Crispy potatoes for breakfast is always a good idea. Combine that with some veggies and your favorite vegan breakfast sausage, and you’ve got one comforting meal!
Sausage not your thing? You can totally sub for black beans or just leave it out entirely in favor of extra potatoes.
3 medium russet potatoes, cut into cubes (about 1/2″)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 yellow onion, diced
Vegan breakfast sausage of your choice*
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
kosher salt, to taste (about 1/4 teaspoon)
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2 green onions, sliced
*I used 5 links of Field Roast’s Apple Maple Breakfast Sausage (not sponsored, just the truth!)
Instructions:
Boil potatoes until fork tender, and set aside.
Warm olive oil in a large skillet/pan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for about 3 minutes until starting to soften, then add the boiled potato cubes. Crisp the potatoes up for 7-10 minutes, stirring frequently.
Add the sausage, bell pepper, vinegar, garlic powder, nutritional yeast,and a generous pinch each of salt and pepper. Cook another 5 minutes or so, stirring often, until peppers have softened and sausage is browned.
Taste and season with more salt and pepper if needed. Add to serving bowls and top with sliced green onions.
Serve with ketchup, hot sauce, or whatever your heart desires!
I feel like the title of this recipe is explanation enough, so I’ll just say that this bisque reminds me of ordering a cup of crab stew or lobster bisque in little mom and pop restaurants growing up. We no eat crustaceans or dairy anymore, and that’s not an issue at all with this creamy and delicious vegan bisque!
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Ingredients:
2 tablespoons vegan butter
2 large carrots, chopped
1/2 large yellow onion, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
2-3 large cloves garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon flour
1 (14 oz) can fire roasted diced tomatoes
2 cups vegetable broth
1 large bay leaf
1 tablespoon fresh parsley
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
1 cup raw cashews
1/2 cup water, adding more as needed
1 heaping tablespoon nutritional yeast
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
Old Bay crouton recipe follows
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Instructions:
In a large pot, melt butter over medium heat and add carrots, onion, celery, and garlic. Cook 5-7 minutes, stirring, until vegetables have softened. Mix in the flour and continue stirring until incorporated and flour begins to brown.
Add tomatoes, vegetable broth, bay leaf, parsley, and thyme. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes.
Make the cashew cream while that cooks. Add cashews (softened if not using a high powered blender*), water, and nutritional yeast to a blender, and blend until very smooth.
Add the cashew cream to the pot after 20 minutes, then simmer another 10 minutes. Turn off the heat and remove the bay leaf. Allow the mixture to cool some.
Pour the soup into your blender in batches until the whole pot is smooth and creamy.* Add freshly ground pepper and salt, to taste. Ladle into bowls after making these Old Bay croutons, toss some on top, and enjoy!
For the Old Bay Croutons:
Preheat your oven to 350F. Slice up half a baguette into crouton-sized pieces and add to a large bowl. Mix together 2 tablespoons melted vegan butter, 1 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning, and 1 tablespoon garlic powder. Toss croutons in the butter and spice mixture, add to a parchment or silicone lined baking sheet, and bake for 10 minutes, stirring/flipping halfway through.
Notes:
*Soften cashews by soaking in water overnight, or soaking in hot water for 20 minutes.
*Unnecessary, but potentially interesting side note: I am lazy and don’t want to add multiple cups of hot liquid to a blender or wait for the whole pot to cool, so I’ll sometimes use an immersion blender instead to get things as smooth as possible. Then I’ll take 1.5 cups out, let it cool a bit, blend that until completely smooth, then stir it back into the pot. The texture achieved by this is similar to rustic lobster and crab bisques I had before going vegan, so I really like it.
So, I have a story from my middle school days that involves white pizza (the salt and ice burn challenge makes an appearance), but I’ll refrain from writing that novelesque recipe intro. Anyways, I used to order white pizza at my local pizza & deli all the time growing up. I still haven’t found a vegan white pizza out in the wild, but who cares – now I make my own!
