The Betty Crocker editors seem to be aiming for a meat-eating American audience who trusts the Betty Crocker already on their shelf, is curious about the idea of vegetarianism, and is overwhelmed by all the other resources for doing that exploration. Perhaps this is unsurprising, in retrospect.

At about 200 one-recipe-per-page-at-best pages, this cookbook is so thin compared to most Betty Crockers that I suspect it's mostly lifting meatless recipes from existing content. The recipes are extremely American, if a bit more international in flavor than the 1970s Betty Crockers. For me as an actual vegetarian, the recommendations for what kind of meat to add to dishes is disconcerting. This book also doesn't have the "core skills" content that I'd turn to Betty Crocker to actually help with, like what are the various ways to prepare an egg, or how are all the ways you can make frosting. It's not a terrible cookbook (lots of nice pictures and recipes aren't half bad), but I'm also not its target audience. ( )

I've found this book a good source of vegetarian recipes that the rest of my family will actually eat without griping. It includes the standard information on pasta, beans, and grains, as well as nutritional information. It even gives ideas for what type of meat the carnivores would like with some of the recipes. Definitely a good use of our Betty Crocker points. ( )