23 Budget-Friendly Vegetarian Recipes to Make for Dinner Tonight (2024)

These low-cost meals will help you stretch your paycheck and enjoy something healthy for dinner. From lemony soup to cozy pasta, there's a little something for everyone in this mix of meatless recipes. Ingredients like lentils (a personal favorite here at EatingWell), pasta, eggs and sweet potatoes make these meals filling and affordable. Recipes like our Lemony Lentil Chard Soup and Cauliflower Tikka Masala with Chickpeas are delicious ways to end your day.

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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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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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One-Pot Lentil & Vegetable Soup with Parmesan

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This lentil-vegetable soup is packed with kale and tomatoes for a filling, flavorful main dish. If you have it, the Parmesan cheese rind adds nuttiness and gives the broth some body.

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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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Sweet Potato, Broccoli & Wild Rice Hash

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Cooking this hash in cast iron ensures you'll get crusty bits, but any nonstick skillet will work fine. Serve with your favorite hot sauce.

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White Bean Soup with Pasta

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Cannellini Bean & Herbed Ricotta Toast

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Herbed ricotta toast gets topped with cannellini beans and roasted red peppers for a colorful, tasty open-face sandwich.

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3-Ingredient Teriyaki Edamame Sauté

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Whip up this high-fiber, plant-based stir-fry for a quick and convenient dinner. Look for bottled teriyaki sauce labeled less sodium or reduced sodium to cut back on the salt without sacrificing flavor.

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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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Black Bean & Slaw Bagel

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This easy open-face sandwich recipe uses a jalapeño-Cheddar bagel, but a plain bagel would work just as well. Top each bagel half with black beans and fresh slaw for a satisfying bite.

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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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3-Ingredient Cheese Tortellini with Tomatoes & Basil

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This Italian-inspired dish is made with just three ingredients—roasted tomatoes, tortellini and fresh basil—to create a delicious, easy dinner. Roasting the cherry tomatoes coaxes out their natural sweetness. It's worth the time—trust us!

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3-Ingredient White Bean & Pesto Risotto

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Amp up the protein and flavor of a box of risotto by adding some roasted white beans and prepared pesto. You'll be amazed how delicious it is when you combine these three easy ingredients!

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Chickpea & Kale Toast

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This healthy toast recipe combines chickpeas, kale and feta for a savory bite.

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3-Ingredient Refried Bean & Pico de Gallo Tostadas

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Making your own tostadas is easy. Use store-bought corn tortillas, brush them with olive oil and bake to crunchy perfection! Here we topped the tostada with refried beans and fresh pico de gallo for an easy 3-ingredient meal.

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Cauliflower Gnocchi with Asparagus & Pesto

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While the cauliflower gnocchi crisp up in a sauté pan, steam fresh asparagus in the microwave to keep it bright green and crisp-tender. Substitute frozen asparagus (or green beans or peas) in a pinch. Toss them together with prepared basil pesto for a satisfying supper.

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3-Ingredient Green Goddess White Bean Salad

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Bagged salad and slaw blends are great shortcut ingredients for adding variety without needing to wash and chop lots of different vegetables. Toss a kale-and-broccoli slaw mix with canned white beans and yogurt-based green goddess dressing for a crunchy main-dish salad in minutes.

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Butternut Squash & Cauliflower Soup with Chickpea Croutons

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Bulk up boxed butternut squash soup with frozen cauliflower florets, then top off your bowl with crispy chickpea snacks for major crunch (look for them near the dried fruit and nuts at your grocery store). This impressively easy dinner comes together with just those three ingredients, not including salt, pepper and oil. Because prepared soups are typically higher in sodium, look for light or reduced-sodium versions of your favorites.

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3-Ingredient Goat Cheese Pasta with Broccoli

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Swap out regular pasta for pasta made with chickpeas and you'll more than triple the fiber and double the protein in this simple, satisfying dish. Be sure to save some of the pasta water to make a sauce. Feel free to use frozen broccoli in a pinch (you can blanch the broccoli in the same water you use to cook the pasta).

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Lentil Curry with Cauliflower Rice

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Combine precooked lentils (often located in the produce section of your grocery store) with an Indian-style simmer sauce for a super-fast and flavorful curry. Serving it over riced cauliflower bumps up the vegetable count and keeps carb servings in check. This 3-ingredient dinner (not counting salt, pepper and oil) is really as easy as it gets. To be mindful of the salt, look for simmer sauces with less than or close to 350 mg sodium per ¼-cup serving.

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One-Pot Lentils & Rice with Spinach

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This hearty vegan dish gets its earthy flavor from cumin and brown rice. If you can handle extra heat, try doubling the crushed red pepper for a bigger punch of flavor.

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Kale & Roasted Sweet Potato Hash

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This one-pan hash makes an easy fall dinner or a simple dish for a healthy brunch. You can even poach the eggs ahead of time--slip them into steaming-hot water to rewarm them just before serving.

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Eggs in Tomato Sauce with Chickpeas & Spinach

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Simmer eggs in a rich tomatoey cream sauce studded with chickpeas and silky spinach for a super-fast vegetarian dinner. Serve with a piece of crusty bread to soak up the sauce. Be sure to use heavy cream; a lower-fat option might curdle when mixed with acidic tomatoes.