Hi, friends! We’re so excited that you’ve welcomed us into your kitchen. Spatula cheers!
Before we jump in, let us just say: we loooove food. And not just healthy stuff like smoothie bowls and salads. We love all food. Pizza, and burgers, and pot pies, and chowder, and sushi, and soft serve, and cookies, and … well, all the foods we’ve included in this book!
When we first became vegan more than a decade ago, we thought that being vegan would mean life without many of these dishes. After all, how can you have ooey-gooey cheese without dairy? Or juicy burgers without beef? Or cookies that don’t crumble apart without eggs?
Oh my goodness, were we wrong! You can absolutely have it all—and it can taste even better than you remember—without a single animal product in sight. And that’s what we’re going to show you in this book: how to prepare and enjoy vegan food, without any sacrifices!
Of course, there’s a lot of not-so-great vegan food out there. Many of the recipes we’ve made over the years ended up as dramatic fails. Grainy fettuccine Alfredo, pumpkin pie that spilled all over the oven when we took it out, creamy soup that curdled—ugh. Was this what plant-based life was going to be like?
No way! Plant-based food has come a long way since those early days. Today, there are more vegan cookbooks than you can count. But we felt something was missing. While cookbooks are being released faster than we can spell T-O-F-U, they seem to be getting farther and farther away from what our friends and family really need: familiar, perfected, un-mess-up-able staples that are tasty enough to share with your self-proclaimed carnivorous neighbor. So that’s exactly what we set out to create.
This book has been in our hearts for a long time. It’s the book we wish had existed when we first became vegan, and one that we’ve felt passionate about bringing to life for many years to help make the plant-powered journey more enjoyable, vibrant, and fun for all those who embark on it.
This book carries with it recipes, stories, and inspiration from each of us and our journeys (both separate and together).
Before we jump in, we’d love to share a bit about why we’re here as your guides.
Meet Your Guides
Michelle Cehn
I grew up like most other kids in America—eating pasta loaded with Parmesan cheese, gobbling cereal drenched in cow’s milk, and making occasional trips to fast-food spots for some chicken nuggets (which I wanted just for the free toy). All that changed when I turned eight and decided to become vegetarian, and later vegan.
For a long time, my diet was far from perfect. I had no idea how to prepare plant-based food, and the specialty products back then (like vegan meats and cheeses) were hard to find and not that good. I ate a lot of “accidentally vegan” ramen noodles, cereal with soy milk, salad, and bland pasta with olive oil.
It took years of trial and error in the kitchen, following countless recipes that turned out well only some of the time, before my eyes were opened to the vast and varied world of plant-powered possibilities. I began to explore more fruits, vegetables, and ingredients I had never even heard of before (hi, nutritional yeast!). I slowly learned how to cook and how to transform plant-based food into mouthwatering feasts—even beyond what I had experienced before I went vegan.
As the food in my own kitchen became creative, rich, flavorful, and tasty enough to wow even my most die-hard meat-loving friends and family, I became passionate about helping others eliminate that period of struggle that so often accompanies diet change and learning what to eat and how to cook in new ways. And that’s how World of Vegan, the website I founded, was born; how Toni and I found one another; and why I’m writing this cookbook today.
Toni Okamoto
When I first became vegan, I was so excited to finally give it a try after a couple of years of being vegetarian, and I couldn’t wait to tell my parents. My dad reacted by calling me a “hippie weed smoker” (which is funny because I’ve never smoked weed, and it has nothing to do with food). But the experience was representative of the obstacles that would follow my decision to change my diet. I realized that it wasn’t a choice that was going to affect just me—it was also going to be a transition for my family, friends, coworkers, anyone I dated, and everyone with whom I shared food. People had misconceptions about what being a vegan meant, and sometimes even a negative association with the word vegan.
So, in my twelve years of vegan living, I’ve found that the best way to win the support and understanding of friends and family is to be a friendly vegan. I’ve wanted to positively and kindly introduce my loved ones to the best vegan foods and to slowly and respectfully, over long periods of time, share why I’m so passionate about what they had considered simply a “diet.” And I’m so grateful that this approach has led to successful outcomes, with most of the people in my life (even the biggest naysayers) choosing more plant-based options or even fully embracing a vegetarian lifestyle. It takes time and patience, but knowing that my parents, on their own, choose Soyrizo over chorizo (sausage) makes it worth the wait.
I’ve carried this approach over to my website, Plant-Based on a Budget, and it has been important to me to maintain a culture across my platforms that welcomes anyone who wants to save money while eating healthier and plant-based. And to me, this book is an extension of that. Teaming up with Michelle—an amazing, compassionate friend—and creating this inclusive resource has been a dream of mine, and I’m overjoyed that it’s now a reality.
