Hi, I am Chef Zara. In this post, I will guide you through the Southern Vegan Cookbooks.
I love exploring new foods and recipes and cooking with friends and family. One of the most common questions that I often get is for cookbook recommendations. I have created this guide for friends, family, and new friends alike. I hope that you enjoy our site.
Rise of Veganism! 📈
The South is often associated with a diet of barbeque, fried chicken, and other animal-based dishes that have been passed down from generation to generation since the Civil War. However, many Southern vegans are out there looking to change this perception.
Veganism and Vegetarianism have increased by over 400% in the last decade, which means many people are looking for more plant-based options when it comes to eating Southern food.
At first glance, southern cuisine and vegan cuisine seem unrelated. However, with the influx of incredibly talented vegan chefs and cookbook authors, that’s no longer the case! Since the cuisine is so famous, people are interested in learning how to convert their favorite southern foods into vegan versions.
Here are the 6 Southern Vegan Cookbooks that we recommend in 2022 and beyond!
1. Southern Vegan
Why We Love It ❤️
This recipe book is not only full of seriously mouthwatering recipes, but it also shares helpful tips about creating a vegan diet. Whether veggie or vegan, you will love these recipes because they will remind you of home. So, stop wondering how to find great-tasting vegan southern food and start cooking!
What’s more? It features a variety of recipes that will suit your vegan lifestyle, with additional helpful tips and mouth-watering photos to help you veganize all of your favorite Southern dishes!
Review 📖
With this Southern cookbook, you can start the day with a proper southern brunch, including a giant gooey toffee cinnamon roll and black pepper-chive biscuits followed by cheesy biscuit vegetable pot pie, pecan-crusted tofu with mashed sweet potatoes, and collard green carbonara followed by the southern classics, including candied jalapeño hushpuppies, pimento cheese spread, and dill pickle pasta salad.
When you love traditional Southern dishes but also want to eat a vegan diet, this is your go-to cookbook. This guide will show you how to make meatless versions of all your favorite southern foods so you don’t have to say goodbye to tastes you love when you eat vegan food.
Drawing on foolproof cooking methods and easy substitutions, each bite of these vegan recipes will give you a glimpse of a warm summer night filled with family, tradition, and sweet tea.
About the Author ✍️
Lauren Hartmann is a classically trained pastry chef, owner of the vegan food blog Rabbit and Wolves, and author of Southern Vegan: Cooking for a Cause. In a life surrounded by wolves, Lauren builds rabbit food with completely original recipes that would make even the wolves salivate.
2. Vegan Soul Food Cookbook
Why We Love It ❤️
We highly recommend this cookbook to anyone who wants to explore vegan cooking without leaving behind some favorite southern staples. This book guides you to making vegan soul food at home without losing any of those ‘distinctive southern flavors.’ It includes over 100 of the best vegan recipes for your plant-based diet.
The author presents vegan food alternatives to Southern classics, from fried chicken, collard greens, sweet potato pie, and jambalaya. You can find all the ingredients in these recipes at your local grocery store or farmers’ market, so no special items are needed.
Review 📖
Vegan Soul Food features over 100 satisfying vegan food classics that use no animal products and offer healthy meal ideas, including macaroni and cheese, buttermilk biscuits, southern-style barbecue ribs, tomato casserole, cornbread dressing, and so much more. These comforting recipes perfectly capture the taste of the south.
Vegan Soul Food Cookbook is a must-have for lovers of classic soul food who want to try options that don’t involve meat or dairy. It is full of flavorful, plant-based recipes that everyone can enjoy, like awesome vegan soups, Gumbo, Biscuits, Gravy, and Cajun Fried Chicken — which is made entirely of plants but still tastes just as good.
Discover 101 authentic twists on the dishes this guide provides with only wholesome plant-based ingredients. These recipes only require easy-to-find and -prepared ingredients that are also inexpensive, and of course, there’s never been a better time to transition to plant-based living than now. So, dig in and enjoy these delicious down-home recipes with a glass of sweet tea!
