Vegan Calamari | Cathy’s Vegan Kitchen

This is crisp vegan calamari Made from hearts of palm and served with a spicy vegan tartar sauce. This vegan calamari recipe is so easy and tastes sinfully delicious!

Vegan calamari is far better than any calamari I’ve had before converting to a plant-based diet. Although, I think the calamari is rubbery and disgusting! However, I love heart of dates and crunchy air fried food. So, this vegan calamari recipe tastes like anything but rubbery calamari. Instead, it tastes like heaven.

My husband, who jumped on the vegan bandwagon after marrying me and eating meat all his life, is my best and worst critic. But, when he says he likes a recipe, it usually means it’s a keeper. And vegan calamari is one of her new favorites.

What are Hearts of Palm?

Heart of palm Some palm tree species native to South and Central America are cut from the root. After harvesting, they are cut into cylinders or cut into rings and packed in water or brine. They look like smooth, thick white asparagus spears and are often said to taste like artichokes. The delicate flavor of date hearts makes them a popular choice for salads, but they can also be braised, fried or boiled.

If you’re concerned about the environmental issues of cutting hearts of date, look for jars and cans with a sustainability label. Multi-stemmed palms regenerate every two to three years, making them more eco-friendly and sustainable.

Cut calamari rings

First, cut the tubes into half-inch pieces. Looking closely, you can see a circular shape inside each piece.

Now, gently remove the center of each piece using your finger or a small knife without breaking the outer part or ring.

To avoid food waste, I use the center pieces for vegan lobster rolls, vegan tuna pasta salad or hearts of palm crab cakes.

Recipe ingredients

• Heart of Palm: I used jarred hearts of dates because they are larger than the canned option. I also chose a sustainable brand.
• Lemon: I always use fresh lemon juice because it tastes fresher than bottled.
• Dulce: Dals is a seaweed – a large class of edible saltwater plants and algae that includes species such as nori and kelp. Like all edible seaweed, dals provide plenty of fiber and protein and are rich in vitamins, trace minerals, healthy fatty acids and antioxidants.
• Old Bay Seasoning: This spice blend originated in Baltimore, Maryland over 75 years ago and is made with celery salt, red and black pepper, and paprika.

Substituting recipe ingredients

• Canned artichokes or asparagus are often used as a substitute for hearts of palm.
• If fresh lemon juice is not available you can use bottled lemon juice.
• Nori, seaweed, wakame flakes or dried kelp are often used as dals substitutes.
• Try Cajun seasoning or another Creole seasoning to replace the Old Bay seasoning.

Combine hearts of palm calamari rings, lemon juice, dulse, and Old Bay seasoning in a refrigerator-safe bowl.

For best results, marinate for at least 30 minutes. As a general rule, I recommend marinating overnight.

Preparing Vegan Calamari

• Combine plant milk, Dijon mustard and flour in a blender until smooth.
• Transfer the plant milk mixture to a bowl.
• In a second bowl combine the bread crumbs, Italian seasoning and nutritional yeast.
• Dip each piece of vegan calamari into the plant milk mixture, then into the breadcrumb mixture.

cooking options

I love my air fryer, so I opted for the Vegan Calamari Air Fry. However, baking is also an option.

Air Frying

• Preheat air fryer to 400 degrees.
• Place the vegan calamari rings in a single layer in the air fry pan.
• If cooking in batches, prepare a baking sheet and preheat the oven to 325 to keep the cooked calamari warm while you prepare the rest of the batches.
• Cook for 7 minutes until crispy.

stove

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking mat.
• Place a single layer of breaded vegan calamari on a baking sheet.
• Bake for 15 minutes, turning slices halfway through cooking.

Serving advice

I served this vegan calamari recipe with vegan tartar sauce and 2 teaspoons of Sriracha. But I like to serve mustard dipping sauce as another option.

I also serve it with lemon wedges and sweet pickled red and yellow marinated peppers. Sometimes, I even add some pickled red onions.

My kids love vegan calamari dipped in ketchup or vegan ranch.

