Photo by Jamie Hamel-Smith

Hi there,

So you decided to go vegetarian and now you need to know all about it? You need some more information on what to look for nutrition wise, how to change your grocery habits, new recipes, new ideas to eat out and so on and so forth. Well, this extensive list should be able to keep your hunger for veggie knowledge satiated for a while. Some articles might be more interesting to vegans, others more for vegetarians who also eat dairy and eggs.

Right then, let’s start off, shall we?

Practical Tips On Going Vegetarian

How to go vegetarian

Vegetarianism in a Nutshell – This article by the Vegetarian Resource Group gives you a good quick overview of what to keep in mind as a newly turned vegetarian.

The Most Laid Back Guide to Vegetarianism You’ll Ever Read – Switching from a diet including meat to a vegetarian diet can be daunting. That article for new Vegetarians by Matt Frazier gives you some practical advice on how to make the switch to a “full vegetarian” as easy as possible.

Vegetarian Starter Kit – If you want to go vegetarian but you feel you need some more guidance, this Vegetarian Starter Kit by the Physicians Committee can be a good way to get started. You’ll find loads of info for the curious newly veg.



Easy meal planning

7 Ways to Simplify Your Meal Planning – New vegetarians usually have to create new habits around eating. This guide by Matt Frazier from the No meat Athlete offers you some great advice on establishing new kitchen routines based on a veggie diet.

Finding vegetarian restaurants and stores in your area

Happy Cow – Are you worried you’ll only get to eat salads in restaurants as a vegetarian? You don’t need to. The website Happy Cow has a huge database on vegetarian and vegan friendly restaurants all over the world. Just type in the city you’re currently in, and you’ll get loads of options.

Vegetarian foods that are actually not vegetarian

8 Common Foods You Thought Were Vegetarian – Did you know Haribo Gummi Bears aren’t vegetarian? Same goes for classic parmesan cheese. Matt Frazier from the No Meat Athlete compiled in this article a list many common non-vegetarian-foods that you might think are veggie friendly.

Accidentally Vegan – This created by PETA list is for vegans who want to munch unhealthy stuff and make sure there’s no animal products in it

Saving money as a vegetarian

6 Money-Saving Tricks For The Vegetarian Athlete on a Budget – You want to go vegetarian, but your budget is too tight for all these superfoods and other healthy ingredients? This article by the No Meat Athlete will definitely offer you some great money saving tips.

Vegetarian Nutrition

Image by Sven Scheuermeier

Is a vegetarian diet healthy?

Becoming a Vegetarian – This article from Harvard Medical School gives a great overview on how a vegetarian diet can improve your health in comparison to a “western diet”.

Protein in a vegetarian diet

Protein in the Vegan Diet – “Where do you get your protein?” This is a very common question for many vegetarians and especially vegans. A very good article on the different protein sources, how much you actually need and what else to look for was written by the Vegetarian Resource Group.

Iron in a vegetarian diet

Iron in the Vegan Diet – Iron is another biggy. Children and women in particular at some points in their lives often experience iron deficiencies. Make sure you include enough foods including iron into your diet. Which foods should you eat and how much would be ideal? Written by the Vegetarian Resource Group.

Omega 3

Questions and Answers about Omega 3 Fatty Acids for Vegans – Since a vegetarian diet excludes omega 3 rich foods like fish, it makes sense to make sure you substitute your intake with other sources. Read this very detailed article on omega 3 from the Vegetarian Resource Group.

Calcium in a Vegetarian Diet

Calcium in the Vegan Diet – Even if you are a vegetarian who drinks milk, this article by the Vegetarian Resource Group is worth reading. It explains how much calcium you need per day and the best plant-based ingredients to help you reach your daily requirements.

B12 in a vegetarian diet

Vitamin B12 and the Case For (and Against) a Plant-Based Diet – Matt Frazier wrote a great article on vitamin b12 as well. Why is it so important? Should only vegans or also vegetarians watch out? And what’s the best way to get b12 into your diet? Find out the answers in his article.

What to buy organic and what is fine to buy non-organic?

The “Dirty Dozen” – Once you become more aware of what you eat, you’ll realize that you’d like to eat more and more organic food. But that’s expensive. Check out this article by Organic.org to find out what produce you can by non organic without any harm at all for your body.

Soy

An update on soy: It’s just so-so – Is soy good or bad? Check out this Harvard Health article for a levelheaded analysis.

Is Soy Bad For You, or Good? – There is a lot of talk about how good soy really is for you. I think this article fives a good overview on the benefits and dangers of soy. Spoiler: use organic soy instead of GMO soy products and you’re find, if you don’t overdo it anyway 🙂

Vegetarian diet for kids

Raising Vegetarian Kids? Here Are Some Pointers – This is a good article on the benefits and dangers of raising kids on a veggie diet. It can be done, but you need to know what you’re doing.