I know I titled this “pizza sauce” but this creamy white garlic sauce is delicious on pasta as well!
Now that I’ve repeated the word pizza so many times that it sounds like an alien language (the phenomenon is actually called semantic satiation), here’s the recipe:
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Prep Time: 5 minutes – Cook Time: 10 minutes
Ingredients:
1 cup raw cashews (soaked or boiled if you don’t have a high-powered blender)
2 cups vegetable broth
2 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
2 tablespoons vegan butter
3 tablespoons flour
1/4 cup finely chopped yellow onion
freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon fresh chopped parsley (optional)
1 tablespoon fresh chopped basil (optional)
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Instructions:
Blend cashews, vegetable broth, garlic, lemon juice, and nutritional yeast together until very smooth to make the cashew cream.
Melt butter over medium/medium low heat in a medium saucepan, sauté onion for a few minutes until soft and translucent, whisk in flour.
Slowly whisk in the cashew cream. Simmer for about 5 minutes, stirring often, until it’s thick and creamy. Stir in the parsley, basil, and black pepper. Taste and season with more salt and pepper if needed.
Go forth and sauce!
Notes:
This recipe makes lots of sauce, so you might want to halve the recipe if you aren’t making multiple pizzas. The leftover sauce is amazing with pasta!
The featured pizza is topped with caramelized onions, artichoke hearts, vegan sausage from No Evil Foods, vegan parmesan, and fresh parsley.
Penne alla Vodka was one of the first recipes I ever made in my first apartment, around 5 years ago. Mind you, I wasn’t vegan at the time so I didn’t know about the wonders of cashew cream. But now I do and here we are.
This dish is simple, creamy, hearty, and delicious – what more could you want?
So why vodka?
“Along with the penne pasta, this dish generally contains cream sauce mixed with marinara sauce or tomato paste, which are a combination unusual in Italian cooking because the acidity of the tomatoes tends to make the oil in the cream separate. The ethanol (vodka) serves as an emulsifier, allowing the water and lipids to remain mixed together.”
“Ethanol is also thought to solvate certain flavors from the tomato that would otherwise be inaccessible in water. This is seen in other vodka sauces, as well.”
1 (28 oz) can of crushed or petite diced tomatoes (sometimes I’ll do a 15 oz can of each for a more interesting texture)
Salt and pepper, to taste
Penne, cooked according to box instructions
Fresh parsley or basil for serving (optional)
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Instructions:
Add the cashews to a blender along with the nutritional yeast and water, and blend until very smooth.
In a large skillet over medium heat, sauté onion in butter for about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and crushed red pepper and sauté another 2 minutes until the onions are soft and slightly browned, and the mixture is very fragrant.
Pour in the vodka and let cook for about 5 minutes, until the alcohol has cooked off.
Add the tomatoes, stir, and let the mixture simmer for 10-15 minutes until thickened – you may need to lower the heat some.
Stir in the cashew cream and cook for about 10 more minutes, until the sauce is thick and creamy.
Add salt and pepper to taste (I usually end up not needing any), and mix well.
Serve over penne cooked according to box instructions, top with parsley or basil, and enjoy!
Notes:
*If using a high powered blender, you don’t need to pre-soak your cashews to soften them. If you’re short on time, you can immerse the cashews in boiling hot water for 15 minutes (don’t keep the water boiling, just make sure it’s very hot when you put the cashews in, and then let them sit)
You only need 5 ingredients for these crumbles and they’re so easy to make. Say goodbye to expensive, laundry-list ingredient, store bought vegan meat crumbles and make these instead!
I love adding these crumbles to:
a big pile of nachos,
tacos and enchiladas,
spaghetti sauce
a hearty bowl of chili (I’m working on a vegan beer chili recipe at the moment – stay tuned!)
You name it!