About the Author ✍️
In search of natural healing methods, Nadira’s health condition opened her eyes to the power of whole and organic vegan cuisine/plant-based foods. She used these habits to deal with other health conditions.
Nadira’s favorite quote: Feeding your body with whole plant-based foods is like putting fuel into a car: When you fill up at junk food stations (fast food), you get dirty smoke that clogs your system and ruins it. But when you fill up at Whole Foods, you’re treated to an explosion of energy that keeps your engine running smoothly.
3. Afro-Vegan
Why We Love It ❤️
African, Caribbean, and Southern Flavors Remixed is a book about healthy eating through farm-fresh recipes. In addition to weight loss, Afro-Vegan is a great health and fitness guide since the recipes make eating healthy, fun, and delicious!
People interested in vegan, gluten-free, vegetarian, and healthy recipes will find Afro-Vegan appealing. The best part? Each recipe offers variations so people can enjoy a dish tailored to their taste buds. If you love indulgent vegan food, this cookbook is a must-buy!
Review 📖
This Southern vegan cookbook has recipes from all over the world–plus some southern favorites–so whether you’re an experienced vegan chef or new to plant-based cooking, there’s something here for everyone!
Several dishes are available, like Smash peas, corn, and Potatoes with Chile-Garlic Oil, based on the Kenyan dish irio; Cinnamon-Soaked Wheat Berry Salad with carrots, dried apricots, and almonds, based on a Moroccan tagine.
There are delicious recipes perfect for potlucks, such as a Pimento Cheese Spread, Collard Greens and Cabbage with Lots of Garlic, Caribbean-inspired Cocoa Spice Cake with Crystallized Ginger, and Coconut Chocolate Ganache, and refreshing Roselle-Rooibos Drink to give you a satisfying taste.
Finally, when you need something hearty, these Vegetable Kebabs with Spicy Tahini Sauce and Roasted Red Pepper Hummus from Egypt and North Africa or Fried Green Plantains with Black Beans from Cuba are sure to hit the spot.
About the Author ✍️
Chef, educator, and author Bryant Terry is known for his activism for a just and sustainable food system. He believes, “Good food should be an everyday right, not a privilege.” He works with the Lavin Agency and has also given speeches at universities such as Brown, Smith, Stanford, Columbia, NYU, and Yale.
4. Sweet Potato Soul
Why We Love It ❤️
If you’re looking for a Southern vegan cookbook, YES! Vegan, not Vegetarian, a real vegan southern cookbook; this is a great place to start! The book contains southern comfort food recipes without any animal products. All meals are made from scratch and take about 30 minutes to prepare!
Using fresh, local ingredients in recipes like Coconut Collard Salad and Fried Cauliflower Chicken and improvising new flavors like Peach Date BBQ Jackfruit Sliders and Sweet Potato Tahini Cookies, Jenné revives the long tradition of using fresh, local ingredients creatively.
Review 📖
Sweet Potato Soul is a joyful celebration of Southern vegan comfort cooking. Its warm, honest, and approachable voice promises that no matter where you come from, plant-based cooking can transport you south of your comfort zone — not just back home but further south than you ever imagined.
In addition, she took the time to explain the narratives and beneficial values of iconic soul food dishes such as dandelion, mustard, turnip greens, okra, and black-eyed peas.
With recipes like decadent pound cakes and ginger-kissed fruit cobblers to the most comforting sweet potato pie you’ll ever taste, these are better-than-the-original versions of your favorite comfort and healthy foods.
Sweet Potato Soul is an excellent choice if you love the rich flavors of southern comfort food, vegetarian or vegan recipes, and cooking from scratch. There’s even a 30-day meal plan included, so you can make all these delicious meals as soon as possible!
If there’s still any lingering question as to whether vegan soul food is possible — or if a vegan diet can satisfy our cravings for familiar flavors and textures — Sweet Potato Soul proves that yes, it is, and yes, it does!
About the Author ✍️
Jenné Claiborne has been immersed in and around food all her life. However, growing up a vegan, she was raised on Southern comfort food emphasizing fresh and local ingredients. Sweet Potato Soul grew out of her desire to inspire others with more accessible ways of incorporating whole foods into their lives through delicious recipes that are quick and easy.
