This Recipe Roundup Page contains frugal, delicious and easy-to-make Vegetarian Main Dish Recipes!
Vegetarian Main Dish Recipes included on this page: Cheese Blintzes / Crepes Recipe, Ratatouille Recipe, French Onion Soup Recipe, Authentic Italian Spaghetti Sauce / Pasta Sauce Recipe, Spanakopita (Greek Cheese & Spinach Triangles), Breakfast Strata, Veggie Lasagna, Spaghetti Pie, Vegetable Soup, Eggplant Parmesan. For our Family Favorite Italian Pasta Fagioli Recipe (and a funny video) click here.
Vegetarian Main Dish Recipe #1 – Cheese Blintzes / Crepes for Special Occasions
TABLE OF CONTENTS
- 1 Vegetarian Main Dish Recipe #1 – Cheese Blintzes / Crepes for Special Occasions
- 2 Ingredients to make a smaller batch of 12 -15 finished blintzes
- 3 Vegetarian Main Dish Recipe #2 – Easy & Delicious Ratatouille
- 4 Vegetarian Main Dish Recipe #3 – French Onion Soup/ Delicious & Easy
- 5 Vegetarian Main Dish Recipe #4 – Authentic Italian Spaghetti Sauce / Pasta Sauce Recipe
- 6 Vegetarian Main Dish #5 – Spanakopita
- 7 Vegetarian Main Dish #6 – Breakfast Egg Strata
- 8 Vegetarian Main Dish #7 – Eggplant Parmesan
- 9 Vegetarian Recipe #8 – Veggie Lasagna
- 10 Spaghetti Pie
- 11 Vegetable Soup
This family tradition started about 15 years ago when Steve had this wild idea to make cheese blintzes for a special Christmas family breakfast. He pulled out our Good Housekeeping Illustrated Cookbook, modified the recipe for our large crew, added a twist of his own creation and whipped up a batch of crepes and filling . . . the rest is history.
On that Christmas Eve, he created a tradition that has endured and is always anticipated. And even now that our kids are grown, they still come back home looking forward to our Christmas morning tradition of cheese blintzes topped with fresh fruit.
It takes about 2 hours to make the crepes and the filling. Steve usually does this on Christmas Eve day and puts the crepes and filling in the refrigerator until Christmas morning.
Here’s the recipe that we created, it yields about 40 finished crepes/blintzes. If you want to make a smaller batch, just decrease all ingredients proportionately (at the bottom of this recipe we have included a 1/3 recipe quantity to make about 12 to 15 crepes).
Dessert Crepes to make about 40 crepes
Ingredients:
- 6 Tbs Butter – melted (and cooled to room temperature)
- 4 ½ Cups Milk (at room temperature)
- 2 Cups All-Purpose Flour
- 1 ½ tsp Salt
- 9 Eggs (at room temperature)
Directions:
Allow the milk and butter to come to room temperature. If you put melted butter into cold milk it will coagulate into clumps and this will make your crepes have holes in them.
Mix all ingredients together with the milk and butter and beat until smooth.
Refrigerate for a couple of hours to allow the mixture to thicken.
We use a 9-inch non-stick skillet and spray it with a non-stick spray (just to be extra sure that the crepes can be flipped without tearing).
Ladle ¼ to 1/3 cup of batter into a hot skillet. Tip / turn the pan to get the batter to cover the bottom with a thin coating. Cover with a lid and cook for about 2 minutes.
Jiggle the skillet to loosen the crepe and flip the crepe to cook the second side. If you don’t feel confident in your flipping ability, you can use 2 skillets putting the batter in a smaller skillet, cooking one side, then invert the pan to flip the crepe into the larger skillet to cook the second side.
Cook the second side for an additional minute or until the crepe is starting to lightly brown on the edges.
Stack the cooked crepes on a plate, separating every 4 crepes with waxed or parchment paper.
