Finding the best vegan cookbooks is a trend we can definitely get behind. The popularity of veganism has exploded in recent years. Now, Americans spend more than $2 billion on vegan food products every year. This has seen a huge change in the market. These days, more and more vegan restaurants, blogs and snacks are available than ever before. Why do we love it? The Vegan lifestyle has an incredibly small carbon footprint compared to that of traditional meat and animal byproduct consumption.
If you want to create amazing vegan recipes in your own kitchen, now is the time to start experimenting. Vegan cooking can be a little intimidating, so you’ll need some help from the professionals.
Read on for the best vegan cookbooks to get you started. After our reviews, you’ll see some sections with pointers on where to start when it comes to integrating veganism into your lifestyle.
12 Best Vegan Cookbooks 2018: Vegan Cookbook Reviews
Spice up your Cooking with the Best Vegan Cookbooks. Whether you’re a fully-fledged vegan or just dabbling in plant-based cooking looking for the best vegan cookbooks for beginners- these books are essential tools for your kitchen.
Best Healthy Vegan Cookbooks
One of the biggest misconceptions about veganism is that it requires constant restriction. People assume that vegans are limited to a tiny group of foods, but that’s just not true.
Angela Liddon knows this. Before writing the Oh She Glows Cookbook, she sustained herself mainly with low-calorie processed foods. Struggling with an eating disorder meant that she was constantly restricting her food intake. She turned to plant-based food to change all that.
Vegan cooking completely transformed her relationship with food, as well as her health. As a self-taught chef, she began experimenting with mouth-watering vegan recipes. You’ll find more than a hundred of them in her debut cookbook.
These include:
- Tacos
- Vegan sour cream
- Almond butter
- Lentil loaf
- Veggie burgers
This is one of the best healthy vegan cookbooks out there. When it was released, it was even named book of the year. Try it out and find out just how healthy and colorful vegan food can be.
Best Vegan Baking Recipes
Another myth about vegans is that they can’t eat anything fun. You don’t have to give up brownies, cupcakes, pancakes or candy when you go vegan. All you have to do is find the right way to make them. Armed with the Bake and Destroy cookbook, you can do just that with some of the best vegan baking recipes out there.
With this book, you’ll learn how to make:
- S’mores cupcakes
- Cherry pie
- Strawberry mint cheesecake
- A vegan version of Girl Scout cookies
-just to name a few mouth watering ones.
[promo image=”https://www.ecokarma.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/bake-and-destroy-instagram-1.png” alt=”Bake and Destroy”] Follow the author, Natalie Slater, on Instagram @bakeanddestroy for more recipes and creative content!
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The recipes are extremely creative, too. There’s even one for banana bread french toast cupcakes.
The author, Natalie Slater, has infused her book with her signature brand of punk rock and wit, making the book a really fun read. If you’ve always been intimidated by the idea of vegan baking, this is the book for you. You’ll learn just how easy and fun it can be to make sweet vegan treats.
Best Vegan Cheese Cookbook
“But I could never go vegan, I can’t live without cheese!” Vegans have heard this sentiment far too many times. Kristy Turner got so tired of hearing it that she wrote an entire cookbook to prove the naysayers wrong. In her cookbook, she proves that vegan food is so much more than just tofu and salads.
She’ll teach you how to make vegan versions of:
- Mac n cheese
- Cashew blue cheese
- Chocolate decadence cake
- Beer-battered faux fish and chips
-and so much more!
Once you try her vegan alternatives, you’ll never go back. The book was so successful that she wrote a follow up called “But My Family Would Never Eat Vegan!” If you like this one, give that one a try, too.
Best Vegan Cookbook for Beginners
If you’re looking to cut your meat intake or even go full vegan, but aren’t sure where to start, this book is ideal. It contains 100 delicious recipes to introduce you to the joys of vegan cooking and get you started on your new lifestyle.
That’s what makes it the best vegan cookbook for beginners.
Author Gaz Oakley says that his main goal was to create recipes that were packed with flavor. A lot of vegan food can be bland and boring, but it doesn’t have to be. Each of the Vegan 100 recipes is packed full of flavor, so you don’t need to miss out on great-tasting food.
The recipes are simple and easy to follow, accompanied by full-page photos that will make your mouth water. If you’re into mock meat, you’ll love his steak, sausage and fried chicken recipes.
Best Vegan Documentaries: Cookbook Edition
This cookbook came after the 2011 documentary of the same name, which showed us the true health benefits of a vegan diet.
By switching to plant-based foods, we can reduce, reverse and even eliminate many of the health problems caused by a diet of meat and processed foods. The Forks Over Knives gives you all the tools you need to do that, with 300 unique recipes.
Best Indian Vegan Cookbook
Vegetarianism is hugely popular in India. However, less than 1% of the country’s population is vegan. This means that it can be difficult to find authentic vegan Indian food. If you have Richa Hingle’s cookbook, you don’t have to worry about that, because you can whip some up for yourself.
Cook up some of the following delicious Indian favorites:
- Flatbreads
- Samosas
- Dahls
- Vindaloos
- Tikka Massalas
- Birianis
-all with a vegan twist.
