Want to learn to cook vegan and don't know where to start? You may be motivated by ethical, ecological or health reasons to dive into plant-based cuisine - but at the moment you may still have the queasy feeling that you 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 back when I first started eating vegan. But in the meantime it is really easy for me!
With 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. So 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 in a relatively unimaginative way - but now I know an incredible number of ways to make vegetables delicious. 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!
Often it is only our mind that limits us, because we do not even know how diverse the possibilities are. Besides the different ways of preparation exist so much various kinds of fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, seeds and cereal productsthat there is always something new to discover.
Tip: It's best to choose a fixed day of the week when you try something new, learn something new, and have a new experience. This way, you'll develop a routine that's great for learning to cook vegan.
2. replace animal products
One of the most important points in learning vegan cooking skills is to avoid animal products, such as Cream, milk or meat, to replace. Once you've mastered this discipline, you can continue to enjoy almost all the dishes you've cooked otherwise. 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 should not always try to compulsively replace everything 1:1. Often it is enough if something tastes similar or replaces the texture, but is otherwise different. For example Legumes provide similar nutrients as meat. However, if you're more concerned with texture or taste, it's better to start by going 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. In addition, you can so easier vegan and plastic free livingReduce the amount of sugar or omit sugar completely. Especially if you want to reduce waste, making your own is a great way to Eat fewer substitute products.
Practice Tip: Maybe you have desire Kale chips, sugar free granola or Hummus to make yourself. In the linked posts are the instructions for this!
4. season well
Spices and herbs can turn a plain meal into a real treat for the palate. Another valuable cooking tip for vegan beginners is therefore to make a Mortar for spices. With a spice mortar you can make pastes or freshly crush spices like juniper berries, allspice and coriander seeds.
Whole spices, which are crushed only shortly before cooking, have significantly more aroma than ground spices. If you start by heating some oil in a pan and adding spices like cumin, you can easily flavor the oil and thus the whole meal.
It is best to use fresh herbs regularly. Fresh herbs are not only more aromatic, but also contain More nutrients. Thus, they promote health and enjoyment at the same time.
"Love and kindness are the best condiments to all food."
Chinese proverb
Tip: By the way, you can also get many Herbs at home on the windowsill grow yourself!
5. be inspired
Of course, at the beginning you constantly ask yourself what you can cook vegan next - your head is simply not yet buzzing with hundreds of ideas and recipes. Therefore, of course, the right inspiration helps when learning to cook vegan. This can be for example a good cookbook or a vegan magazine. Whether vegan cooking for beginners, sustainable cooking or fitness dishes, nowadays you can find a good vegan cookbook for every direction.
Tip: If you feel like Make nutrition sustainable then our book Cooking for the climate guaranteed the right thing for you!
6. go on a culinary voyage of discovery
The next tip to learn to cook vegan is to look at culinary voyage of discovery to go. Get the Orient, Far East or the Mediterranean cuisine to your home. Because these dishes are culturally mostly vegetable.
To start with the vegan diet, I never heard of hummus or cous cous back then. Nowadays, both are quite well known and I find it almost crazy that I didn't know these dishes back then. However, this is how everyone starts at their 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 like Zatar or Panch Phoron.
Tip: If you feel like trying your hand at spices like 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 revert to old eating habits. Therefore, make sure that you do not lack 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 are a "sweet tooth" and can not do without dessert? But you still don't know how to prepare vegan dessert without egg, 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 in learning to cook vegan and making it as easy as possible. 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 an Indian dal the next. This way you have variety and still save time in the vegetable kitchen. By the way, this is especially practical if you also cook on the Workplace vegan food would like.
9. one pot dishes
When you fast and practical One pot meals (simple, time-saving recipes - from only one pot) are a good choice. With them, you save a lot of washing up and can still use your time for other things. Especially good 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 have fun doing it, your learning curve will go up steeply and you'll laugh about it even if something goes wrong. Invite friends over and cook together or turn up the music, dance, and get excited about the delicious, colorful veggies you're chopping. If you have fun cooking, then you'll be able to automatically cook more often and a better attitude to life develop
Tip: It is also a pleasure to know, why go 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're bound to find a soccer coach or guitar teacher. The same goes for cooking: if you want to learn how to cook vegan, find 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 very easy. With the tips from this article, you will already be able to try out a lot in the kitchen. The important thing is that you don't put yourself under pressure, but rather relax and try out new things and enjoy the learning process. After all, no master has fallen from the sky yet. Just get started and try something new today.
I hope the article helped you and encouraged you to learn to cook vegan. If you have any questions, suggestions or your own experiences about vegan cooking that you would like to share, feel free to 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 certainly also like and help further. Have fun!
