I'm a Dietitian & These Are My Favorite Vegetarian Anti-Inflammatory Recipes
Sweet Potato-Black Bean Tacos
Tender, smoky sweet potato is the star of these vegetarian tacos. A mashed black bean spread with onion holds everything in place. Serve with your favorite taco toppings.
Lentil Salad with Feta, Tomatoes, Cucumbers & Olives
This Mediterranean lentil salad, with chopped veggies, feta cheese and a light dressing, is perfect to have on hand for a quick lunch.
Spinach & Feta Scrambled Egg Pitas
This meatless dinner comes together in only 15 minutes, thanks to the convenience of frozen chopped spinach and crumbled feta. We've added a flavorful burst of sun-dried tomato tapenade to spread over the whole-wheat pita before nestling the scrambled eggs inside. If you can't find it, basil pesto or sun-dried tomato pesto also work well.
Mushroom & Tofu Stir-Fry
This tofu veggie stir-fry is quick and easy, making it a great go-to weeknight meal. Baked tofu has a firm, toothsome texture that crisps well in a hot pan. You can find it in flavors like teriyaki and sesame, both of which are delicious here. Or opt for a smoked version, which has the same texture with a more robust flavor. Serve over brown rice.
Caprese Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms
We've taken the key ingredients of the popular caprese salad—tomatoes, fresh mozzarella and basil—and piled them into portobello mushroom caps to make a delicious and satisfying vegetarian main dish.
Anti-Inflammatory Cherry-Spinach Smoothie
This healthy smoothie is not only delicious—it also boosts your daily dose of anti-inflammatory foods. It starts with a base of creamy gut-friendly kefir and includes cherries, which can lower the inflammatory marker C-reactive protein. Heart-healthy fats in avocado, almond butter and chia seeds deliver additional anti-inflammatory compounds to the body, while spinach offers a mix of antioxidants that sweep up harmful free radicals. Fresh ginger adds zing, plus a compound called gingerol, which preliminary studies suggest may improve inflammatory markers of heart disease if consumed daily. View Recipe
Open-Face Goat Cheese Sandwich with Tomato & Avocado Salad
This simple lunch comes together in just 10 minutes, making it a great option for busy days.
Chickpea Salad Sandwich
This vegan chickpea salad sandwich is lemony, bright and surprisingly delicious. It's got all the flavors of a classic tuna salad sandwich—dill, lemon and a bit of garlic—but with chickpeas instead to add a vegan source of protein and a healthy boost of fiber. Celery brings a nice crunch.
Eggs in Tomato Sauce with Chickpeas & Spinach
Simmer eggs in a rich tomatoey cream sauce studded with chickpeas and silky spinach for a super-fast vegetarian dinner. Serve with a piece of crusty bread to soak up the sauce. Be sure to use heavy cream; a lower-fat option might curdle when mixed with acidic tomatoes.
Vegan Coconut Chickpea Curry
To make this 20-minute vegan curry even faster, buy precut veggies from the salad bar at the grocery store. To make it a full, satisfying dinner, serve over cooked brown rice. When shopping for simmer sauce, look for one with 400 mg of sodium or less and check the ingredient list for cream or fish sauce if you want to keep this vegan. If you like a spicy kick, add a few dashes of your favorite hot sauce at the end.
Black Bean-Quinoa Bowl
This black bean and quinoa bowl has many of the usual hallmarks of a taco salad, minus the fried bowl. We've loaded it up with pico de gallo, fresh cilantro and avocado plus an easy hummus dressing to drizzle on top.
Easy Pea & Spinach Carbonara
Fresh pasta cooks up faster than dried, making it a must-have for fast weeknight dinners like this luscious yet healthy meal. Eggs are the base of the creamy sauce. They don't get fully cooked, so use pasteurized-in-the-shell eggs if you prefer.
Tart Cherry Nice Cream
This easy vegan tart cherry nice cream—made from only a few simple ingredients—is guaranteed to satisfy your sweet tooth and also deliver a boost of melatonin that may help you get a more restful night's sleep.
Linguine with Creamy Mushroom Sauce
This easy pasta recipe is an excuse to buy wild mushrooms, available at many grocery stores these days. Or if you prefer white buttons, those will work well too. The creamy linguine is ready in 40 minutes, so it's quick enough for an easy weeknight recipe but it feels fancy enough for entertaining.
Some inflammation is unavoidable, but high levels of chronic inflammation can contribute to a slew of unpleasant symptoms like mental fog, digestive distress and high blood pressure. Luckily, healthy lifestyle choices—like what we put on our plates—can help keep excess inflammation at bay. These are just some of the delicious recipes I turn to as a dietitian, when I'm looking for a boost of anti-inflammatory ingredients. These recipes showcase foods like leafy greens, legumes, cherries and ample herbs and spices, which have been shown to help lower inflammation. Additionally, all of these dishes skip the meat so they can fit seamlessly into a vegetarian eating pattern. Choosing to eat plant-based when I can helps me save money and eat in a more climate-friendly way, too. Recipes like Caprese-Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms and Sweet Potato-Black Bean Tacos are a win-win and worth a spot in your rotation. For more budget-friendly recipes and beginner cooking tips, check out Thrifty.