10 Best New Vegan Cookbooks

Typically, ‘approachable’ and ‘wow-worthy’ aren’t uttered in the same sentence, but that is absolutely the case with Nisha Vora’s Big Vegan Flavor — as her two million online fans can attest. The globally inspired plant-based recipes lean on homemade “flavor boosters” that elevate the everyday, including Pomegranate Molasses Vinaigrette that’s dynamite over baked tofu and roasted veggies; Mojo Sauce destined for drizzling on jackfruit tacos or burrito bowls; and Quick Miso-Chile Hot Sauce, ideal for tofu scrambles, avocado toast or scrambled eggs. Crave-worthy dishes we can’t wait to make include Sticky Coconut Milk-Braised Tofu in a Thai-leaning lemongrass-ginger spiked sauce; Crispy Quinoa Salad with Savory Herbed Almonds (who knew toasting quinoa in umeboshi paste was the way to make quinoa irresistible?); and restaurant-ready Citrus-Braised Fennel with White Beans. The recipes are sprinkled with loads of useful tips that help bolster readers’ culinary confidence, including cooking techniques, storage savvy ways to reduce food waste, easy swaps and make-ahead prep.

Nutritionist Catherine Perez gained a loyal social media following for her feel-good and creative plant-based recipes, and we have a feeling that following will boom with the release of her first cookbook. In it, she offers a collection of 100 vegan recipes that are equal parts comforting, cozy and nutritious, backed by hearty helping of evidence-based research. Many of the recipes are inspired by the Mexican and Dominican flavors and dishes she grew up with, but they also offer home cooks inspiration for riffing to reflect their own heritage and creative whims. We can’t wait to make Charred Poblano Corn Salad, proof that healthy salads needn’t always contain greens; Wholesome Date and Pistachio Cookies to keep mid-afternoon slumps at bay; and Breakfast Tostadas so flavorful they promise to rival avocado toast. There’s also a primer on Plant-Based Nutrition Basics, which helps remove some of the stumbling blocks to getting started with vegan cooking at home.

Justine Doiron has amassed a fervent social media following for her approachable yet creative cooking, food styling flair and natural storytelling finesse. In this collection of 110 plant-forward recipes, you’ll find flavor combination inspiration for days with dishes like the fan-favorite Baked Kale Salad with Chili Quinoa and online hit Lime-Roasted Cabbage with Turmeric White Bean Mash (sprinkled with chewy rice nuggets!), as well as new dishes like Gochujang Beans with Melty Escarole & Black Vinegar, a tangy-sharp-spicy-creamy number that hits all the right notes. In Doiron’s capable hands, we even feel like we can tackle baking with recipes for simple loaves such as Sweet Potato Focaccia and sublime sweets like Butternut Squash Cake with Cinnamon Whipped Cream. The book also includes helpful primers on what’s in her fridge and pantry, common techniques used throughout and the can’t-miss “Staples, Sauces & Small Recipes To Live By” section, where you’ll find flavor amplifiers like Your Perfect Herb Oil, ideal for spooning over soups and salads, and Cashew Cream Or Any Nut-Based Cream For That Matter, which we want to dollop on everything from soup to tacos to roasted veggies.

This book is to vegan cuisine what Mastering the Art of French Cooking is to Francophile home cooks. Award-winning food writer and editor Joe Yonan’s extensive reporting, research and recipe collecting and testing has yielded a collection of more than 300 globe-spanning vegan recipes that are indeed worthy of mastering. Start with the pantry section to learn how to make a few foundational building blocks like spice mixes, butters, stocks, dressings and milks — we’re starting with Oat Milk, one of the easiest of the plant-based milks to make at home, and Cashew Queso, destined for mac and cheese, enchiladas and straight dipping. For anyone in your family who still believes that vegan food isn’t filling, make a batch of Everyday Walnut, Lentil & Mushroom “Red Gravy” bolstered with umami-rich white miso and finished with a swirl of red wine vinegar (try not to look smug). For a weekend cooking project that’ll pay dividends all week, prep a batch of The Ultimate Real-Veggie Veggie Burgers, packed with mushrooms, nuts and beans and switch up the spices depending on your mood, like a za’atar-spiked Mediterranean variation or a Garam Masala curried version.

There’s a lot we love about this book, but we’re particularly smitten by the way the collection of recipes reflect the rhythms of everyday eating and living. That, coupled with author Radhi Devlukia-Shetty’s approachable tone and nutritionist credentials, makes for a cookbook we can see reaching for again and again. There’s comforting Split Moon Daal made bright with fresh ginger and chopped dill; Caramelized Fennel, in which fennel sauteed in asafoetida takes on the flavor of caramelized onions; Red Lentil Daal, aka Devlukia-Shetty’s go-to lentils which can also be blitzed in the blender into a flavorful dip; and Rainbow Noodle Stir-Fry, an ideal and delicious vessel for cleaning out your crisper drawer and another of the author’s go-tos. We’re totally on board with the Condiments, Dips and Crunchy Bits chapter, which includes flavor-boosters like Pistachio Gremolata, Chutney Three Ways and vibrant Beet, Pine Nut and Feta Dip, which promise to bring pizzazz to all manner of dishes. And because eating freely and living radiantly means dessert too, we dream of making Baklava Cheesecake and drizzling it with Sweet Cashew Cream.

