A creamy vegan cheese log coated in crunchy pecans and fresh herbs is perfect for holiday parties served with crackers and veggies. This recipe is super easy, delicious, and versatile! (gluten-free, soy-free and nut-free options)

This is a wow-worthy, super easy vegan cheese log that you can whip up for any party, potluck, or holiday gathering. It’s delicious, cheesy, and creamy with a fantastic pecan-herb crumb which adds wonderful texture and flavor. 

The holiday cheese log pairs beautifully with all kinds of veggies, crudites, crackers, fruit, or even spicy jams and chutneys. It’s perfect on a charcuterie board served with mango chutney and paired with one of my cheese balls, like my Jalapeno popper cheese ball.

You can also use this creamy cheese as a spread for baguettes or bagels or even to make grilled cheese, quesadillas, or mac and cheese. For mac and cheese, just add some stock to a pan, heat it up with the cheese log to make a sauce, and toss in your cooked pasta of choice. 

This vegan cheese log recipe is flexible and easy to adapt to your flavor profile. Try adding paprika and jerk seasoning, Cajun spices, or extra red pepper flakes for a spicy version.

Why You’ll Love this Vegan Cheese Log

• creamy vegan cheese log coated in crunchy toasted pecans and fresh herbs
• perfect for parties, potlucks, cheese boards, and charcuterie boards
• easy to make and versatile! Try different base and seasoning options.
• easy to make gluten-free, soy-free, and/or, nut-free

Continue reading: Holiday Vegan Cheese Log

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Spice-Rubbed Braised Tofu with Vegetables in a Savory Umami Sauce. A unique delicious holiday entree that all cooks in one pan! (gluten-free and nut-free with soy-free options)

I wanted to make a vegan braised meat-style dish for the holidays, so I came up with this one-skillet meal that’s rich, hearty, and incredibly flavorful. It features an amazing, aromatic spice rub that smells so meaty you’ll be surprised it’s entirely plant-based. The spice rub coats tofu that’s been frozen, thawed, and pressed, giving it a dense, chewy texture perfect for braising.

The base for the braise starts with crisped-up potatoes and carrots. After searing the vegetables, we make a deeply flavorful sauce with caramelized onions, lots of aromatics, and fresh herbs, and flavor boosters. 

The tofu and vegetables braise together in this sauce, allowing the tofu to absorb all that flavor while developing a slightly crispy top and a tender, chicken-like interior.

We use an oven-safe pan to start the dish on the stovetop and finish it in the oven, where the vegetables become perfectly tender and the tofu gets a gorgeous golden top. 

It’s fantastic served with rice, couscous, mashed potatoes or other mashed vegetables, bean purée, some crusty bakery bread, or a side salad. 

A simple herb sauce adds a bright, fresh contrast, but you can enjoy it on its own, too. It’s full of amazing flavors with or without. The herb sauce just bumps up the flavor even more.

Why You’ll Love Braised Tofu and Vegetables

• 1-pan entree that’s perfect for the holiday table
• flavorful braised vegetables in caramelized onion sauce
• big pieces of crisp, herb-rubbed tofu
• naturally gluten-free and nut-free with easy soy-free option

Continue reading: Chicken-Style Braised Tofu and Vegetables (1 pan!)

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A cozy, hands-off, no sauté mushroom potato casserole that needs just 1 pan. Layers of rich mushroom gravy with beans and veggies, layered with crisp garlic herb potatoes that take only minutes to put together as the oven does all the work. (gluten-free with soy-free and nut-free options)

It’s fall, and it’s time for some comfort food. And what’s more comforting than this casserole, which has a stewy mushroom gravy with beans and veggies, topped with potatoes smothered in garlic butter? There are lots of fall herbs, like fresh thyme and sage, and it all comes together really quickly. 

This is a super easy one-pan casserole. No need to sauté or stand around the kitchen for long periods of time cooking the onions and mushrooms. Everything goes right into the baking dish, and the oven does all the work. 

Once the mushroom and onions are cooked, add the beans, herbs and stew ingredients and top them with some sliced potato and bake, and thats it. You get all the fall flavors and a dish that reminds of mashed potatoes and mushroom bourguignon w/o all the work.

