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If you are looking to serve a delicious vegetarian dinner, this veggie meatloaf is the perfect choice. When you start with two convenience items from the store, the prep work takes less than 10 minutes. You won’t have to chop or sauté anything to get started!
Unlike my vegan meatloaf, this recipe relies on eggs and cottage cheese for texture and binding. The loaf holds together beautifully, slices easily, and has more than 20% protein per serving.
It’s a perfect gluten-free main course for a holiday like Thanksgiving or Christmas, but it’s also easy enough to enjoy as a regular weeknight dinner.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Featured Review
“This loaf was excellent. Delicious flavor and texture. Even carnivores liked it.” -Annie
Veggie Meatloaf Ingredients
- Lentils. I highly recommend shopping for cooked lentils to save yourself some time. You can buy these canned or in a vacuum-sealed pack at the store. This recipe assumes you’re using cooked green or brown lentils, which have a firmer texture than red lentils do.
- Brown Rice. Use a shortcut and start with frozen, reheated rice so you don’t have to cook anything extra before getting started. (I buy frozen rice from Trader Joe’s, but you can also cook this ahead of time and freeze in 1-cup portions for easy reheating.)
- Cottage Cheese. This adds a magical texture and protein to the meatloaf. Don’t skip it! And use full-fat when possible.
- Eggs. These bind the loaf together and help it rise as it bakes.
- Parmesan. This is added for flavor and texture.
- Walnuts. When pulsed in a food processor, the walnuts act as an alternative to breadcrumbs, only they’re naturally gluten-free.
- Dried Spices. These add flavor with no extra chopping. You’ll need garlic powder, dried thyme, salt, and black pepper.
How to Make Vegetarian Meatloaf
Step 1:
Preheat the oven to 375ºF. Prepare a loaf pan by lightly spraying it with oil, then press a piece of parchment paper into the bottom of the pan. This will ensure you can easily remove the lentil loaf later.
Add the walnuts to a food processor and pulse them briefly until they resemble coarse flour.
Step 2:
Add in the cooked lentils, rice, parmesan, cottage cheese, eggs, thyme, garlic powder, salt, and black pepper. Pulse several times until the mixture looks well combined, but not pureed.
There should still be plenty of texture!
Step 3:
Transfer the meatloaf mixture to the prepared pan, then spread it out evenly with a spatula.
Bake at 375ºF for 1 hour, or until the top has risen in the center and feels relatively firm to the touch. (It’s okay if it’s a little juicy looking when you press on it.)
Serving Tips
Let the lentil loaf cool in the pan for at least 15 minutes before slicing into it. The loaf may flatten as it cools. Slice into 1-inch thick pieces for a hearty main course.
Storage Tip
Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. Reheat individual slices in an oven at 350ºF for 8 to 10 minutes, or until the center is heated through again.
The Best Vegetarian Meatloaf You’ll Ever Make
Ingredients
- 1 cup walnuts (not roasted or salted)
- 1 cup cooked brown rice
- 1 ½ cups cooked brown lentils
- 1 cup cottage cheese (4% milk fat)
- ¾ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 4 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375ºF and lightly grease a 9" by 5" loaf pan. Press a piece of parchment paper into the bottom of the pan, so the loaf will be easy to remove later.
- Add the walnuts to a 12-cup food processor fitted with an "S" blade. Process briefly, until the walnuts are coarsely ground, almost like a flour. Next, add in the cooked rice, lentils, cottage cheese, Parmesan, eggs, thyme, garlic, salt, and pepper. Pulse the mixture 6 to 8 times, until it looks evenly mixed but not pureed. There should still be plenty of texture.
- Transfer the meatloaf mixture to the prepared pan and use a spatula to spread it evenly on top. Bake at 375ºF for 1 hour, or until the top rises in the center and feels relatively firm to the touch. (It's okay if juices are visible when the loaf is pressed.)
- Let the loaf cool in the pan for at least 15 minutes. The top may flatten as it cools. Then use the parchment paper to lift the loaf out of the pan. Slice and serve warm with your favorite holiday sides and gravy.
- Leftover vegetarian meatloaf can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. Reheat individual slices in the oven at 350ºF for 8 to 10 minutes, or until the center is warm again.
Notes
Nutrition
More Healthy Holiday Recipes
- Wild Rice Stuffing
- Sweet Potato Casserole
- Holiday Salad
- Gluten-Free Christmas Cookies
- Dairy-Free Mashed Potatoes
If you try this vegetarian meatloaf recipe, please leave a comment and star rating below, letting me know how you like it.
Is it one cup of dried rice or one cup of cooked rice ?
1 cup of cooked rice. Hope you enjoy it!
Hello! I would love to try this recipe, but with a non-dairy alternative to the cottage cheese. (Eggs are not a problem, but dairy is.) Thankfully there are several tasty ‘whole food’ alternatives to cheese on the market, some reminiscent of quark and cream cheeses, but I haven’t noticed any that resemble cottage cheese. Any advice or recommendations would be much appreciated! Thanks!
This loaf is absolutely delicious. It comes together quickly if rice and lentils are cooked ahead of time. The flavor is so good and it’s got great texture. I used a 9×7 casserole dish so it cooked a little quicker, about 50 min instead of an hour. My new favorite ❤️
Very easy recipe. I made in the morning to bake at night. Everyone raved and wanted recipe. No leftovers. Family asking for it again. I made a glaze of chili sauce, Dijon mustard and brown sugar which I added halfway through baking.
Allergic to walnuts – are pecans a good substitute in this recipe?
Yes, definitely!
I’d like to use this recipe to make meatballs instead of meatloaf. Are there any modifications you would recommend to do so?
I’ve been meaning to try that, too! I think I would just make the mixture as written and roll them into 1-ounce balls to bake. Let me know if you experiment with it soon! I’ll put it on my to-do list, as well.
My newly vegetarian daughter requested this, and she even had a friend over for dinner and we all liked it! It was such a surprise!
I have a question to ask regarding the quantities of lentils and rice. Does the recipe call for one cup of lentils and one cup of rice after they are cooked, or do you measure one cup of lentils and one cup of rice before you cook it? Just want to be really clear before I start making this wonderful sounding recipe.
Great question! They are already cooked before you measure. I used the steamed lentils (vacuum sealed from the refrigerated section) and thawed frozen brown rice from Trader Joe’s when testing this recipe, as a quick shortcut. Hope you love it!
I love your recipes. Would ricotta cheese work in place of cottage cheese? If not, what else might be a good substitute? Thanks!
Yes, I think ricotta would be similar enough! Let me know how you like it.
Excited to try this! I will report back!
I hope you love it, Andrea!