Vegetarian diets and children – Here you’ll get some concrete tips on how to feed your child with a vegetarian lifestyle and still get all the nutrients they need. However, it is also important to make sure you consult with you doctor before you begin the new veggie diet.

Fitness On a Vegetarian Diet

Running: No Meat Athlete – Are you into running? Blogger Matt Frazier built a blog with immense knowledge on running on a vegan diet in the last couple of years. Also, you might have seen, I referenced his blog a couple of times already.

Vegan Bodybuilding: Jeff Morgan – There are many guys out there who give advice on building muscle on a veggie diet. So far I’ve found the content from Jeff Morgan’s Channel Guilt Free TV helpful.

Fitness: Born To Sweat – If you’re looking for workouts to lose weight and get in shape, check out the blog by Beverley Cheng. You’ll find recipes for fitness on her blog as well. Note: even though she eats mostly vegetarian, you’ll find the occasional fish recipe.

Howie, Dave and little Josh working out 🙂

Cooking Guides

Knife skills

Jamie Oliver on Knife Skills – You’ll probably cook more stuff yourself as a veggie, so you need to get that down. In this video Jamie Oliver talks a little about chicken unfortunately (only chops veggies though), but it’s by far the best how-to I’ve found.

How To Cut Carrots – Dice, Strip, Slice, Julienne, Chunk – And in this video here Chef Tom shows you various ways to cut your veggies. Check it out, you’ll love how passionate and skillfully he’s chopping that carrot 😉

How to cook beans

How To Cook Beans. Your Complete Guide – By cooking beans yourself you can save a lot of money! This guide by Patty Knutson is probably the most extensive source on cooking beans in the internet.

Tofu – How to cook tofu the right way!

How to Cook Crispy Delicious Tofu – Tofu can be boring or super exciting. It pretty much depends on you. Check out the article by the Connoissseurus Veg to get Tofu right from now on.

Vegetarian Online Communities

Reddit – I found two groups on vegetarianism that I liked on reddit. Check out this one here, or that one. You’ll find various questions and concerns from vegetarians, but also tips and recipes.

Veggie Boards – It’s an active forum with loads of different categories, topics and content for vegetarians and vegans. If you’re into classic online forums, check them out!

Our Facebook Tribe – Yep, we have an active group on facebook where you’ll new tips, tricks, and all sorts of discussions around vegetarianism. Guess where I got all these awesome sources from? 🙂

Vegetarian and Vegan Food Blogs

Looking for recipe inspiration? These veggie food bloggers should be able to help you out with pretty much any request you may have. I’ll extend that list as we go 🙂

General

Cookie And Kate, vegetarian – Kate’s blog is super organized. Plus her recipes call mostly for common ingredients and look delicious.

Connoisseurus Veg, vegan – On Alissa’s blog you’ll find loads of practical vegan recipes. Plus her logo is a veggie eating T-Rex!)

Crazy Vegan Kitchen, vegan – Amrita is the mastermind behind this colourful blog. She creates tasty AF recipes of all sorts and has a very entertaining writing style that is definitely not for everyone 😉

Full Of Beans, vegan – The couple around Full of Beans definitely know how to get recipes with legumes right!

Oh My Veggies, vegetarian – This is one of the oldest veggie blogs around. You’ll find loads of recipes and how-tos.

The Veg Space, vegetarian – Kate’s blog is another great source for a broad spectrum of vegetarian recipes. Check her out, her content wins awards!

Planet Veggie, vegetarian – A cool UK based blog with a very funny writing style. An absolute joy to read!

Family Recipes

Ordinary Vegan, vegan – Nancy creates delicious vegan recipes for the whole family. On top of that she gives lots of tips and tricks on how to make a healthy switch to a vegan diet. Make sure to check out her podcast too!

Vegan Family Recipes, vegan – Lots of vegan recipes for the whole family. Sometimes it can be tricky to make all family members happy with the same dish, especially when it’s vegan. Vanessa does a great job in proving that it’s possible.

Veggies Don’t Bite, vegan – You have to admit the name is pretty cool, right? Like the other blogs in this segment Sophia focuses on creating healthy meals for the whole family. Very helpful: She has a section for toddler and baby friendly recipes too!

Veggies Inspired, vegan – Jennifer’s blog goes into the same direction as the ones mentioned above. What I really like about her blog is that you’ll find loads of recipes for holidays. Need some vegan Thanksgiving alternatives? Have a look over here.

Yummy Mummy Kitchen, vegetarian – Marina has a different recipe spectrum than the ones above since she includes dairy and eggs into her recipes. You’ll also find lot’s of info for toddlers and babies.

