In the past years, special diets have increased in popularity. From gluten-free and dairy-free to vegetarian and vegan, many people try plenty of different new recipes. As many reduced the amount of fish and meat that they eat, there are also other reasons why veganism is so popular, including climate change. But there are no useful beginner vegan cookbook.
This debut cookbook from Charity Morgan has become a big bestseller.
It combines flavorful recipes with a good dash of creativity.
While Charity Morgan is a trained chef with a culinary degree, it’s not difficult to follow her and the recipes aren’t made for pros.
But thanks to her experience in the professional cooking world, she has plenty of experience to create some delicious and stunning dishes that don’t contain animal products.
This clever cookbook doesn’t just include popular recipes like “fysh” and chips but also super tasty creations that are surprisingly simple.
What We Like
Over 100 recipes of well-known dishes: The book includes 100+ recipes that are based on some of the most popular dishes around the world.
Large color images: There are images of each recipe across the 288 pages.
Famous foreword: As Charity Morgan cooks for a lot of professional athletes, she is also well connected. That’s why, the foreword for her book was written by Venus Williams.
What We Don’t Like
Not many quick recipes: While all the recipes in this book are tasty, there aren’t many quick meal options that you could whisk together in a few minutes.
Weeknights are a busy time for everyone and it’s often difficult to find something simple and quick enough to put on the table.
Rachel Ama takes the pain out of weekend cooking and she makes creating vegan food so much fun.
What we really loved about this cookbook is that most recipes only require a single pot and a few ingredients.
This is what makes it truly beginner-friendly.
Despite the simplicity of the recipes, there are also quite a few interesting vegetable dishes inspired by Ama’s West African and Caribbean roots.
What We Like
Full-page photos: The book has large, full-page images of each recipe across 256 pages.
Great recipe variety: There are recipes for all meal times, from sweet desserts to healthy breakfast.
Easy ingredients: The big advantage with this vegan cookbook is that it uses ingredients that are widely available, so you can get everything easily in your local food store.
What We Don’t Like
Metric measurements: Unfortunately the cookbook uses mostly UK cooking terms and metric measurements. However, there is a conversion table in the back, so make sure to keep this handy.
You can get this weeknight vegan cookbook from Rachel Ama on thevegankind.com
The subtitle “Delicious Vegan Recipes for Under $30 a Week, in Less Than 30 Minutes a Meal” promises a lot of tasty recipes that are super cheap.
Toni Okamoto’s cookbook contains 100 recipes that are made for small food budgets.
What’s unique about this great vegan cookbook is that it takes you through some great money and time saving tips in the kitchen.
Make more out of your leftovers, buy canned food, create dry mixes and use more frozen vegetables.
The easy-to follow instructions in the book allow you to whisk a few ingredients together with tasty results.
What We Like
Lots of money saving tips: We spend a lot of money for our food and this book provides so many fantastic tips on how to save you money in the kitchen in clever ways.
Plenty of recipes to choose from: Eating on a budget doesn’t have to limit you to a few recipes. This book allows you to choose from lots of different recipes.
Limited number of ingredients: All recipes use at the most 7 ingredients, so you don’t need to buy lots of things for a complicated recipe.
What We Don’t Like
Only for vegan beginners: Compared to some vegan cookbooks, this book is really just for beginners because the recipes are very basic.
Written by Bakerita blogger Rachel Conner, her great debut cookbook gets you up to speed with everything vegan when it comes to baking, including sugar-free, dairy-free, grain-free and soy-free.
And while a lot of these recipes don’t use the traditional ingredients you may be used to for baking, they taste just as good (or better!).
The book is split into seven individual sections, such as vegan breakfast recipes and more sweet treats for all day every day.
What We Like
Large variety of vegan baking recipes – On 288 pages, you can find a wide variety of baking recipes for a vegan-friendly diet.
Stunning photos – Seeing what you make is important, so check out the beautiful photographs for each recipe.
Not just vegan recipes – The baking recipes in this book are also suitable for paleo-friendly diets.
What We Don’t Like
No nut-free options – While Conner’s book includes a range of free-from options, there are no allowances for a nut-free diet, so you will have to check yourself how you can leave out nuts.
This is the true vegan cookbook for beginners, and if you are just starting out in the big wide world of plant-based food, then you may have come across Vegan Richa’s blog.
The recipes as well as the book are written by Richa Hingle who is an expert in crafting delicious yet easy beginner vegan cookbook recipes with lots of flavor.
She is well-known for the Indian recipes but this everyday cookbook takes inspiration from cuisines across the glove.
The over 100 recipes are gluten-free, soy-free, nut-free and, of course, plant-based.
They are surprisingly quick and easy to make, and who wouldn’t like a delicious black bean burger!
What We Like
Allergy-friendly variations: With a few different options for soy-free and nut-free variations, you don’t need to worry about any allergens.
Nutritional information for each recipe: A good vegan diet means you get all the nutrients you need, and with the nutritional details for each recipe, you can see everything quickly at a glance.
Includes cook and prep times: The overview of preparation and cooking time quickly shows you how long each recipe takes.
What We Don’t Like
No images: One of the biggest disadvantages is that this vegan cookbook doesn’t have any images that show you how each recipe will look like.
What’s good for kids must be good for adults, right?
The easy-to-follow instructions may be aimed at kids but anyone can make these delicious plant-based dishes.
Barb Musick introduces children to the world of cooking and he provides some great basic skills, such as chopping, measuring, chopping and cleaning up.
The book also teaches children how to use some of the most important tools in the kitchen, including a food processor, oven and colander.
This is a great book for involving the kids in making a tasty vegan dinner and dessert.
What We Like
Great math skills practice for kids: The book teaches children how to calculate measurements, so this is a great math exercise.
Kitchen safety tips: This kids vegan cookbook guides children through different kitchen tools and how to use them safely.
Teaches cooking skills: Wile this book isn’t for children who never stood in a kitchen before, it’s ideal for children who want to learn a few more hands-on cooking techniques.
What We Don’t Like
Adult supervision needed: Despite that this is a beginner vegan cookbook for kids, the recipes still require adult supervision.
Limited number of recipes: With all the safety tips, there is limited space in the book for recipes, so there aren’t as many recipes as in other vegan cookbooks.
Buying Guide: What To Look Out For In Vegan Cookbooks?
With veganism being so popular, there are hundreds of beginner vegan cookbook that include a huge variety of recipes.
Here are a few things that you want to look out for when buying a beginner vegan cookbook, or even as an advanced vegan cookbook fan.
Number Of Recipes
The number of recipes in cookbooks vary widely.
This usually depends on the theme of the vegan cuisine.
If the book doesn’t follow a particular theme, then you usually get a lot more traditional vegan recipes for beginner vegan cookbook.
While a fewer recipes in a cookbook isn’t a dealbreaker, check that there is a nice variety for what you would like to make.
If you want a few recipes for breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert, then it’s a good idea to go with one of the more generic vegan cookbooks.
Your Experience Level
When you are looking for any type of cookbook, it’s important to keep your cooking skills as well as your interests in mind.
While many cookbooks are written with detailed instructions, it takes a little more for vegan cooking beginners to pick up on more advanced jargon.
This can range from different cooking methods to dietary requirements.
It’s a good idea to check the contents page and the author’s introduction to see who the book is aimed at.
Themes
We already mentioned that’s important that you buy a cookbook that follows your interests.
There are a lot of cookbooks that provide some everyday recipes but others also follow a particular theme, such as Halloween, Christmas or vegan party snacks.
As a beginner, it’s easier to get a generic vegan cookbook for everyday use.
Once you are up to speed with some of the terms, you can tackle the themed books and make some more seasonal dishes.
Good Photos
Nobody can resist a good foodie photo but it isn’t just about aesthetics.
It can also help you make your dish when you follow a vision.
Some cookbooks also provide step-by-step instructions with a photo guide which shows you exactly how each step is done.
Photos and illustrations can really make a difference to a cookbook and they can also inspire you to enjoy cooking.
Serving Sizes
Keep an eye out for the serving sizes per recipe when you are looking through cookbooks.
If you are just on your own, then a cookbook that has serving sizes for two is perfect.
However, if you want to feed a large family, then you’ll either need to convert the serving sizes yourself or you need a cookbook with recipes for more people.
Cooking Times
All cookbook recipes should show the preparation time as well as the cooking time.
It’s a good idea to keep an eye out for where these times are stated on the page.
If you just want to quickly whisk something together, then you will need to see quickly on the page how long the recipe will take.
Measurements
Depending on where you are, choose a beginner vegan cookbook that uses the measurements you are familiar with.
It’s difficult to convert UK measurements when you are in the US, for example.
While many vegan and vegetarian cookbooks have conversion tables for measurements in the back, it can be annoying to move to and fro between your recipe and the conversions.
Special Tips
As a beginner, it can be difficult to follow every instruction to the letter, and every tip from a pro can make your life so much easier when it comes to cooking.
Check if your chosen vegan cookbook has a some special hints and tips included on the recipe pages.
The Vegan Cookbook Author
So many food bloggers have turned their most popular vegan recipes into a handy cookbook, so you may find that your favorite online author has also written a book.
This can make it easier for you because you know the style of the blogger already, and you may already like their recipes.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Gordon Ramsay Have A Vegan Cookbook?
No, Gordon Ramsay doesn’t have a beginner vegan cookbook, yet.
He has been avoiding the vegan trend for quite a number of years but has admitted that he also does enjoy vegan food.
So, there is hope that we may yet see a cookbook coming from Gordon Ramsay.
Does Jamie Oliver Have A Vegan Cookbook?
No, celebrity chef Jamie Oliver hasn’t released a vegan cookbook yet, but he has published a range of vegetarian cookbooks with meat-free recipes.
Final Thoughts
There is a large range of beginner vegan cookbooks on the market.
From vegan cookbooks for kids to vegan party grub, it’s a good idea to peruse a good bookshop or check online for some of the amazing vegan cookbooks we mentioned above.
Hi, my name is Clara Howie and I have been a vegan since I was 22 years old. Now, ten years later, I’d like to think that I’ve learned a few things about this way of life!
I can’t lie, when I first began my vegan journey, the majority of my diet did consist of just vegetables and fruit with the occasional piece of tofu thrown in.
I got back on my feet, though, and I vowed to never make that same mistake again! I spent my free time learning about how to nourish my body properly without the use of meat and animal products. It actually turned out to be pretty easy!
Now I am healthier than ever and working alongside a nutritionist to ensure that I don’t slip up again.
That’s what this website is all about! Helping more people turn to the vegan lifestyle in a healthy and happy manner. I’ve got recipes, advice, tricks, tips, and more coming your way, so don’t miss it!