It’s comforting, stewy, and perfect for a fall dinner with your family, served with a side salad, garlicky dinner rolls, or some crusty bakery bread. Or serve it however else you like!

Why You’ll Love Mushroom Potato Casserole

• cozy, hearty, stewy beans and veggies in a rich, mushroom gravy
• 1-pan oven recipe, no standing at the stove!
• very little active cooking time
• No cooking the aromatics and potato separately
• naturally nut-free with easy gluten-free and soy-free options

Continue reading: 1-Pan Mushroom Potato Casserole

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Pillowy tortellini and a velvety tomato-cream broth, enriched with my easy homemade sausage spice mix. Bursting with bold Italian flavors and ready in just 30 minutes, it’s your new favorite irresistible soup.

I got some almond ricotta–stuffed tortellini, so I decided to make an amazing soup with it. This is a hearty, delicious, and easy tortellini soup recipe. It uses the usual suspects of an Italian-flavored soup: aromatics, carrot, celery, Italian herbs, and vegan sausage. Those flavors pair up with the tortellini, tomato purée, and some non-dairy cream. 

It turns out absolutely delicious.

I make this spice mix which adds all the flavor of sausage to whatever plant based protein you choose. This spice mix combines smoked paprika, fennel seeds, garlic powder, black pepper, oregano, and pepper flakes, and it’s just so versatile and flavorful!

First make the spice mix, and then decide which protein you want to use for the sausage. You can use vegan sausage, lentils, walnuts, pecans, chickpeas, crumbled tofu, chopped up soaked soy curls, seitan, or whatever else you like. 

Cook your protein of choice with some garlic and the spice mix, then add all the aromatics. Fold in the tomato sauce, tortellini, and some stock, then add non-dairy cream at the end. The tortellini cooks up in the same pan with the rest of the soup.

The soup comes together within 30 minutes in just 1 pan, and is creamy and satisfying!

Why You’ll Love Tortellini Soup

• super easy 1-pot meal ready in 30 minutes
• creamy, tomatoey broth with sausagey flavors and tender, cheesy tortellini
• super versatile! Use whatever plant-based protein you like!
• Easily made gluten-free, soy-free, and/or nut-free.

Continue reading: Creamy Tortellini Soup (30 Minutes!)

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This vegan jalapeño popper cheese ball is super easy: no soaking or blending required! Just 10 minutes of prep time, and it’s ready in about 30 minutes. Perfect for parties with veggies or crackers. (Gluten free, soy free option)

Five reasons you should make this jalapeño popper cheese ball:

1. No soaking the nuts overnight.
2. No blending the nuts.
3. No straining a blended mixture.
4. Just 10 minutes of active time in the kitchen.
5. Uses just a few everyday ingredients.

It is just mind-blowingly delicious for the small amount of effort this recipe needs. You just make this flavor mixture that’s like a jalapeño dip with non-dairy yogurt, some brine from pickled jalapeños, and some spices. Then, mix in some almond flour and fresh and pickled jalapeños to create a dough. Shape it into a ball, and bake. That’s it!

Baking this vegan cheese ball helps the flavors meld together and takes a little bit of the bite out of the jalapeños. It just enhances the overall flavor and texture. The result is this fantastically delicious vegan cheese ball to serve with some crackers, veggies, crudités, or however else you like. 

This is also such a versatile vegan cheese ball. There are lots of fun ways to serve it! You can make sandwiches with it by spreading it on some bread, and pairing it with some fresh tomatoes or other veggies or some crisp tofu. Or add dollops of this mixture to salads.

It also works great in mini quesadillas! Just spread some of the jalapeño popper cheese ball onto small tortillas with some grilled veggies, fold them over, and cook until crisp in the oven or on the stovetop.  If you’re going to use it to make quesadillas, you don’t even need to bake the cheese ball, because cooking the quesadillas will cook the cheese mixture then.

Continue reading: Jalapeño Popper Cheese Ball 

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Sticky, crispy, ginger- and garlic-packed tofu Manchurian is an easy and delicious meal over rice, quinoa, noodles, or lettuce wraps. This popular Indo-chinese sauce has a sweet heat that is absolutely addictive! (nut-free with gluten-free and soy-free options)

Manchurian sauce is one of the most popular Indo-Chinese sauces, and it’s one of my favorites. You can use it in many different ways to make a variety of dishes. You can find it on restaurant menus paired with crispy fried chicken, crispy cauliflower, or fried veggie balls coated in the thick, sticky sauce. 

