10 Best Vegetarian Cookbooks UK 2024
From cookbooks offering recipes based on Chinese or Indian cuisine to those with dishes aimed at beginners or children, there is a wide range of high-quality, best-selling books to consider. In this guide, we will help you choose the best veggie resources for you, whether you are completely new to the world of plant-based cooking or a long term legume lover. Let’s get cooking!
Quick List - Top Vegetarian Cookbooks
Henry Firth & Ian Theasby
The Ultimate Plant Based Cooking Bible
David & Stephen Flynn
Plant Powered and Nutritious Comfort Food Classics
Roxy Pope & Ben Pook
Effortless, Speedy Plant Based Meals For Everyone
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How to Choose a Vegetarian Cookbook in the UK – Buying Guide
Beginner or Master Chef: What Kind of Cook Are You?
Firstly, you should identify your culinary skill level, and particularly with vegetarian cuisine. This is important to help you to find a truly useful cookbook with dishes you can really see yourself making and eating regularly.
New to Cooking? Look for Books with Explanations, Cooking Techniques and Pictures
Be honest with yourself about your skills and resources. If you are a total novice, you should look for titles that portray this, as well as content such as explanations of ingredients that may be new to you. Some now even include menu planning guides and shopping lists, which will help you identify and buy the ingredients you need, as well as guiding you to feel more confident preparing vegetarian food.
Books with plenty of attractive and informative photos to demonstrate how the food should look are also useful for beginners, especially if there are dishes that are new to you. You'll be able to refer to the photographs to aid you in everything from chopping the veggies in a certain way to seeing how to serve the elements of the dish on the plate for maximum eating enjoyment.
Confident Chefs Should Try the Latest Releases or Those By Online Bloggers
Similarly, cookbooks by authors who began as online bloggers are a good idea for the confident home cook – they are often up to speed with the latest food trends and include innovative ideas and processes. Of course, the online world is a very visual one, so if artistic presentation and colourful dishes are your thing, look to these types of veggie chefs for inspiration.
Who Are You Cooking For? Look for Recipes Suited to Their Tastebuds
Now let’s think about who will be enjoying the vegetarian food you're going to make. You will want to choose a book that contains recipes suited to the tastes of both yourself and whoever else will be eating, so scan the contents page for a list of the dishes inside to be sure.
Cooking for Little Ones: Child-Friendly Recipes
Also keep an eye out for recipes with fewer complicated processes. The benefits of simple recipes are not only that you can whip them up whilst you are juggling other parental tasks, but also that you can have fun getting the kids involved in cooking and learning about vegetarian food.
Cooking for Yourself: One-Pot Wonder Meals
The other great thing about simple dishes, particularly vegetarian, is that you can add other ingredients or components and transform them into a different dish if you are feeling creative.
One-pot dishes will also ensure you have minimal wastage, and any remaining food can be easily compacted and stored in the fridge or freezer for another meal.
Cooking for Friends and Family: Hearty Meals to Replace Meat
This can also include recipes with meat replacements such as soya mince, veggie sausages or seitan, or simply using vegetables that mimic the texture and satisfaction of meat – using mushrooms in place of beef in a stew, for example.
Want a Nutritious Meal? Find Books With Nutritional Information and Healthy Dishes
If a low calorie or low fat diet is important, you should chose books with included nutritional information – often cookbooks targeted at healthy living will include calorie count next to each recipe, as well as content at the start or end of the book explaining simple ways to swap traditional ingredients for their lower-fat or more nutrient dense counterparts.
Most health-centred cookbooks will also have useful information about the nutrition of ingredients specific to vegetarian cooking. If you're concerned about getting a balanced diet with all the key nutrients for yourself and your family, check for this too.
Make Sure You Can Buy The Ingredients Locally
These could include ingredients native to countries such as India or China, or specialist vegetarian ingredients such as meat substitutes and different types of seasonings. Have a scan through a few of the recipes in the cookbook to see if you are familiar with most of the ingredients, and look for them next time you are out shopping – this way you can also check prices.
But don’t forget that it could be a great learning process to get stuck into vegetarian cuisine and find out about a few new ingredients to get creative with, so try looking in your local Asian food store or vegetarian web stores for these specialist ingredients.
