These Hearty Vegetarian Recipes Will Warm Your Soul
By: Jennifer Landis
Published: April 17, 2020

You want some comfort food — and we're not talking about the fried kind.
Instead, you want a hearty helping of vegetarian goodness that's warm and filling and will cozy you right up. We've got you covered — these 13 recipes are good for the soul.

1. Lentil Sweet Potato Shepherd's Pie by Minimalist Baker 
Nothing will warm you up like a hot, hearty casserole. This lentil sweet potato shepherd's pie has all the comforts of the traditional recipe, except, of course, there's no ground meat. Don't worry, though — the lentils will fill you right up. 

2. Butternut Squash Baked Pasta by Bon Appetit
An oven-baked pasta covered in bubbling cheese — what's more comforting than that? This vegetarian has both of those tasty elements, plus a healthy helping of butternut squash. The gourd's warm flavors reduce the amount of cheese you'll need to make this recipe tasty. We call that a win-win. 

3. Spinach and Mushroom Quesadillas by Five Heart Home 
Fire up a skillet and get to making these tasty spinach and mushroom quesadillas with a handful of pepper jack cheese. For further incentive, know that there are slices of avocado stuffed inside of the tortilla, too. Just make sure you have your favorite dipping sauces at the ready. 

4. Homemade Cheddar Pierogies by Half Baked Harvest 
A pastry shell filled with cheddar and potatoes — need we say more? This recipe is one of the more labor-intensive options on the list, as you'll be making dough and forming pierogies by hand. However, the result will be so tasty, so comforting, and so worth your time. 

5. Slow Cooker Tortilla Soup by Making Thyme for Health 
Soup warms the soul, thus making it one of the ultimate comfort foods. This recipe requires you to toss a bunch of ingredients into a slow cooker, let them meld all day long, and then eat. If you can handle that, then you should definitely whip up this soup on the next rainy day. And, when you get home from work, dinner will be ready — just ladle it out and top with sour cream, avocado, or anything else that'd go well with tortilla soup.

6. Roasted Vegetable Buddha Bowl by San-J
Roasting vegetables brings out such rich flavors in your produce. Plus, it transforms cold, crunchy veggies into warm, comforting elements of a hearty meal. This buddha bowl — which also contains tofu and any grain of your choosing — will taste great any day of the week.  

7. Gnocchi Mac and Cheese by Gimme Some Oven 
Okay, so, sometimes comfort food should be a bit indulgent. If you want to go there, then try this recipe for gnocchi mac and cheese. Not only does it feature fontina, cheddar, and parmesan, but it also contains potato dumplings. What more could a comfort-food recipe possibly need? 

8. White Bean and Mushroom Meatball Subs by Sobremesa
Bread is oh so comforting, but it can be made even more so when stuffed a few meatballs. Of course, as a vegetarian, you wouldn't make yours from ground chuck. This recipe teaches you how to make meatballs with no meat at all — you only need button mushrooms, white beans, breadcrumbs, and some spices. 

9. Sweet Potato Tater Tot Hot Dish by Pinch of Yum 
Not all vegetarian comfort foods have to be mains — we like this tater tot hot dish as an appetizer or snack on football Sundays, too. You'll need a cast-iron skillet or an equally as durable pan to prepare this recipe. After sauteing the veggies that build the base, you'll cover it all in a layer of tater tots. Then, it'll all bake together into gooey, dippable perfection. 

10. Quinoa-Stuffed Bell Peppers by Damn Delicious 
Are you looking for a recipe that doesn't require any fancy bakeware? If so, this one's for you. You'll de-stem and de-seed a half-dozen bell peppers, then use the veggies as your basin for baking the rest of the ingredients. What emerges from the oven is a hearty, quinoa-and-bean filled dinner — and you can eat the bell pepper bowl. 

11. Quinoa, Mushroom and Zucchini Veggie Burgers by Bowl of Delicious 
We all crave a burger from time to time — it's just harder for vegetarians to find one that hits the spot. This homemade version will certainly fill your burger quota for the week. And you can easily customize the toppings and sides so that you feel satisfied — fries and ketchup, anyone? 
12. Spaghetti Squash and Broccoli Alfredo by Spoon Fork Bacon 
This comfort food recipe is winning for two reasons. Firstly, you get to eat alfredo sauce, which is so creamy and delicious. But the recipe's also great because it revolves around spaghetti squash instead of real pasta. In other words, you can eat a ton of it and feel great that it's all veggie. 

13. Homemade Spicy Ramen With Tofu by Pinch of Yum 
Maybe this recipe will remind you of childhood. The only difference is that you'll actually be making ramen instead of pouring dried noodles from a packet into boiling water. In fact, we think once you try actual homemade ramen, you'll never crave the shelf-borne kind ever again. 
Go Veggie, Get Cozy
The internet is your oyster — there are so many vegetarian comfort food recipes out there. We say you start here with 13 of our tried-and-true favorites. All you have to decide is which one you'll try first.