This sauce is absolutely delicious, and it has tons of ginger and garlic, so be ready to chop up a lot of both.

You can also make a thinner version of Manchurian sauce to pair with rice, very saucy veggie balls, crispy chicken, or noodles. I have a couple of different ways to use Manchurian sauce on the blog that use these variations.

Today, let’s make tofu Manchurian. We toss tofu in rice flour and cornstarch to make a really crispy coating, then pan-fry it until it gets an amazing crunch. We make the Manchurian sauce in the same pan, then toss the crispy tofu in it right before serving, so it keeps that satisfying crunch. 

Top your tofu Manchurian it with green onions, and serve it with rice, quinoa, noodles, or lettuce wraps. Or enjoy it as a starter on its own!

Why You’ll Love Tofu Manchurian

• crispy tofu in sticky-sweet ginger-garlic Manchurian sauce
• 1-pan dish ready in about 30 minutes
• flexible! Serve as a starter or over rice, grains, noodles, or in lettuce wraps.
• naturally nut-free with easy gluten-free and soy-free options

Continue reading: Indo-Chinese Crispy Tofu Manchurian (1-pan, 30 minutes)

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Lentil trail mix is a super delicious snack, and here I will show you three ways to make it! Peanut gochujang, Indian Chivda, Doritos Nacho flavor! This high protein, savory granola is easy and fun to make and a perfect breakfast or snack. (16 grams of protein and fiber per serving!)

When I shared my red lentil granola recipe, quite a few of you asked for a savory version, and today I’m sharing three different ways to make savory lentil granola/trail mix! Make all three flavors of this delicious lentil trail mix, or triple your favorite flavoring and make one big batch.

Why three ways? Because I just couldn’t decide between these amazing flavors: Indian-spiced, peanut gochujang, and nacho spice. So, I decided to let you choose for yourself!

This trail mix/savory granola recipe uses split red lentils (aka masoor dal) as the base. You cook the red lentils on the stovetop until they are just al dente, and they roast up to be light and crisp in the oven with your seasonings of choice. 

The result is a protein-packed snack that is absolutely full of flavor, no matter which seasoning mix you choose! A serving of this trail mix has around 16 grams of protein and 16 grams of fiber. You can amp up the protein even more by folding in hemp seeds into the granola once it has finished roasting.

The Indian-spiced lentils are inspired by Indian chivda, which usually uses rice flakes or other flaked or puffed grains. It is spicy savory with some balancing sweet from raisins or dates and is fantastically delicious! 

For the nacho spiced savory lentil trail mix, a took inspiration from my nacho cheese granola bars. It’s your favorite snacking chip in crisp trail mix form! you can adjust it to your flavor preference. Add more cayenne for more heat or more nutritional yeast for more cheesiness.

If you love gochujang, definitely try the peanut gochujang lentil trail mix which has an amazing savory-spicy flavor with a hint of sweetness. It pairs so well with the crunchy peanuts! Comment below on which one will you try first!

Why You’ll Love Lentil Trail Mix

• protein- and fiber-packed breakfast or snack with 16 grams each of protein and fiber per serving!
• make all three flavors or choose from 3 amazing flavors: Indian-spiced, peanut gochujang, or nacho cheese
• deep flavors and incredible textures
• naturally gluten-free with soy-free and nut-free options included

Continue reading: High Protein Lentil Trail Mix, 3 Ways Peanut gochujang, Indian Chivda, Nacho cheese flavors

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High protein and fiber. Mix everything right in the pan meal, this Sheet pan roasted veggies and beans with Creamy Lemon Yogurt sauce, has amazing flavor and texture! Wrap it, bowl it, swipe with bread! So good! Gluten-free, options for soyfree, Nutfree

This is an easy, refreshing, spring and summer meal that you can put together within minutes. You make this amazingly refreshing lemon yogurt sauce and pair it with savory roasted veggies and crispy, crunchy beans that have been tossed in spices like paprika, coriander, black pepper, and garlic. They are crisp on the outside and tender on the inside.

The warm veggies and the cooling yogurt sauce are just fabulous together.

