Plant based partying: from protein transition to grazing board

Ask at a birthday party who has had a meat free dinner this week, and plenty of hands go up. The figures back them up. A quarter of all main meals eaten in the Netherlands in 2023 were vegetarian, reports Statistics Netherlands, the CBS. Yet on many party tables the meat still sits in the middle, with one small bowl marked ‘vegetarian’ at the edge.

It can be done differently, and the party only gets better for it. How do the Dutch eat today, where does the government want to go, and how do you set out a borrel, the Dutch drinks party, or a buffet where vegetarian and vegan guests feel as much at home as the meat eaters?

What is the protein transition?

The protein transition, or eiwittransitie, is the shift from animal protein towards more plant protein on our plates. The Dutch government wants an average of 50 percent of the protein people get from food to come from plant products by 2030, and 50 percent from animal products, according to its page on sustainable food. It also wants supermarkets, caterers and the hospitality trade to offer more sustainable food.

Things are moving the right way, but slowly. According to the RIVM, the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, people ate less meat and more plant food in 2019 to 2021 than in the 2012 to 2016 survey. The RIVM also looked at the environment: animal food, such as meat, dairy and cheese, had the biggest impact.

According to the latest Protein Monitor of Wageningen University & Research, 61 percent of the protein eaten in 2025 came from animal sources and 39 percent from plants, almost the same as in 2024 and 2023. ‘The transition to more plant protein is not getting anywhere,’ says researcher Marleen Onwezen.

How do the Dutch eat today?

Most Dutch people eat meat, but far from every day. The CBS set out the groups for 2023, using figures from the Health Survey it runs with the RIVM and the Voedingscentrum, the Netherlands Nutrition Centre:

• Flexitarians, 22 percent: they do eat meat, but have a main meal without meat or fish at least three days a week.
• Pescatarians, 2 percent: no meat, but fish.
• Vegetarians, 2 percent: no meat and no fish.
• Vegans, 0.5 percent: plant food only.

Together, 5 percent eat no meat at all. The middle group is much larger: 43 percent eat a vegetarian main meal one or two days a week, and 31 percent never do. Of all main meals in 2023, 63 percent included meat, 12 percent fish and 25 percent were vegetarian.

There are clear differences. Women are more often vegetarian, pescatarian or flexitarian than men, 31 against 23 percent. Among people aged 25 to 35, 32 percent eat vegetarian always or at least three times a week. And the reasons are shifting: in 2023, concern for the climate was the reason given most often for eating no or less meat. That same year, 35 percent of adults said they had started eating less meat over the past year.

For your guest list, the lesson is simple: the vegetarian dish is not just for the one vegetarian. Make the plant based dishes as generous as everything else.

Why does plant based food suit a party table?

Because a plant based dish works for everyone. A meat eater will happily take a spoonful of lentil salad, but a vegan can do nothing with the chicken satay. The more dishes are plant based, the less you need to sort out who eats what.

Health advice is moving the same way. On 9 April 2026 the Voedingscentrum presented a renewed Schijf van Vijf, the Dutch Wheel of Five food guide. Pulses get a bigger role, going from 120 to 180 g to 250 g a week. Meat goes from a maximum of 500 g to 300 g a week, of which no more than 100 g red meat. You can choose advice with or without meat, with or without fish, or fully plant based.

The mood is shifting as well. The Protein Monitor for 2025 found that more people intend to eat plant based protein rich products than a year earlier. More people also feel that eating plant based is becoming more normal around them. And the average price of plant protein products is now lower than that of animal ones.

Make plant based the default, not the alternative

Serve the plant based dish as a normal dish with a name of its own, not as ‘the vegetarian option’. Research by Wageningen University & Research shows that this makes a difference.

The researchers redesigned the menu of a Dutch restaurant so that the plant based dishes looked like the default. Every meat dish stayed on the menu, so everyone was free to choose. The share of a bean dish then rose from 8.6 to 80 percent, compared with an equivalent meat dish. For a seaweed dish it went from 16.1 to 58.3 percent. The results were published in the journal Appetite in 2022.

You can do the same at a party. Call the dish ‘roast pumpkin with lentils and tahini’ instead of ‘vegetarian alternative’. Put it in the middle of the table, not at the far end next to the napkins. And let the meat be one of the choices, not the centrepiece.

Enough protein on the grazing board and the buffet

Put at least one real source of protein out with every round: pulses, tofu, tempeh or nuts. That way a guest who eats no meat does not have to make do with vegetables and bread.

Pulses are the easiest starting point. They contain protein, iron and vitamin B1, the Voedingscentrum writes. Tofu and tempeh, made from soya beans, count as pulses too. Hummus and falafel made from chickpeas can also count, as long as they contain enough pulses. The advice is at least 250 g of pulses a week, and 430 g for people who eat no meat.

A few ideas that work well at a party:

• On the grazing board: hummus, a white bean dip, roasted chickpeas, small falafel and a bowl of unsalted nuts.
• Warm with the drinks: skewers of marinated tofu or tempeh.
• On the buffet: a chickpea curry, a bean chilli or a lentil salad with roasted vegetables.
• Alongside: rice, bulgur or couscous, and a big platter of grilled vegetables.

How do you make every guest feel welcome?

By being clear. A guest who eats vegetarian or vegan feels most at home when they do not have to ask what is in every dish.

• A card by each dish with its name, followed by vegetarian or vegan. A small symbol works too, if you use it consistently.
• A serving spoon of its own for each dish. That keeps meat juices out of the vegan salad.
• Sauces and dressings made with yoghurt, cheese or egg on the side, so the dish itself stays vegan.
• Plant based dishes at the front or in the middle, and well filled, so there is enough left later for guests who eat no meat.

Allergies or coeliac disease call for more care. For that, read vegetarian and gluten free guests and the 14 food allergens.

Vegetarian and vegan catering from Maximus

At Maximus Catering, vegetarian and vegan are always possible. Gluten free, lactose free and halal are available on request.

Chef David Nagib, owner of Maximus Catering in Ede, makes grazing boards from € 12.50 per person, for 8 people or more, and a hot buffet from € 22.50 per person, for 15 people or more. These are indicative prices, including VAT. What goes on the board or the buffet, you agree directly with David. Combinations are listed under packages.

Maximus Catering is based in Ede but cooks all over the Netherlands, so catering in Amsterdam is just as possible as catering in Ede. A plant based buffet or borrel in Ede, Amsterdam or beyond? Call chef David Nagib on +31 6 14336361 or get in touch.