Wrap the finished stack of crepes with foil or plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to serve.
x Ingredients for Cheese mixture:
- 32 oz Creamed Cottage Cheese or Ricotta (which is what we use)
- 12 oz Cream Cheese (softened)
- 1 Cup Sugar
- 2 tsp Vanilla extract
- 2 tsp Almond extract
Directions:
Mix all ingredients together until smooth. Refrigerate until chilled.
Preheat oven to 350º F.
Spread a generous tablespoon of the cheese mixture over the bottom 2/3 of the round crepe.
Fold up bottom edge to about the middle of the crepe, then fold in each edge leaving the top portion open. This will allow some of the cheese mixture to expand outward when cooking.
Place on a cookie sheet and cook at 350º F for about 10 minutes, until warmed completely.
Fruit Toppings
- Serve with fresh fruit, maple syrup or pie filling as a topping.
- We normally boil a couple of cups of blueberries with 1 cup of water and a tablespoon of sugar to make a very thin syrup.
- We also serve warmed up pie filling as a topping—cherry and raspberry are our favorites.
Left-overs
If we don’t eat everything, we store the leftover blintzes in a plastic container and the toppings in separate containers. They taste just as good the second time around, so make a huge batch and enjoy it several times.
Ingredients to make a smaller batch of 12 -15 finished blintzes
Ingredients for 12-15 Crepes:
- 2 Tbs Butter – melted
- 1 ½ Cups Milk
- 2/3 Cup All-Purpose Flour
- ½ tsp Salt
- 3 Eggs
Ingredients for Cheese mixture for 12 – 15 crepes
- 10 oz Creamed Cottage Cheese or Ricotta (which is what we use)
- 3 oz Cream Cheese (softened)
- 1/3 Cup Sugar
- 1 tsp Vanilla extract
- 1 tsp Almond extract
Vegetarian Main Dish Recipe #2 – Easy & Delicious Ratatouille
This is a simple vegetarian and gluten-free family favorite recipe – terrific for using up an abundance of eggplant. If you love Italian food, you need to try this. Very light on the calories. Serve with a loaf of French bread, sliced and buttered.
Ratatouille Ingredients:
- 2 cups Sliced Zucchini
- 1-2 whole Eggplant diced
- 1 onion — diced
- 1-2 Green Pepper
- 8-ounce package of mushrooms sliced (optional)
- 3 to 5 cloves Garlic — peeled & diced
- 1 or 2 cans diced Tomatoes — 28 oz
- 2 tsp Basil
- 2 tsp Oregano
- 4 to 6 cups water
- 4 chicken bullion cubes
- Salt & Pepper
- 1 LB Mozzarella Cheese
- A shake of parmesan cheese
Ratatouille Directions:
Put all ingredients, except cheese, into an 8-quart saucepot.
Bring to a boil and then simmer until all ingredients are tender (about 1 hour).
Ladle into bowls and top with cheese, which will quickly melt.
Serve as a hearty soup.
Can serve with pasta, or bread as a side dish.
Vegetarian Main Dish Recipe #3 – French Onion Soup/ Delicious & Easy
This is one of our family favorites on cold winter nights.
Ingredients:
- 6 to 8 Onions (sliced into rings)
- 64 oz water with 8 beef bullion cubes or use beef stock
- 1 TBS Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tsp ground black pepper
Directions:
This is a great recipe to prepare in a crock pot or 8-quart sauce pot. We usually put all ingredients in the crock pot and cook it on low all day. Ladle into ceramic bowls or very large ceramic tea mugs. Place bowls on a cookie sheet for ease of getting them in and out of the oven. Top each bowl with a piece of bread and a slice of Swiss cheese. Adjust oven rack to get the bowls fairly close to the broiler. Slide tray with bowls into the oven. Set oven to broil and cook until the cheese starts to turn golden brown.
Serve with baked potato and veggie toppings for a more substantial meal.