This is a veggie-heavy recipe rich in fiber, with over 14 grams per serving. It contains 15 to 25 grams of protein per serving, depending on the garnishes and non-dairy yogurt used. The protein in these sheet pan roasted vegetables comes from the beans, yogurt, sesame or hemp seeds, and even the vegetables. For an even more filling meal, serve with whole grain flatbread, pita, or naan.

You can pair them with the sauce in any way you like. You can put the sauce on a plate, top it with the roasted veggies, then top with some seeds and sprouts and a good squeeze of lemon juice. 

Or make a wrap with pita bread or naan bread. Just warm the bread, add the yogurt sauce, the roasted veggies, some more sauce, sprouts, cucumber, and a squeeze of lemon, then serve.

Sheet pan veggies and beans are absolutely delicious any which way you serve it. You can even make small tacos out of it!

Why You’ll Love Sheet Pan Veggies and Beans

• super easy 1-pan meal celebrates delicious spring and summer veggies
• tender-crisp roasted vegetables with crunchy roasted white beans
• creamy, vibrant, 1-bowl lemon yogurt sauce
• naturally gluten-free, soy-free, and nut-free

Continue reading: Sheet Pan Veggies and Beans with Lemon Yogurt Sauce

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A fully loaded, flavor packed, protein rich summer spinach salad with an umami-packed crisp chickpea hemp seed olive crumble, nutrient dense greens, and creamy, vibrant tahini lemon dressing. A perfect hot weather dinner. (23g protein and 15g fiber per serving, (gluten-free, soy-free, nut-free, high protein)

This is a fantastically hearty summer spinach salad. It has so many textures and flavors, and it has 80 grams of protein for the entire salad. That’s 20 grams of protein per serving. For a salad!

There is protein from the chickpeas, from the hemp seeds, and from the nutritional yeast in the chickpea crumble. There’s also protein from the tahini in the dressing, the non-dairy yogurt (depending on the brand), as well as a little protein from the greens that you use in the salad. You can amp up the protein even more by sprinkling it with some hemp seeds before serving or adding some of my tofu bacon bits, or other high protein toppings.

The salad has this creamy texture from the dressing, the crunch from the fresh veggies, and crispiness from the chickpea crumbles, which we bake until they’re crispy-crunchy. The umami comes from the olives and the sun-dried tomato, and the refreshing, fresh flavor comes from lemon zest, the cucumbers, and any other crunchy veggies and greens. 

It’s just a fabulous combination of flavors and textures. The combination of tahini and yogurt helps mellow tahini’s strong flavor and makes for a rich, creamy dressing.

Why You’ll Love this Summer Spinach Salad

• incredible combination of flavors and textures! Crunchy veggies, creamy dressing, and savory, crisp chickpea-olive crumble.
• easy to make in about 30 minutes
• packed with veggies and protein
• naturally gluten-free, soy-free, and nut-free

Continue reading: Summer Spinach Salad with Chickpea Olive Crumble

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Super delicious gochujang tacos with creamy, crunchy yum sauce slaw are incredibly easy to make without a ton of ingredients. Crispy gochujang tofu, creamy gochujang slaw dressing, sweet spicy maple gochujang drizzle! Triple gochujang!

These tacos! They celebrate gochujang in a way you’ve never experienced! Crispy gochujang tofu! Creamy gochujang sauce for the slaw and for dressing! And a sweet spicy gochujang glaze to finish! Triple gochujang.

These tacos are super delicious and amazing! They come together fairly quickly and use many same ingredients in the different components of the taco. Despite that, there’s so much overall texture and flavor that they’re fabulous to whip up and enjoy on any weekday or on the weekend.

I love to make this tofu. It’s just super flavorful. You’ll want to double or triple the tofu recipe, so you’ll have leftover tofu handy to use in salads, wraps, sandwiches, bowls, etc. throughout the week.

Gochujang tacos are very simple to make. We take some tofu and marinate it in a gochujang, ginger-garlic, soy, and maple mixture, and then bake it.

Meanwhile, make the crunchy, creamy slaw. We make a quick, creamy dressing using gochujang again along with some lime juice, maple syrup, and non-dairy yogurt or vegan mayo. You use that dressing to make the slaw and to dress the tacos later on, so you don’t have to make multiple dressings.