Gluten Free & Dairy Free

Tasting Page, vegetarian – Kelly creates recipes that include eggs and honey but no dairy nor gluten. Excellent for when you are lactose intolerant or have celiac disease.

Vegetarian Mamma, vegetarian – All of Cindy’s recipes are gluten-free, nut-free. About half are recipes are vegan or dairy-free. And best of all: they’re family friendly too. Excellent if you have family members with certain allergies.

Fuss Free / Quick

Amuse Your Bouche, vegetarian – Becca’s blog truly features lot’s of delicious, healthy and simple recipes. A really good source for vegetarians with little time.

Elephantastic Vegan, vegan – Bianca’s blog goes in the same direction as Becca’s, but truly focuses on vegan recipes.

Live Eat Learn, vegetarian – Sarah publishes fuss free vegetarian recipes. Also, she has a “featured ingredients” section lot’s of info about the nutritional benefits of certain ingredients, which is pretty cool!

The Vegan 8, vegan – Next to her absolutely beautiful photos, Brandi also makes extremely delicious recipes. You’ll notice she has a knack for chocolate and baking. Oh, another cool thing about her blog: all recipes call for 8 or less ingredients!

Vegan Heaven, vegan – Sina creates easy but delicious recipes. All are vegan and all look really vibrant. Check out her blog, it’s fun to look around!

Focus on Health

A Virtual Vegan, vegan – Melanie creates recipes with a clear focus on health. The best thing about it: they still look super tasty!

VIAND (past Chronicles of Passion), vegan – This blog is full of healthy recipes, including healthy baking! Plus, if you are into fitness, especially running, then you should check out Laura’s blog.

Eat Healthy Eat Happy, vegan – Tasty and healthy vegan Recipes! Gin also posts a lot about photography, rightfully so – her photos are amazing!

Feasting on Fruit, vegan – Natalie focusses on vegan recipes with lots of fruits! Check out her blog for inspiring desserts or other sweet treats!

Harriet Emily, vegetarian – On Harriet’s blog you’ll find lots of vegetarian and vegan recipes, but also beauty tips and the occasional motivational nudge

Hedi Hearts, vegan – Hedi actively focusses on getting your health back on track. She has many vegan whole food recipes, plus she hosts monthly no-sugar challenges with her community.

Natural Girl Modern World, vegetarian – Many recipes are vegan & gluten free. The design of Brianne’s blog is really clean and stylish, the recipe photos look vibrant!

Oh She Glows, vegan – Angela probably runs one of the biggest vegan blogs out there. Many recipes of all sorts. Go and check her out.

Strength and Sunshine, vegan – Rebecca creates celiac (gluten-free) and allergy-friendly recipes. It’s an excellent source for everybody with food allergies, intolerances or autoimmune diseases. You’ll find some really cool fitness workouts and lots of information and tips on yoga!

Veganosity, vegan – Linda created her blog with her daughter. They focus on healthy vegan recipes, and have a section about lifestyle and fashion (another big topic for vegans!).



Focus on Cuisines

Kamal Kitchen, vegetarian – On Pragati’s blog you’ll find truly amazing Indian dishes. And they all seem to be easy to recreate for the newbie of Indian cuisine.

Simple Sumptious Cooking, vegetarian – Same goes for Uma’s recipes: her recipes look like her grandma personally taught her how to get them just right. Plus: Having trouble with a recipe? Ask Uma on her blog and she’ll recreate her version of that recipe.

Vegan Richa, vegan – Richa shares vegan recipes, many of them are soy free, gluten-free or low in oil. Her blog is one of the biggest focussed on Indian cooking out there.

Vermillion Roots, vegetarian – Christine creates recipes that you could call “Southeast Asian Californian Fusion”. Sounds interesting? It definitely is!

Freezer Cooking

Vegan In The Freezer, vegan – Ginny is the go-to source when it comes to freezer cooking. Perfect for people who need to plan ahead and families. Great recipes, awesome concept!

Slow Cooking

Healthy Slow Cooking, vegan – Kathy knows everything about slow cooking. From the best cooker for your budget to the best recipes, her blog has everything you need to know about that craft. Excellent for families and people who know to plan ahead.

Baking

Minimalist Baker, vegetarian – Probably one of the biggest blogs out there at the moment. You’ll find savoury and sweet dishes that are often vegan, dairy-free, and/or gluten-free. Most of them call only for a couple of ingredients.

Unconventional Baker, vegan – Audrey focuses on vegan, allergy friendly baking. Not an easy task to substitute eggs and milk, but check out her blog to see that it’s easily possible.

Alrighty! This list should be a good help to get you going on your veggie journey. If you think I forgot anything or you just stumbled upon an article that is worth adding, just let me know in the comments and I’ll add it to the list.

Talk soon!