Easy meatless meal ideas for beginners

How to eat less meat (My 5 favorite meat replacements)

If you’re curious about how to get started cooking a meatless meal, I have some great tips on delicious ways to get you started eating less meat. It’s a lot easier than you may think and you may already have some of these items in your fridge and pantry. Learn how to feel satisfied without eating meat. What to eat instead of meat if you’re just getting started with eating less meat.

#1 Beans make a great meat replacement

beans in a white bowl on a blue background

The easiest and healthiest way to make a meatless meal is to substitute beans for meat. Beans are so versatile, they can replace meat in most dishes.

Beans are high in protein and the fiber in them feeds the good bacteria in your gut, making you gut microbiome more diverse and healthy.

How to prevent gas if you eat beans

If beans give you gas, make sure to take it slow in the beginning.

When you shock your system with too much fiber at once, it’s going to have a hard time digesting all of that in the beginning.

Try to eat two spoonfuls of beans a day to build up the good bacteria in your gut that eats that fiber. Once that bacteria is built up, you shouldn’t be as gassy from eating beans.

Easy bean recipes to get you started

#2 Green lentils make a great ground beef replacement

Lentils are little powerhouses of protein and fiber. A ½ cup of cooked lentils has about 12 grams of protein. Lentils were one of the first ways I started replacing ground beef in recipes.

How to cook green lentils

Rinse one cup of green lentils
Put one cup of green lentils in a sauce pan and cover with 3 cups of water or vegetable stock (cooking in stock will make lentils a lot more flavorful)
Cover with a lid and bring to a boil
Immediately turn the heat down to a simmer and crack the lid
It will take about 15-20 minutes for the lentils to cook. Make sure not to overcook them, or they will become mushy.
The lentils are now ready to go in a pasta sauce, taco, burrito, lasagna, stew or soup to replace ground beef in every single recipe.

Check out my Meaty lentil pasta sauce to get you started

Make sure to grab my FREE GUIDE “13 carnivore approved foods you can eat instead of meat”.

#3 Mushrooms make great a meatless meal

image of a mushrooms in a skillet on a dark background

When you cook mushrooms right, they will BLOW YOUR MIND!

Mushrooms replicate meat the best because of their chewiness and savory, umami flavor when you season them right.

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Mushrooms do really well when you marinate them like you would meat. My favorite thing to do is to marinate some portobello mushrooms or some oyster mushrooms and then either pan fry them in a cast iron skillet, or barbeque them on a grill.

You can also mince them up really fine, saute them in a pan with some oil and salt, and this can replace ground beef in any recipe like tacos, pasta sauces and casseroles.

Mushroom recipes to get you started

#4 Tofu makes a great meatless meal

Cooked Tofu in a clear bowl with a white counter

There really isn’t anything that tofu can’t do. It can be a bit confusing to get started cooking tofu, but keep with it.

Tofu can replace ground beef and chicken effortlessly. Tofu is high in minerals, fiber and is a protein powerhouse. Plus tofu is cholesterol free, making it a heart healthy alternative to meat.

To get started cooking with tofu, check out these recipes

#5 Vegan meats are an excellent way to substitute meat

The vegan meat sector has absolutely blown up in the past five years. More and more people are learning about the harmful effects of meat to the environment, our health, the animals and slaughterhouse workers themselves.

If you love the taste of meat, but hate supporting its terrible repercussions, vegan meats are the way to go.

There is absolutely nothing wrong or hypocritical about vegans (or people wanting to eat less meat) eating vegan meats.

By eating vegan meat products, you get to enjoy the taste of meat (something we all grew up on and and were taught to love) without purposely killing animals, destroying the planet and creating viruses.

It’s a win win for everyone, so dig in if you miss the taste of meat!

My favorite vegan meats: