Vegan French Recipes (simple ideas and good books)
Nicoise Salad (Jessica in the Kitchen)
Learning to cook your own food is empowering, as you no longer have to rely on expensive plastic-wrapped ready-meals and takeaways. Master your favourite cuisines at home. Then every night is restaurant night!
French food is not the first cuisine that comes to mind for vegans, but it is becoming increasingly popular. A law that banned children from eating vegan food at school was overturned due to protests. And Marie Laforêt is like France’s version of Nigella Lawson (a young self-taught chef and author of many best-selling cookbooks (from cheeses to vegan seafood), some of which have been translated into English.
Also join the campaign to ban the sale of foie gras.
Before cooking, read up on food safety for people and pets (many foods including onion and garlic 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.
The vegan French grocery shop
- Butter. Most French people cook everything in butter. Read our post on vegan butters with no palm oil (in shops, Flora and Lurpak offer good brands, the former in a block form for baking).
- Garlic. This is again a daily staple (check medication and keep away from pets, as like all alliums, it’s unsafe near animal friends).
- Mustard. Often used in recipes. You can find many versions here (did you know that mustard powder was invented in Durham?)
- Crème fraîche (Oatly offers a good version sold in supermarkets). Recycle the plastic top at kerbside or in supermarket bag bins. Or make your own.
- Lentils. Heavily used in France, even for people who aren’t veggie.
- Chestnuts. Not just roasted on street stalls, but often combined with chocolate in desserts.
- Wine! To cook with and drink while eating!
Homemade ratatouille
Ratatouille (Ela Vegan) is made with easy ingredients, delicious with rice. It’s basically a ‘peasant stew’ from Provence made with tomatoes, onion, garlic, peppers, aubergine and courgette (choose organic ones, as bad seeds can be poisonous).
Vegan dauphinoise potatoes
These vegan dauphinoise potatoes (The Veg Space) coat thin-sliced layers of potato in a garlic cream sauce. With a crispy golden crust.
French onion soup
This French onion soup (Madeleine Olivia) combines stock and veggies in a delicious broth, topped with melted vegan cheese.
Vegan bourguignon
This vegan beef bourguignon (At Elizabeth’s Table) combines vegan beef with onions, mushrooms and carrots, cooked with liquid smoke and onions. Elizabeth also has a recipe for vegan coq au vin.
Apple tarte tatin
Classic apple tarte tatin (Full of Plants) is from a French chef, so what could be more authentic? The caramelised apples are cooked with a homemade pastry, and served with vegan ice-cream.
Île Flottante (floating island)
This Île Flottante (Full of Plants) is quite complicated for ambitious chefs. It’s made by drizzling caramel on homemade vegan meringue with vanilla custard, garnished with crushed nuts.
Homemade vegan garlic bread
Vegan Garlic Bread (The Veg Space) is a nice treat, crusty white baguettes dripping with garlic vegan butter.
Garlic can increase bleeding, so check medication if you have any medical conditions or are due for surgery.
Garlic bread – it’s the future. I’ve tasted it. Brian Potter, Phoenix Nights
Homemade vegan croissants
These vegan croissants (Rainbow Nourishments) are a sweet treat with raspberry jam. Make your own pastry to avoid palm oil. And to avoid sterilising jars, just use good store-bought jam.
Vegan brioche rolls
These brioche rolls (Rainbow Nourishments) replaces eggs with extra vegan butter and yeast, and does away with the egg wash coating too. Keep fresh yeast and dough away from young children and pets.
Good plant-based French recipe books
The Two Spoons Cookbook is a super book by a Canadian who lived and cooked in France for several years. She went vegan in her early 20s after losing a loved one to cancer, and also struggling with severe IBS.
The book offers a show-stopping blend of over 100 dishes including:
- Baked ‘Brie’
- Classic Flaky Croissants
- Buttery Brioche
- Herb Garlic Cheese
- Mushroom Bourguignon with Buttery Mash
- Summer Rainbow Ratatouille
- Pear Tarte Tatin
- Sweet Cherry Frangipane Tart
Hannah Sunderani is a self-taught cook and mother of two, who has mastered how to make simple plant-based meals to feed families quickly, especially those with a French flair! All her recipes are carefully crafted and thoroughly-tested.
Vegan recipes from France is a lovely book of simple recipes including:
- Baguette, brioche and croissants
- Bechamel, aioli and cheese
- Soups, terrines and salads
- Tarts and crepes
- Quiche and souffle
- Mousse au chocolate
- Clafoutis and tarte tatin
- Gateau and madeleines
Voilà Vegan is a book of dessert and baking recipes, by an American classically-trained chef who did the unthinkable – and set up a vegan patisserie in the middle of Paris! Find recipes for:
- Cherry clafouti
- Banana tarte tatin French toast
- Pumpkin cake donuts
- Gateau de voyage (travel-friendly cakes)
- Salted caramel & roasted peanut brownies
- Crepes Suzette
- Chocolate profiteroles
- Raspberry-chocolate macarons
French food waste rules are tough (illegal!)
Since 2016, it has been illegal for larger supermarkets to throw away edible food. The law pushes retailers to donate unsold items to charities rather than send them to the bin. It is practical, targeted, and sends a message that food has value far beyond its price tag.
Since 2016, supermarkets must sign agreements with local charities, to donate food that is leftover, but still edible, to stop it going to waste.
Back in England, the government has still (10 years after the ruling in France) not banned supermarkets from throwing away edible food, at a time when so many people go hungry. Despite a paltry pledge to ‘halve food waste by 2030’, despite throwing out around 100,000 tons of edible food each year.
If like in France, supermarkets faced hefty fines for throwing away edible food, they would stop. So why does the government not get its act together, and bring in similar laws immediately?
All that has happened is a law that means all councils in England, must now provide weekly food waste bins, to increase recycling rates. And that’s obviously not working.
