Staple foods for wanna-be vegans
I first tried out veganism at the end of my high school career. And it was amazing. I felt so good and light and healthy and energetic.
What is veganism? A vegan person does not eat any foods that have animal byproducts. This means that if a food is made with milk, egg, honey, or meat … it’s off limits. This is intimidating to a lot of people because that cuts out so many options! But after toying with veganism on and off for six years, I’ve found it to be second nature to cook vegan, because I have lots of staple foods and meals that I love!
And let me just say: becoming vegan as made me a better chef.
Benefits of veganism? I urge people to check out this article by Healthline for the health benefits, but other commonly known benefits include clearer skin (cutting out dairy helps with this!), weight loss, and better digestion. And overall feeling incredible.
To prepare for my vegan journey, I took to YouTube. I watched tons of “What I eat in a day as a vegan” videos and “Vegan grocery haul” videos and “Vegan cooking” videos. I consumed them all and became addicted (I still watch these videos to this day for inspiration!)
Currently, I’m not strictly vegan (more on this later), but I do cook 90% vegan or so.
I wanted to share my own vegan staple foods for anyone looking shift towards a more vegan diet!
For breakfast foods
Bread for toasts (toast toppings like guac, hummus, vegan cream cheese, peanut butter, almond butter, jam)
Vegan yogurt (kite hill is good, but my favorite is coconut based vegan yogurt)
Oatmeal with fruits (use plant milk!)
Smoothies and smoothie bowls (use plant milk, frozen fruit, and vegan protein powder!)
Cereal with plant milk
Fruit! All the fruit!
Lunch and dinner
Rice
Quinoa
Spinach
Kale
Broccoli
Brussel sprouts (I don’t use these as much as I should)
Cauliflower
Corn
Beans (protein!)
Onion (I LOVE onion)
Potatoes
Soups
Lentil Pasta (marinara sauce and vegan pesto are always good for this!)
Tortillas
Meat replacements
Fake meat (Impossible or Beyond are classic brands)
Bean burgers
Tempeh
Tofu
Jackfruit (I love the barbeque jackfruit at Trader Joes)
*Personally, I like tempeh for the protein benefits and the texture, and it’s more natural than the fake meat products. I think tempeh is an underrated food.
For gut health
Gut health is KEY for a healthy body! And fermented foods are the way to go!
Kimchi
Sauerkraut
Pickled red onions
Kombucha
*of these, I prefer pickled red onions because it has a neutral flavor. Or kimchi if I wanted to spice things up. Sauerkraut is good to buy in bult and a little cheaper from what I’ve found. Kombucha is good but too expensive for me to buy regularly.
Snacks
Crackers and vegan dip (the Trader Joes vegan dips are amazing)
Fruit
Toasts (see above)
Nuts
*to be honest, I don’t really eat snacks, so I’m not the best person for this one.
Miscellaneous
Lemons (for lemon water and to add to any dish!)
Nuts
Dark chocolate
Sprouts (they’re so good for you and can go on anything!)
Chia seeds (super food!)
Hemp seeds (protein!)
Flax seeds (fiber!)
Nutritional yeast (a vegan classic for cheesy flavors)
Seaweed
Sun dried tomatoes
Hummus (I LOVE HUMMUS)
Peanut butter
Jam
Avocadoes
Vegan chili (yum)
Vegan cream cheese
Vegan salmon dip (Trader Joes!)
Vegan onion dip (Trader Joes!)
Vitamins
I take a lot of vitamins, but the main one recommended for vegans is B12—that’s essential! Here’s what else I take:
B12
Iron
Magnesium
D3
Collagen
Ashwagandha
*Everyone has different needs though! You should get your bloodwork done to be sure.
I’m not strictly vegan anymore. When I went to college, I realized that it was too hard to eat vegan from the dining hall, so I switched over to pescatarianism. And when I got off dining hall food and began cooking for myself I started cooking vegan, with some pescatarian takeout food. When I moved to Hong Kong, it was unrealistic to be vegan given the food options. Currently, I cook mostly vegan, but when I go out to eat or order in or if someone else cooks for me, I adhere to pescatarianism. This way, I get the best of both worlds.