Swap 'ns What! give your weekly menu a plant-based twist
26 February 2026
After years of impact with the Week Without Meat, there is now a renewed, year-long campaign inspiring the Netherlands to eat plant-based food more often: Swap 'ns What! The message is positive and inviting. You don't have to radically eliminate anything from your diet, but you can make a change. A meal, an ingredient or a regular habit. It is these small adjustments that make the difference.
Whereas the Week Without Meat focused on one week in March, Wissel 'ns Wat! encourages more conscious choices throughout the year. Not from restriction, but from inspiration. It's about variety, taste and discovering how easy it can be to eat plant-based food more often. By focusing not on what you leave out, but on what you add, the step becomes smaller. A regular vegetarian day, a plant-based lunch once or a familiar dish in a new twist: everything counts.
Start with what you already know
Making a switch is easiest with dishes you already regularly put on the table. Take your pasta day, for example. Instead of a classic bolognese with minced meat, opt for a vegetarian spaghetti bolognese with lentils. This has the same savoury flavour and hearty texture, but is completely plant-based. A pasta with grilled vegetables and ricotta also shows that you don't sacrifice anything on comfort or taste.
Love Mexican? Tacos or a burrito bowl do great with spicy beans, corn and avocado. Legumes provide protein and a full bite, while vegetables add colour and freshness. In this way, switching doesn't become a compromise, but rather an enrichment of your meal.
Dutch cuisine changes too
Typical Dutch dishes lend themselves surprisingly well to a vegetable twist. A vegetarian hotchpotch with vegetarian smoked sausage or a kale stew with nuts and old cheese remain recognisable and familiar, but fit in better with a future-proof diet. By making small adjustments, the basics remain the same, while you imperceptibly eat more plant-based meals. This makes it accessible and achievable for everyone at the table.
Every change counts
The power of Wissel 'ns Wat! is not in perfection, but in repetition. Not doing everything differently one week a year, but regularly making a conscious choice for variation. Eating plant-based more often means discovering new flavours, putting more vegetables and legumes on your plate and cooking more creatively.
So change your Wednesday meal, change your regular recipe or simply change your perspective in the kitchen. On Veggipedia, you'll find plenty of inspiration to get started today. Want to find out more about the campaign? Check out the campaign website.