Drumroll, please… it’s time to announce the Top 10 Vegan Recipes of 2022!! Every year I post a ton of new vegan recipes here on my blog that don’t taste like chicken, and this time of year, I love to look back and see which new recipes you’ve loved the most over the year!
Before I jump into the top 10 vegan recipes of 2022, I want to look at a few other milestones that happened this year.
10 Year Vegan Anniversary:
This year marks my 10th year as a vegetarian! It’s really amazing how much has happened over the years and how much good things going vegan has brought me. A whole new career, multiple cookbooks, an amazing husband and a rescue dog (both vegetarian). 10 years may seem like a huge challenge, but it’s just about forming new habits. Once you develop these habits, it’s no longer a struggle to be vegetarian, just the way you eat. Now, I don’t know how to eat any other way. (Neither would I). My only regret about going vegan is that I wish I had done it sooner. 💚
Award:
My cookbook Fast Easy Cheap Vegan won Silver for Best Cookbook at Canada’s Taste of Canada Awards! I was so incredibly honored to receive this award and recognition! My favorite part of this award was that Fast Easy Cheap Vegan was in the “simple cookbook” category which meant I was competing against non-vegan books. This is a sign that the vegan movement is taking off in Canada, woot woot!
Speaking Events:
I had the honor of being a presenter at their event Christmas in November at the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge! Over the course of 10 days I hosted 6 cooking demos showing everyone how easy and delicious vegan cooking can be. I usually demonstrate at vegan or vegetarian events, so it was very interesting to cook for a group of non-vegans who were very interested and surprised by the food. I was told on multiple occasions that my vegan pumpkin cheesecake was the best dessert of the entire event!! I love impressing people with vegetarian food. As I said during my presentation, you don’t need animal products to make delicious food. It’s all about taste and texture! It was a treat to attend such a great event surrounded by breathtaking scenery, abundant wildlife, and amazing presenters!
Cooking Class:
We launched 2 online cooking classes this year. The first was a Meal Prep Masterclass where I taught students to prepare 5 days worth of plant-based meals in just 90 minutes! We welcomed over 550 students to class and had an absolute blast preparing amazing food! We also launched The Ultimate Vegan Thanksgiving Cooking Class where I taught over 300 students how to prepare a completely vegan Thanksgiving feast from start to finish. These courses were such a blast and we definitely plan to run more courses in the future. If you’re interested in learning about new classes, sign up for the waitlist here.
Meal Plan:
We continue to make easy vegan meal plans with hundreds of members. Every week we send out a brand new meal plan that includes recipes, shopping lists, and everything you need to eat beautiful plant-based meals all week long. Members rave about it and all the bonus recipes they get are exclusive to the meal plan. Click here to learn more about The Easy Vegan Meal Plan.
Travel:
We traveled! Now that the world has opened up again after the pandemic I have been able to travel quite a bit with my husband Adam. We first went to Barbados where we celebrated our honeymoon. Due to the travel ban at the time we couldn’t travel right after our wedding so we went in March which was actually 9 months after our wedding. My oh my it feels good to dip our toes in the sea again after so long. If you want to see the photos and food we ate as two traveling vegans, check out this saved highlight on Instagram.
After that, we went to Italy for our 1 year wedding anniversary. We started in Venice, then we went to Florence and then to Rome. Eating vegan in Italy was surprisingly vegan. There were a ton of restaurants that were vegan or had completely vegan menus. But even non-vegan restaurants are perfect for us. No one seems to have a negative attitude towards veganism and will always help us find alternatives to eat. It was so special! You can see photos and food by checking out my Instagram highlights from the trip, part 1 here and part 2 here .
Now on to the top 10 vegan recipes of 2022!
You vote for these dishes by making them, leaving star ratings, commenting and sharing photos online Thank you very much for your support! It’s time to see which recipe is the winner of 2022!
Number 10: Quick and Easy Vegan Bacon (Tofu)
Can you ever go wrong with vegan bacon? In past years, I’ve created recipes for mushroom bacon, banana peel bacon, rice paper bacon, starch bacon, and bacon bits. This year I decided to publish my Tofu Bacon recipe and you loved it!!
“You are the holy mother of some higher being. I have been vegetarian for 12 years, the closest tasting thing to bacon I have ever eaten. I will forever be in your debt. Couldn’t find the liquid. Smoked it in Ireland but found an online store that does it now. I am a I’m after the delicious build and my lips are cracked. I thank you forever!!” -Marie
Number 9: My go-to vegan soup recipe
It was a good reminder for me that I don’t always have to invent new recipes. This soup is something I make all the time at home. Although it is very simple and basic, I decided to share it because I love it so much and often eat it with crusty bread for lunch or dinner. Easy, healthy, and delicious!
