Meatless Fridays for Lent 2026: Vegetarian Pizza in Kissimmee

Ash Wednesday lands on February 18 this year, so the Friday dinner question is about to come back to a lot of Kissimmee kitchens. Somebody in the house is giving up meat on Fridays, and somebody else would eat pepperoni every night if you let them. Whoever's in charge of dinner has to find something that keeps everybody at the same table.

It comes up every spring, so we've put our answer in one place.

When does Lent start in 2026?

According to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Lent 2026 runs from Ash Wednesday, February 18, through Holy Thursday, April 2. Good Friday follows on April 3, and Easter Sunday is April 5.

The first meatless Friday is February 20. Count them out on the calendar and you get seven Fridays, the last one being Good Friday, plus Ash Wednesday itself. That's eight dinners where the Catholics in your house will be skipping the meatballs, so whoever orders has eight chances to get it right the first time.

What are the meatless Friday rules for Lent?

The bishops keep it fairly simple. Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are days of fasting and abstinence, and every other Friday in Lent is a day of abstinence, which means no meat. The abstinence rule applies to Catholics from age 14 on. Fasting means one full meal and two smaller ones that together don't add up to a second full meal, and it applies from age 18 through 59. People who are ill, pregnant or nursing are excused, and your parish priest is a much better person to ask about the fine print than your pizza guy.

Two details matter when you're ordering pizza. First, "meat" in this rule means meat from land animals, and that includes chicken. Fish is allowed, which is why so many parishes run Friday fish fries this time of year. Second, today's rule isn't about eggs or dairy. The 1966 Church document that set the modern rules says meat is off the table but milk products are not. For a pizzeria, that means cheese and ricotta are fine, and so is a long, stretchy pull of mozzarella on a Friday night in March.

A note for the anchovy people: anchovies are fish, so a cheese pie with anchovies on top works on a Lenten Friday, even though it isn't vegetarian. We don't run a fish fry, but we do have the anchovies.

How many people eat meatless meals now?

If it feels like more of your friends and family are skipping meat some nights, the numbers back you up. In a Harris Poll done for the Vegetarian Resource Group in early January 2026, 67 percent of U.S. adults said they eat vegetarian meals at least sometimes. Only about 5 percent said they never eat meat at all, and 3 percent were fully vegan.

So the strict vegetarian is still fairly rare, but the part-time one is the norm. A separate 2025 report from the food research firm Datassential, covered by Green Queen, found that about 24 percent of Americans said they were actively limiting how much meat they eat.

That's the household we're writing this for. Maybe Grandma keeps Lent and your teenager went vegetarian back in the fall. Nobody wants to cook three meals, and nobody wants the vegetarian at the table stuck picking toppings off a slice.

Vegetarian pizza in Kissimmee: the pies with no meat

Here's the meat-free side of our pizza menu, with what goes on each one.

Veggie Pizza. Mushrooms, onions, green peppers, tomatoes, spinach and black olives. This is the one to order when you want a pie that's loaded. It comes in 12, 16 and 18 inch sizes.

Mediterranean Pizza. Spinach, tomatoes, mushrooms, onions, black olives, garlic, feta and mozzarella. The feta gives it a salty bite, and it's a good pick for anyone who finds a plain cheese pie a little quiet.

The White Pizza (Bianca). Ricotta, mozzarella and garlic, with no red sauce. It's rich, and it's the one that kids who claim they "don't like vegetables" will happily eat on a Friday.

Cheese pizza, whole or by the slice. Our New York cheese pie is meat-free as it comes. A plain slice is $2.99, and you can add toppings to a slice for $0.75 each. The meat-free toppings on our list are onions, mushrooms, tomatoes, spinach, green peppers, feta, black olives, pineapple, jalapeños, garlic, extra cheese and banana peppers. On a 16 or 18 inch pie you can also add eggplant as a premium topping.

Slices make a mixed household easy, because everybody orders their own. The vegetarian gets a mushroom and spinach slice, the meat lover gets pepperoni, and nobody has to negotiate.

If your whole crew agrees on pizza, our page Vegetarian Pizza Everyone Can Share has more on the meat-free pies.

Meatless dinners, pasta and subs for Lenten Fridays

The kitchen side of our menu gets you through Lent too, with plenty of meat-free dinners, and every dinner comes with 2 garlic knots.

Eggplant parmesan. As a dinner, our Eggplant Parmesan comes over spaghetti marinara. If you'd rather have it in your hands, order the Eggplant Parm Sub, or the Double Eggplant Parm Sub for big appetites.

Baked ziti with marinara. It's the pan that shows up at every New York family party, and the one that reheats best on Saturday.

Manicotti and stuffed shells. Both come with marinara, and both make a filling Friday plate without a bit of meat.

Cheese ravioli. Our 4 Cheese Ravioli comes with your choice of marinara or Alfredo.

For a mixed house, these dinners sit right next to the ones with meat, so an eggplant parm dinner and a chicken parm dinner still look like one meal on the table. If pasta night is the plan, our page Classic Italian Food, Close to Home has the full lineup of Italian food in Kissimmee that comes out of our kitchen.

Salads, garlic knots and sides

For something lighter on a Friday, ask us what goes on the Garden Salad, the Greek Salad and the Side Salad, and pick the one that fits. Skip the Chicken Caesar on a Lenten Friday, and ask before ordering the Antipasto Salad, since antipasto usually means cured meats.

Our garlic knots come six to an order with marinara for dipping, and they disappear faster than anything else on the table. Order more than you think you need.

A note for vegans and anyone with strict diets

Everything above is meat-free based on what goes into each dish, but many of these dishes have cheese, and we haven't spelled out every ingredient here. None of it is labeled vegan, and we're not claiming that anything on our menu is. If you avoid all animal products or you have an allergy, please ask us about the ingredients when you order and we'll tell you what we know. The same goes for anyone who is strict about how their cheese is made.

How to order a Friday dinner that works for everyone

A few things make Lenten Fridays easier:

• Plan around our hours. On Fridays we're open from 11 a.m. until 9:30 p.m.

• For a crowd, our 2 XL one-topping pizza special lets you make one pie mushroom and the other pepperoni.

• Mention the meatless order when you call so we can keep it straight.

You can order online for pickup or delivery, or call us at (407) 933-8800. If you'd rather sit down, the red booths and the skyline on the wall are waiting at 3158 Bill Beck Blvd, in the Walmart Plaza on Osceola Parkway. Bring the Lent keeper and the pepperoni lover.