Vegetarian Meat was an alternative rock band originally formed in 1990 in Dayton, Ohio by Alex McAulay, Dennis Cleary and Matt Cleary when they were in their early teens. Signed by the No.6 Records label in 1992, a subsidiary of Elektra Records, while the band was still in high school, they released two 7" singles. The band was termed "One to Watch" in Billboard magazine during a review of the "Squirrels in my Pumpkin" single. Later, the band added their classmates Manish Kalvakota on guitar, Matt Diggs on vocals and sound effects, and Erin Castle on additional vocals. In 1995, the band released its lone album on No.6/Caroline Records, Let's Pet, which was produced by Sonic Youth's producer, Wharton Tiers. Soon after a series of shows with the bands Luna and Stereolab, Vegetarian Meat disbanded.
Alex McAulay went on to become an American film director. Dennis Cleary currently works for the United Nations. Matt Cleary owns a public relations firm in Indianapolis that represents race car drivers. Matt Diggs died in a car accident in July 2000.
In April 2009 Teenbeat Records released a compilation titled Speed Dating: A No.6 Records Compendium which features all six songs from Vegetarian Meat's out of print 7" singles, along with tracks from Unrest, Dean Wareham, Tindersticks, Pork, and The Dwarves.
In March 2023, the original surviving line up of the band announced they will return with a second album in 2025, exactly thirty years after their first one.