Becoming Your Guides
The start of our friendship was unconventional. Michelle was living in Oakland and Toni was living in Sacramento (an hour and a half away), yet despite the distance, Toni knew we should be friends. We were about the same age, we were both committed to helping animals and passionate about vegan living, we both loved creating content online, and we just seemed like an obvious match.
Toni messaged Michelle, asking if she could come hang out with her sometime, but surprisingly, Michelle told Toni that she was so focused on work and World of Vegan that she didn’t have time to hang out with friends. Toni suggested that instead of hanging out like normal people (like going to the movies, getting coffee, or eating at a restaurant), we could work together creating content. And that’s how we built our friendship—helping people become and stay vegan.
Since then, we’ve created hundreds of YouTube videos together, co-directed a mini-documentary called 7 Days, produced The Plant-Powered People Podcast, written the Plant-Based on a Budget Meal Plans (which have helped thousands of people), and developed a truly meaningful and valuable partnership. But the most important thing we’ve built together is a community and culture that is truly nonjudgmental and welcomes all people, regardless of where they are on their plant-based journeys. So, dear reader, we thank you for bringing us along on your journey, and we promise to be your gracious hosts and steadfast companions throughout.
Your Friendly Vegan Cookbook
Together, we’ve been vegan for more than two decades. We came from totally different paths in life, but the two things we’ve found both individually and as a duo are the power of being friendly and the power of sharing good food. There’s nothing like a plate of Challah French Toast (page 39) dripping with maple syrup or a bowl of hearty Yellow Tofu Curry (page 66) infused with Southeast Asian spices to instantly quiet the naysayers, bring the focus away from dietary differences, and stop the tiresome questions about where we get our protein. Instead of being combative and pushing our food choices on those around us, we’ve learned that being happy, friendly, nonjudgmental individuals is the greatest (and most effective) way to inspire positive change. Gathering around the table to share a fresh, flavorful home-cooked meal that’s familiar and comforting has the power to transform perceptions about what plant-based food is all about. With this book, we’ve taken the pain out of meal preparation and the struggle out of changing the way you eat, to bring forth the flavors, comfort, familiarity, and ease of cooking so you and your loved ones can enjoy and celebrate one of life’s great joys: food.
And so, after countless recipe fails (and wins!), this cookbook—a collection of our go-to fail-proof recipes that taste as good as (or better than) the originals—was born. You won’t find weird flours, hard-to-find ingredients, or vegetables you’ve never heard of in these pages. Instead, you’ll discover recipes that you’ll be eager to share with friends, that will make your taste buds sing and have you going back for seconds, and that will fill your house with tantalizing aromas whether you’re preparing a simple post-work meal or an elaborate holiday feast.
To fine-tune our recipes to appeal to the die-hard meat eaters, vegetarians, and vegans among us, we turned to nearly one hundred recipe testers of all ages and cooking skill levels from all around the world. With their help, each recipe in this collection has been refined and perfected, with an emphasis on maximizing flavor and minimizing fuss. If you’re a fan of easy-to-prepare food that looks and smells as delightful as it tastes, this book is our gift to you.
Choosing vegan doesn’t mean self-denial. Quite the opposite. Choosing vegan means a whole new world of plant-powered ingredients opening up to you. It means getting out of old food ruts and finding a new sense of creativity in the kitchen. It means discovering new flavors, spices, and cooking techniques. It means feeling that flush of excitement when you make a plant-based lasagna stuffed with vegan ricotta and smothered in a zesty marinara, and it tastes even better than the one you grew up with. It means enjoying food even more.
And beyond our amazing tried-and-tested recipes, there’s so much more that we want to share with you to make your plant-based journey easier and more enjoyable.
If you picked up this cookbook and are ready to get cooking but aren’t completely sure where you’ll be getting your protein without meat, we’ve got you! And if you’re prepping your plant-powered kitchen for the first time and don’t know what staples to buy, we’re here to help.
We’ve spent over ten years (each!) supporting fledgling vegans and seasoned herbivores alike with their questions about plant-based living, and have created resources that show you
• How to go vegan
• What tools you need to outfit your kitchen
• How to stock your pantry
• How to save time and money in the kitchen
• Plant-based nutrition basics
• Our favorite vegan versions of milk, cheese, ice cream, and beyond
Even after you’ve tried every recipe in this book, we’re still here for you. At FriendlyVeganCookbook.com, you’ll find more helpful resources, new recipes, and fun videos we created to continue inspiring and motivating you.
But for now, while you have your nose in this book, let’s do what we came here to do and get cooking! We’re excited to share these dishes we know will delight your taste buds and dazzle your friends and family, so grab your apron and join us in the kitchen.
And if you snap any photos in the kitchen, please make sure to tag @vegan, @plantbasedonabudget, and #friendlyvegan on Instagram. We love seeing and sharing your photos!
Michelle and Toni