Vegetarian Main Dish Recipe #4 – Authentic Italian Spaghetti Sauce / Pasta Sauce Recipe
How to make authentic Italian spaghetti sauce from scratch – A 4th Generation Recipe
This authentic Italian Pasta Sauce / Spaghetti Sauce recipe has been handed down to Annette’s side of the family for more than 4 generations. It’s a versatile sauce that can be used on spaghetti, in lasagna, as a pizza sauce, and as a marinara sauce.
You’ll need to allow an hour to prepare this spaghetti sauce recipe, and 3 or 4 hours to let it simmer.
This spaghetti sauce recipe makes 8 quarts of spaghetti sauce.
Watch this video to see how Annette makes her four-generation old pasta sauce recipe.
Spaghetti Sauce Ingredients:
- 1/4 Cup Olive Oil
- 5 or 6 Cloves of Garlic
- 1 Onion – cut into 1/8ths
- 4 Stalks of Celery – cut in 1/3rds
- 1 #10 Can Tomatoes Diced or Whole
- ½ #10 Can Tomato Sauce
- 1 Can Tomato Paste
- 1 TBS Basil – Finely Ground (2 TBS if Crushed Leaf)
- 2 TBS Oregano – Crushed Leaf
Directions for making this authentic Italian spaghetti sauce recipe.
Put ¼ Cup of olive oil in an 8-quart saucepot and heat on low.
Dice 5 or 6 cloves of garlic and add to oil in the pot.
Cook until browned.
Cut a whole onion into quarters, then halve the quarters to make eighths.
Cut 4 stalks of celery into 1/3 lengths.
In a blender, add 1-cup of water. Put ½ of the onion and 2 stalks of cut-up celery into the blender.
Blend until all is pureed.
Pour this mixture into the 8-quart pot with the browned garlic.
Repeat the Onion / Celery / Water procedure a second time.
Ladle 1/3 of the #10 can of diced tomatoes into a blender (with juice) at a time.
Puree tomatoes. Add to 8-quart pot mixture.
Repeat this process until the entire #10 can is empty.
Ladle ½ of the can of Tomato Sauce into the 8-quart saucepot.
Save the remaining Tomato Sauce in a plastic container and store in your freezer for the next time you make this spaghetti sauce recipe
Add one can of Tomato Paste, along with 1 TBS Basil and 2 TBS of Oregano.
Bring the entire pot of spaghetti sauce to a boil, turn down the heat and let simmer for 3 hours or longer with the lid off of the pot. The longer you cook this spaghetti sauce recipe, the thicker it will get.
Optional: Adding Meat
Even though this spaghetti sauce can be used as one of our vegetarian main dish recipes, we often add browned meatballs or browned Italian sausage since we are not primarily vegetarians. The longer the meat cooks in the sauce, the more flavorful the meat will become.
For more awesome vegetarian main dish recipes, visit our Pinterest page. You will find several boards that have vegetarian recipes.
Vegetarian Main Dish #5 – Spanakopita
Greek Cheese & Spinach Triangles
Annette learned this Spanakopita recipe from Steve’s mom. It’s been a tradition at our New Years’ party for years. They’re crispy and delicious. They are time-consuming to make but well worth the effort.
Ingredients:
- 3 or 4 10-oz. packages frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
- 1 lb. Feta cheese
- 6 or 7 eggs
- 1 onion, chopped fine
- 1-2 tsp dill
- 1 tsp parsley
- 8-12 oz. Ricotta or dry cottage cheese
- 1 lb. Phyllo dough
- ½ to 1 lb salted butter, melted
Directions:
Thaw and drain spinach.
Whirl Feta in a food processor until crumbly.
Dice onion. Mix the first 7 ingredients in a large mixing bowl, stirring until well blended.
Roll out two sheets of Phyllo dough; slice lengthwise into four even strips.
Scoop approximately 1 T. cheese/spinach mixture onto each strip of Phyllo dough.
Fold each strip over and over to form a triangle shape (like folding an American flag).
While forming each triangle, brush it several times with melted butter.
Repeat the rolling, slicing, and folding process with the remaining sheets of Phyllo, continuing to use 2 sheets at a time.
