Tips and tricks for Veganuary
Here are some of our best recommendations for a plant-based start to the year
Veganuary – a month-long challenge to eat only plant-based foods – has become a staple to kick off the new year. Whether it’s in support of the environment, health motivated, or you’re just looking to try new recipes, embracing a vegan diet is a great way to start 2026.
Instead of a radical overhaul of all your meat-filled favourites, one of the best ways to approach Veganuary is to change in small ways – or “veganise” – your existing recipes, food writer Richard Makin told The Guardian. Most people have eight to 10 dishes they make on rotation; try to “switch up the ingredients a bit”, replacing dairy milk with soya milk, or beef mince with Quorn mince. Taking incremental steps means “you tend not to feel quite so dislocated in your diet”.
If this is your first foray into vegan cooking, it’s important not to overcomplicate things, food author Anna Jones told Vogue. Don’t treat vegetables any differently than you would meat: “lots are much better when put on the grill”, and are able to soak up all the “char and smoke”. Consider using umami-rich ingredients like sundried tomatoes and miso for a “deep savouriness”, and adding a handful of fresh chopped herbs to further “enhance” the flavours of plant-based dishes.
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