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Ingredients:
1 14 oz block extra firm tofu
2 tbsp nutritional yeast
3 to 4 tbsp soy sauce (or tamari)
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp liquid smoke
Instructions:
Preheat your oven to 350F.
To a medium sized bowl, add the nutritional yeast, soy sauce, olive oil, and liquid smoke. Whisk together.
Crumble the tofu into small pieces and stir it into the liquid mixture.
Spread the crumbles out on a parchment-lined baking sheet in an even layer and pop that tray in the oven.
Bake for 35 to 45 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent burning. (I usually will first stir it after about 20 minutes, and then every 5 to 10 minutes until it becomes nice and brown and crispy.)
Go forth and use the baked crumbles however you desire!
No matter how many vegan meat alternatives come to market (like Beyond and Impossible), I’ll always love a good black bean burger. They pack so much flavor, and really spice up a plain ol’ burger in my humble opinion.
They’re great for any occasion, but I’m posting these on the 4th of July because Amurica, amiright? Make these for your guests and show off your thoughtfulness and the yumminess of vegan burgers, wahoo!
This recipe is loaded with spices and it makes me so happy. Making my own veggie burgers has been one of my recent favorite things to do. I love selecting and actually seeing all of the ingredients that go into the patties.
You can also make a large batch and freeze them! Way healthier, more delicious, and less expensive than spending $8 on a pack of 4 sad veggie patties in the freezer section.
Anyways, let’s get to it:
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Ooooh, ahhhh, a glimpse into the future.
But first, it’s patty making time:
Behind the scenes of this recipe on my very serious and very professional Instagram (which is @plants_in_my_pants btw).
Okay this is more like it. Above are the patties prior to baking, ready for their glamour shot.
And… here they are again, post baking.
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Burger contestant #1: The Classic American, sans red onion because the patty is already filled with them, ya know? You could definitely still add some fresh red onion for some color, crunch, and added onion-y-ness. In the realm of condiments, I just went with ketchup but usually am a fan of spicy mustard and some vegan mayo on my classic style burgers. This is about the patties, though, the patties.
Burger contestant #2: The Mexican Burger. Now we’re talking. I topped this one with cashew queso, pickled jalapeños, pico de gallo, and hot sauce. I’m not going to tell you what kind of hot sauce to use, because that is a personal choice not to be taken lightly. Some guac or avocado would have also been fabulous on this guy.
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So… which path will you choose? (I mean obviously you can top with whatever the heck you want but let me just humor myself, okay?)
Prep Time: 10 minutes – Cook Time: 24 minutes – Makes 6 to 7 large patties
Ingredients:
1/2 of one small onion (red or yellow)
1/2 of one red bell pepper
2 (14oz) cans of black beans, or 1 20oz can (drained and rinsed)
1/4 cup corn
flax egg (1 tablespoon flax meal + 2.5 tablespoons water, mixed in a small bowl and left to thicken for 5 minutes)
1 tablespoon soy sauce or tamari
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 teaspoon cumin
2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
a few cracks of fresh ground pepper
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
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Instructions:
Sauté onion over medium heat for 3 minutes (either with a small bit of oil, or water for oil-free), add the bell pepper and cook for another 3 minutes or so until the onions are translucent and the peppers are tender but not mushy.
Add all of the ingredients to a large bowl and mash or use a food processor to mix. You want to still have some whole beans in there, so don’t go overboard with the mashing/mixing.
Form about 6 to 7 large patties, packing each one tightly.
Bake at 350F on a parchment lined baking sheet for 24 minutes, turning them halfway through.
Serve with your favorite burger toppings and enjoy! They’re also delicious crumbled in a taco salad.
Note:
To freeze these patties, place them on a baking sheet and stick them in the freezer for about 45 minutes. Then you can add them to a freezer bag or container and save for a later date. I like to add a small piece of parchment paper between each patty to prevent them from sticking together in the freezer. I’ve baked them thawed and from frozen, and both work just fine!