Lay your triangles in rows on an ungreased cookie sheet. They will puff minimally so you don’t need to leave much space between them.
Bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes. You can bake 2 cookie sheets at a time, but not more than 2 as it will interfere with heat flow.
Vegetarian Main Dish #6 – Breakfast Egg Strata
This is a great way to have a nutritious breakfast all in one pan. It is also the perfect breakfast if you need to feed 8-10 people. And it’s a good way to include some of your garden-fresh veggies in a breakfast dish.
This recipe can be prepared the night before and left in the refrigerator until morning (this may increase your cooking time by 10 minutes), or prepared in the morning — only requiring an hour from preparation to the table (that is if you don’t take too long mixing it up).
Ingredients:
- 2 Cups of Veggies (any combination of Mushrooms, Peppers, Zucchini, Spinach, Asparagus, Swiss Chard leaves, etc)
- 5 Slices of Bread (broken into bite-sized pieces)
- 1⁄2 Cup Green Onions
- 8 Eggs
- 2 Cups Cheese (your choice)
- 2 Cups Milk
- Dash of Salt and Pepper
Directions:
In a large bowl toss together the veggies, bread pieces, and green onions. Grease a 9 x 13 baking pan with soft butter or spray with a non-stick cooking spray. Place the veggies and bread mixture into the pan. In a large bowl stir together the eggs, cheese, milk and salt and pepper. Pour this over ingredients in the pan. Set aside for 10 minutes then bake for 30 minutes at 350º.
Vegetarian Main Dish #7 – Eggplant Parmesan
Our whole family loves this recipe—it’s delish!
Ingredients
- 3 cups vegetable oil, added 1 cup at a time (olive oil doesn’t work here). Coconut oil may work.
- 1 to 2 eggs, mixed with a little water
- 1 (16-ounce) container Italian seasoned breadcrumbs
- 2 to 3 eggplants
- 2 to 6 cups spaghetti sauce
- 1 pound shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
Directions
Pour 1/2 inch of peanut oil in a 10-inch skillet and heat on low.
Beat the egg in a medium bowl and add 1 tablespoon of water.
Pour the breadcrumbs onto a plate.
Cut the eggplant into 1/2-inch slices and poke several times with a fork on each
side to help absorb the egg and breadcrumbs.
Dip each eggplant slice in egg bowl and coat both sides.
Then move eggplant slices to the dish with breadcrumbs and flip slices to cover both sides.
Place breaded eggplant slices on another plate until you have enough to fill the
skillet. Turn heat on the skillet to medium and place eggplants into the skillet. Fry
until golden brown and a fork easily go through the slice.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. While the eggplant is frying, prepare two to three 13 x 9-inch baking dishes by coating the bottoms with spaghetti sauce.
Lay the cooked eggplant slices in the prepared baking dish and add a blop of
spaghetti sauce to the top of each slice. Lightly cover the eggplant with the shredded
Mozzarella cheese and sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese.
Bake uncovered for 45 minutes or until the cheese is browned. Makes two to
three 13 x 9-inch baking pans. Serves 6 to 8.
Healthy alternative: This recipe can also be made without frying. After breading the eggplant, place it into a baking dish, blop it with spaghetti sauce, and lightly cover it with Mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Annette doesn’t care for it this way, but Steve does.
Vegetarian Recipe #8 – Veggie Lasagna
This is an amazingly cheesy and delicious variation of our meat and red sauce lasagna. It has become a family favorite and can be made with a wide variety of veggies.
