What Can You Eat During Lent? - Best Foods To Eat During Lent (2024)

FAQs

What Can You Eat During Lent? - Best Foods To Eat During Lent? ›

Although you can't eat protein-rich meat during Lent, it's a great time to consume meatless meals, like seafood. Seafood like crayfish, prawns, crab, and fish contain high-quality protein, vitamins, and fatty acids that reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke.

Although you can't eat protein-rich meat during Lent, it's a great time to consume meatless meals, like seafood. Seafood like crayfish, prawns, crab, and fish contain high-quality protein, vitamins, and fatty acids that reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke.

Every day of Lent is a Vegan Fast for all Orthodox Christians, not just Friday. No meat, fish, dairy… cheese-yogurt or butter, no olive oil, no eggs … no liquor.

What are the Lent fasting rules? On Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, fasting rules allow Catholics to eat only one full meal and two smaller meals which, combined, would not equal a single normal meal. Additionally, Catholics may not eat meat on these two days–or on any Friday during Lent.

The Catholic Church has specific fasting requirements during certain times of the year, such as during Lent, in which Catholics are expected to abstain from meat on Ash Wednesday and all Fridays during Lent. However, eggs are not considered meat, and therefore are permitted to be consumed on fast days.

For Catholics, the season of Lent is most known for giving up meat and sticking to fish, eggs, or other forms of protein. 13WMAZ has compiled a list of some of the most popular foods given up and good substitutes and replacements for them.

The Foods we do and don't avoid

We should avoid meat, eggs, and dairy products during fasting. However, we should eat legumes, fruits, vegetables, greens, bread, seafood, potatoes, some wine, with food, and occasionally some fasting dessert, such as halva.

and was led by the Spirit into the desert for forty days, to be tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and when they were over he was hungry.

You can't eat chicken on Fridays during Lent. Chicken broth used in cooking is acceptable, though.

Abstaining from meat, dairy, and eggs during religious holidays has been a tradition for centuries in many religions. In Christianity, for example, during Lent (40 days prior to Easter) and Advent (40 days prior to Christmas), parishioners were forbidden to consume animal flesh as well as as dairy, cheese, and eggs.

What is a small meal during Lent? ›

The term collation refers to one or two light meals allowed on days of fasting, especially in Western Christianity. Its purpose is to allow a believer to perform his/her duties while fasting throughout the day. A collation is a small amount of food taken on fasting days.

Church requirements on fasting only relate to solid food, not to drink, so Church law does not restrict the amount of water or other beverages – even alcoholic drinks – which may be consumed. In some Western countries, Catholics have been encouraged to adopt non-dietary forms of abstinence during Lent.

Translation: Eat chocolate, but don't indulge in it. (2 ounces – not 12!) Share some of your chocolate with someone else, just because you should treat them as well as you treat yourself. And finally, eat chocolate because sometimes it helps to take the edge off.

Also, on Ash Wednesday, Good Friday and all Fridays during Lent, adult Catholics over the age of 14 abstain from eating meat. During these days, it is not acceptable to eat lamb, chicken, beef, pork, ham, deer and most other meats. However, eggs, milk, fish, grains, and fruits and vegetables are all allowed.

Well, yes, but not of the warm-blooded variety. Thus, per Catholic Canon, fish and other cold-blooded “meats” are ok to eat on Ash Wednesday and Lent Fridays. This “other” includes reptiles (yuck), amphibians (double yuck!) and shellfish, such as shrimp, lobster, crab, mussels and oysters (ok, now we're talking!!).

Forbidden Meats During Lent

Pork: Pork, including ham, bacon, and other pork products, is also typically off-limits during Lent.

Christianity and Lent

Catholics generally don't eat meat on Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, or any Friday during Lent, but they do eat fish. Some Christians give up something they enjoy, like chocolate, potato chips or coffee for the 40 days.

Traditionally, you should be abstaining from all red meat and all sweets through the 40 days of lent, as well as on all Fridays and on the eve of all major religious festivities. Poultry and fish are allowed, instead. Seafood is permitted, as are freshwater shellfish such as crayfish.

Since Jesus sacrificed his flesh for us on Good Friday, we refrain from eating flesh meat in his honor on Fridays. Flesh meat includes the meat of mammals and poultry, and the main foods that come under this heading are beef, pork, chicken, and turkey.

What are the three pillars of Lent? To help keep us on track, the church offers us three pillars to focus our efforts during the 40 days of Lent: prayer, fasting and almsgiving.