My Three Favorite Plant-Based Food Blogs in 2020

I know I’m not the only one with a family that’s been spending way more time in the kitchen than normal, courtesy of the current ‘ronacoaster. I’ve been whipping up homemade granola bars, getting creative with the toppings on my freshly popped popcorn for movie nights, and trying out most of the recipes from a vegan cookbook I was gifted for my birthday (written by one of the gals I’m about to mention in this post). Kitchen time = quality time.

I’m not going to lie, though; I did go on a bit of a hiatus from cooking for a while this past year. I was finding it incredibly draining to cook for myself all the time, especially when I was around others that didn’t want to eat vegan, and eventually, I found my love for being in the kitchen draining out of me faster than my girls and I drain a bottle of wine.

But one of my silver-linings of quarantine was a small resurgence in cooking motivation. I slowly got back on my feet and started to do the fridge-pantry-counter-stove-oven-table tango. It helped that my entire family has been eating way less meat and dairy lately and is more than happy to eat vegan with me. The hard part for us, most nights, is not determining whether or not we’re going to cook or who’s going to cook, but what we’re going to cook.

Too Many Choices on the Internet - What to Cook?

It’s not like the internet makes narrowing down the choices any easier! Searching for recipes these days has gotten both incredibly simple, and incredibly overwhelming. It’s as easy as tapping open Google or Pinterest and typing a few ingredients in a search bar, and WHABAM. Take your pick from a measly 500 tantalizingly advertised recipes, photographed perfectly to get your tastebuds crying. Where do you even start? Whew. It’s exhausting to even think about, especially from someone who always overthinks her decisions.

So I thought it might be helpful, for those of you looking for cooking inspiration in general, or those of you new to vegan cooking and willing to give it a try, if I listed my favourite plant-based food blogs for you. That way, when you are open to ideas about what to have for dinner but don’t want to spend hours scouring the internet, you can pull open one of these blogs and check out their latest posts - with trust that I’ve given you some sage advice ;).

I’m only putting three blogs on this page. That’s nothing. There are probably thousands (or at least hundreds) of vegan bloggers out there! But these are the ones that speak to me. These ladies knock it out of the park when it comes to creating simple, wholesome, delicious vegan recipes that’ll satisfy even the carnivores amongst us.

My Three Favorite Plant-Based Food Blogs

1) Minimalist Baker

“All eaters are welcome” on this artfully designed vegan website, the brainchild of Dana Schultz and her husband. While the entire index of recipes is not strictly vegan, each recipe that isn’t will typically include instructions on how to make it so, and the focus is always on plant-based simplicity. All of the recipes fall into at least one of these three categories: 10 ingredients or less, 1 bowl, or less than 30 minutes to prepare.

Hers is the cookbook I had received for my birthday this year, and might I just say - the recipe for taquitos knocked my socks so far off that I still can’t find one of them. Good thing it’s summer and I’m going to be walking barefoot, baby.

Other winning recipes:

2) Cookie and Kate

This girl. THIS girl. She’s been with me from the very beginning. Or at least college. I remember searching for things to bake on Kate’s website with one of my best friends Lauren when we were trying to take creative study breaks.

Kate is all about “celebrating good food—real, sustainable food that delights the senses and nourishes the body.” This is a vegetarian blog, again, not strictly vegan, but you can always make substitutions with vegan cheese/butter/flax eggs, and Kate typically guides you through the process.

Winning recipes:

Spinach Artichoke Enchiladas (use vegan sour cream and skip the cheese!)
Lemony Broccoli, Chickpea, and Avocado Pita Sandwiches
Straight Up Granola - The Best - for real, this is the granola I always make for myself because I refuse to buy store-bought sugared shiiizzz

3) Oh She Glows

I haven’t been following Angela’s blog for as long as the others, but this is the only one on the list that is fully vegan. I found her blog when I was searching for the perfect vegan banana bread recipe.

Baby, I found it. And it was nestled amongst hundreds of other delicious go-to recipes that might require a little more time in the kitchen, but that will certainly leave you with all of the rewards. I’m so glad I’m part of this glowing family now.

Get these in your belly now:

So What the Heck Are You Waiting For?

That’s it. Those three. If you want to stop beating around the bush and finally start cooking some kick-ass plant based food, start here.

Or, if you’d rather have a physical book propped open on your counter, go here and buy this. It’ll change your life for the WAY better. It’ll make you cry with laughter at the combination of vulgar language and mouth-watering food. And most importantly, it’ll get you cooking more vegan food in your own kitchen.

Eating more plant-based meals is great. It’s fantastic. We, and the planet, need more of it in our lives. For some more deets on why, read the best article I’ve read all year: The End of Meat is Here.

I and my big-ass plate of vegan food will see you in the kitchen, boo. I’ll bring the vegan wine.

XX,

Lozza