Ingredients:
- 1 Lb Lasagna Noodles
- 2 to 3 Cups each of the following Veggies (or others)
- 6-12 oz Mushrooms
- 10 – 12 oz Spinach (fresh or frozen)
- 1 – 2 Onions
- 4 Carrots – Shredded
- 2 – 3 Cups Zucchini (chopped or shredded)
- 2 Lbs Ricotta
- 2 Lbs Shredded Mozzarella
- 1 Lb Parmesan Cheese – shredded
White Sauce Ingredients
- 1 Stick of Butter (4 oz)
- ½ Cup White Flour
- 4 Cups Milk (any variety: whole, 2%, skim)
- 1 – 2 Cups Parmesan Cheese
- Salt and Pepper to Taste
- 1/2 Cup Red Wine (optional)
DIRECTIONS:
Order of Prepping – Allow 2 Hours for assembly
- Steam Veggies
- Make White Sauce
- Cook Lasagna Noodles
- Assemble in Aluminum Pan (½ chafing dish size 12 ¾” x 10 ½” x 1 ½” deep)
- Cook completed Lasagna
STEAM VEGGIES
Add 1 cup of water to an 8 Quart pot. Add all of your grated or sliced veggies. Steam until tender over a medium heat).
Place in the colander to drain off as much water as possible.
WHITE SAUCE
- Melt one stick of butter (4 oz) over a medium heat.
- Slowly stir in ½ cup of white flour until it turns into a paste.
- Slowly add 2 cups of milk stirring with a whisk to break up the clumps.
- Optional: Add ½ to 1 Cup of Red Wine
- Keep stirring until the mixture is a little thicker than pancake batter.
- Slowly add 1 Cup of Parmesan cheese – stirring the entire time.
- Slowly add the last 2 cups of milk
- Add Salt and Pepper to Taste
COOK LASAGNA NOODLES
- Bring 8 quarts of water to a boil.
- Add 1 Tbs of cooking oil to the water to keep the noodles from sticking together.
- Cook noodles about 6 minutes (Al Dente – slightly undercooked. We cook 6 Lasagna noodles at a time to prevent sticking and over cooking.
- Remove Noodles and place in a colander.
- Rinse with cool water to stop noodles from overcooking.
ASSEMBLY
Step 1. In ½ Chafing dish aluminum pan (or similar sized pan) spread white sauce on the bottom of the pan – thoroughly cover it. Note: Because of the final weight of the finished Lasagna we recommend using 2 lightweight aluminum pans or one heavier aluminum or baked enamel baking dish.
Step 2. Lay Lasagna noodles lengthwise on the bottom of the pan. Be sure to overlap the noodles by at least ½ inch.
Cut noodles to fit the bottom of the pan if necessary.
Step 3. Divide your cooked veggies into 2 equal portions. Spread one portion in a layer evenly on top of the first layer of lasagna noodles.
Step 4. Sprinkle a layer of shredded Mozzarella cheese on top of the veggie layer.
Step 5. Spoon out thin clumps of Ricotta Cheese and lay them on top of the Mozzarella layer.
Step 6. Ladle out a thin layer of white sauce on top of the Ricotta Cheese layer.
Repeat Steps 2 – 5
THE TOP LAYER:
- Lay down a 3rd layer of Lasagna Noodles
- Ladle out a thin layer of white sauce on top of the noodles
- Sprinkle a layer of shredded Mozzarella cheese on top of the white sauce
- Sprinkle ½ cup of shredded Parmesan cheese on top of the Mozzarella cheese
OPTIONS: COOK OR FREEZE
COOKING INSTRUCTION:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- Place the chafing dish onto a cookie sheet to prevent any liquid from overflowing out of the chafing dish and burning on the bottom of your oven.
- Cover the chafing dish with aluminum foil to keep heat in.
- Cook for 1 hour or until internal temperature reaches 160 degrees
- Uncover and cook for an additional 10 minutes to allow the top layer of cheese to brown
FREEZING INSTRUCTIONS:
You can easily make several pans of lasagna and store it in the freezer to cook in the future.
We’ve done this a number of times for big events like weddings and Eagle Scout courts of honor.
To prepare for freezing we first cover the pan with plastic wrap, then with a layer of aluminum foil.
We started using plastic wrap because the acidity in tomato products from regular lasagna would eat through the aluminum foil.
But the plastic wrap also creates a better air-tight seal than aluminum foil – so this keeps frost from forming and minimizes the possibility of freezer burn.
