The Weekday Vegetarian Challenge

Happy Near Year, Readers and Eaters!

Just wanted to let you know that I’m heading up a 2025 Weekday Vegetarian challenge over on Substack this month. The first week’s meal plan went out in early January (so we can begin cooking on Monday, January 6), but you can start any time you want all year long. Every Friday, subscribers will receive a packet of five hand-picked-by-me nourishing vegetarian dinners that you can cook the following week. (Like that Smoky Black Bean Bowl with Tomato Rice shown above.) Maybe you’ll only make four of them…or maybe you’ll only make one. Either way, congratulations! You’ve won the first battle: Deciding to start. This is all I ever hoped to accomplish with my Weekday Vegetarians book series: Meeting people where they are and dispensing zero judgment.

Here’s What to Expect

You’ll find a range of recipes in each week’s dispatch — I’ll never give you three straight nights of pastas or beans. There will be a healthy mix of everything: egg-based and tofu-based dishes, sandwiches, tacos, robust dinner salads and soups, and “large format” recipes like casseroles, enchiladas, and lasagnas.

I wish I could say that every single one of these recipes will be an under-30-minute, no-fuss, one-pot, crowd-pleasing undertaking. Many will be like that — so easy you’ll wonder why you even need an official recipe for it — but the truth is, some will require a little advance planning and maybe even breaking out a blender on a weeknight. I’ll always be upfront about this, just check the “degree of annoyance” rating on each recipe as you plan.

Shopping List FYI

Like previous meal plans, I’ve included your shopping list, but unlike previous meal plans, I’ve organized the shopping list by recipe (instead of by produce, pantry, etc) so if you decide to make, say, three of the five, it will be easy to figure out which ingredients you need and which ones you don’t.

Some of the recipes will call for a salad on the side or a hunk of crusty bread. You’ll find suggestions for those side dishes in a separate attached PDF called Simple Sides. Your weekly shopping list will not include ingredients for those side dishes. You’ll have to decide what you want and add to your shopping list accordingly.

Lastly

Don’t get too hung-up on the Monday-to-Friday “weekday” thing — just aim for more vegetarian dinners than not over the course of seven days, whether they happen on Tuesday or Sunday or whenever. And if you want a little crash course on vegetarian family dinners, here are a few tips.

OK, ready?

Head over to Substack to subscribe and get the Meal Plan for Week 1.

See you there!

Jenny

For more simple vegetarian recipes, check out my New York Times bestselling book The Weekday Vegetarians or the follow-up: The Weekday Vegetarians: Get Simple.

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