8 Photos of Delectable, Mouth-Watering Dishes (That Also Just Happen to Be Vegan)

Vegan fare tends to get a bad rap. Those unfamiliar with the diet may think vegan food is too bland, or that it lacks complexity. Well, neither assessment could be further from the truth. Need proof? Let’s start with this video of some mouth-watering vegan dishes:

Hungry yet? Let’s continue the food bait with eight stunning photographs pulled from our most recent publication, Vegan for Everybody—if you weren’t told before looking at these recipes, you’d have a hard time believing they were vegan.

Scrambles are quick, easy, and delicious—perfect for a weekday, pre-work breakfast. While scrambles are traditionally made with eggs, you can also make a scramble with tofu as its base. If we didn’t tell you, we bet you would have thought this was made with eggs.

The core tenets of veganism run contrary to the classic image of the American diner breakfast—buttery toast, runny fried eggs, a couple of browned sausage links—but that doesn’t mean vegans can’t enjoy a hearty, decadent breakfast. Take these fluffy, tender pancakes for example.

Chili is not just for meat eaters! Vegans deserve chili, too! Look at this stuff. Would you ever know by looking at it that it’s vegan? No! And you wouldn’t know by tasting it, either. A trio of umami-rich ingredients—dried shiitake mushrooms, soy sauce, and tomato paste—give this vegan chili its rich, meaty, savory flavor profile.

This burger contains no meat. Seriously. (It’s also ridiculously good looking, and ridiculously tasty.)

This creamy, gooey, tangy, downright cheesy sauce is sure to score a home run with vegans and non-vegans alike. What’s more, it’s incredibly easy to make from pantry-friendly ingredients. [Get the Recipe]

We admit that some vegan desserts leave us . . . wanting more. So when we decided to create a book dedicated to vegan cooking, we doubled down on the desserts section. And one of our favorites is a classic—strawberry shortcake. For the shortcakes, we ditched the butter and cream and substituted coconut milk and coconut oil. And for the whipped cream, we reached again for coconut milk in place of cream. We think we did a pretty good job.

Our favorite thing about plant-based cooking is that it allows us to reimagine what we put in the center of our plates. Case in point: cauliflower steaks. When you cook thick planks of cauliflower, they develop a substantial, meaty texture and become nutty, sweet, and caramelized.

Chewy, fudgy, ultrachocolaty brownies take very little work for an immensely satisfying reward. Could we make decadent brownies without ingredients like butter and eggs? Yup, we could. [Get the Recipe]

What’s your favorite vegan recipe? Let us know in the comments! For more delicious vegan recipes, click here. Interested in learning more about the vegan diet? Read these posts: 

• How We Made the Best Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
• 6 Things You Should Know Before Eating Vegan
• A Beginner’s Guide to Eating and Shopping for Tofu
• 3 Common Ingredients You Think Are Vegan That Might Not Be
• What Is Tempeh? 
• What Is Aquafaba?