Veganuary is almost over, but that doesn’t mean you need to hop off the vegan bandwagon just yet. Whether you’ve gone vegan for ethical reasons, health reasons or slightly more superficial weight loss-related reasons, it has never been easier to stick to a diet free from animal products. Supermarkets are launching vegan ranges, brands are offering vegan alternatives (including dairy-free Ben & Jerry’s!) and chefs are getting in on the action by coming up with delicious new ways of cooking, vegan style.
Here’s our pick of 7 great vegan recipes which vegan or not, you should definitely try.
7 amazing vegan recipes to keep Veganuary going
Vegan chilli
A chilli is a surefire winner any day of the week – it’s quick, tasty and works very well as leftovers, meaning you can cook once and eat twice, which is always a winner in our book. We usually make ours with mince (either beef or turkey), but meat is really the least interesting thing about a chilli. This recipe uses beans but still packs a delicious spicy punch, perfect with rice and vegan sour cream if you’re feeling fancy.
441 calories per serving
The best vegan burger
Whenever we’ve flirted with cutting out meat in the past, we’ve always made sure to have a good burger recipe on standby for when those meat cravings hit. This burger is everything you want in a burger – fat, juicy and extremely tasty.
417 calories per serving
Cannellini bean sausages
One of the MVF team regularly makes these sausages and you really can’t tell that there’s no meat in them, especially when they’re wrapped in pastry to make sausage rolls. The ingredients might sound like a bit of a faff (if you’re unsure where to buy vital wheat gluten or buckwheat flour I’m told Goodness Direct or Amazon are good bets) but it’s one of those things where once you’ve got them in they keep for ages and you can easily make them again and again.
118 calories per sausage
Smoky maple tofu bacon
Sometimes it’s best to let food just be what it is instead of trying to ape non-vegan favourites. This tofu bacon isn’t exactly like the real thing, but it is pretty good regardless. Tofu is great at taking on whatever flavours you throw at it, and baking it with maple syrup and liquid smoke makes it perfect for adding to a fry-up or a BLT.
160 calories per serving
Tofu and peanut butter curry
Peanut butter may sound like a weird thing to add to a curry, but it really works here by adding a touch of creaminess. Vegan recipes often use coconut milk to add creaminess to things like curries but if you’re trying to lose weight it can be difficult to fit coconut milk into your calorie budget, so peanut butter here cuts down on those precious cals.
260 calories per serving
Spicy muhammara dip
Muhammara is a spicy red pepper dip which you can use in place of hummus, with crudites or toasted pitta. Have you ever seen such amazing looking peppers?!
133 calories per serving
‘Meat’balls
Who doesn’t love spaghetti and meatballs? Meatballs are the perfect thing to keep stashed in the freezer for the days when you can’t be bothered cooking from scratch and these meatballs, which are made from storecupboard ingredients, are a no-fuss way of doing it.
241 calories for 6 meatballs
