Meatless: More Than 200 of the Very Best Vegetarian Recipes

by Martha Stewart

For anyone new to a vegetarian diet--flexitarians who adopt plans like Meatless Mondays--as well as committed vegetarians and fans of Power Foods, here is a comprehensive collection of easy, meat-free mains for everyday.

As inspiring as it is practical, Meatless features 200 recipes—each accompanied by a gorgeous photograph—for full-fledged vegetarians and meat-eaters alike. You’ll find recipes for classics and new favorites, plus plenty of low-fat, vegan, and gluten-free options, too.

More than just a cookbook, Meatless is also a roadmap to embracing a vegetable-based lifestyle. Here are dozens of versatile recipes that can be easily adapted, such as pizza with a variety of toppings, salads made from different whole grains, and pestos with unexpected flavors and ingredients. You’ll also find advice on stocking your pantry with vegetarian essentials (dried beans, pasta, herbs and spices), a collection of basic recipes and techniques (vegetable stock, tomato sauce, polenta), and make-ahead flavor-boosters (caramelized onions, roasted peppers, and quick pickles).

Comprehensive and indispensable, Meatless makes it easy to prepare flavor-packed dinners for any day, any occasion. And no one will miss the meat. Selections include: 

-Small Plates to Mix and Match: Smashed Chickpea, Basil, and Radish Dip with Pita Chips; Roasted Baby Potatoes with Romesco Sauce; Stuffed Marinated Hot Red Chili Peppers; Grilled Polenta with Balsamic Mushrooms
-Stovetop Suppers: Frittata with Asparagus, Goat Cheese, and Herbs; Spring Vegetable Ragout; Farro Risotto with Wild Mushrooms; Southwestern Hash
-Soups, Stews, and Chili: Tomato Soup with Poached Eggs; Bean Chili; White Cheddar Corn Chowder; Chickpea Curry with Roasted Cauliflower and Tomatoes
-Casseroles and other Baked Dishes: Ricotta and Spinach Stuffed Shells; Italian Baked Eggplant with Seitan; Black-Bean Tortilla Casserole; Apple, Leek, and Squash Gratin
-Substantial Salads: Raw Kale Salad with Pomegranate and Toasted Walnuts; Avocado, Beet, and Orange Salad; Arugula, Potato, and Green Bean Salad with Creamy Walnut Dressing; Roasted-Tomato Tabbouleh
-Sandwiches, Burgers, and Pizzas: Quinoa Veggie Burgers; Grilled Asparagus and Ricotta Pizza; Chipotle Avocado Sandwich; Portobello and Zucchini Tacos
-Pasta and Other Noodles: Fettuccine with Parsley-Walnut Pesto; Roasted Cauliflower with Pasta and Lemon Zest; Soba and Tofu in Ginger Broth; No-Bake Lasagna with Ricotta and Tomatoes
-Simple Side Dishes: Mexican Creamed Corn; Cabbage and Green Apple Slaw; Shredded Brussels Sprouts with Pecans and Mustard Seeds; Baked Polenta “Fries”

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Food, Nonfiction, Vegetarian, Reference, Vegan

384 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

Martha Helen Stewart is an American retail businesswoman, writer, and television personality. As the founder of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, focusing on home and hospitality, she gained success through a variety of business ventures, encompassing publishing, broadcasting, merchandising and e-commerce. She has written numerous bestselling books, was the publisher of Martha Stewart Living magazine and hosted two syndicated television programs: Martha Stewart Living, which ran from 1993 to 2004, and The Martha Stewart Show, which ran from 2005 to 2012.
In 2004, Stewart was convicted of felony charges related to the ImClone stock trading case; she served five months in federal prison for fraud and was released in March 2005. There was speculation that the incident would effectively end her media empire, but in 2005 Stewart began a comeback campaign and her company returned to profitability in 2006. Stewart rejoined the board of directors of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia in 2011 and became chairwoman of her namesake company again in 2012. The company was acquired by Sequential Brands in 2015. Sequential Brands Group agreed in April 2019 to sell Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, including the Emeril brand, to Marquee Brands for $175 million with benchmarked additional payments.

