Simple vegan recipes with 5 ingredients or less: appetizers and sides, main dishes, sauces and salad dressings, snacks, drinks, and desserts. I've got you covered!
There's a common misconception out there that it's hard to make vegan food. Or that vegan food is somehow different from regular food. These deliciously simple vegan recipes with 5 ingredients or less prove that eating vegan can be easy!
Just like any other type of cooking, vegan recipes can use a long list of ingredients and tricky techniques. And just like any other type of cooking, there are vegan recipes out there that are plain awful.
But these easy vegan recipes are none of those things. They're simple, they use a limited number of ingredients, and you are going to love them!
Tools to make vegan cooking easier
Really, I could just call this section Tools to Make Cooking Easier. Vegan cooking is just cooking without animal products. It's not that mystical.
But if you're new to eating vegan, making cooking in general a bit easier can help free you up to discover new favorite ingredients, recipes, and techniques. Because a big lifestyle shift like going vegan can feel tricky at first.
But you've got this, I promise.
These are the kitchen gadgets I use to streamline my cooking, so I spend less time over the stove and more time with my family:
- Instant Pot - An electric pressure cooker, like an Instant Pot, is great for making quick soups, stews, beans, and grains. We use ours almost every day.
- Air Fryer - You probably know by now that I love my air fryer! It cooks food quickly without heating up the whole house. A real plus during Georgia summers.
- Upright Blender - I not only use this to puree sauces and smoothies. The pulse function works great to mince veggies, which saves so much time!
- Immersion Blender - Do you like creamy soups? Then an immersion blender is your friend. No need to transfer the soup to a blender to puree. This stick blender goes right into the pot.
- Garlic Press - I don't usually recommend unitaskers, but if you use garlic often, a press can save you a ton of mincing time!
- Good Knives - Cooking with a lot of vegetables can mean more time at the cutting board. Good knives make that time more efficient and enjoyable.
- Citrus Zester - Need instant flavor? Zest some lemon, lime, or orange peel into your next soup, salad, or bowl meal.
Of course, you don't need any of these gadgets to make vegan food. They just make life easier. It's up to you whether you want to splash out on these extras or not!
Define 'ingredients'.
Just a quick note before we get to these recipes, y'all. When I say that these simple vegan recipes have "5 ingredients or less," I'm not counting garlic powder, salt, pepper, or water, because I'm assuming everyone has those in their cabinets.
I'm also not counting optional ingredients, because they're optional.
When initially collecting this list of recipes, I was planning to also count garlic powder, but I consider it as much a pantry staple as salt. If you don't have garlic powder, get yourself some! It makes basically any savory dish 100x better.
So! Without further ado, let's sample some limited-ingredient vegan recipes!
Appetizers and side dishes
Serve these as starters or side dishes, or use them as a base for a meal. The sesame noodles would go great with any of the veggie side dishes listed here to create a super easy meal.
Sesame noodles recipe
Crispy air fryer Brussels sprouts
Buffalo cauliflower recipe
Roasted Garlic Cauliflower
Vegan main dishes
Some of these are stand-alone meals, and some of them are entrees begging for a side dish or two. Rice, noodles, veggies, or any of the appetizers and sides listed above are great options to pair with these easy vegan main dishes.
Air fryer tofu recipe
Vegan Salt and Pepper Pasta
Baked BBQ tofu recipe
Sheet Pan Broccolini and Chickpeas
Classic Vegan Pesto Pasta
Sauces, dips, and salad dressings
I love to build a meal around a good sauce. These are great for creating flavorful salads, sandwiches, wraps, and bowl meals. Use the dips as a sauce or as a snack with veggies or crackers.
Ginger cranberry dressing recipe
Spicy Peach BBQ Hummus
Easy Vegan Black Bean Dip
Easy Vegan Cheese Sauce
Easy Hummus
Simple vegan snacks
I don't know about y'all, but I love snacks! Having an arsenal of healthy, simple recipes will help you manage snack attacks with ease.
Chili-Lime Cashews
Chewy Peanut Butter Granola Bars
Sunflower Fig Balls
Vanilla Almond Balls
Drinks and desserts
Need a sweet treat? This is your section! Get your decadent desserts and tasty hot drinks here!
Have a question? Tried this recipe? Share your thoughts!