In this book, you’re introduced to lots of different dishes, flavors and spices. If you can’t handle the kick of many Indian foods, don’t worry. Richa provides substitutions so that you can adjust the spiciness to your tastes.
Best Gluten Free Vegan Cookbook
Minimalist Baker is one of the most popular vegan cooking blogs on the internet, and the hotly anticipated cookbook did not disappoint.
This book keeps things simple. The best thing about it is that you can throw most of these recipes together with ingredients that you already have in your kitchen. No matter which dish you decide to make, you’ll never need more than ten ingredients, and you’ll never have to spend more than 30 minutes cooking.
Though we did give this book our award for best gluten free vegan cookbook- not every recipe is gluten free, so if you’re allergic or Celiac, prepare recipes with caution!
Best Vegan Cookbooks for Fine Dining
If you’re looking for something fancier than generic vegan cookbooks, you need Plantlab. This book is for dedicated foodies, chefs, and vegan food connoisseurs. With Plantlab, you can create vegan fine dining in your own home.
Invite your friends over for a dinner party and impress them with visually stunning meals.
Best Vegan Meal Plan Cookbook
This book is ideal for those who are completely new to the vegan lifestyle and need a step-by-step action plan to introduce them to it.
It’s a three-week kickstart guide, designed to ease you into plant-based living. It provides you with a full meal plan for those three weeks, so all you need to do is follow the plan day-by-day.
There are 100 recipes, and each one comes with added information about health benefits, so you can understand exactly what you’re getting out of it, and apply that to future cooking once you’re ready to take off the training wheels.
Best Vegan Cookbook for Your Time
Vegan food doesn’t have to involve hours of preparation. There are plenty of dishes that can be made in 15 minutes or less. This book is full of them.
If you’re short on time, this book will help you put together healthy, delicious vegan meals without the fuss. It’s not just snacks. There’s something for every meal of the day here- making it valuable as the best vegan cookbook for your time.
Best Budget Vegan Cooking
Many people see veganism as an expensive lifestyle for privileged hipsters. It’s much more inclusive and accessible than that.
Frugal Vegan teaches you how to make creative vegan dishes without breaking the bank. As well as saving money on your grocery shopping, you’ll also save time in the kitchen. Each recipe is kept simple, with cooking and prep time kept to a minimum.
Dishes in this vegan cookbook include:
- Pineapple scones
- Biscuits and gravy
- Beer-battered avocado and black bean tacos
- Chocolate coconut cream puffs
- Peanut butter and jelly granola
-and if any of that doesn’t have you drooling, than I don’t know what will!
Best Vegan Slow Cooker Cookbook
A slow cooker is the easiest, most convenient tool you can have in your kitchen. All you have to do is throw your ingredients in, set the timer, and let it do all of the work.
The last item on our list is hands-down the best vegan slow cooker cookbook on the market.
The Super Easy Vegan Slow Cooker Cookbook shows you how to make:
- Vegan stews
- Soups
- Chilis
- Casseroles
- Curries
-without spending any more than 15 minutes prepping your ingredients each time.
With these recipes, you can reduce your waste from food and get much more out of your veggies and legumes. Find out just how versatile vegan crockpot cooking can be with this easy cookbook.
What to Look for in a Vegan Diet
The key to a healthy vegan diet is variety.
You can’t simply eat the same small group of foods over and over again. In order to get the full profile of vitamins, minerals and nutrients you need, you have to broaden your horizons. A general rule of thumb is that the more colors you have on your plate, the better you’re doing.
Is Eating Vegan Actually Healthy?
Contrary to popular belief, you can get plenty of protein without eating meat or dairy. You’ll just have to make sure you eat the right foods. Instead of reaching for carbs like pasta and bread all the time, replace meat with lots of chickpeas, lentils, tempeh and quinoa.
The only thing you can’t get from plants is vitamin B-12, which most people get from animal products. That problem is easily solved with a supplement.
Tracking Vegan Nutrition
If you’re concerned about your nutrition, use a health app to keep track of everything you’re eating.
While a vegan diet is undoubtedly a healthier way to eat, it doesn’t mean you have to say goodbye to your favorite junk foods. There are lots of ways to satisfy your sweet or salty cravings on a vegan diet. You’ll find out how to make them with some of the cookbooks above.
Is Veganism Right for Me?
We aren’t about extremism, and totally agree that veganism is not practical for everyone- especially those already facing dietary restrictions due to health or other problems. However, if you’re curious about Veganism and Vegan Cooking, we still suggest starting by picking up one of the Best Vegan Cookbooks.
You can start slow, by trying some recipes and practicing Meatless Mondays– or do your own thing and have Thursday night Vegan Food and Margaritas! You’ll find that cooking vegan is easy to integrate into your regular shopping and routines.
More Vegan Kitchen Tips
Now that you know what the best vegan cookbooks are, the world is your vegan oyster.
You can get creative in the kitchen and start playing around with sweet and savory dishes that even your non-vegan friends and family will love. If you want some healthy drinks to accompany your meals, see our list of juicing recipes that are all vegan.
If you want to take your cooking to the next level, you can try pickling, smoking, freezing and your vegan food with our food preservation tips.
