How to Cook for a Vegetarian and a Meat Eater at the Same Time

Being a vegetarian, it's hard to find meals that both my husband and I can enjoy together. Often times we eat completely separate dinners, but every so often I like to figure out a way for both of us to eat the same meal! I love to share a meal with him that we can both enjoy. When we have kids, I plan to let them eat both meat and non-meat meals so I will always be cooking for various types of eating. If you have a family member who doesn't eat meat, these ideas should help you make a family meal that everyone can enjoy together. Finding out your teen wants to be a vegetarian, or your spouse is a vegetarian, may make you confused about what you can feed them, but over time you'll find that it's really not that hard.

Note: It's a tiny-bit easier for me because I eat fish, however my husband isn't a huge fan of fish so it's still difficult to cook meals we can share.

The simplest idea: Make a meal that has no meat!

Obviously the easiest way for us to find a meal we both can eat is to choose a completely meat-free option. Although my husband likes to have meat at most meals, he does also enjoy a meat-free meal every so often. There are a lot of big filling meal options that don't contain meat - Pasta is the easiest. You can take ANY type of noodle, ANY type of meat-free sauces, and add ANY veggies you want! Simple ideas are things like grilled cheese and peanut butter and jelly because everyone likes a sandwich now and then. Finally, often we have cereal and bagels with cream cheese for dinner because it's just as tasty at night as it is in the morning.

Make it in parts: Mix and Match

Another option is to make most of the meal to share, and leave a blank spot for the entree. For example, a lot of times I'll make potatoes and some sort of veggie, then my husband will cook up a regular steak and make me a tuna steak. Other times I'll make a pasta side and a veggie, then my husband will cook up some chicken tenders and I'll heat up some Morningstar veggie tenders. Another idea is to make eggs and toast and make both real sausage and veggie sausage on the side. In the end, we are practically eating the same thing and we both have a well-rounded meal.

Getting a little more complex: One for you and One for me

With certain meals, it's not that hard to make two batches of the same thing so you each get your own version. In the end, you'll end up sharing a meal, but you both have your own pot to eat out of. The second benefit of this idea is that you'll each end up with plenty of your own leftovers! For example, you can make pasta to share and then have a pot of meat-free sauce and a pot of meat sauce. I love tacos so on a regular basis my husband and I make 2 batches, one of real meat and one of veggie-meat, and we share all the other things like the shells, lettuce, and sauce. It turns out that we need 2 batches in order to finish off all the shells and other items anyway, so it works out great in the end.

Just a little more complex: Half and Half

A similar concept, instead of making double the food, you can make one batch and split it in half. Sometimes making 2 batches is great, other times it leaves us with too much food. An example of how you can make a meal 1/2 and 1/2 is with enchiladas. All you need to do is fill 1/2 of the enchiladas with chicken or beef, and the other 1/2 with veggies or cheese. You can cook all of them in the same pan - just make sure you remember which side the meat enchiladas are on. This saves us from having too many leftovers and also saves some money since we only by enough ingredients for one batch.

Thinking outside of the meat-locker: Just give my meal a try!

Every so often, I ask my husband if he will just eat the veggie-meat or fish I make, and every so often he actually enjoys it! I can always get him to eat fish sticks with no problem, but with Salmon and Tuna I actually have to try to make it extra yummy. Sometimes I'll make a single batch of hamburger helper with veggie-meat and he says it is actually enjoyable. Tuna Helper is a meal we both enjoy. If you have kids that are meat-eaters, it's a good idea to expose them to fish or veggie-meat meals on a regular basis so that they can get a variety in their diet. If you can get your spouse to eat it every week too, it will just be better for them as well!

Need more vegetarian friendly ideas? See my article on avoiding meat during lent for more tips.