Vegetarian meal plan for a week the whole family will eat
When not everyone at the table is vegetarian, start a vegetarian meal plan for a week with two or three meat-free dinners. Cook one dinner that everyone eats, ideally one you already like, with lentils, beans, potatoes or pasta to keep it filling. Vegetarian here means no meat or fish, but eggs and dairy are in.
It usually starts when someone in the house wants to eat more vegetarian food and someone else asks what that means for dinner. Whoever cooks ends up in the middle and does what feels kindest, which is two pots. That works for a while. Then an ordinary Wednesday comes along when nobody has the energy to cook twice, and the beef bolognese is back.
What lasts is a plan for the week: which nights are vegetarian and what goes on the table, so one dinner feeds everyone. The weekly plan in Matredo works in the same order, dinners first and the shopping list after.
How many vegetarian dinners should you start with?
Start with two or three vegetarian dinners a week and keep the rest as usual. Two nights are enough to get going, and three make it a normal part of the week. Put them on nights when dinner is nearly vegetarian already, and leave the family's favourite nights alone until the new dishes have found their place.
Monday is a good first pick. Many people already know Meatless Monday, and a fixed day is easier to keep than one that moves around. Give Thursday a dinner that is most of the way there: baked potatoes with beans, cheese and coleslaw are vegetarian if the bacon is cooked separately and served beside them.
The third night can be the busiest of the week, since many vegetarian dishes are quick. Red lentils need no soaking and cook in 15 to 20 minutes, and an omelette is done even faster. The post on quick weeknight dinners has more dishes like that.
Taco Tuesday and the Sunday roast stay as they are at first, because those are the nights the family looks forward to. The guide to weekly meal planning covers how to match each dinner to the energy you have that night.
How do you swap out some of the meat in dinners you already cook?
The easiest step is a halfway swap. You cook the same dish as usual but replace about half the meat with lentils, beans or chickpeas. The bolognese is still bolognese. Most of the flavour is in the sauce and the spices, so the dish tastes familiar and nobody has to learn a new dinner.
| Dinner you already cook | Halfway | All the way |
|---|---|---|
| Spaghetti bolognese | Half mince, half red lentils | Green or beluga lentils |
| Tacos | Half mince, half black beans | Black beans and sweetcorn |
| Chilli con carne | Less mince, more beans | Bean and lentil chilli |
| Lasagne | Lentils in half the meat sauce | Lentils and spinach |
| Chicken stew or curry | Half chicken, half chickpeas | Chickpea curry |
| Sausage casserole | Half sausages, half white beans | Smoked tofu or halloumi |
Red lentils cook down and disappear into the sauce, which helps when someone at the table is unsure. Green and beluga lentils keep their shape and give more bite in the all-the-way versions. Dried lentils soak up liquid, so add a little extra water.
If half feels like a lot the first time, start with a quarter. Beans and lentils give some people wind, but it usually passes once you eat them regularly, according to the Swedish Food Agency (in Swedish).
The tricky part is remembering the change. Most people cook bolognese on autopilot, and autopilot says one pack of mince and nothing about lentils. Save the halfway version as its own recipe in Matredo, and the lentils land on the shopping list every time the dish goes into the plan.
How do you make a vegetarian dinner filling?
Give every vegetarian night two things: a solid base like potatoes, pasta, rice or bread, and something that carries the dish, like beans, lentils, chickpeas, tofu or eggs. A thin vegetable soup with nothing alongside is what sends someone back to the fridge an hour later. Decide on the base when you pick the dish, and dinner lasts until bedtime.
The Swedish Food Agency (Livsmedelsverket) has a vegetarian plate model (in Swedish) that makes a good template. It splits the plate in three: vegetables and root vegetables, an equal share of potatoes, pasta, bulgur or bread, and a slightly smaller share of beans, lentils or eggs. It is the usual plate, with lentils where the meat used to be.
The same page says protein is rarely a problem with vegetarian food and counts whole grains, nuts, seeds and pulses among the good sources. The body does need enough energy to make use of the protein, so be generous with the potatoes and pasta.
Vegetarian food can also end up low in iron without beans, peas, lentils or tofu, and dishes like bean burgers give considerably more iron than dishes with cheese as the main ingredient. Let beans and lentils carry most of the nights and keep halloumi and other cheeses for variety. If your children eat fully vegetarian, the agency has separate advice on vegetarian food for children, also in Swedish.
What does a vegetarian meal plan for a week look like?
A flexitarian starter week has three vegetarian dinners spread across the week, with the family's usual favourites in between. A fully vegetarian week keeps those three and swaps out the rest over time. The swapped dishes are the same kind of dinner in a different version, so the step between them is short.
| Day | Starter week | Fully vegetarian week |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | Lentil bolognese with pasta (veggie) | Lentil bolognese with pasta |
| Tuesday | Tacos | Tacos with black beans and sweetcorn |
| Wednesday | Shakshuka with bread (veggie) | Shakshuka with bread |
| Thursday | Baked potatoes, beans and cheese (veggie, bacon on the side) | Baked potatoes, beans and cheese |
| Friday | Chicken curry with rice | Chickpea curry with rice |
| Saturday | Oven-baked salmon with potatoes | Oven-baked halloumi with root vegetables |
| Sunday | Roast chicken, roast potatoes and gravy | Mushroom and lentil pie, roast potatoes and gravy |
To cook some of it ahead, say a double batch of lentil bolognese with half for the freezer, see the guide to meal prep dinners for the whole week.
What should you keep at home for vegetarian weeknights?
A small vegetarian pantry lets you cook dinner even on a night with no plan. A few tins of beans and chickpeas, a bag of red lentils, tinned tomatoes and pasta or rice go a long way. Add nuts or seeds, cumin and smoked paprika, and keep peas and spinach in the freezer.
Cooking dried beans yourself works out a lot cheaper than buying tins, and you can cook a big batch and freeze it, according to the Swedish Food Agency (in Swedish). Let the pantry grow with the habit. Once an item has become a regular, it belongs on the fixed core list from the smart grocery shopping guide, so it gets topped up before it runs out. The guide on how to stop overbuying groceries shows how much you actually need at home.
What if someone in the family doesn't want to eat vegetarian?
Cook dishes where the meat was never the main event and put some fried meat on the side for whoever wants it, like grated cheese for pasta. Everyone eats one dinner, and you shop for one dish. Let the least keen person pick one of the week's vegetarian dinners, and drop a dish that flops without dropping the whole idea.
Say what's for dinner, tacos or lentil bolognese, and skip the word vegetarian. A dinner served up as an experiment gets judged as one. Nobody needs convincing about why you are eating more vegetarian food either. It is enough that the food tastes good and everyone leaves the table full.
Next step
Pick two nights in next week's plan. Give one a dish you often cook, with a halfway swap, and the other a dinner that is nearly vegetarian already, like Thursday's baked potatoes. Put an extra tin of beans in the cupboard. In a few weeks you'll know which dishes get to stay.
Put the nights into your plan in Matredo, and the lentils, beans and everything else land on the same shopping list as the rest of the week's dinners. Then all that's left is to cook, and see who goes back for seconds.
Erik · Updated 2026-09-25
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Frequently asked questions
How many vegetarian dinners a week should you start with?
Two or three is plenty at first. Put them on nights when dinner is nearly vegetarian already, like baked potatoes with the bacon served separately, and leave the family's favourite nights as they are. Once the vegetarian nights feel routine you can add another, or work towards a fully vegetarian week if the whole household wants to.
Can you put lentils in spaghetti bolognese?
Yes, and it is one of the easiest ways to eat less meat without changing the dish. Swap a quarter or half of the mince for lentils. Red lentils cook down and melt into the sauce, while green and beluga lentils hold their shape. Dried lentils soak up liquid, so add a little extra water or tinned tomatoes.
How do you make a vegetarian dinner filling?
Give every dish a solid base and something that carries it. The Swedish Food Agency's vegetarian plate model splits the plate into vegetables and root vegetables, an equal share of potatoes, pasta, bulgur or bread, and a slightly smaller share of beans, lentils or eggs. With a light dish like soup, put out bread and something to spread.
How do you cook one dinner for vegetarians and meat eaters?
Cook a vegetarian main that everyone eats and put meat on the side for anyone who wants it. Crispy bacon for the baked potatoes or a little chicken next to the chickpea curry is enough. The meat becomes a side dish instead of a meal of its own, and whoever cooks avoids making two dinners in one night.
Can the kids eat vegetarian too?
According to the Swedish Food Agency, it is good for children to learn early to like food rich in vegetables, pulses and whole grains. For children who eat only or almost only vegetarian food, it calls replacing what is left out with nutritious plant foods very important. For a fully vegetarian week, read its advice on vegetarian food for children.
What should you keep at home to cook vegetarian on weeknights?
Tins of chickpeas and beans, dried red lentils, tinned tomatoes, coconut milk and vegetable stock in the cupboard. Eggs in the fridge, peas and spinach in the freezer, and the pasta or rice you probably have already. With that at home you can cook a vegetarian dinner even on a night when nothing was planned.
What if someone in the family doesn't like vegetarian food?
Start with dishes where the meat was never the main event, like pasta, soup and baked potatoes, and leave the favourites alone for a while. Let whoever is least keen pick one of the week's vegetarian dinners. If a dish doesn't go down well, cross it off and try a different one next week.
Can you use plant-based mince instead of lentils?
Yes, plant-based mince made from soy or pea protein is the quickest halfway swap. Its texture is close to beef mince, and you can mix it with meat or use it on its own in tacos, chilli and lasagne. Cooking times differ between products, so follow the packet. Try both and see which one your household prefers in which dish.