5. The Cajun Vegan Cookbook
Why We Love It ❤️
Louisiana’s Vegetarian Cookbook combines original flavors with plant-based ingredients that are both fresh, sustainable, authentic, and delicious.
So, permit yourself to indulge in the good stuff! After all, no one said life was supposed to be easy. Of course, you can’t take anything too seriously or too far. But you can enjoy every minute and make a positive difference along the way. In this book, you will learn how to do just that – so go ahead and get your cooking gloves on because it’s time to get down with your bad self!
Review 📖
The recipes in this cookbook were partly conceived by powdered sugar, café au lait, Louisiana jazz, and ’90s pop hits. With this cookbook in hand, you will feel encouraged to try new recipes, find new things to love about food and understand that life is one big party.
There is no need to feel stuck without options on a vegan diet. With The Cajun Vegan Cookbook, Kimsey shared everything they know about how to convert classic Cajun dishes into simple, delicious, and indulgent vegan food.
This book will inspire you to eat healthier, save money, and get creative with your cooking. So much of Cajun culture is based on nourishing your community – take what you have learned here and use it to share food, drink, ideas, and memories on a warm summer night!
About the Author ✍️
Kimsey Lilleth is a self-taught vegan chef, consultant, and writer from New Orleans, Louisiana. She aims to help people eat healthier, reduce their carbon footprint through sustainable practices, and save money. She founded the world’s first vegan Cajun restaurant, Krimsey’s Kitchen (2017-2020).
6. The Southern Vegetarian Cookbook
Why We Love It ❤️
For anyone unfamiliar with Southern cuisine, the idea of a Southern vegetarian might seem hard to understand. But try to start a vegan diet; it helps the environment and also is way more healthy. It’s true, after all, that most Southern cuisine consists of meat dishes. So, should vegetables play a supporting role in fried chicken and bacon on a Southern table?
If you’re ready to try a new vegan cooking approach, you’ll want to add The Southern Vegetarian Cookbook: 100 Down-Home Recipes for the Modern Table by Justin Fox Burks and Amy Lawrence to your collection. With 100 comforting recipes that are truly fit for a modern plant-based diet, there’s no reason not to try it!
Review 📖
If you’re looking for a delicious and modern take on Southern comfort food, then The Southern Vegetarian Cookbook is the ultimate vegan cookbook for you. This cookbook is packed with 100 recipes to please vegans and meat-eaters alike. Rest assured, there’s something for everyone in this. Trust us; your taste buds will thank you!
Each recipe includes detailed instructions (as well as calorie information) for preparing each dish at home. With 100 recipes ranging from elegant to cozy, you’re sure to find something here that will please every palate at your table. So, whether you’re vegan or a meat eater, don’t hesitate to try this cookbook. You won’t regret it!
Make no mistake, this is no compromise cookbook or a pale imitation of real Southern cooking. That would be missing the point entirely. Instead, these spot-on vegan dishes provide a different perspective on traditional southern cooking that values healthy ingredients and whole foods as much as down-home flavor that brings new life to old favorites like buttermilk biscuits and pimento cheese sandwiches.
About the Authors ✍️
Justin has gained access to some of the South’s most secretive kitchens during his long career as a photographer. His wife, Amy Lawrence, native Memphian and best-selling author of four books, is an award-winning journalist who has written extensively about food, gardening, and cooking.
Final Thoughts on Southern Vegan Cookbooks
If you’re on the lookout for some new cookbooks to add to your collection, be sure to snag something from this list. From vegan family recipes to modern takes on southern staples, there’s something for everyone. So, whether you’re a vegan looking to add some delicious meat-free options to your repertoire or are planning a great vegan bbq, any of the above selections are sure to change your diet and lifestyle. Enjoy a Berry Peach Cornmeal Cobbler, dig into a Mississippi Mud Cheesecake, and devour some Mashed Sweet Potatoes! These books will keep your meals amazing, healthy, and guilt-free!
People are making healthy changes in their eating habits, whether having a vegan diet or a ketogenic diet, without giving up on their favorite cuisines.
