, our meat-and-potatoes families thought we were crazy. So it became a challenge! We set out to convince even the most passionate meat eaters that eating vegetables can be seriously delicious.

Did it work? Absolutely! Not all of our family members eat vegetarian recipes on the regular. But they are now convinced that eating meals without meat can taste good. Here we’ve put together a collection of starter vegetarian meals for meat eaters. These are the top recipes that we know will go over well: they’re super satisfying and rich. Even better: Each one has been tested on our friends and family and come away a winner.

And now: our best vegetarian meals for meat eaters!

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Taco pizza

Vegetarian Taco Pizza (& More Meals for Meat Eaters!)


  • Author: Sonja Overhiser
  • Prep Time: 1 hour
  • Cook Time: 7 minutes
  • Total Time: 1 hour 7 minutes
  • Yield: 8 slices 1x

Description

This vegetarian taco pizza is topped with refried beans, cheese, romaine, crumbled tortilla chips, and of course — ranch. In a word: WOW.


Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 ball Best Pizza Dough (or purchased dough)
  • ⅓ cup refried pinto beans, canned
  • ¾ cup shredded cheddar cheese
  • 2 green onions
  • 1 handful canned sliced black olives
  • 1/2 romaine heart
  • 1/2 tomato or 3 cherry tomatoes
  • 2 tablespoons Homemade Ranch Dressing
  • 3 organic corn tortilla chips
  • Hot sauce, for the garnish
  • Kosher salt
  • Semolina flour or cornmeal, for dusting the pizza peel

Instructions

  1. Make the pizza dough: Follow the Best Pizza Dough recipe to prepare the dough. (This takes about 15 minutes to make and 45 minutes to rest.)
  2. Place a pizza stone in the oven and preheat to 500°F. OR preheat your pizza oven (here’s the pizza oven we use).
  3. Prepare the toppings: Taste the refried beans: if needed, mix in a pinch or two of cumin and a pinch of kosher salt. (Ours were already well seasoned.) Thinly slice the green onion. Chop the romaine lettuce. Chop the tomatoes. Make the Homemade Ranch.
  4. Bake the pizza: When the oven is ready, dust a pizza peel with cornmeal or semolina flour. (If you don’t have a pizza peel, you can use a rimless baking sheet or the back of a rimmed baking sheet. But a pizza peel is well worth the investment!) Stretch the dough into a circle; see How to Stretch Pizza Dough for instructions. Then gently place the dough onto the pizza peel.
  5. Spread the refried beans over the dough using a spatula to create a thin layer. Add the cheddar cheese, then top with black olives and half of the green onions. Top with a pinch of kosher salt.
  6. Use the pizza peel to carefully transfer the pizza onto the preheated pizza stone. Bake the pizza until the cheese and crust are nicely browned, about 5 to 7 minutes in the oven (or 1 minute in a pizza oven).
  7. Top with the reserved green onions, chopped tomatoes and romaine, and crumbled tortilla chips. Drizzle with ranch dressing and if desired, sprinkle with hot sauce. Slice into pieces and serve immediately.
  • Category: Main Dish
  • Method: Baked
  • Cuisine: Fusion

Keywords: Vegetarian Recipes for Meat Eaters, Taco Pizza

A few more vegetarian and plant-based recipe resources

If you’re looking to make a switch to eating more meatless vegetarian meals, it takes time to work it into your lifestyle! Here are a few of the resources we’d recommend if you’re just starting out:

Last updated: April 2021

About the authors

Sonja & Alex

Meet Sonja and Alex Overhiser: Husband and wife. Expert home cooks. Authors of recipes you’ll want to make again and again.

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1 Comment

  1. I went on to your website trying to find recipes that my brother (a meat eater but will eat some vegetarian meals and myself (a vegetarian) can eat. I make dinner once a week for him. Thank you. These are great, normal recipes. Nothing crazy that he would not eat.