No. Honey is made by bees, so it is an animal product, and any recipe here that needs it, even as a drizzle to finish, is not tagged vegan. The sweet recipes on this page use sugar instead: coconut drops are cooked with dark brown sugar, and agua fresca is sweetened with a little caster sugar.

Basic bread usually is: flour, water, yeast, salt and sometimes oil. The focaccia on this page is exactly that, and East African chapati is rolled with oil rather than butter. Enriched breads such as brioche contain butter, milk or eggs, and some shop-bought loaves add milk powder, so check the label on any bread you buy for bruschetta.

What can I cook for a vegan guest?

Cook a dish that is vegan in its own tradition rather than an adapted one, so nothing tastes missing. Chickpea stew takes about 45 minutes in one pot, aloo gobi about the same, and guacamole with bruschetta covers the start of the meal. Every vegan recipe is also vegetarian and dairy-free by definition, so it suits a mixed table too.

Are vegan recipes gluten-free too?

Most of the ones here are. The exceptions are dishes built on wheat: focaccia, East African chapati, bruschetta and biang biang noodles, which are also seasoned with light soy sauce. Everything else, from chickpea stew to agua fresca, is tagged both vegan and gluten-free under the same rule, which is that every ingredient that is not optional has to comply.

Vegan recipes

These vegan recipes are plant-based in every ingredient you need: no meat or fish, no milk, butter or cheese, no eggs and no honey. None of them is a stand-in for a meat or dairy dish. They are simply how the food has always been cooked where it comes from.

Briam bakes in a single tray and chickpea stew in a single pot, while baingan bharta and aloo gobi share most of their spices, so one shop covers both. Put out guacamole while they cook. Tap a recipe and whatever you still need goes onto your shared shopping list.

86 recipes

What makes a recipe vegan here

A recipe is tagged vegan only when every ingredient that is not optional comes from plants. Eggs and honey count even when they are added at the very end, so an egg on top or a drizzle of honey to serve is enough to keep the tag off. Stock has to be vegetable stock, as it is in arroz rojo and chickpea stew.

Optional ingredients are the exception. Escalivada is often served with anchovies in Catalonia, and frappé can be topped up with milk; both extras are listed as optional, so the recipes stay vegan and you simply leave them out.

Where vegan cooking gets its depth

The dishes here get their body from pulses rather than replacements. Chickpea stew is thickened by crushing some of the chickpeas against the pan, fava turns yellow split peas into a purée whipped with olive oil and lemon, and akara blends peeled black-eyed beans into a whipped paste that fries into light fritters. Cuban black beans simmer with a sofrito of green pepper, onion and garlic.

Smoke and char do the rest. Baingan bharta and escalivada start with vegetables blackened over a flame or in a hot oven, ajvar with peppers and aubergine roasted until their skins can be peeled away, and biang biang noodles finish with smoking oil poured over chilli flakes and garlic.

Putting together a vegan meal

Guacamole and bruschetta are both ready in twenty minutes or less, which takes care of the start of the meal. For the main course, briam feeds six from a single tray, and biang biang noodles, pulled by hand and slapped against the counter, make a weekend project for two.

Rice and beans round out almost anything. Arroz rojo is the red rice served beside Mexican dishes, Cuban black beans go over white rice, and chakalaka, a spicy South African relish of peppers, carrots and beans, sits on the side. Finish with coconut drops, the Jamaican ginger and coconut sweet, and a glass of agua fresca.

Frequently asked questions

Is honey vegan?: No. Honey is made by bees, so it is an animal product, and any recipe here that needs it, even as a drizzle to finish, is not tagged vegan. The sweet recipes on this page use sugar instead: coconut drops are cooked with dark brown sugar, and agua fresca is sweetened with a little caster sugar.
Is bread vegan?: Basic bread usually is: flour, water, yeast, salt and sometimes oil. The focaccia on this page is exactly that, and East African chapati is rolled with oil rather than butter. Enriched breads such as brioche contain butter, milk or eggs, and some shop-bought loaves add milk powder, so check the label on any bread you buy for bruschetta.
What can I cook for a vegan guest?: Cook a dish that is vegan in its own tradition rather than an adapted one, so nothing tastes missing. Chickpea stew takes about 45 minutes in one pot, aloo gobi about the same, and guacamole with bruschetta covers the start of the meal. Every vegan recipe is also vegetarian and dairy-free by definition, so it suits a mixed table too.
Are vegan recipes gluten-free too?: Most of the ones here are. The exceptions are dishes built on wheat: focaccia, East African chapati, bruschetta and biang biang noodles, which are also seasoned with light soy sauce. Everything else, from chickpea stew to agua fresca, is tagged both vegan and gluten-free under the same rule, which is that every ingredient that is not optional has to comply.

Vegan recipes

86 recipes

What makes a recipe vegan here

Where vegan cooking gets its depth

Putting together a vegan meal

Frequently asked questions

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