Top 10 Best Vegetarian Cookbooks in the UK
Products | Image | Click to purchase | Key features | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Henry Firth & Ian Theasby 1. Henry Firth & Ian Theasby – BOSH! | | The Ultimate Plant Based Cooking Bible | |
2 | David & Stephen Flynn 2. David & Stephen Flynn – The Happy Pear: Recipes for Happiness | | Plant Powered and Nutritious Comfort Food Classics | |
3 | Matt Pritchard 3. Matt Pritchard – Dirty Vegan | | Big Plates of Proper Tasty Grub | |
4 | Roxy Pope & Ben Pook 4. Roxy Pope & Ben Pook – So Vegan in 5 | | Effortless, Speedy Plant Based Meals For Everyone | |
5 | Meera Sodha 5. Meera Sodha – Fresh India | | Better Than Takeaway: Fresh and Vibrant Curries | |
6 | Hairy Bikers 6. Hairy Bikers – The Hairy Dieters Go Veggie | | Hearty Comfort Food Goes Low Calorie | |
7 | Joe Wicks 7. Joe Wicks – Veggie Lean in 15 | | Quick and Tasty Meals for the Fitness Fanatic | |
8 | Rukmini Iyer 8. Rukmini Iyer – The Green Roasting Tin: Vegan and Vegetarian One Dish Dinners | | Fuss Free One Pot Meals For Busy People | |
9 | Deliciously Ella 9. Deliciously Ella – The Plant Based Cookbook | | Simple, Clean Eating Meals Without Meat, Gluten or Dairy | |
10 | Leon 10. Leon – Fast Vegetarian | | Gourmet Healthy Fast Food |
Henry Firth & Ian Theasby1. Henry Firth & Ian Theasby – BOSH!
The Ultimate Plant Based Cooking Bible
Also an online vlog, each delicious recipe can be found online with an instructional video, and there are sections for quick meals and cupboard must-haves, all accompanied by high quality photographs. We can guarantee you will be cooking your best vegetarian food yet with this fabulous book.
David & Stephen Flynn2. David & Stephen Flynn – The Happy Pear: Recipes for Happiness
Plant Powered and Nutritious Comfort Food Classics
Including sections on healthy living, kid friendly meals, and a thorough pantry and equipment staples list, the recipes in this book are so delicious that you won’t even notice you are eating healthily, and are so simple that you will want to pick up this book time and time again.
Big Plates of Proper Tasty Grub
A great mix of balanced meals and gourmet treats without too many intimidating or expensive ingredients, this book will appeal to the young and trendy and those who love making meat free versions of restaurant favourites – it even includes a vegan ‘hangover cure’ fry up.
Roxy Pope & Ben Pook 4. Roxy Pope & Ben Pook – So Vegan in 5
Effortless, Speedy Plant Based Meals For Everyone
Appealing to both the younger and student generation of veggies as well as the time-pressed professional, this book is also a great all-rounder whether you want to challenge yourself to eat plant based once a week, or are a seasoned veggie looking for a quick and tasty fix.
Better Than Takeaway: Fresh and Vibrant Curries
Best for cooks who have a knowledge and love of Indian cuisine and a cupboard full of spices already to hand, this book would suit those who like to cook to impress, or an intermediate cook who wants to add fresh ideas to their repertoire.
Hairy Bikers6. Hairy Bikers – The Hairy Dieters Go Veggie
Hearty Comfort Food Goes Low Calorie
In addition to recipes showing calories per serving, there are also lunch prep tips to stay on track, and plenty of nutritional info for vegetarian kids and adults alike. Good for beginners and those missing meat, but mainly for those who like simple British staples rather than the flavour adventurous.
Quick and Tasty Meals for the Fitness Fanatic
The meals are mostly intended to be used as part of a training plan, so may not be as useful for the average eater, but the ingredients are simple and familiar: perfect if you are embarking on a veggie fitness journey.
Rukmini Iyer8. Rukmini Iyer – The Green Roasting Tin: Vegan and Vegetarian One Dish Dinners
Fuss Free One Pot Meals For Busy People
Unfortunately this book includes no sweet or dessert recipes, which some may find disappointing. Although the theme is handy for simplicity, more adventurous cooks may find their creativity a little limited.
Deliciously Ella9. Deliciously Ella – The Plant Based Cookbook
Simple, Clean Eating Meals Without Meat, Gluten or Dairy
The book also includes personal diary entries based on Ella’s illness and journey, which some readers may see as unnecessary. Although refined sugar and processed food free, dieters may be put off by the large amounts of maple syrup, fat and so on, as well as the cost and accessibility for some of the more expensive wholefoods ingredients.
Gourmet Healthy Fast Food
A helpful feature at the end categorises the recipes into ‘Low Calorie/GI/Gluten Free’ etc, and the contents include a kid-friendly section, but we found some of the menu ideas and styles may be intimidating to the beginner or new veggie cook, especially if on a budget.
More Cookbooks to Add to the Collection
While we can find endless numbers of recipes online nowadays, there's still something nice about having a collection of recipes in a book on the shelf which you can browse through anytime. If you're interested in other types of cooking besides vegetarian recipes, check out these other articles of ours!
Summary
Hopefully this guide will help you distinguish your needs and preferences and give you a good idea of what is available online right now, so you can start creating sumptuous vegetarian suppers in no time.
Author: Natasha Dziubajlo
Top 5 Vegetarian Cookbooks
No. 1: Henry Firth & Ian Theasby｜1. Henry Firth & Ian Theasby – BOSH!
No. 2: David & Stephen Flynn｜2. David & Stephen Flynn – The Happy Pear: Recipes for Happiness
No. 3: Matt Pritchard ｜3. Matt Pritchard – Dirty Vegan
No. 4: Roxy Pope & Ben Pook ｜4. Roxy Pope & Ben Pook – So Vegan in 5
No. 5: Meera Sodha｜5. Meera Sodha – Fresh India
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