Reviews

[Poetsorcerer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've become a hardcore vegetarian over the years and obviously have spent tons of money on vegetarian/vegan cookbooks. Putting it simply, with school and work I'm too busy for fancy recipes that require exotic-ingredient hunting, soaking, curing, mixing or other time consuming kitchen stunts.

I'm honestly not a fan of Martha Stewart, but I would trade the shelf full of alternative cookbooks I own for this particular one. This is all you need if you are a time constrained vegetarian like me, wish to become vegetarian, want to add some veggies to your carnivore diet or are just interested in expanding your culinary horizons.

The recipes are the quickest and easiest I've ever seen, using the veggies/dairy products we all know and are able to find at the nearest grocery store. The cookbook itself is concise, simple, peppy looking and far from being a toe-busting brick; yet, there's just the right amount of creativity in the recipes to make it work —I find myself often wondering how come I never thought of putting together such basic ingredients. This may be probably the only cookbook I will ever review/recommend, because I can sincerely say that it has improved the nutrition quality of my diet.

[Diane S ☔ · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is only the second cookbook I have reviewed, but it is my new favorite cookbook and one of the few I ever bought. Usually look up a recipe on line or take a cookbook home from the library, which is what I did with this one, but after making a few of the recipes and finding many others I wanted to try, I broke down and brought it. Fantastic pictures, easy to prepare meatless dishes, all yummy tasting. Worth every penny.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Casey and I are cooking our way through this book, so far every dish has been inventive, exciting, and above all super tasty!!!

[Gina · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't understand why Martha Stewart isn't a vegetarian (she even admits to knowing it's uncool to cook up the sheep raised in her backyard to serve to her daughter--she really did this, can you believe it? poor Plantagenet Palliser!), but this book! This book is full color and contains relatively simple vegetarian recipes that are really inventive, plus suggested menus, explanations on grains, spices, nuts and seeds, and more. Her method for pressing tofu (cut it first, then layer with paper towels and weight it) is now used in my house.

[Samantha · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this book in a going out of business sale. I wasn’t expecting to get too much out of it, since I’m constantly looking for new vegetarian recipes online. Much to my surprise, I ended up marking over 80 pages of recipes that I want to try. My favorite part of this cookbook is that the final pages are all the directions to cook the basics of the book, such as a poached egg and hazelnut dough.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

You have to be very careful with proportions, some recipes make one serving, some make 8 servings. Also this is full of random fancy ingredients, so it's not a cookbook suitable for all budgets. But lots of fairly simple recipes and some really great ones!

[Brutland · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lots of meatless recipes. Full color pictures. Regular food, not too exotic. 370 pages of great recipes. Recipes are well organized and easy to follow. Many sauce recipes. Try the 30 Clove Garlic Soup. And the Kale and Red Cabbage Slaw. They are two of my favorites.

[Meg Dean · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's Martha Stewart! It's Whole Living! Of course it's amazing!

I am not a vegetarian, but I do love my veggies! I bookmarked this book more than any other in history on my Nook!

Cannot wait to get cooking!

10 stars!

[Tamara]

I'm excited about this one.

[Julie Schum · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent cookbook with some solid vegetarian ideas. A lot of easy recipes that I'm surprised I never thought of.

[Cherie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Really disappointing. I read Martha Stewart Living sometimes, and usually the veg recipes are pretty good. But this book was a lot of typical veg recipes, nothing too exciting or new or things I was dying to cook. Back to the library

[Christa Seeley · Rating 3 out of 5]

This review originally posted at Veggietropolis

Seeing as this is a cookbook from Martha Stewart I had certain assumptions before I even flipped through the pages for the first time. I was expecting a lot of elegant looking dishes that one might want to serve at a dinner party. A dinner party where you want to impress your guests with your cooking skills. I also expected it too have long ingredient lists that would make my wallet groan.

However I was pleasantly surprised to find not all my assumptions were correct. Yes, many of these dishes look elegant and would be impressive to serve for guests but the recipes themselves are fairly simple. Most have only a few short steps. And the ingredient lists are quite reasonable. Though I have to admit she uses a few strange things that I had to go to a couple different stores to find - but it was kind of fun to cook with vegetables/grains I had never tried before.

