I’m sure a lot of you can cook beautifully, but I’m also sure that some of you are a little more lacking in your cooking abilities. If you can’t even fry an egg or toast a slice of bread, this is the place for you. When I was first learning to cook, I would have loved a collection of recipes like this – easy vegetarian dinners that are pretty much impossible to get wrong, so you can feel like you’ve cooked something a little bit special without actually needing to have any skill whatsoever.

So, I thought I’d put together this list for those of you who aren’t particularly confident cooks. These recipes involve chopping vegetables, putting them in the oven, maybe stirring things a bit… things that anyone can manage. Since you newbie cooks probably don’t have a kitchen stocked with dozens of weird appliances, I’ve also tried to make sure that you won’t need any fancy equipment – the most you’ll need is a blender or food processor, but a lot of the recipes don’t even need that.

So, here goes! The motherlode: 51 crazy easy vegetarian dinners. Enjoy!

Soups

(‘veg + liquid = food’ type dinners)

15 minute tomato soup with basil pine nut crumb (pictured above)
Thai green curry spinach soup [vegan]
Minestrone soup from Supergolden Bakes
Green veggies minestrone from Jen’s Food [vegan]
Tuscan bean soup from The Wanderlust Kitchen [vegan]
Italian orzo tomato spinach soup from Little Spice Jar [vegan]
Butternut squash and sweet potato soup from Making Thyme For Health [vegan]
Kale and cannellini bean soup from May I Have That Recipe? [vegan]

Stove-top dinners

(‘just throw some stuff in a pan’ type dinners)

Cheater’s 15 minute mushroom risotto (pictured above)
Butternut squash and black bean skillet
Sticky honey soy aubergine
Veggie chow mein [vegan]
Restaurant-style black beans [vegan]
Puy lentils with cannellini beans and garlicky leeks [vegan]
Quorn, broccoli and noodle stir fry from A Mummy Too
Easy vegetarian chilli from The Endless Meal [vegan]

Curries

(‘cook some veggies in a pan with spices and sauce’ type dinners)

Easy Sri Lankan curry with toasted chickpeas (pictured above) [vegan]
Aubergine red Thai curry noodle bowls [vegan]
Weeknight tikka masala
Peanut butter chickpea curry [vegan]
Mushroom, spinach and chickpea curry from Fab Food 4 All [vegan]
Chickpea and potato curry from Franglais Kitchen [vegan]
Lentil, sweet potato and coconut curry from Detoxinista [vegan]

Pasta

(‘pasta + anything’ type dinners)

Lemon and artichoke pasta (pictured above)
15 minute creamy pasta primavera
Easy macaroni cheese with brown butter leeks
Veggie pasta with asparagus and artichokes [vegan]
Garlic and wild rocket pasta from Recipes From A Pantry [vegan]
Greek spaghetti with roasted tomatoes, feta and olives from Hungry Healthy Happy
Red pepper and chard pesto pasta from Baking Queen 74 [vegan]
Tomato and basil pasta from Lovely Appetite [vegan]

Salads

(‘just mix some yummy bits together’ type dinners)

Black bean and walnut taco-style lettuce wraps (pictured above) [vegan]
Artichoke and feta quinoa salad
Tortellini Caesar salad
Brazilian-style black bean salad from Food To Glow [vegan]
Sautéed chickpea salad with roasted peppers and mint from Kalyn’s Kitchen [vegan]
Sweet potato, rocket and pomegranate salad from Natural Kitchen Adventures [vegan]

Oven bakes

(‘throw some stuff in the oven’ type dinners)

Pizza baked gnocchi (pictured above)
Easy roasted vegetable ratatouille with chickpeas [vegan]
Vegetarian enchiladas for one
Pizza roasted chickpeas
Butternut squash and blue cheese bake from Kavey Eats
Roast vegetable, sausage and chickpea bake from Tinned Tomatoes [vegan]
Garlic bread and tomato bake from Farmersgirl Kitchen

Other easy vegetarian dinners

(…basically anything that didn’t fit nicely into a category)

Kale and avocado burritos (pictured above) [vegan]
Crock-Pot mushroom stroganoff
Low-carb cauliflower pizza
Slow cooker veggie fajitas
Slow cooker saag aloo [vegan]
Creamy courgette puff pastry tart from Family Friends Food
Greek quesadillas

Pushed for time? You should check out my collection of ridiculously quick vegetarian dinners too: