Top Vegan Dishes To Try This Veganuary

Whether you’re looking to restore your health for a month and do your bit for the environment, or to give your life a completely meat-free & dairy-free makeover, why not start by adopting the vegan lifestyle for a month this January?

As we all know, the vegan diet is becoming more and more popular as the years go on, and an increasing amount of people are trying it out to work towards leading healthier lifestyles. Since 2014, the vegan movement and non-profit organisation of Veganuary has inspired over half a million individuals in 178 countries, and is rapidly making people aware of the health benefits and environment benefits it’s having:

“Our mission is to inspire and support people to try vegan, drive corporate change, and create a global mass movement championing compassionate food choices with the aim of ending animal farming, protecting the planet and improving human health.” - members of the Veganuary team.

Although you may think that Veganuary translates to only eating lean and green for a month and consuming no protein, allow us to inspire you with some of these hearty and wonderfully delicious plant-based dishes you wouldn’t even know were vegan!

Here Comes Truffle

Celebrate Veganuary and fully immerse yourself in the magnificent Here Comes Truffle; a delicious black truffle base pizza with mozzarella, wood smoked tofu, mixed wild forest mushrooms, finished with micro herbs. You may be thinking mozzarella? That’s not vegan! Well, be prepared to take your senses on a tantalising journey and discover the heaven that is vegan cheese...

If one of the only things stopping you having a plant-based diet is the lack of cheese, let this restaurant open your eyes to a whole new world of cheesy delights. Founded in 2015, Purezza was the first vegan pizzeria in the UK and has completely revolutionized traditional Italian food through cruelty-free ingredients. Having spent over two years developing their mozzarella, ricotta, cream cheese, you-name-it kind of cheese, they’ve got the recipe down to a T and it’s absolutely incredible! Not only are these cheeses tastier than your traditional dairy ones, they’re also half the calories and fat, leaving you feeling guilt-free, dairy-free, cruelty-free and completely plant-based.

Price: ££

Where to get: Purezza

Location: Camden in London or Brighton

Baked Aubergine Steak

Why not try something a little different this January and tantalise your tastebuds with a delicious baked aubergine steak? This vegan and gluten-free dish is formed of spicy harissa chickpeas, sweetcorn pesto and avocado placed on top of a tasty baked aubergine.

If this dish tickles your fancy, escape to the serene countryside of Berkshire and discover the award-winning Hurley House Hotel. Once a pub, now an enchanting boutique hotel with a magnificent restaurant, take your senses on a tasty journey and indulge in all the attention to detail, versatility, excellent service and spectacular vegan options from the menu. Anything from amazing vegan sushi dishes from their Japanese menu, to the tasty baked aubergine steak on the À La Carte menu, fine dining in a magnificent boutique hotel and restaurant in the countryside is definitely the perfect way to spend Veganuary, right?

Price: ££££

Where to get: Hurley House Hotel

Location: Hurley, Berkshire

Hoisin ‘Duck’

Head down to Brighton beach and discover the indulgent flavours of the Hoisin ‘Duck’; a delicious plant-based sushi burrito made from rice, roasted sesame seeds, avocado, cucumber, pepper, spring onions and crispy ‘duck’, topped with their delicious house hoisin sauce which is also gluten free! You may be thinking: how does ‘duck’ fall into a plant-based dish? Well… the "Duck" is made from bean curd skin, produced from TCK’s vegetarian ‘aromatic duck’, and is deep fried to produce that perfectly crispy yet flaky texture.

Inspired by Japanese cuisine, the small and friendly restaurant of Happy Maki is nestled in the heart of Brighton’s South Laines. Offering a mouth-watering selection of healthy sushi wraps, tofu rice pockets and spiced cauliflower tempura and each bursting with fresh fusion fillings – it’s a vegan dream! What started as an ‘exercise to reduce the impact sushi was having on the oceans’, has developed into a dedication to sustainability at its core. Every time you buy a wrap from Happy Maki, they donate to feed a child in poverty and plant a tree in a deforested country through the Eden Reforestation Project.

So why not indulge in the month of Veganuary and step out of your comfort zone with a little something different for once whilst also contributing to a good cause?

Price: £

Where to get: Happy Maki

Location: Brighton

Coconut Semifreddo

Something for those with a sweet tooth…

What better way to celebrate Veganuary than at the exquisite Ormer Mayfair? Located inside the enchanting boutique hotel, Flemings Mayfair, located down a peaceful side street off of Piccadilly, indulge in the fresh and locally sourced ingredients that grace their vegan and vegetarian January menu. Michelin-starred chef, Shaun Rankin, has done it again and impressed us all with his heavenly flavours and magnificent plant-based dishes, that are not only a delight to our senses, but also to the eye.

From the wild mushroom risotto and the Meli-Melo, to the chilled hibiscus soup and the avocado salad, the tasty coconut semifreddo is a great choice — a delicious sweet dessert with granola and mango that is absolutely divine!

Price: £££

Where to get: Ormer Mayfair (Flemings Mayfair)

Location: Mayfair

Farmacy Lasagne

“Between the soil and the sun”

Good vegan lasagnes can be really hard to come by, but this magnificent restaurant has nailed it to a T. Located in the Farmacy Classics section of the main menu, mushrooms, courgettes and pepper cooked in a rich tomato sauce is layered between the tasty green lentil lasagne sheets, and it’s absolutely incredible!

With restaurants branching from London’s Notting Hill, to New York’s trendy neighbourhood of Soho, Farmacy is a magnificent plant-based restaurant that not only creates deliciously healthy dishes, but also does their bit for the environment by using organic and biodynamic farming methods to help reconnect to the rhythms of nature. From producing their own vegetables, fruits and herbs, to the electric delivery van that delivers the produce weekly to the restaurant, they also provide plant-based training for those wishing to learn about the provenance and nutritional value of food.

Although there are all sorts of tasty dishes to choose from at Farmacy Kitchen, be prepared to take your senses on a seasonal, locally produced vegan journey that’s free from additives and chemicals – you won’t regret it!

Price: ££

Where to get: Farmacy Kitchen

Location: Notting Hill

Blue Corn Tacos

Currently regarded as one of the biggest food trends amongst the vegetarian and vegan community, jackfruit should not be missed of the list – a healthy meat substitute used in all sorts of dishes. Due to its similar consistency to chicken and pork, this orange fruit is grown in Mexico and Brazil and is perfect for protein intake and the environment!

Cambridge-founded vegan restaurant Stem + Glory implements jackfruit into a lot of their dishes, and our favourite one is the colourful blue corn tacos that take inspiration from the traditional citrus-marinated pork dish from Mexico, the Cochinita Pibil. Indulge in the smoky yet sweet tastes of the achiote and orange juice marinated jackfruit which lays on a bed of gluten-free, freshly made blue corn tacos topped with pickled red onion, pineapple-and-cardamom kimchi, chipotle vegan mayo and mint. It’s fresh and delicious, with a lovely hint of spice from the Mexican guajillo chilli.

Price: ££

Where to get: Stem + Glory

Location: London or Cambridge

Traditional Thai Green Curry

If tradition is what you’re looking for, you’ve come to the right place. Served all year round on their dinner menu, try the spicy vegetable and tofu green curry at Kin + Deum, possibly the best one we’ve tried in the country! Made with pounded green chillies, bamboo shoots, red chillies, peppers and fresh basil leaves all exquisitely mixed in coconut milk, this traditional Thai dish is the perfect hearty meal to enjoy this Veganuary. Ensure you order it with a delicious side of Thai brown rice or coconut rice, just to add a bit more texture and flavour!

Located close to London Bridge station, this laidback, minimal, yet stylish restaurant definitely ticks the boxes for all you spice-hungry vegans out there. With an array of plant-based options available including the bayan spring rolls and the soothing herbal soup of the seriously spicy Gaeng Om, to the Mushroom Yum Woonsen salad and the subtle Banks Massaman curry, here at Kin + Deum, you’re completely spoilt for choice!

Price: ££

Where to get: Kin + Deum

Location: London Bridge

Everything On The Menu!

This one is for all you fast-food lovers out there…

A place where dreams of a world of vegan fried chicken comes true, head down to London’s famous Temple of Hackney for an otherworldly experience. Thought to be the first restaurant in the world to serve meat-free fried ‘chicken’, indulge in the delicious selection of typical fast-foods. From the Nashville Hot; a dipped chick’n fillet burger topped with ranch vegan mayo, lettuce and pickles to the incredible Popcorn Chicken Bites, we couldn’t narrow it down to a specific dish because it’s all so amazing.

You may be thinking how can you top the classic fried chicken and make it vegan? Well you’ve come to the right place. The “chicken” is made from seitan, a wheat protein that enables that meat-like texture and is absolutely delicious. Blowing the minds of both vegan and non-vegan crowds from all over, celebrate this Veganuary with an all-time favourite fast-food without feeling guilty and be prepared to wait in line — as you can imagine, it gets very very busy!

Price: £

Where to get: Temple of Seitan

Location: Hackney