Vegetarians can get enough protein from their food as long as they are eating a good variety of foods. Vegetarian sources of protein include dairy products, nuts, seeds, eggs, beans and pulses.
Special diets guidance
Vegetarian
Jamie loves cooking meat-free dishes and with an ever-growing range of vegetarian recipes on our website, it is getting easier to find delicious meals to cook. When following a vegetarian diet, it’s also important to be aware of any nutrients that may be missing from your diet.
Vegetarian recipesHow we classify our vegetarian recipes
All of our vegetarian recipes are based on guidelines from The Vegetarian Society and exclude all products that contain “any meat, poultry, game, fish, shellfish or any by-product of slaughter”.
This category includes recipes that contain dairy products and eggs. Please note, this list includes recipes that contain Parmesan, Camembert and Taleggio. Vegetarians should use a vegetarian hard or soft cheese alternative, as appropriate to the recipe.
While our vegetarian recipe selection includes recipes containing suet, we advise those following a vegetarian diet to replace these with vegetarian alternatives, available in most supermarkets.
Common nutrients that people on a vegetarian diet risk missing out on:
Vitamin B12 is found almost exclusively in animal products so making sure you are eating, not the meat, but other animal products, is a great way of avoiding deficiency. Vegetarian sources include fortified breakfast cereal, eggs, dairy products and yeast extracts, such as marmite.
In the UK we mostly get Vitamin D from meat, but vegetarian sources include eggs, fortified breakfast cereals and fortified margarine.
Please note that the most natural way of boosting your vitamin D intake is through exposure to sunlight.
Vitamin D is especially important for young children – they may need to take supplements if they’re not consuming enough through their diet – seek advice from your doctor if you’re concerned.
Meat sources of iron are much more bioavailable than non-meat sources, so eating iron rich foods regularly is important for vegetarians.
Vegetarian sources of iron include dark-green leafy vegetables, pulses, wholemeal bread and flour, fortified breakfast cereals, soya products, nuts and dried fruit (in particular, dates and apricots).
Women need more iron than men, so they need to be aware of the amounts they’re consuming.
More vegetarian recipe inspiration
