100 Delicious Plant-Based Recipe Ideas

A great many of us are choosing to enjoy more plant-based meals, for taste, health, environmental and/or ethical reasons.

With over a million people now signed up to Veganuary (where you commit to eating an entirely plant-based diet for the month of January), and some deciding to stay plant-based for the longer term, it’s a way of eating that is going to be increasingly common, and important, as we move into the future.

From a nutritional perspective, it is important to learn about some key nutrients that we need to be conscious of in a plant-based diet, to avoid inadvertently developing nutrient deficiencies. I have written about this comprehensively in this article, and also discussed some of the wider pros and cons in this article; Thinking about: Eating a plant-based diet. I’d also highly recommend taking a look at this article from the NHS on creating a healthy vegan diet. Finally, if you’re interested in developing your nutrition and practical cooking knowledge more generally, take a look at my online course, The Joy of Healthy Eating. I dedicate a whole lesson in this to finding plant-based balance.

As always, alongside the nutrition, I am also greatly interested in taste, joy and flavour in food. So I have put together this list of dozens of plant-based meal and recipe ideas. Some may need little adaptations (such as switching honey for maple syrup, natural yoghurt for coconut or soy yoghurt, dairy milk for your choice of plant m*lk alternatives, chicken stock for vegetable stock, using a chia / flax egg rather than a hen’s egg or omitting a garnishing ingredient – such as feta or parmesan), but with a little common sense I think most of them are easily tweaked. There is lots of advice on The Vegan Society website to help with this.

Plant-Based Breakfast Ideas

Beetroot, Rosemary and Walnut Soda Bread

Busy Day Smoothie

Turmeric & Pineapple Smoothie

Summertime Smoothie

Beetroot & Ginger Smoothie

Quinoa Porridge

Carrot & Caraway Gluten Free Bread

Crunchy Amaranth Granola

Fruity Breakfast Crumble Bars

Porridge 4 Ways (use a plant-based m*lk)

Apple Crumble Oats

Crunchy Nut & Seed Granola

Sweet Potato Toasts with Scrambled Tofu

In my books:

Plant-Based Lunch Ideas

Store-cupboard Salad

Turmeric Socca with Cucumber, Pepper & Tahini Salad

Winter Buddha Bowl

One-tray Roasted Winter Salad

Autumn Salad (omit the feta)

Kale & Bean Soup with Pistachio & Lemon Pistou (use vegetable stock)

Carrot & Turmeric Soup (use vegetable stock)

Pumpkin Dahl Soup

Lentil, Beetroot & Hazelnut Salad with Ginger Dressing

Warm Jerusalem Artichoke Salad

Green ‘wake me up’ Broth (use vegetable stock)

Chickpea & Aubergine Salad

Crisp Apple & Fennel Winter Salad with Turmeric Dressing (replace honey with maple syrup)

Spiced Chickpea, Kale & Squash or Pumpkin Salad (replace honey with maple syrup)

Butternut ‘Squashetti’ with Sage & Pine Nuts

Mushroom, Thyme & Walnut Soup (use vegetable stock)

Warm Spring Medley

Gazpacho

Green Soup with Cashew Cream (use vegetable stock)

In my books:

Plant-Based Sweet Ideas