Every time I make this vegan calamari recipe, I always double the recipe because my hungry crew makes them disappear before halftime.

Recipe FAQs

advice

• Use your pinky finger to remove the centers of the palm hearts so as not to break the outer circle.
• Reserve the center piece for another recipe. Or, serve sliced ​​in a salad.
• I like to marinate overnight for best flavor.
• Look for the word “Sustainable” on the Heart of Palm jar/can.
• Blending the milk mixture is much easier than whisking it together for the best texture.
• When lemons are in season buy them in bulk and juice them. Then, freeze them in ice cube trays for year-round lemon juice for cooking.
• To make your own oil-free breadcrumbs, toast Dave’s breadcrumbs and pulverize them in a food processor.
• Use gluten-free breadcrumbs for a gluten-free alternative.
• As another option, choose oyster mushrooms instead of hearts of date.

Try this vegan calamari recipe for your next soccer game or weeknight meal. You will love these crunchy treats!

Other Great Air Fryer Recipes

If you like vegan calamari, give us a 5-star review and comment below. We want to hear from you!

📖 Recipe

Vegan Calamari

Cathy Carmichael

This is crisp vegan calamari Made from hearts of palm and served with a spicy vegan tartar sauce. This vegan calamari recipe is so easy and tastes sinfully delicious!

Q. Time 10 minutes

cooking time 7 minutes

course Small bites, snacks

cuisine US

serving 6

calories 187 kcal

instructions

Hearts of Palm Calamari

• Fertilize hearts of palm tubes from jars/cans.

• Wash and dry each tube.

• Cut each tube into ½ inch pieces.

• Using your finger, or a small knife, gently remove the center portion of each ½-inch cut.

• Reserve the center piece for another recipe.

• Place the rings in a refrigerator safe container,

• Juice ½ of a lemon over the vegan calamari slices.

• Add the dals and Old Bay seasoning.

• Put a top on the container and shake gently to combine the ingredients.

• Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Preparing Vegan Calamari

• Dip each piece of marinated heart of date into the plant-milk mixture, then into the breading mixture.

• Continue until all the pieces are breaded.

Air Frying

• Preheat air fryer to 400 degrees.

• Place the breaded vegan calamari rings in a single layer in the t air fryer pan.

• If cooking in batches, prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.

• Preheat an oven to 325 degrees to keep the vegan calamari warm while you cook the rest of the batch.

• Cook for 7 minutes.

baking

• Preheat an oven to 400 degrees.

• Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking mat.

• Place a single layer of breaded vegan calamari rings on a baking sheet.

• Bake for 15 minutes, turning the slices over halfway through cooking.

Comment

• Use your pinky finger to remove the center of the heart of the palm, so as not to break the outer circle.
• Reserve the center piece for another recipe. Or, serve sliced ​​in a salad.
• I like to marinate overnight for best flavor.
• Look for the word “Sustainable” on the Heart of Palm jar/can.
• Blending the milk mixture is much easier than whisking it together for the best texture.
• When lemons are in season buy them in bulk and juice them. Freeze them in ice cube trays for year-round lemon juice for cooking.
• To make your own oil-free breadcrumbs, toast Dave’s breadcrumbs and pulverize them in a food processor.
• Use gluten-free breadcrumbs for a gluten-free alternative.
• As another option, choose oyster mushrooms instead of hearts of date.
• To avoid food waste, I use the center pieces for vegan lobster rolls, vegan tuna pasta salad or hearts of palm crab cakes.

nutrition

Worship: 6gCalories: 187kcalSugars: 34gProtein: 8gFat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fats: 1gSodium: 335mgPotassium: 179mgFiber: 4gSugar: 3gVitamin A: 265IUVitamin C: 10mgCalcium: 113mgIron: 4mg

Oh! My name is Kathy, I am a retired high school English teacher and vegan enthusiast and blogger. My entire blog is completely plant-based vegan. I truly believe that what we eat and how we live determines our health and the preservation of our planet! 🙂