IMPORTANT: If you do use the plastic wrap – remember to remove it before putting the pan in the oven.
Spaghetti Pie
I wanted to send you a tried and true recipe of mine. We’re all are looking to save money nowadays — especially on food items. Here is a great way to stretch that ever-shrinking dollar of ours.
Prep Time 15 minutes. Baking Time 40 to 50 minutes at 350 degrees
Ingredients:
- 1/4 cup dried breadcrumbs or crushed corn flakes
- 4 cups of cooked spaghetti (8 oz uncooked) — broken into pieces
- I usually use leftover spaghetti that I freeze. I cook it in hot water for about
5 minutes and drain well - 1 large bottle of spaghetti sauce (or you can make your own) You can use either marinara type or meat sauce
- 4 eggs — slightly beaten
- 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan or Romano cheese
- Shredded mozzarella cheese
Add spices to your taste (Italian spices like basil, oregano, garlic, onion, and marjoram)
Directions:
- Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
- Use a 9-inch pie dish or round casserole sprinkled with cooking spray. Use a larger dish if needed to feed your family.
- Sprinkle breadcrumbs on the bottom of the dish or as an alternative, spread some of the spaghetti sauce on the bottom of the dish, and then use the bread crumbs on the top after you put on the cheese.
- Mix pasta with half of the sauce (about 1 1/2 cups)
- Add eggs and transfer to a casserole dish.
- Add the remaining sauce with cheese topping and crumb mixture.
- Bake for about 40 to 50 minutes until eggs are set and a knife inserted near the center comes out clean.
- Cut like a pie and serve.
- Heat up the extra sauce to serve it on the side.
I have other variations for the recipe. When making the egg mixture if I want to make it more like a lasagna pie, I use low-fat cottage cheese in the mixture and also add garlic and other spices to kick it up a notch. You can make a Tex / Mex pie by adding taco seasonings, salsa, and cheddar cheese. The possibilities are endless.
Just remember to save your leftover sauce and spaghetti in the freezer and use it for Spaghetti pie. You can double the recipe with fresh ingredients and have one now and save one for later. Freeze It! Yum! June Truex — Edison, New Jersey
Vegetable Soup
Nothing warms up a kitchen or fills a home with a wonderful aroma as much as a simmering pot of soup on the stove. Beyond the homey pleasures, they also are very forgiving. If you don’t measure the ingredients exactly right the soup can still turn out fine. Also, left-over veggies are a fine addition to the recipe and taste great.
When we make soup, we make a huge pot, eat some and freeze the rest.
Directions
- Starting with 8-quart stock or saucepot.
- 6 quarts of chicken broth — Annette uses broth from boiling a turkey carcass, refrigerating it overnight, and skimming off the fat.
- If you want this to be vegetarian in every way, use a 28oz can of diced tomatoes to enrich the broth, instead of a turkey carcass. Also use more herbs for flavorings such as basil, marjoram, rosemary, tarragon or thyme.
- 2 cups carrots — sliced rounds
- 2 cups celery — chopped
- 4 cloves of garlic or 2 tsp garlic powder
- One large onion — diced
- 1 – 2 cups of miscellaneous leftover veggies from the refrigerator — broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, corn, and peas all work great.
- 1 – 2 cups mixed dry beans, (be sure to soak in water for two hours, dump the water and rinse, then repeat the process a second time. This will reduce the gassiness of your beans and ease digestion), noodles or brown rice (don’t use white rice, it will turn to mush).
Add either beans or brown rice to simmering soup mixture at least 2 hours prior to serving.
If using noodles, add to boiling soup 1/2 hour before serving
- Salt and pepper to taste.
- Optional: Add 2 cups of cooked, diced chicken
Soup is a terrific meal in the wintertime. You can feed your family for pennies. If you are single, make a large pot and then freeze it in smaller containers. Annette always serves a quick bread with this meal and our house rule is that when you’re bowl is half empty, then you can have your bread.