Dinner: 120 Vegan and Vegetarian Recipes for the Most Important Meal of the Day [American Measurements]

by Meera Sodha

“The ability to put a good dinner on the table has become my superpower and I want it to be yours too”

Bestselling author Meera Sodha brings us a fresh and joyful celebration of the most important meal of the day. Drawing on a wide range of Asian cuisines, Dinner offers up 100 vegan and vegetarian recipes, all created to answer the “What's for dinner?” in an exciting and delicious way.

From quick-cook recipes, to one-pan wonders and delectable dishes you can bung in the oven and leave to look after themselves, you’ll discover vibrant, easy-to-make main dishes that burst with flavor - including Whole Roast Cauliflower Pilaf with Almonds and Pistachios, Fennel and Dill Dal and Miso Eggplant with Salt and Vinegar Kale. There are also mouth-watering desserts, like Coconut and Cardamom Dream Cake and Bubble Tea Ice Cream, plus versatile and surprising side dishes, including Asparagus and Cashew Thoran and Kimchi Tofu and Carrot Salad.

Inspiring, nourishing, practical and beautiful, Dinner is the essential companion for the most important meal of the day.

Meera Sodha is the Guardian's New Vega' columnist and bestselling author of Made in India, Fresh India (which won the Observer Food Monthly Best New Cookbook Award 2017) and East. Her books have sold in seven international markets. In 2018 she was given The Guild of Food Writers 'Cookery Writing Award' and named the Fortnum & Mason Cookery Writer of the Year for her work in the Guardian.

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

297 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 1, 2025

About the author

Meera Sodha is a home cook and an occasional chef at the Michelin-rated Indian restaurant Gymkhana in London. When Made in India was published in the UK, it became an instant top-ten bestseller and was named one of the year's best books by many newspapers and periodicals.

Reviews

[Miss✧Pickypants ᓚᘏᗢ · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a collection of vegetarian dishes, that can be made vegan, that the author made for her family after recovering from a bout of depression. These recipes are very well-written and the majority are accompanied by well-styled photos. The dishes tend to skew Indo-Asian-ish and seemed to incorporate a lot of the same ingredients and flavours. This isn't a bad thing, especially if you are a fan of this type of cuisine. Recipe I am looking forward to making the most is the Vodka Gochujang Pasta. Cooks of all levels looking for more vegetarian/vegan dishes to add to their repertoire will likely appreciate this cookbook most.

[Lata · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful pictures and a laid back tone make up this cookbook. I've tried some of Sodha's recipes (from her Guardian column) which turned out well and were yummy, so I knew mostly what I was in for with this cookbook.

I tried several of the recipes, and have made a few several times over. I liked that there were several eggplant recipes, though I wished there were more legume-based dishes.

The recipes were easy to follow, though occasionally an ingredient or two did not appear in the instructions, but I was able to easily figure my way around these omissions. However, I would not say this is necessarily a good cookbook for someone totally new to cooking, but someone interested in expanding their vegetarian options for mains.

[Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Picked this one up as I have been wanting to cook more vegetarian/vegan meals. Focus on dinner, with a brief chapter on desserts and on sides, and generally organized by the "star" of the dish (eggplant, beans, potatoes, etc). Flavor profile heavily skews Indo-Asian-ish, which definitely appeals, but may lean on ingredients that one might need to source from a specialty store. Clean layout; lay flat binding; most recipes have an image. Bookmarked a lot of things to try!

[Maryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bij Meera zou ik wel aan tafel willen zitten.. 😊 Ze verzamelde in dit boek vooral de recepten die ze graag voor haar gezin kookt, het zijn vega en vegan recepten voor het avondeten (Dinner heet het boek in het Engels) met als toegift een hoofdstuk met 'happy endings'.
Dit is een heel persoonlijk kookboek, na een moeilijke periode met een burnout (waarover ze in dit boek ook schrijft) kwam dit boek tevoorschijn.
Het boek is ingedeeld op ingrediënten/groentesoorten en begint met maar liefst 11 recepten met aubergine!
Meera zal daar heel dol op zijn. Ik eet dus nooit aubergine.. 😁
Maar gelukkig komen er nog heel veel andere groenten aan bod die mij meer aantrekken.
Ze geeft receptideeën voor de 4 seizoenen en er is een inhoudsopgave voor als je iets bepaalds zoekt als salades, pasta, curry's, een snelle maaltijd.. Heel handig. Ik hou daarvan.
Recepten met wat je toevallig in de koelkast hebt liggen zijn makkelijk te vinden door een duidelijke index.

"Wanneer we elke avond een lekkere maaltijd kunnen bereiden, hebben we een van de belangrijkste ingrediënten voor een gelukkig leven"

Kerrieblaadjes heb ik hier nog niet kunnen vinden (te vervangen door citroenmelisse, wat ik in de tuin heb) en ook paneer is hier lastig verkrijgbaar. Ik heb weer een aantal recepten kunnen uitproberen en het resultaat was heerlijk.