“An easy-to-make soup that more than repays your effort. So delicious and comforting and adaptable. The first day, we eat it as is, the second day I add some fried soy curls and a little more broth, and (if any) the third. Give it a try, add some cooked pasta with a little more broth and enjoy this delicious flavor” – Fennis
Number 8: Homemade Vegan Deli Slices (Smoked Turkey Seitan)
Store-bought vegan deli slices can be expensive, not healthy for you, and come in bulky packaging. Homemade deli slices are easier to make, tastier, healthier, and they freeze wonderfully so you always have the ingredients to make an epic sandwich!
“I’ve been vegetarian for over a decade but never got around to making my own meat like this. I really liked how easy this recipe was so I thought I’d give it a try. It didn’t disappoint. The texture and flavor were spot on.. .. I couldn’t stop eating another slice. Thank you so much, Sam!!!” – Jack
Number 7: Easy Homemade Lentil Tofu
Did you know that you can make tofu using red lentils? This tofu doesn’t have the same texture as soy tofu, but it’s a tasty alternative that’s easy to make. It becomes crispy on the outside and creamy on the inside.
“I have nothing to say! Probably the best thing I’ve ever made! So much fun to make and so much fun to eat! I cooked it exactly as Sam suggested and it was amazing. My non-veg husband keeps eating these and says wow they are good! Thank you for such a wonderful recipe!” – Diana
Number 6: Best Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
Chocolate chip cookies are my absolute favorite dessert, so I’m not surprised this recipe turned out so well. I’ve been perfecting my chocolate chip cookie recipe since I was little!
“I’ve tried many vegan chocolate chip cookie recipes, and I can confidently say that this one is the easiest to make and the best tasting too!” – Sherry
Number 5: Easy TVP Tacos
This year I started sharing some TVP recipes. TVP (Textured Vegetable Protein) is a terrible name for a delicacy. It’s dry soy protein and it’s very healthy, it’s very easy to cook, and it has a nice mild flavor like tofu that takes on any flavor you give it. The ground beef texture in this taco is wonderful!
“This recipe is the BOMB! I love taco salad for lunch and I usually use a meat substitute and a packaged taco seasoning but this was so cheap and healthy and tasted amazing. Add this into the weekly rotation! So good!” – Christine
Number 4: Quick and easy vegan cheese
I’ve shared a lot of vegan cheese recipes here on the blog, but this quick and easy cheese uses only 5 ingredients and only takes 15 minutes to make, and of course it’s super delicious! It’s much more affordable than store-bought vegan cheese and you can add any spices you want to give the cheese some oomph and variety.
“I made this last night and served it to my non-vegan friends today and they loved it. I added extra garlic and some onion powder for seasoning and it was amazing. Definitely going to be a staple for me now” – Gail
Number 3: Homemade Creamy Oat Milk
Oat milk is all the rage these days! It is very easy to make at home and saves on cost and packaging. I include a secret ingredient in my oat milk recipe that makes it extra creamy.
“Came out creamy and delicious…thanks!” – Marcy
Number 2: Easy Vegan Breakfast Sausage Patties (TVP)
Coming in at number 2 is my TVP Breakfast Sausage! I see that my TVP recipes have been very popular this year so I will definitely be posting more TVP recipes in the future. Vegetarian Sausages are easy to make, and have quickly become a fan-favorite recipe!
“These are so good! Made this over the weekend. I made them exactly as they were listed; And they turned out perfect. Another winner, Sam!” – Sarah
Number 1: And the winner is… Easy Homemade Dog Treats!
Our furry friends got a lot of nice treats this year! With so many people getting dogs during the pandemic, and store-bought dog treats being prohibitively expensive, this recipe stands out as the most popular recipe of the year! Lucky pooch!
“Freya says woof woof woof woof! Thanks for the dog, Sam! More, Mom?” – Dina
Honorable Mention:
And finally, I wanted to give an honorable mention: Best Vegan Turkey Roast. This recipe was published in late 2021 so it didn’t get a chance to shine on the top 10 recipes of 2021 list, but it is now one of the most popular recipes on my blog! An estimated 40,000 people cooked this roast during their Thanksgiving feast this year!
“Make this recipe today! First time in my life using essential wheat gluten or making seitan and it turned out AMAZING!!!” – Angela
And that’s a wrap for 2022! Thanks to everyone who enjoys my recipes, and star ratings and comments (they really help a lot).
If you have any recipe requests for 2023, let me know in the comments!
Happy New Year everyone!
Sam Turnbull.