11 Vegan Chinese Recipes (2024)

FAQs

What Chinese dishes are usually vegan? ›

A Gluten-Free, Vegan Spin on a Takeout Favorite

If you've recently gone plant-based and are looking for a hearty substitute for the classic takeout dish, you'll love this sesame tofu. The tofu's baked until crispy, then tossed in a sticky sesame sauce until every bite's coated and packed with flavor.

There is a common misconception that Chinese cuisine is not very vegan-friendly…and the truth is, it can be very heavy on chicken, pork and seafood. While it's easy enough to swap out animal ingredients from most recipes, there are actually a fair few traditional recipes that are in fact 100% plant-based.

In general, yes, although not a vegetable, rice is a vegan food that belongs to the grains family which includes rye, oats, and barley.

Excluding any spring rolls that contain seafood or meat, the answer is generally yes, spring rolls are vegan-friendly. The dough is simply made from flour, water and salt and vegetable fillings are nearly always 100% plant-based.

Tofu is dairy-free, gluten-free, cholesterol-free, and vegan, so it is popular with people who have specialized diets. Often used as a meat substitute, tofu is high in protein but low in fat, sodium, and carbohydrates. Tofu is extremely versatile.

Anything made with Rice or Rice Noodles are both gluten and dairy free. Anything made with Chow fun (wide noodles) and Mei fun (thin noodles) both work. Since it seems that 90% the Chinese population is said to be lactose intolerant, there is no butter, no milk, or cheese in mainstream Chinese recipes.

But no, you don't need to eat tofu at all. Nor do you need to eat any soy products if you don't want to. There are many other sources of protein, notably nuts and other beans. Among many other things.

Which country eats the most vegan food? ›

A vegan diet is based on plants (such as vegetables, grains, nuts and fruits) and foods made from plants. Vegans do not eat foods that come from animals, including dairy products and eggs.

Chinese families often eat three meals per day with some snacks in between. Traditional Chinese breakfasts can include either congee, a bāozi (a steamed bun with stuffing: either meat, eggs or rice-noodle), sticky rice, Chinese pancakes with eggs or soybean milk with deep-fried dough sticks.

But, good news! Vegetarianism, or consuming a healthy diet for that matter, shouldn't be all that hard. Because Chinese cuisine uses a lot of vegetables, vegetarian food is available everywhere in China, even though its population is not vegetarian. You just have to know which are the right dishes to order.

All the steamed savory dim sum dishes that come to mind are dairy-free. Main ingredients for savory dishes: Beef, pork, shrimp, crab, bamboo shoots, Napa cabbage, radish, scallions, Chinese chives, Chinese sausage, sticky rice, sticky rice flour, flour/yeast/water for the savory buns ,wide rice noodles, tofu.

At its core, chow mein noodles are made from wheat and water, which are vegan-friendly ingredients. However, the devil's in the details when you eat out or pick up a ready-made version. Some chow mein dishes may include animal-derived ingredients, such as eggs in the noodles or meat and seafood as part of the stir-fry.

Some estimates have suggested that 4-5% of China's population identifies as vegetarian or vegan. With a population of over 1.4 billion, this translates to anywhere from 56 to 70 million people.