I usually like to finish it off with a gochujang-maple drizzle. You don’t have to do this, but it adds some extra heat and a flavor punch—so definitely try to make that one as well.

These tacos are fantastic when the slaw is fresh and crunchy, the tofu is spicy and chewy and crisp! The creamy dressing adds richness, and the gochujang drizzle adds sweet heat. The pickled jalapeños bring a tangy heat that ties it all together.

Why You’ll Love Gochujang Tacos

• crispy gochujang tofu with creamy, spicy, crunchy slaw in warm tortillas
• simple ingredients – slaw and tacos use the same sauce!
• versatile! Use the tofu to make tacos or to top salads or bowl meals or in sandwiches or wraps!
• naturally nut-free with gluten-free and soy-free options

Continue reading: Gochujang Tacos with Yum Sauce Slaw

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Lovers of French Onion Soup will LOVE this Vegan French Onion Dip – aka the vegan dip to beat all vegan dips! Caramelized onions mixed with a tofu base make for delectable caramelized onion dip for parties and gameday! 

Here’s the vegan party snack to beat all party snacks! Vegan French Onion Dip – lovers of my vegan French Onion Soup will LOVE this dip made with homemade caramelized onions.

Now, caramelizing onions can be incredibly tedious and requires watching the pan for half an hour. In this Instant Pot French Onion Dip recipe, the caramelization part is completely hands-off! We let the onions slowly caramelize in your Instant Pot.  And the best thing – there’s zero risk of burnt onions in the end. You can make the caramelized onion on stove top or bake them. See recipe notes for instructions.

This restaurant-style dip pairs perfectly with fresh veggie sticks, breadsticks, or your favorite homemade or store-bought crackers for easy entertaining.

Using my fool-proof method, the onions will cook at low heat and caramelize and get perfectly jammy and delicious! If you love how these turn out and want to use these for more recipes than just French Onion Dip, you can use these over hummus/ avodado toast or cream cheese toasts, add them to top your favorite pasta, etc.

French onion dips usually require cream cheese and/or yogurt as a base. In this vegan version, we blitz silken tofy with dairy-free yogurt.

More vegan Dips and appetizers:

 Spinach Artichoke Dip Recipe 30 Mins!

 Pizza Dip with Vegan Mozzarella Cream Herbed Mushrooms

Thai Layered Dip.

Jalapeno popper dip 

Firecracker Tofu wings 

Nashville baked cauliflower

Continue reading: Vegan French Onion Dip

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This Vegan Jalapeno Skillet Mac and Cheese is made in just 1 Skillet! No need for multiple pans! A 30 minute simple vegan spin on a family dinner favorite that is perfectly cheesy with a kick of heat from the added jalapenos. Options for gluten-free soyfree nutfree

Jalapeno Skillet Mac and Cheese in all its cheesy, salty and spicy glory! This is the ultimate vegan comfort food for a cold night and with this recipe, it comes together quicker and easier than one that needs to make the sauce and boil pasta separately!

We make this dish in one skillet on the stovetop. Stovetop Pasta dishes like my Vegan Pesto Skillet Lasagna and my French Onion Skillet Lasagna are among my favorite dishes to make when life gets busy and I crave a comforting meal.

I love the spicy kick of the jalapenos to counterbalance the rich cheese sauce. However, if kids are eating with you, remove the seeds, or add less jalapenos or just to one side of the dish.

We want to bring on the flavor right from the beginning, starting with cooking the pasta in seasoned broth instead of plain water. If your pasta absorbs all the water while cooking, you might want to add a splash more of broth to bring the sauce together.

Looking for a gift for the new year to eat more plant based? Get my cookbooks to help you try easy and amazing meals in 2023! Ebooks will deliver instantly, get print books from local stores.

Why you will love this skillet Mac

• It needs just 1 skillet
• its easily made without gluten soy nuts
• It’s quick comfort food
• it takes just 25 mins

More Pasta Recipes and pasta casseroles:

Vegan Garlic Chili Oil Pasta with Smoky Pecans

Creamy Vegan Mushroom Pasta with Sundried Tomatoes

Vegan Mac And Cheese Taco Bake ; Mac Taco Casserole

Garlicky Korean Mac and Cheese with Gochujang

Continue reading: Vegan Jalapeño Skillet Mac and Cheese

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