18 Vegan Recipes for Beginners

I’m taking some of my favorite, easy vegan recipes and compiling them together as an easy resource for beginners who want to eat more plant-based but don’t know where to start. These vegan recipes for beginners are simple, nutritious, and delicious. I’ve also included as a bonus, my favorite make-ahead bean salad recipe at the bottom.

Salad Recipes for Beginners

Rice Paper Rolls
Not a salad but similar in terms of freshness. These vegan rice paper rolls with peanut sauce are inspired by Vietnamese cuisine and culture. These rice paper rolls are fresh, delicious, and a great snack, appetizer, or lunch. This recipe is also a great one to get your kids involved in the kitchen. They can pick their own stuffing and it’s an excellent healthy snack for them.

Vegan Taco Salad 
I love a good taco salad. Tacos are amazing, and salad is so healthy and nutritious, so when you mix the two together, you really get a surprisingly delicious match made in heaven. This vegan taco salad is one you’ll want to make again, and again for dinner, meal prep, or a side dish. It’s packed with flavor, fiber, and protein from the lentils and black beans, and is seriously versatile.

Mashed Chickpea Salad
This one-bowl, simple recipe is just like your tuna salad sandwich but a vegan version. I love to use this recipe for an easy lunch or meal prep. I’ll eat it on bread, in wraps, with crackers, or just on its own. It’s good, healthy, and filling.

The Best Vegan Potato Salad
By now we all know I have a thing for potatoes and anything carbs, but this Vegan Potato Salad recipe takes it all to a whole new level. This recipe is as simple as can be, creamy, and so damn amazing.

Scroll to the bottom of this post for my yummy, and easy, bean salad recipe you can meal prep for the week

Easy Soup Recipes

Mushroom Soup
This creamy vegan cream of mushroom soup is an easy recipe that is seriously the best. This soup delivers everything you want from a comforting bowl of hot soup this winter, plus, it’s nutritious and filling.

Dumpling Soup
Nothing says comfort food more than a big bowl of vegetable soup with vegan dumplings. It’s healthy, it’s warming, it’s easy (yes, dumplings can be easy), and it’ll become one of your winter go-to recipes.

Potato Leek Soup
I don’t know about you, but I am craving soup all the time recently. This cold weather makes me want to curl up on the couch with a bowl of something hearty. Rich flavors that you can only find in something like this classic Potato Leek Soup.

Delicious Main Courses & Snacks

Taco Meat Nachos
Holy guacamole! If you don’t like nachos then I’m a nacho friend (get it?!). Okay, in all seriousness, this nacho recipe has vegan taco meat made from delicious walnuts and is loaded with toppings that make this the perfect snack for game day, great for after school, or perfect for a movie or date night. You can really make these nachos however you like with whatever toppings you have on hand. Isn’t that the best part about nachos?

Meat Sauce
This “meat” sauce for vegan spaghetti is going to knock your socks off. I promise. It tastes better than the real deal and I wish I was joking. It’s so easy to eat more plants and I just made it that much easier with this vegan meat sauce recipe. So you’re welcome ;)!

One-Pot Lentil Curry
Does anyone love curry as much as I do? It’s so easy to make but NEVER falls short of bold flavor. This vegan one-pot green lentil curry is exactly that. It’s creamy, full of the flavor you love in a curry, but still healthy and only takes 50 minutes to make. I think you’re really going to love this recipe for wintertime. It’ll warm you up on a cold day, and your whole family will love it!

Pasta Sauce Recipe
The perfect vegan pasta sauce recipe is simple, fuss-free, and made using gorgeous ingredients that we cook with every day. Freezer friendly, healthy, and satisfying. One of my staple vegan pasta recipes.

Crab Cakes
Did somebody say Vegan Crab Cakes? You bet I did. This recipe is going to blow your mind, so much so that if you’re used to eating the seafood version of crab cakes, you may never go back.

Easy Garlic Noodles
These easy vegan garlic noodles are loaded with flavor from the garlic and sesame and can be made in under 15 minutes.

Vegan Ragu
Winter is tough, it’s cold, and it makes you want to hibernate and eat all the comfort foods that warm you up, like this vegan ragu that you’re going to love. This is such a comforting dish that I’ll make again, and again because not only is it easy, but it’s also hearty, and full of healthy ingredients that fuel my body to get me through the day.

Baked Polenta Fries
The crispy outside, and creamy inside of these vegan polenta fries make them so incredibly satisfying, and the perfect vegan comfort food.  The perfect twist to a traditional fry, coated in a truffle parmesan butter and aioli for dipping.

Vegan treats

Chocolate Cake
Oh, baby! I think I truly outdid myself with this Easy Vegan Chocolate Cake recipe. I’m telling you, this will NOT last in your house for very long.

Banana Bread Muffins
These vegan banana muffins are so delicious. Made with yummy bananas we love, and perfect for an on-the-go snack or breakfast.

Oatmeal Fudge Bars
Move over Starbucks, I have a yummy treat that is going to knock your socks off. These Oatmeal Fudge Bars are a copycat of the Starbucks fan fav, and they are way cheaper to recreate a whole batch at home. They make such an easy vegan recipe for beginners.

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