De snelle spaghetti met gemalen broccoli en koriander was snel klaar en lekker, of de Tandoori bloemkool, al kostte dit iets meer tijd. Mijn keuken leek ontploft.
De chocolademousse met zijden tofu, ook heel verrassend.. De curry met kikkererwten en aardappel, heel lekker..
Er wordt veel tofoe gebruikt, maar geen tempé, ik heb zelf voorkeur voor de laatste.
Elk recept wordt voorafgegaan door een kort persoonlijk verhaaltje en meestal een foto van het gerecht.
Een fijn kookboek voor wie es wat anders wil eten!

[Cherie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sodha talks frankly about feeling depressed and not wanting to cook, and when her husband admits he's overwhelmed and burnt out and depressed, she gets back into the kitchen and begins cooking for joy instead of work. These are her recipes. At times, they feel kind of random (Indian recipe and then something with kimchi and then there's tips on knives and then miso butter greens pasta and then butter paneer...) but a lot of the recipes sound good. Some have fussier, harder-to-find ingredients, but many sound delightful.

[M · Rating 5 out of 5]

So many great recipes (vegetarian, vegan, vegan options, gluten free). Genuinely made me enjoy (and look forward to!!) cooking again.

Each recipe was accompanied by a small description of the dish or the inspiration for it, and those descriptions were so warm and homely. So excited to try out her other cookbooks.

[April · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some inspiring, unusual recipes. I loved the Baked eggplant with chicpeas and tomatoes (don’t skip the tahini yogurt!!!). Some ingredients might be hard to source, but the informative commentary on specific favourites of the author is interesting. I will try more; first on my list would be: Fennel and Dill Dal, Cheesy masala beans on toast, Chickpea and potato curry with quick paratha….

[solène · Rating 2 out of 5]

Des recettes contenant parfois un peu trop d'ingrédients à mon goût, mais des photos qui donnent envie de plonger dans les pages de ce livre de cuisine et des explications passionnantes pour chaque plat (coup de cœur pour le format du sommaire alternatif).

[Fiore · Rating 5 out of 5]

The combination of flavors in this book gives me all the food lust. It is a crime that I am not at this exact moment eating cheddar and gochujang cornbread or portobello mushroom pancakes w/ hoisin sauce.

[Jake Stenson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Haven't had a bad recipe out of this book yet. I've loved all of Meera Sodha's books and this one hasn't dissapointed!

[Dray · Rating 5 out of 5]

Delightful collection of plant forward recipes. Creative and accessible, bold and beautiful.

[E · Rating 1 out of 5]

I know vegan cookbooks are challenging but this one...not even the photos were enticing. Very uninspiring.

[Kate]

Made a couple of things but I liked the Malaysian-style dal the most!

[Ryan Mishap · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full disclosure: haven't tried a recipe form this et. But I Liked the author's writing, a ton of the dishes look fantastic and not too difficult, and the photos, of course, are gorgeous.

[Heidi · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you are trying out a vegan diet, learning to cook, or want to have a sauce/topping with each meal, this would be great. I prefer her earlier books.

[Juli Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of tasty-looking, vegetable-forward recipes here!

[Avi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was getting a bit skeptical about this book, but it had some ideas I found interesting and am looking to adapting!

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not quite my style of vegan & vegetarian recipes, but many recipes looked appealing.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

She writes recipes I want to make and eat! This was so inspiring to read. I envision many Meera Sodha dinners in my near future.

[Emily Wohlers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Checked this out from the library but I think I’m going to need to buy it 😋so many yummy recipes and new to me flavors I need to try!

[Claire · Rating 5 out of 5]

New cookbook from one of my favorite cookbook authors. This one feels like it's just the right kind of cookbook for me right now too.

[Pepper · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book. Good recipes. Not your typical fare (most vegetarian books have the exact same recipes). But this book has the absolute WORST index of any book ever.

[Shtwaan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is certainly attractive, and starts with several aubergine dishes, which was the selling point for me. I have tested about a dozen recipes, and they turned out nice enough, but not remarkable, sort of samey. It's mostly Asian-leaning "fusion", meaning loose improvisations around the curry and biryani traditions by somebody competent and rather bored. The list of ingredients seems fancy at first, limited and repetitive on closer inspection. Miso, miso, miso. Some of the more exotic ones explained, then others not, requiring research — only to find they are variations of stuff you already have (like mirin, or countless region-specific chili products, whose ever so important particularities elude me). The proofreading was not exactly thorough. One index item for 'paneer' points to a recipe without paneer. And 250 grams of peanut butter proved way too much for Satay Aubergine. Maximum caution advised with quantities! There is the occasional product placement, you will know what authentic mango chutney Sodha prefers, in case you can't mix jam, salt and peppercorns yourself. The photos are gorgeous, but they oversell the actual outcome. On a positive note, the oven-baked wedges of swede were a real find. More importantly, I find the recurrent process of blitzing spices into a paste and then making a korma-like stew with them a useful practice in my cooking.