If your family is like many, then you might find yourselves eating meat-based dinners each and every night. However, meatless meals can be a good option for many families, even if you aren’t vegetarian. These are a few reasons why you should consider implementing meatless meals in your home at least a couple of nights a week.

1. Save Money

For one thing, if you are looking for ways to trim down your grocery budget, you should know that making meatless meals can often be a lot cheaper than serving meat with each dinner that you prepare. If you learn how to make tofu or if you just start using beans or other forms of non-meat protein in your meals, you can shave down your grocery budget significantly. In fact, you might be surprised by how much money you can save by eating less meat. Even on the nights when you don’t prepare meatless meals, you can continue to enjoy savings by using meat to flavor your dishes rather than serving a large piece of meat to each member of your family; for example, you can use meat to make stews, soups or casseroles that are also packed with veggies and other ingredients to cut costs.

2. Get Healthier

Even though meat can be healthy because it has plenty of protein, some forms of meat have a lot of fat grams and calories. If you are on a diet or if you just want to make sure that you maintain your weight, eating less meat can be a good way to do it. It can also be helpful with things like high blood pressure or high cholesterol, so if these are problems that you or someone else in your household has, then going meatless for at least some of your meals can be a good idea.

3. Try New Things

Some people get stuck in a rut of preparing the same foods and eating the same things over and over again. If you are running out of ideas for dinners to prepare for yourself and your family, it might be time for you to think outside of the box. For example, if you start preparing meatless meals for your family, you might have to start thinking more creatively and using ingredients that you may have never tried otherwise, such as tofu or certain vegetables. This can help you expand your palate, introduce your family to foods they have never tried before and experience new things.

As you can see, if you have not yet thought about implementing meatless meals in your household, it might be a good idea for you to do so. These are just a few of many reasons why serving meatless meals might be a good idea for your family. Luckily, there are a ton of great recipes out there that do not include meat, so you should be able to find some recipe inspiration if you are willing to put in a little bit of research.