89 Vegetarian Dinner Party Mains for Easy Entertaining
Planning a vegetarian dinner party is an opportunity to try that dish you’ve been meaning to cook since you saw it in the Epicurious newsletter. It’s a chance to fire up the grill—or get out your prettiest enameled casserole dish. And most important, it’s the moment to go big on whatever looks best at the market. Below you’ll find vegetarian recipes that look and feel impressive, but actually won’t require any fuss or last-minute stress, so you can extend the invite to everyone you’ve been meaning to see lately. Scroll down to start saving all of our vegetarian dinner party favorites.
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Photo by Eva Kosmas Flores1/89Cauliflower Puttanesca
If you need to make sure your vegetarian dinner party is also friendly to folks who eat gluten-free, this quick showstopper is an excellent plan. Instead of pasta, the savory olive-and-caper-packed sauce dresses tender roasted cauliflower.
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Katherine Sacks2/89White Pizza With Shaved Vegetables and Pesto
Make it a pizza party with this pretty green pie, topped with a veritable salad of peas, crisp asparagus ribbons, zucchini, leeks, and watercress.
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Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Anna Stockwell3/89Roasted Cabbage Steaks With Crispy Chickpeas and Herby Croutons
Cabbage turns sweet when roasted at a high temperature, but the star of this vegetarian dinner is the luxurious and lemony garlic sauce.
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Micah Marie Morton4/89Eggplant Parmesan
Be sure to use a vegetarian-friendly parm for this recipe—and lots of gooey mozzarella.
Photo by Elizabeth Coetzee, Food styling by Micah Marie Morton5/89Tater Tot Chaat
A big platter of chaat makes a festive dinner. And starting with a base of frozen tater tots is even more fun.
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Rebecca Jurkevich6/89Pulled Mushroom Tacos With Salsa Guille
If your dinner party is a potluck, everyone could pitch in by bringing fillings for vegetarian tacos, plus salsas and crunchy toppings. But if you’re narrowing it to just one recipe, this is the place to start.
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Anna Stockwell7/89Pasta With 15-Minute Burst Cherry Tomato Sauce
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Micah Marie Morton9/89Fusilli in Creamy Vegan Asparagus Pesto
Photo by Andrew Purcell, Prop Styling by Alex Brannian, Food Styling by Carrie Purcell10/89Green Bean Niçoise Salad
Photo by Elizabeth Coetzee, Food Styling by Rebecca Jurkevich11/89Creamy Mushroom Lasagna
Keeping your lasagna tomato- and meat-free means the spotlight really shines on the earthy mushrooms and creamy ricotta. Serve this baked pasta dish with a simple, tart salad on the side.
Photo by Elena Heatherwick12/89Confit Tandoori Chickpeas
Slowly cooking chickpeas with olive oil, whole garlic cloves, ginger, tomatoes, chiles, cumin, coriander, and turmeric renders them deeply flavored and perfectly tender.
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Christopher Barsch13/89Grilled Jerk Tofu and Plantains With Mango Salsa
If you haven’t been freezing your tofu, you’ll be delighted to see how well it absorbs this flavorful marinade after thawing. Grilled plantains make the ultimate side.
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Sean Dooley14/89Marcella Hazan’s Butter, Tomato, and Onion Sauce
This pasta sauce from Italian cooking legend Marcella Hazan is perfect for spontaneous dinner invites. If you have canned tomatoes, an onion, and butter, you’re ready to rock.