The first recipe we attempted was the quinoa burgers. I’m not sure if I didn’t let the mixture sit/cool long enough but I just couldn’t get these burgers to stick together. They tasted fantastic but they definitely didn’t form patties.

Next I made the Eggplant Israeli Couscous salad. This was by far my favourite recipe. I always want to make things with Eggplant and I ended up making this recipe twice in one week so I could keep taking it for lunch. Really anything with carmalized onions is a win right?

Finally we tried the Green Gurry. This also turned out quite well (sorry for the blurry photo). It was really flavourful and I loved the addition of green beans. I found it a bit soupy so next time I plan on letting it simmer longer than the recipe calls for, but other than that it was quite good.

But what I really loved about Meatless was some of the references and staple recipes at the back. Things such as toasting nuts, making vegetable stock, various sauces, salsas and pestos and my favourite - a grain cooking chart. I find this is the best reference and I consult it all the time, even when I’m not making a recipe from the book.

Overall it wasn’t a bad cookbook. It had some interesting recipes, and though not all of that turned out as expected I’m still planning on trying more from this book. Would recommend to vegetarians and those looking to add more meatless meals to their repertoire Not great for vegans though as a good chunk of the recipes call for cheese.

[unknown · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was low on groceries and ideas for cooking. Thankfully this book came in handy!! I went to the index for potatoes and jumped to pg. 313 "Grilled Potatoes with Garlic Herb Oil." I used this recipe for inspiration with what I had on hand. I used cilantro and lime in place of parsley and olive oil. I altered the recipe and so my dish contained: black beans, mozzarella shreds, paprika, salt, onion powder, garlic, pan fried Idaho potatoes, romaine lettuce, red onions, and mushrooms.

I am planning on using the recipe "Shiitake Fried Rice" on pg. 86 during 6/14/16. I will update this review as I use more recipes.

The book's visuals inspire me to cook and be creative. Kudos!!

[Villa Park Public Library · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are trying to eat more vegetables and less meat, this book with beautiful color illustrations will inspire you to try these mouthwatering recipes.

Step by step instructions are easy to follow and nutrition information is included at the end of each recipe. There is a protein chart for vegetarians, as well as a suggested menu section with the recipe page numbers.

Check this book out from the Villa Park Public Library!

[Glitta · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great, basic cookbook in the best way. Accessible ingredients, limited numbers of steps, and a wealth of ideas that are appropriate for even the biggest carnivore to dip their toes into vegetarian waters. This is a great staple for everyday cooking.

[Kirsten · Rating 4 out of 5]

Martha knows cookbooks!
There's a dozen recipes I've made already, with supermarket ingredients and easy instructions. This is a great cookbook for vegetarians and meat eaters alike. Highly recommend.

[Pam G · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of my go to vegetarian cookbooks.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

There were quite a few recipes in here that looked delicious. I will be trying some soon.

[Lucie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good cook book. Every recipe that I have tried so far is delicious. Ingredients are not too exotic or difficult to find. I highly recommend it.

[Jeanette Durkin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This has some really great recipes and pictures accompany every one. I'll definitely be trying some of these recipes!

[Beka · Rating 3 out of 5]

Standard, not stand out. For one of the "newer" Martha Stewart cookbooks (in the 2000's), it really reminded me of those from the 80's and 90's: bland layout, not enough pictures, little to no explanation for recipes. Overall, it's ok, but not something I'll return to.

[704ada · Rating 4 out of 5]

this book has a wide variety of vegetarian snacks, and meals. definitely recommend to any pesc/vegetarian!

[Emily · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found at least 1 recipe that looked good.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

The cauliflower with lemon and capers is amazing!

[Melissa Lawson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great ideas in this book!

[Simonew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent cookbook

[Ashleyree · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some great recipes

[Danni · Rating 2 out of 5]

meh

[Suzanned99 · Rating 2 out of 5]

I tried a few recipes and didn’t think much of them.

[Michelle]

Nothing looks appetizing to me.