Vegetarian Meal Plan: January - Week 2

Here's a vegetarian meal plan for the upcoming week, full of easy weeknight dinners, a weekend breakfast idea, and a weekend baking project you will love.

Four dinners from the weekly vegetarian meal plan for January, with text overlay.

Planning Notes for This Week's Meal Plan

Monday's recipe is the only one that requires a fair amount of prep work. I've include short cuts you can take, and you can do the prepping over the weekend, so it's all done for you on Monday.

Wednesday and Thursday night dinners are both "dump it & bake it" recipes. This means that you don't have to cook the pasta or rice before you start to make either casserole. They cook in the casseroles, making both of these recipes ideal for cooking on a busy weeknight.

MEAL PLAN

MONDAY: Vegetable Soup with Beans (1st Place Winner)

TUESDAY: Black Eyed Pea Ragout with Frisée and an Egg

WEDNESDAY: Mexican Stuffed Pepper Casserole

THURSDAY: One Pan Meatball Casserole

FRIDAY: Vegan Sloppy Joes

WEEKEND: Black Bean Chili with Pumpkin (Instant Pot) with Easy Buttermilk Cornbread

WEEKEND BREAKFAST: Vegetarian Quiche Lorraine with a Hash Brown Crust

WEEKEND BAKING PROJECT: Easy Cinnamon Rolls (Tangzhong Method!)

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M O N D A Y

EASILY MADE VEGAN GLUTEN-FREE MEDIUM DIFFICULTY

Bowls of hearty vegetable soup with white beans and chicken.

Award-Winning Vegetable Soup with White Beans

This vegetable soup with beans won first prize in a national soup contest run by Whole Foods, and includes lots of prep tips. It's a hearty soup that's meal-worthy, thanks to the beans, and guaranteed to make you feel good with all the veggies. Just add some crusty bread and this simple green salad from my cookbook to round out the meal.

Omnivore Tip: Purchase a store-bought cooked chicken, shred it or chop it up, and stir into the soup for the meat eaters at the table.

T U E S D A Y

DAIRY-FREE PARTIAL MAKE-AHEAD GLUTEN-FREE

Thinly sliced potoates topped with black eyed peas, frisée and a soft boiled egg.

Black Eyed Pea Ragout with Frisée and an Egg

This black eyed pea ragout is served over roasted potatoes, and topped with frisée and a soft boiled egg. The ragout can be made ahead, and feel free to swap out the black eyed peas for pinto beans instead, if they're easier to find.

Omnivore Tip: Add thick-cut lardons or chorizo.

W E D N E S D A Y

EASY 15-MINUTE PREP GLUTEN-FREE "DUMP & BAKE" DISH

A plate of stuffed pepper casserole, Mexican style, topped with parsley, avocado and sour cream, with pita bread on the side.

Mexican Stuffed Pepper Casserole

This "dump-it" vegetarian stuffed pepper casserole is made with a Mexican twist with taco seasoning, black beans and corn. And the rice cooks in the casserole, making this a "dump-it" one-pot meal. Serve the casserole with cilantro (or parsley), sour cream and avocado for optional toppings.

Serve with this recipe for high altitude cornbread, that includes directions for making it at sea level. It's super easy, and very tender from buttermilk.

Omnivore Tip: Add chorizo, ground beef or ground turkey.

T H U R S D A Y

"DUMP & BAKE" DISH EASY FAMILY FRIENDLY

Meatball casserole with pasta in a baking dish with a spoon dishing up.

One-Pan Meatball Casserole

No need to pre-cook the pasta to make this easy weeknight dump and bake meatball casserole dinner of pasta and vegetarian meatballs. You just need 5 ingredients plus herbs and spices, and boom, you have a kid-friendly, carnivore-friendly comfort meal.

The casserole uses a Beyond Beef meatballs recipe that I use all the time. If you make them ahead of time or purchase frozen vegetarian meatballs, this dish takes about 10 minutes of prep before sliding it into the oven to bake.

Omnivore Tip: Use meat-based meatballs.

F R I D A Y

GLUTEN FREE VEGAN FAMILY FRIENDLY PARTY FOOD

A skillet of sloppy joes, a dish of coleslaw, and a few sliders being made.

Vegan Sloppy Joe Sliders

These vegan sloppy joes are crowd pleasers, whether it's your family around the table or a party. Best of all, the sloppy joe sauce can be made ahead, and all you need to do is heat it up, and assemble the sliders (or sandwiches). Serve with sweet potato fries with mustard maple dipping sauce or air fryer fingerling potatoes that are ready in 15 minutes. Citrus glazed carrots is another winner side dish with these sloppy joes.

W E E K E N D

GLUTEN FREE VEGAN INSTANT POT

Two bowls of black bean and pumpkin chili topped with slices of avocado, lime and cilantro.

Black Bean Chili with Pumpkin

This pumpkin black bean chili is packed with protein since it also includes red lentils and walnuts, and has increased health benefits from adding pumpkin. Serve it with my high altitude cornbread made with buttermilk. If you don't bake at high altitude, no worries, it also has instructions for baking it at sea level.

W E E K E N D B R E A K F A S T

GLUTEN FREE FAMILY FRIENDLY

A baking dish of a vegetarian Quiche Lorraine with a hash brown crust, with one piece being lifted out.

Vegetarian Quiche Lorraine with Hash Browns Crust

This vegetarian quiche recipe is the perfect brunch dish (or breakfast for dinner) that marries together eggs, cheese and hash brown potatoes into a single dish.

W E E K E N D B A K I N G P R O J E C T

FAMILY FRIENDLY

Cinnamon rolls smeared with icing, nestled in a baking dish.

Easy Cinnamon Rolls - Tangzhong Method (for sea level and high altitude bakers)

These tangzhong cinnamon rolls are incredibly soft from the tangzhong method, and are guaranteed to disappear almost as soon as they leave the oven. Detailed step-by-step instructions are provided.