A collection of spring vegetarian dinner recipes, including produce like asparagus, spinach, new potatoes, and other spring vegetables. These are recipes I turn to every spring to cook seasonally.
Spring Vegetarian Dinner Recipes
Spring is one of the most inspiring seasons for cooking, and these vegetarian spring dinner recipes feature the best of the season. New potatoes, asparagus, fresh and wild greens, even a little rhubarb – you’ll find plenty of ideas here. If you’re a gardener, forager, or just like to eat seasonally, this is a great collection for you.
See below for three sections, divided into salads, soups and stews, and other mains, all made with springtime ingredients. The salads and soups are filling meals and make great dinners as is. Every recipe includes storage instructions so you can make it ahead or freeze for later.
I hope this can inspire you if you’re on a journey toward more seasonal cooking, or are shifting to a more plant-based diet, or just need a few ideas for weeknight dinners this spring. These recipes are easily adaptable and can all be ready in less than an hour from start to finish.
I first published this collection in 2019. It’s been updated to reflect new recipes that have been added to Occasionally Eggs and to make it easier to navigate and more helpful to readers.
I don’t use affiliate links. Any links you see here are to other recipes or related information, not paid links.
These are spring salads with added protein mostly through beans and lentils, for filling but light meals that work just as well for a packed lunch as a weeknight dinner. Most of these are ready in about half an hour, or a little longer but with very little hands-on time needed.
Roasted Carrot Salad with Tahini and Lentils
This easy roasted carrot salad is mixed with lentils, greens, & topped with a creamy dairy-free tahini dressing for an easy weeknight dinner great all year.
This summer strawberry salad is packed with the best of the season – early summer berries, fresh greens, herbs, and flowers. It's spring in a bowl, with lentils and a sweet strawberry vinaigrette.
Roasted New Potato Salad with Lentils and Herb Dressing
This roasted French potato salad with lentils and a herby dressing is a far cry from standard mayo-filled potato salad – it's very light and a meal in itself with protein-packed lentils and spinach. The herb vinaigrette lifts everything up here, with dill, chives, and a little spicy mustard, perfect for picnics and barbecues.
This vegan white bean salad is mixed with a spring-green lemon herb dressing, and turned into a meal with rucola, naan, and roasted shallots. Quick, filling, and super healthy, it’s a great salad to make ahead of time for work lunches or as a weeknight dinner idea.
A simple 15 minute Moroccan carrot salad with quinoa and chickpeas for busy days. Healthy, vegan, and ideal for packed lunches or a quick dinner. Dates, lemon, and parsley round out this filling salad.
This roasted rhubarb salad with rye croutons and vegan labneh ticks all the boxes for a fabulous vegetarian meal salad – protein, fruit, veg, bread, and plenty of greens. Perfect for the transition time between spring and summer, with both blueberries and sweet roasted rhubarb.
It’s usually still plenty cold enough to have soup in spring, and these recipes are made with ingredients like fresh carrots, leek, peas, and asparagus. I’ve included several wild greens soups here that aren’t necessarily meals as is, but are nice light dinners with a couple of eggs or something like the lentil patties below.
Chickpea Noodle Soup with Parsley and Lemon
Vegan chickpea noodle soup with bright accents of parsley and lemon to lighten up this otherwise winter soup. With plenty of vegetables and whole grain pasta for a vegetarian spin on the classic.
Vegan potato leek soup with lemon for a lightened up version of the classic comfort food dish. This simple meal is perfect for cosy autumn and winter meals or with the first spring vegetables.
Vegan red lentil soup with carrots, lentils, and a tomato base. This simple soup is a weeknight staple and can be made with common pantry items like canned tomatoes, frozen spinach, and dried red lentils. It takes about half an hour from start to finish and freezes well.
Spring green minestrone is a twist on the classic, with seasonal vegetables like asparagus, peas, and plenty of pesto. With creamy white beans, it's a meal in a bowl, but light enough that it makes sense to be eating a soup even in warm weather.
A healthier vegan borscht, packed with winter vegetables and plenty of fresh dill. The veggies are shredded in a food processor to speed things up here.
These coconut rice noodles are packed with spring green vegetables like asparagus, spinach, and zucchini, and only need about 15 minutes from start to finish. Vegan, gluten free (with brown rice noodles), and with a creamy coconut milk ginger base.
This easy vegan white bean soup with lemon is light, healthy, and still cozy, just right for a quick weeknight dinner. About 30 minutes from start to finish and a meal in a bowl!
This budget friendly, healthy vegan lentil and potato stew is full of comfort food goodness and seasonal ingredients, like carrots, greens, & winter herbs.
This is where things get really interesting, with pasta, patties, pancakes, and all the other seasonal mains that didn’t fit in above. Many of these recipes are inspired by my garden, so you’ll see some that use a ridiculous amount of chard, for example, because it does take over at some point.
Some recipes here feature broccoli, and for spring, this is purple sprouting broccoli, one of my favourite crops.
Lemon Broccoli Pasta
A very easy and quick one-pot dinner, this broccoli pasta has a light lemon sauce and the broccoli is cooked with the pasta water.
German-style thin spinach pancakes make a delicious vehicle for any fillings you like – pack these gluten free pancakes full with vegetables for an easy green weeknight dinner.
Vegan broccoli pizza crust, made with "riced" broccoli and chickpea flour (no eggs!), and topped with spring green vegetables for a very plant forward pizza. The base can be made as smaller flatbreads instead of a pizza base and used for sandwiches, sides, and snacks.
These vegetarian quinoa patties are loaded with winter greens like chard, spinach, or kale. Gluten-free, dairy-free, and very easy, these are a great quick dinner option.
This dairy and gluten-free beet tart is surprisingly simple to make, with a press in chickpea and oat flour crust, and shredded potatoes mixed with the beet base. It makes a beautiful weekend lunch or easy weeknight dinner.
Vegan pasties filled with leeks, caramelised onion, and green peas. Pasties are a traditional Cornish pastry recipe, with savoury filling enclosed in pastry.
If you make any of these Spring Vegetarian Meals or any other spring recipes on Occasionally Eggs, please take a moment to rate the recipe and leave a comment below. It’s such a help to others who want to try the recipe. For more OE, follow along on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest, purchase the Occasionally Eggs cookbook, or subscribe for new posts via email.
About Alexandra Daum
Alexandra Daum is a professional recipe developer, food photographer, and cookbook author. She started sharing carefully tested vegetarian recipes in 2014 and has since published hundreds of recipes with seasonal ingredients and whole grains as the focus. Her work has been featured on CTV, in House & Home and Chatelaine, on popular websites like Buzzfeed and Best Health, and in countless other publications.
About Alexandra Daum
Alexandra Daum is a professional recipe developer, food photographer, and cookbook author. She started sharing carefully tested vegetarian recipes in 2014 and has since published hundreds of recipes with seasonal ingredients and whole grains as the focus. Her work has been featured on CTV, in House & Home and Chatelaine, on popular websites like Buzzfeed and Best Health, and in countless other publications.