Ingredients
Ingredients are the building blocks of cooking. And having a good understanding of common vegan ingredients, and when to use them, is a big first step in ensuring your food tastes great. Many of the ingredients listed below are vegan swaps for non-vegan items, but others will be ingredients that can provide a depth of flavor or unique spice to any dish. Many are ingredients you’re already familiar with, while this may
be the first time you’re hearing of some. Don’t worry about not knowing how to work with an ingredient, it just takes some practice.
My favorite thing about vegan cooking is the creativity it often requires to recreate your favorite non-vegan dish. Finding ways to replicate textures, flavors, and that all-important mouth-feel, is one of the joys of vegan cooking. It allows you to explore different flavor
profiles and techniques, all while doing better for your body and the planet.
This page is meant as a jumping off point, to spark creativity and inspire you to reimagine your approach to food. It also can be helpful in understanding the “why” in vegan cooking. Understanding what purpose an ingredient is serving in a dish can help you build or adapt recipes without sacrificing any flavor.
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Applesauce
Applesauce serves as a great vegan egg replacer, particularly in baked goods. It’s mild taste and thicker texture provide the same lift an egg would without making the final.product taste like apples. I recommend 1/4 cup of apple sauce per egg you’re replacing.
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Banana
Banana also serves as a great vegan egg replacer. Like applesauce, it provides body and cohesion to your baked goods, but it does contribute a more distinct banana-y taste to the final product. I recommend 1/2 a small banana per egg you’re replacing.
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Cauliflower
Cauliflower is the blank canvas of the vegetable world, you can use it as the base for anything from curries to tacos. Marinate it, bake it, grill it, roast it, fry it - cauliflower can do it all. My favorite trick is to use cauliflower as the “chicken” or “steak” in a recipe to easily adapt any non-vegan recipe.
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Coconut Milk
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Dates
Dates serve as a fantastic sweetener, be it smoothies or curries. Throw one pitted Medjool date in your blender along with a pinch of cinnamon for a nice twist on your classic green smoothie. Date syrup is an increasingly common ingredient called for where maple syrup or agave would be.
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Eggplant
Eggplant comes in many varieties, and spans many cuisines. If you can find a Thai or Chinese Eggplant, use it in your curries or stir-fries. Your typical Italian Eggplant is great for Eggplant Parm or as marinate it and use it as the “fish” in a Japanese recipe.
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Harissa
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K
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Soy Curls
Soy Curls are the unsung heroes of the vegan world. These little nuggets of pure soy are, in my opinion, the ideal chicken substitute. They come dehydrated in a bag (my favorite brand is Butler Foods) and just need 10 minutes in a bath of boiling water (or veg stock) before you drain and marinate them however you’d like.
My favorite way to prepare them is to season them with Trader Joe’s Vegan Chicken-less Seasoning and pop them in the air fryer for 10 minutes. Serve them in a wrap or on a salad.
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Tapioca Starch
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Tempeh
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Tofu
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