For author Kiki Nelson, meals are not just mere sustenance, but an opportunity to change the way you feel. And for her, that means following a plant-based diet, one which has helped her improve her mood, gain energy and lose weight. It also means finding dishes that offer nutrition, satiety and flavor made with wholesome ingredients, which isn’t as elusive a notion as you might think. Take the dessert-for-breakfast-esque Chocolate Peanut Butter Smoothie, bolstered with rolled oats, powdered peanut butter and unsweetened cocoa powder. Or mushroom-centric dishes destined for instant comfort food classic status, like Saucy Portobello Sammies gussied up with homemade Smokehouse Ranch and Spinach and Artichoke-Stuffed Mushrooms. We love all things saucy, and appreciate that Nelson is a proponent of the transformative power of sauces; see Pimento Cheese Sauce or Avocado Lime Crema, perfect for drizzling over tacos, beans and roasted veggies.

Long-time vegans and mother-daughter duo Trudy Crane and Chloé Crane-Leroux have penned a beautiful tome filled with creative recipes, stunning photography by Crane-Leroux and a shared love of gathering around the table with good food. Many of the recipes are inspired by their travels across Europe and a focus on fresh, local ingredients. To wit, you’ll find Crumbled Artichokes with Cashew Aioli and flaky Mediterranean Spinach Pies, destined to be appetizer staples, especially paired with a Hibiscus-Blood Orange Spritz. Rustic comfort food fare like Mushrooms En Croute and Ricotta and Squash Galette are elegant enough to serve for holidays and dinner parties, while Pappardelle Mushroom Bolognese and Charred Asparagus and Broccolini on Romesco Sauce feel like a menu tailor-made for date night at home. Not only do these vegan dishes fill you up, the spirit of the book and shared sentiments of the authors remind us to find pleasure in small moments every day — an artful way to nourish oneself, indeed.

All books are a labor of love and a reflection of its author, but social media star and recipe developer Remy Morimoto Park’s cookbook feels deeply personal and inspirational. By plumbing her recovery from disordered eating and exploring her multi-cultural upbringing, she was able to repair her relationship to food and rewrite the narrative on what healthful eating looks like for her. The resulting 90 vegan recipes chronicle her wellness journey and crisscross the world, drawing from her parents’ Korean, Japanese and Taiwanese heritages, extended family members’ French and Brazilian roots and close friends’ Thai culinary cannon. The “Asian-ish” dishes cover comfort food favorites like Spicy Peanut Ramen, hardy vegetable dishes like Taiwanese Five Spice Brussels Sprouts and a vibrant Green Garden Soba Noodle Salad. If you’ve shied away from tempeh, give it a try with simple dishes such as Smoky Maple Tempeh Bacon and Thai Basil Tempeh. Dessert is anything but an afterthought here, with the likes of an enticing earthy-sweet Miso Caramel Crème Brulée vying for must-make status with Sesame Bark Chocolate. Just as nourishing as the recipes themselves are the thoughtful anecdotes sprinkled throughout that pay homage to Morimoto Park’s family, the different places she’s called home and what living authentically means to her, in and out of the kitchen.

Even if you’re only interested in vegan baking recipes, author Katarina Cermelj recommends looking through Chapter 2 to help you develop a better understanding of how various ingredients interact in baking. It’s this foundational, unabashed science-nerd approach that underscores each of the primers and recipes in this book, including those in the “Vegan” and “Vegan and Gluten-Free” sections. We can’t wait to bake the completely vegan Lemon Poppy Seed Loaf Cake, which includes the zest of three whole lemons and loads of lemon juice for an extra citrusy pop, and we can barely wrap our heads around the mind-bendingly good Quadruple Chocolate Cheesecake, which follows Cermelj’s rules for adapting a baked cheesecake and makes us feel like we can recreate vegan versions of any cheesecakes. If snackable cakes are your jam, the Easy Strawberry Cake comes together in under 30 minutes and would be equally delicious at home paired with an afternoon cuppa as it would be dolloped with vegan vanilla whipped cream and extra berries for a special occasion.

What exactly does ‘feel good food’ mean? For author Jeanine Donofrio it’s food that is built around vegetables, seasonal, fun to make and satisfies a craving. And the 125 plant-focused meals in this lovely cookbook abide by this ethos with a delicious line-up of approachable yet delectable recipes. And if you’re all in on plant-based cooking, there’s a handy index at the back of the book that lists recipes that are already entirely vegan or can easily be veganized. The book is smartly organized into meal type, then divided into two types of recipes, depending on if you prefer making dinner when it rolls around or are a meal prep maven. We’re bookmarking Chickpea Cacio e Pepe, a vegan riff on the classic Roman pasta dish that blends chickpeas and starchy pasta water with miso paste to create a savory, creamy sauce; make-ahead Lentil Salad with Green Tahini; as well as Sheet Pan Tempeh Fajitas jazzed up with an easy maple-chipotle sauce.