Dinner - What to Make - Having Vegitarians and Meat Eaters for Dinner

I would go with heart dishes that don't require meat... Lasagna, cheese enchiladas, vegetarian chili, spaghetti w/ marinara sauce - meatballs on the side, etc....

eggplant is a great meat substitute... eggplant parm, or one of my favorite dishes is to saute some eggplant with tomatoes (fresh or canned) and garlic. Serve over cooked gnocchi, ravioli or tortellini. Can put feta, goat cheese, or parm on top.

You could make meatless pasta with meatballs or italian sausage on the side. That covers both nicely...

I second the Mexican themed suggestions. Build your own tacos/fajitas, with lots of options for fillings.

Another option is taco salad. We love it! and our vegetarian friends do as well. it is cost-effective as well. We use lettuce, chopped onion, tomato, sliced olives, cilantro, fritos (or tortilla chips, but really, fritos are the best!), vegetarian refried beans, black beans, salsa, sour cream, avacado, and of course the taco meat. You can use the vegetarian faux-beef crumbles. Then everyone just builds their own salad. Have fun with your dinner! :)

What about make your own fajitas. You can have steak, chicken, and grilled portabella mushrooms as the "meat" part of the fajita.

I also vote for lasagna. However, you don't need to change your recipe at all, just instead of meat use the meatless crumbles that you can find in the vegetarian part of the freezer aisle at your grocery store. It's so simple, they work just like ground beef in the recipe and your meat lovers will never know the difference. Kids will love it too.

just the usual, vegetarians load up on the sides. Just make sure not to have bacon grease, chicken stock or stuff like that in the veggies. A big salad is a good idea too.

Tacos and/or burritos? Make sure if you buy canned refried beans that they say "vegetarian" on them - the others have hydrogenated lard in them!

A baked potato bar with toppings some of which are meat (bacon, chili) and some a protein source other than meat (Gimme Lean sausage, cheese). Or you could do mexican with black beans as an alternative to meat, spanish rice, and a southwest flavor veggie like zucchini and pepper fritters

The first thing that comes to mind is individual homemade pizzas - so easy - and you can have an array of different toppings to please everyone: sauteed strips of peppers and onions, mushrooms, eggplant, zucchini, etc.,as well as pepperoni, sliced meatballs or crumbled sausage for the meat lovers. I think that and a nice salad would make a great meal that would appeal to everyone. Good Luck!

vegetarian? meaning even no dairy? eggs? etc? that will be difficult because pasta requires cheese. so my suggestion is call up the vegetarian one and ask for what they would like, specifically. And if they have a recipe for that. If you're not vegetarian, let the vegetarian lead you :)
what did you get yourself into mama?

The Veggie Lasagna is a good idea or eggplant Parmesan/ chicken Parmesan. Or order Chinese food some with meat some with Tofu, Or Pizza some Veggi some meat kids like pizza too

Half my extended family is veg and the other half not so I usually make a ham or a roast and a few sides, making sure ALL the sides are veggie. Make sure one of the sides is hearty (pasta or potatoe dish) so the veggies don't feel like all they're eating is salad. Eggplant parm is a good side for a beef or pork roast.

I like greek pasta salad with ham (it's basically tortelini noodles, cucumbers, peppers, cherry tomatoes, feta cheese, red onion and a dressing of olive oil, lemon juice, garlic and basil - yummers!), cheesy garlic bread, and 2 or more other veggie sides (depending on how many people).

Make on veggie lasagna and one meat lasagna :-) Everyone like lasagna! LOL with nice cheese garlic bread and a salad !!! Enjoy xoxox

Spaghetti - make a red and a white sauce to put on the side and make meatballs and grilled chicken strips on the side as well. People can build their own plate and get what they want. Serve with a side salad and garlic toast.

I have the same situation over here. I'm the vegetarian in the family and everyone else eats meat. What I usually do is make all of the sides vegetarian and then just roast up some chicken. When I have guests over for dinner, I'll typically do a vegetarian pasta dish like homemade macaroni and cheese, veggie lasagna, or this Giada DeLaurentis Pasta Ponza recipe that I've made several times to rave reviews (it's super simple to make!):

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/pa...

Serve it with a really nice salad and some good crusty french bread, and you have a meal. I've usually found that meat eaters usually won't think twice about eating a really good quality pasta meal. As long as it is all yummy, it shouldn't be a problem.

Hope everything goes well for you.

My suggestion are:

- Build your own pizza (you can buy dough from any local pizzeria). This is great because it gets everyone talking, having fun, and the kids get to choose too!

- Mexican to include cheese enchilada & you could also have tacos (the vegetarians simply exclude meat or can make a meatless taco salad)

It's very considerate of you to think of all of your guests.
(:

I like making a lasagna. I get the oven ready noodles and it's super easy, plus easy to make vegetarian, just leave out any meat.

I deal with this scenario all the time. Mexican food is very conducive. You can have chicken, beef, or fish for build your own taco/burrito bar and vegetarians can have rice, bean cheese.

I usually make a veggie lasagna with sausages on the side.

Or spaghetti with meatballs on the side, both with salad and garlic bread.

I am a vegetarian, my SO and kids are not.
The easiest thing to do would be to make pasta. You can make meat sauce or meatballs, as well as have a vegetarian sauce. If you want to get fancy, you could even do a little "fixins" bar, and also offer veggies, mushrooms, etc.

I make a dish called "Tasty lentil tacos". It's from the website www.allrecipes.com - my family loves it!! They say they don't miss the meat at all, because the lentils are so flavorful.

Also, I would say that if you decide to make a meat dish with plenty of sides to fulfill the vegetarian's appetite, I would suggest one of the sides have some sort of protein in it (beans, nuts, cheese, etc). I am not a full-fledged vegetarian, but have really limited my meat intake. Many of the sides to main dishes are very starchy, which doesn't provide a necessary protein. That being said, if I ever did become completely vegetarian, I would never expect to go to someone's house and have a meal made especially for me, even if they knew I was vegetarian. I'm sure most of them are aware of the challenges of cooking that way - especially when there's another couple involved. *You probably know this, but if they are vegetarian and not vegan, they can have dairy/butter/eggs, etc. Vegans do not.

Good luck!

i would actually go to allrecipies.com and look for vegitarian meals and just make an all vegitarian meal you can make a very hearty meal for everyone and it be satisfying for everyone and the meat eaters wont miss it

Pasta (spaghetti or cheese tortellini). Split the sauce and put meat in some but not all. Salad, breadsticks or french bread and you have a meal.