Do you want to learn to cook vegan and don't know where to start? You may be motivated by ethical, ecological or health-related reasons to immerse yourself in plant-based cuisine - but you may still have the nagging feeling that you will have to learn how to cook all over again when you switch to a vegan diet. At least that's how it was for me when I started eating vegan. But now it's really easy for me!
In this article, I would like to help you learn how to cook vegan and provide you with valuable tips on how even beginners can easily conjure up purely plant-based dishes. This way, you can approach your new diet, new meals and new taste experiences step by step. Have fun!
Here is another short Table of contentsso that you can better orient yourself:
- Discover the diversity
- Replace animal products
- DIY
- Season well
- Inspiration
- Culinary voyage of discovery
- Enjoy
- Planning and Meal Prep
- One Pot Dishes
- Have fun
1. discover the diversity
I used to cook vegetables relatively unimaginatively - but now I know an incredible number of ways to prepare delicious vegetables. Instead of simply boiling the broccoli in water cooking, you can also use it dampen, sear, with nut puree au gratin, to a soup Process or even deep fry. Depending on what you feel like. Be creative!
It is often only our minds that limit us, because we don't even know how many possibilities there are. In addition to the different preparation methods, there are so many various types of fruit, vegetables, pulses, nuts, seeds and cereal productsthat there is always something new to discover.
Tip: It's best to choose a fixed day of the week on which you try something new, learn something new and have a new experience. This will help you develop a routine that will help you learn to cook vegan.
2. replace animal products
One of the most important points when learning vegan cooking skills is to avoid animal products, such as Cream, milk or meat, to replace. Once you have mastered this discipline, you can continue to enjoy almost all the dishes you used to cook. There are three strategies for this:
1. you can make a lot of things yourself from vegetable ingredients (e.g. hummus)
2. often there are suitable Substitute products (e.g. soy cream)
3. sometimes you can simply omit a product (e.g. milk in pizza dough).
Notice: You shouldn't always try to replace everything 1:1. It is often enough if something tastes similar or replaces the texture, but is otherwise different. For example Pulses provide similar nutrients to meat. However, if you're more concerned with texture or taste, it's better to go straight to Meat substitutes grab.
3. do it yourself
Many ingredients you can make it yourself and that even has many advantages! If you make more yourself, you know exactly which ingredients are included and can avoid harmful substances. It also makes it easier for you to vegan and plastic free livingReduce the amount of sugar or leave it out completely. Especially if you want to reduce waste, making it yourself is a good way to Eat fewer substitute products.
Practice Tip: Maybe you have desire Kale chips, sugar free granola or Hummus yourself. The instructions are in the linked articles!
4. season well
Spices and herbs can turn a simple meal into a real culinary delight. Another valuable cooking tip for vegan beginners is therefore to prepare a Mortar for spices. You can use a spice mortar to make pastes or freshly crush spices such as juniper berries, allspice and coriander seeds.
Whole spices that are chopped just before cooking have a much better flavor. more aroma than ground spices. If you heat some oil in a pan at the beginning and add spices such as cumin, you can easily flavor the oil and therefore the whole meal.
It is best to use fresh herbs regularly. Fresh herbs are not only more aromatic, they also contain more nutrients. They therefore promote health and enjoyment at the same time.
"Love and kindness are the best spices for all dishes."
Chinese proverb
Tip: By the way, you can also get many Herbs at home on the windowsill grow it yourself!
5. be inspired
Of course, when you're starting out, you're constantly asking yourself what you can cook next in a plant-based way - you simply don't have hundreds of ideas and recipes buzzing around in your head yet. That's why the right inspiration also helps when learning to cook vegan. This can be a good cookbook or a vegan magazine. Whether it's vegan cooking for beginners, sustainable cuisine or fitness dishes, nowadays you can find a good vegan cookbook for every direction.
Tip: If you feel like Making nutrition sustainable then our book Cooking for the climate guaranteed to be the right thing for you!
6. go on a culinary voyage of discovery
The next tip for learning to cook vegan is to look at culinary voyage of discovery to go. Get the Orient, Far East or Mediterranean cuisine to your home. Because these dishes are culturally mostly vegetable.
I had never heard of hummus or cous cous when I started my vegan diet. Nowadays, both are quite well known and I find it almost crazy that I didn't know about these dishes back then. However, everyone starts at their own level and can expand their knowledge from there. New ingredientsthat you may never have heard of are Miso paste, kala namak, lavender flowers or spice mixtures such as Zatar or Panch Phoron.
Tip: If you fancy trying your hand at spices such as cardamom, cinnamon and turmeric, then perhaps our recipe for Golden milk something for you.
7. enjoy!
A long-term change in diet only works with Pleasure. If you don't like your food, sooner or later you will return to your old eating habits. So make sure you don't miss out on the pleasure. What was your favorite food? Find a good substitute for it! But remember that you don't have to replace the dish 1:1.
Maybe you're a sweet tooth and can't live without dessert? But you still don't know how to make vegan dessert without eggs, butter, cream and milk? Then it's time to inform, like you Without egg bake, Cashew cream or Nut milk can produce.
8. planning & Meal Prep
A Good planning is half the battle of learning to cook vegan and making it as easy as possible for yourself. Make sure you have all the ingredients, spices and oils you need at home before you fire up the stove. It's best to have a solid base of spices that you cook with regularly.
With targeted Meal Prep you can save yourself a lot of time. For example, pre-cook lentils seasoned only with salt and then use them to prepare a Bolognese one day and Indian dal the next. This gives you variety and still saves you time in the plant-based kitchen. Incidentally, this is particularly practical if you also want to cook Workplace vegan food would like.
9. one pot dishes
When you fast and practical one-pot dishes (simple, time-saving recipes - from just one pot) are a good choice. They save you a lot of washing up and you can use your time for other things. Particularly suitable for this are Indian dals, soups and pasta dishes. This is a very practical tip to learn to cook vegan and successfully implement your new lifestyle in everyday life.
Good to know: Are you actually aware where the Difference between plant-based, plantbased and vegan lies? Find out in the linked article!
10. have fun
Having fun is one of my most important cooking tips for vegan beginners. If you're having fun, your learning curve will go steeply upwards and you'll laugh about it even if something goes wrong. Invite friends over and cook together or turn up the music, dance and enjoy the delicious, colorful vegetables you chop. If you have fun cooking, then you will Automatically cook more often and a a better attitude to life develop
Tip: It is also a pleasure to know, Why to live vegan at all. For the animals, the environment, other people and your own health, for example. 🙂
Bonus tip: Take a vegan cooking class
I have one more important, helpful tip for you: Take a cooking class! If you want to learn to play soccer or guitar, you'll probably also look for a soccer coach or guitar teacher. The same applies to cooking: if you want to learn how to cook vegan food, then look for an expert in vegan cooking. Cooking courses are now a dime a dozen and you can find them both online and offline.
My personal recommendation is Going vegan made easy 2.0!
It's really easy to cook vegan!
Learning to cook vegan can be really easy. With the tips in this article, you will already be able to try out a few things in the kitchen. The important thing is not to put yourself under pressure, but to relax and try out new things and enjoy the learning process. After all, no master has fallen from the sky. Just get started and try something new today.
I hope this article has helped you and encouraged you to learn to cook vegan. If you have any questions, suggestions or your own experiences on the subject of vegan cooking that you would like to share, please leave me a comment.
All the best,
P.S.: If you've just got a taste for it, you'll love the articles vegan life, vegan barbecue or vegan prejudices and myths is sure to please and help you. Have fun!
