High Protein Vegetarian Recipes
One of the greatest concerns of vegetarians is their low protein intake, which can negatively affect their health. But it’s important to emphasize that there’s a huge variety of high protein vegetarian recipes: here are some of them.
Protein: necessary for good health
Nutrition experts say that the minimum daily protein intake should be 1.2 grams, per kilogram of weight. So, if a person weights 70 kilograms, then he or she would need at least 85 grams of protein every day.
Even though meat offers good amounts of protein, this is not an option for vegetarians. However, there are many vegetarian recipes high in protein and carbohydrates that, apart from being very easy to make, are delicious and will provide you with the right amount of this macronutrient.
The best high protein vegetarian recipes
Vegetarian couscous with caramelized onions
This recipe is for four servings; it has a delicious flavor and provides about 24 grams of protein per serving. In this particular case, the protein comes mainly from the wheat.
Ingredients:
- 500 grams of pre-cooked durum wheat semolina
- 600 grams of onion
- Extra virgin olive oil
- 150 grams of sliced and peeled almonds
- 200 grams of raisins
- 50 grams of butter
- 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons of honey
Directions:
- First step is to peel the onion and chop it. Then, sauté with a little bit of olive oil for 10 minutes approximately. Drain it from the oil and put it aside for later.
- Secondly, soak the raisins in warm water.
- In a non-stick pan put 50 grams of butter and add the onion, the honey and the cinnamon. Cook this mix at a low heat for about 20 minutes; then add the raisins and almonds and cook for another five minutes while stirring.
- Prepare the semolina, preferably pre-cooked. For this, pour over a jug of half a liter of water and the rest of the butter and salt. Heat it up in the microwave for four minutes.
- Finally, put the semolina on a plate and make a hole in the center, where you’ll put the onion preparation.
Southwest salad
This salad is very refreshing and delicious; beans and quinoa are the key ingredients in this recipe, given that they contain a large amount of protein.
Ingredients:
- 1 serving of red quinoa cooked
- 1/2 cup black beans
- 300 grams of romaine lettuce
- 1/2 a cup of sweet corn
- One small tomato diced
- 100 grams of red bell pepper
- 2 tablespoons of red onion diced
- 100 grams of potatoes
Ingredients (dressing):
- 50 ml of lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon of mustard
- 100 grams of soft tofu, previously drained
- 1 teaspoon of minced garlic
- 1/2 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar
- A pinch of finely chopped cilantro
- Sea salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
- In a food processor blend the ingredients for the dressing
- Then, in a bowl put the ingredients for the salad and put the dressing on the top. Serve and enjoy.
Vegetarian burger
This burger is very easy to make and chickpeas, (the main ingredient) contain the right amount of protein to stay healthy.
Ingredients:
- 400 grams of cooked chickpeas
- 1 large onion
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 small red bell pepper
- Some lettuce leaves
- A couple of cucumber slices
- Two or three tomato slices
- Burger bread
- Salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
- Cook the vegetables in a non-stick pan with a little bit of oil and set aside for later. Try to cook them al dente, so that you preserve not only the flavor, but also the nutrients.
- Finely chop the bell pepper, the garlic and onion.
- Cook the chickpeas and mash them. To that, add the lemon juice, salt and pepper.
- Mix the chickpea dough with the cooked vegetables. Divide it into equal “meatballs” and shape those into patties.
- Then, in a pan with little oil cook both sides of the burgers.
- Finally put the burger inside the bread, add some lettuce, cucumber and tomatoes. Serve and enjoy this delicious recipe.