Simple Plant-Based Recipe Books (good choices)

Make It Vegan is absolutely terrific! This has gorgeously innovative recipes, all beautifully photographed, and affordable for anyone to make. From ‘Wake Up’ and quick eats, to nibbles, sides and main dishes, there are also plenty of sweets and treats.

Maddie starts off telling her life story (a history of eating disorders and drinking at university), before she ‘fell into’ a healthy lifestyle after moving to Cornwall. She strongly believes that unless you run a restaurant (or are appearing on Masterchef), there’s no need to get stressed about cooking.

She suggests trying a few of her recipes each week, putting on some music (she likes Norah Jones) and chilling, while you learn to cook!

Before cooking, read up on food safety for people and pets (many foods are unsafe near animal friends). Bin allium scraps (onion, leeks, garlic, shallots, chives) and citrus/tomato/rhubarb scraps, as acids could harm compost creatures. It’s okay to put them in food waste bins (made into biogas).

For tinned foods, fully remove lids (put inside) or pop ring-pulls back over holes (and pinch tops closed) before recycling, to avoid wildlife getting trapped.

Recipes include:

Pesto Potato Salad
Cauliflower & Mushroom Burgers
Maple Pancakes
Spinach & Butter Bean Soup
Sundried Tomato & Tahini Rigatoni
Sticky Seitan Ribs
One Pan Baked Scramble
Butter No-Chicken Curry
10-Minute Mac & Cheese
Vegan Paella
Un-Sausage Rolls
Beetroot Mushroom Wellington

Desserts include:

Fluffy Lemon Sponge Cake
Chocolate Spread Cheesecake
Pain au Chocolat
Choc-a-choc Chocolate Cake!

Madeleine Olivia is a popular chef and influencer, who lives in the Cornish countryside with her husband (together they have released a lovely guide to making bread!)

She makes the mac and cheese recipe from this book at least once a week, served with roasted garlic broccoli. She also enjoys making dals and stir-fries.

Liv B’s Everyday Vegan Recipes (most just 5 ingredients!)

Liv B’s Easy Everyday Recipes is a lovely book of recipes by a Canadian chef (who with her husband has hundreds of thousands of followers on her blog, and 1 million YouTube monthly views). You only get that with good recipes! This is effortless and inexpensive plant-based cooking.

Find over 100 recipes that are tasty and easy, baked on just 5 ingredients, or in one pot or baking tray. From meal prep to freezing instructions and from cooking tips to pressure cooker recipes, enjoy:

One Pot Mac n Cheese
Sheet Pan Pot Pie
One Pot Mushroom Stroganoff
Frying Pan Granola
Chorizo Tempeh Breakfast Wraps

Liv B (short for Olivia) is one of Canada’s most popular recipe bloggers. She runs the site with her husband, who is also a mean cook!

The couple’s most popular recipe is this Vegan Big Mac Toast (5 ingredients), one of which is their vegan Big Mac sauce (just over 5 ingredients, including spices). So to be fair, this is 10 ingredients, but this is for two combined recipes.

Five Ingredient Vegan (a cute and simple cookbook!)

Five Ingredient Vegan is just one of fab short-time cookbooks by Yorkshire’s Katy Beskow. As well as only having a few ingredients, most meals are ready in 15 minutes or less. The 100 recipes all include simple affordable lists and a sweet little tip for each one.

Recipes include:

Cauliflower cheese soup
Carrot Cake Porridge
No-Fish Fishcakes (above)
Spiced Parsnip Bisque
Country Lentil Pottage
Cauliflower ‘Cheese’ Soup
Pantry Minestrone
Spinach Pancakes
Zesty Bread & Butter Pudding

I’m a firm believer that a few, simple good quality ingredients can make the most satisfying of home-cooked meals.

Buy the best that you can afford, particularly fresh ingredients such as vegetables, fruits and bread, and aim to buy ingredients in season for maximum flavour.

Katy Beskow grew up in Yorkshire, and learned to cook while studying physiotherapy in London (inspired by the markets of fresh produce, while having to eat on a budget).

Returning to her home county, her blog led to a cookbook deal which led to another, and now Katy has many top-selling vegan cookbooks under her belt.

15-Minute Vegan Meals (a lovely affordable cookbook)

15-Minute Vegan Meals offers lovely meals packed with plant-based protein and good fats for dinners with taste, and nutrition. Ideal for people low on time and energy, who still want to make their meals with fresh ingredients.

Recipes include:

Buffalo Tempeh Bowl with Vegan Honey Mustard
Sun-dried Tomato Alfredo Penne with Broccoli
Spiced Chickpea & Kale Salad
Spicy Sweet & Sour Tofu with Broccoli
BBQ Jackfruit & Chickpea Flatbread with Creamy Slaw
Roasted Red Pepper Pasta Salad
Ginger Noodle Soup:

Janet Gronnow is a popular vegan food blogger, whose recipes have been featured in many publications. She lives in Pennsylvania, USA.

It has few pictures, but Vegan in 15 is a lovely little read, an affordable book of easy recipes by Kate, who blogs at The Veg Space

Plant Fuel (protein-rich plant-based recipes)

Plant Fuel is a book of protein-rich and plant-based recipes for anyone wishing to boost their nutrition. Written by a former professional footballer, the recipes are designed to give you energy and build muscle.

Recipes include:

Berry cheesecake overnight oats
Super green soup
Thai peanut tempeh salad
Spicy seitan and butter bean salad
Jerk BBQ tofu kebabs
Tempeh and walnut ragu
Tofu massamam curry
Black bean tostadas
Gochujang tofu stir fry
Peanut butter-stuffed dates
Chocolate protein brownies
Raspberry ripple smoothie

Raised in London to Ghanaian parents, Jeffrey has a thriving online community, to empower people to explore the power of plant-based lifestyles.

Javant Benton’s ‘Make Your Own’ Recipe Book!

Make Your Own is a book of fantastically simple recipes, most with only a few ingredients. All are also super-healthy with wholesome ingredients. Learn to make your own lasagne, burgers, cakes and cookies, plus staples like creamy vegan mayo and smoky mushroom bacon.

Recipes include:

20 minute chickpea tacos
Sweet potato chilli cheese fries
Double chocolate no-bake brownies
Easy cheese sauce
Sweet potato hummus
High protein bread (keep fresh dough away from children and pets)

Author Javant Benton is a self-taught chef and healthy eating advocate, who managed to heal himself from challenges, and now has over 1 million followers on social media platforms.