Many carnivores, Vegetarians, would-be vegetarians and vegans alike have experienced the joy of such comfort foods as home-made meatloaf. For vegetarians, the “meat” is creatively substituted with a variety of vegetarian-friendly alternatives such as rice, breadcrumbs or lentils. In scouring the best-of-the-Web, we found three top-rated, highly-reviewed, delicious and vegetarian-approved meatloaf recipes for your review and enjoyment. Give them a try and let us know what you think!
Vegetarian Meatloaf Recipe #1:
Here's a top-rated vegetarian meatloaf recipe from Food.com. The recipe uses mashed lentils to replace the meat. It's high in fiber and protein, low in fat, easy and really delicious.
Total preparation and cooking time is 1 hour and 25 minutes. This recipe serves 4 to 6.
Ingredients:
- 2 cups water
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup lentils
- 1 small onion, diced
- 1 cup quick-cooking oat
- 3/4 cup grated cheese
- 1 egg, beaten
- 4 1/2 ounces spaghetti sauce (or 4.5 ounces tomato sauce)
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 tablespoon dried parsley
- 1/2 teaspoon seasoning salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Cooking Instructions:
1. Add salt to water and boil in a saucepan.
2. Add lentils and simmer covered 25-30 minutes, until lentils are soft and most of water is evaporated.
3. Remove from heat.
4. Drain and partially mash lentils.
5. Scrape into mixing bowl and allow to slightly cool.
6. Stir in onion, oats and cheese until mixed.
7. Add egg, tomato sauce, garlic, basil, parsley, seasoning salt and pepper.
8. Mix well.
9. Spoon into loaf pan that has been well-greased or sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.
10. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 45 minutes, or until top of loaf is dry, firm and golden brown.
11. Cool in pan on rack for about 10 minutes.
12. Run a sharp knife around edges of pan then remove loaf onto platter. Serve and enjoy!
Vegetarian Meatloaf Recipe #2
From AllRecipes.com, here’s a seriously-yummy vegetarian meatloaf that rates supreme amongst their readers and home chefs. One reader noted: "This recipe was wonderful! I used ketchup instead of barbecue sauce and it tasted just like my hamburger meatloaf." Another stated: "I really liked this...and I'm a meat eater! I didn't use Parmesan cheese, but added two small diced mushrooms and added an extra egg white to make sure it wasn't too dry."
This recipe takes 1 hour and 20 minutes to prepare, and it serves about 8.
Here's the Ingredient List:
- 1 (12 ounce) bottle barbeque sauce
- 1 (12 ounce) package vegetarian burger crumbles
- 1 green bell pepper, chopped
- 1/3 cup minced onion
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1/2 cup soft bread crumbs
- 3 tablespoons Parmesan cheese
- 1 egg, beaten
- 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/4 teaspoon dried basil
- 1/4 teaspoon parsley flakes
- salt and pepper to taste
And here are the three simple Cooking Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Lightly grease a 5x9 inch loaf pan.
2. In a bowl, mix 1/2 the barbeque sauce with the vegetarian burger crumbles, green bell pepper, onion, garlic, bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, and egg. Season with thyme, basil, parsley, salt, and pepper. Transfer to the loaf pan.
3. Bake 45 minutes in the preheated oven. Pour remaining barbeque sauce over the loaf, and continue baking 15 minutes, or until loaf is set.
Vegetarian Meatloaf Recipe #3
Finally, from FoodNetwork.com (and courtesy of Giada De Laurentiis), we have a really highly-rated and highly-reviewed veggie meatloaf with checca sauce. (I never heard of "checca sauce so I had to look it up: Checca sauce was coined by Giada who took the phrase from "Pasta alla cecca." The combination of ingredients often include fresh, uncooked tomatoes, basil, fresh mozzarella, olive oil, garlic, salt, and pepper.)
The total preparation and cooking time is about 2 hours, and yields about 4 to 6 servings.
Here are the ingredients:
(Checca Sauce)
2 cups (12 oz.) of cherry tomatoes, halved.
3 scallions, coursely chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
8 fresh basil leaves
3 Tbspn olive oil
salt and black pepper to taste
(Vegetarian Meatloaf)
3/4 cup (5 oz.) lentils
3 cups uncooked short-grain brown rice
1/2 cup white onion, minced
1/2 cup carrot, shredded
1 celery stalk, diced
1/2 cup frozen corn kernels
2 Tbspn butter
4 cups (10 oz.) fresh baby spinach leaves
1-1/2 cups (8 oz.) cubed whole milk mozzarella
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan
1/3 cup chopped fresh basil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 tomato, sliced
Here are the Cooking Instructions:
(Checca Sauce):
Combine the cherry tomatoes, scallions, garlic, basil, and oil in a processor and pulse the tomatoes until they are just coarsely chopped. Season lightly with salt and pepper and set aside.
(Vegetarian MeatLoaf):
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- In a large saucepan of cold water, add the lentils and bring to a boil over high heat.
- Drain the boiling water and rinse the lentils. In a large, heavy saucepan bring the broth to a boil over medium heat.
- Add the rice and return the liquid to a boil. Decrease the heat to low, cover the rice, and simmer without stirring for 10 minutes.
- Stir in the lentils, onion, carrot, and celery. Cover and continue cooking without stirring until the rice and lentils are tender and the liquid is absorbed (about 30 minutes).
- Turn off the heat. Sprinkle the corn over the rice and lentils and let stand, covered, for 5 minutes.
- Uncover and fluff the rice with a fork. Cover and let stand for another 5 minutes.
- Spread 1 tablespoon of butter over a 10 by 4 1/2 by 3-inch loaf pan. In a large, heavy skillet, cook the spinach over medium heat for 3 minutes.
- Drain and squeeze the excess liquid from the spinach, then coarsely chop.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the lentils, spinach, 1 cup of mozzarella, eggs, 1/4 cup Parmesan, basil, salt, pepper, and half of the checca sauce.
- Spoon the mixture into the prepared pan.
- Arrange the sliced tomatoes in a row over the lentil mixture. Sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cup of mozzarella and 2 tablespoons of Parmesan. Dot the top with the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter.
- Bake uncovered until the loaf is heated through and the topping is melted and starting to brown (approx. 30 minutes.) Let cool for 15 minutes. Slice the loaf into 2-inch slices, arrange on plates, and serve with the remaining checca sauce. Yum!
For those looking for a Vegan meatloaf alternative, here’s a recipe I’m sure you’ll enjoy:
