Oma's Easy Vegan Recipes - vegane Rezepte

by: Gerhild Fulson  /  Author, Blogger, German Oma!

by: Sylvie Fulson  /  Copy Editor, Copywriter, Plant-Based Cook, Wife, Mom

Easy vegan recipes on my German recipes website? You bet! It’s true, I am not vegan. I’m German and I love German food. And German food and vegan food seem to be mutually exclusive. But, I have family and friends who are both German and vegan!

Much of my regular traditional German recipes have meat, butter, cream, LOTS OF CREAM, and meat. Did I already say meat? Yes, lots of meat and gravy and cream and butter. I think I’m repeating myself, but you get the picture.

Yummy Leek and Lentil Stew with Potatoes (vegan)

But what about my vegan dinner guests? I want to give them something delicious, yet German, that won’t go against their conscience and won't take a long time to make. That means not using any animal products such as eggs, milk, cheese, butter, cream, or meat. Even honey! These are, of course, the major items in German cuisine.

I could just make simple vegetarian recipes, but that doesn’t always work. I could try for meatless meals, but again, that doesn’t always mean vegan. I also needed to find a good vegan cake recipe that everyone can enjoy. And I don’t want to have to go shopping for strange stuff that I won’t use again.

The Challenge

So this was my challenge: to imagine, and experiment, and create a vegan version of some of my favorite authentic German recipes! I set down my basic guidelines:

• I want vegan dishes that taste German, or at the very least, complement our German taste buds
• These recipes must be delicious and nourishing with simple ingredients
• And, of course, they should be quick and easy to make

Fortunately, there are a few German recipes that are “accidentally” vegan, such as Homemade Sauerkraut, Sauerkraut Salad, Tomato Salad, and Cucumber Salad. Other recipes can easily be made vegan by substituting oil for butter, such as Crispy Roast Potatoes or Red Cabbage, or by simply omitting the meat from a recipe like Lentil Soup, or replacing the bacon in this warm German potato salad with tofu bacon.

But what about other traditional dishes besides salads, and veggies, and soups? Is there a way to reinvent recipes that include meat, and cheese, and eggs, and cream using only plant-based ingredients? A challenge indeed!

Thankfully, my vegan daughter-in-law, Sylvie, loves to create recipes. I was thrilled when she accepted the challenge and agreed to help me create German-inspired easy vegan recipes for my website. Take it away, Sylvie!

The Vegan Daughter-in-Law

That’s right, I do love to create recipes! Having been exposed to Oma Gerhild’s amazing traditional German meals since the mid-1990s until going vegan in 2013, I am excited to take on this challenge!

Perhaps, like Oma, you have vegan friends and family that you want or need to cook for; it may be you are looking to incorporate more plant-based foods in your diet; maybe you want to cut out or cut down on dairy and/or other animal products, but don’t want to give up on German food; or maybe you’re simply curious and just looking for something new and interesting to try.

Whatever the reason, you’ll find delicious, easy-to-make, and sure-to-please recipes that you’ll come back to over and over again.

When I first switched to a vegan diet, I discovered a whole new way of cooking that was so creative and so much fun, not to mention absolutely delicious and downright good for my health. There are so many interesting and different ways to incorporate nuts, seeds, beans, and grains into amazing dishes.

Although I mostly take an oil-free, whole-food approach to vegan cooking, I will occasionally use processed products like vegan butter, vegan sour cream, vegan cheese, and meat alternatives, usually for special occasions and holidays. Even so, there are so many delicious ways to create “cheesy” sauces and “meaty” dishes using only plant-based foods.

Pantry Staples for Whole-Food Vegan Recipes

Below is a list of basic pantry items for making quick and easy vegan recipes. As you can see, most of the items listed are very common and can be found in most pantries.

• Legumes: chickpeas, black beans, red kidney beans, navy beans, red lentils, green lentils, yellow split peas, green split peas, edamame, firm or extra-firm tofu
• Whole Grains: oats, brown rice, barley, quinoa (technically a seed), brown rice pasta
• Nuts and Seeds (all raw): cashews, almonds, pecans, walnuts, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, hemp seeds, chia seeds, flax seeds (ground & whole)
• Flours: whole-wheat pastry flour, spelt flour, oat flour, almond meal or almond flour, chickpea flour, all-purpose flour
• Vinegars: raw apple cider vinegar, balsamic vinegar, red wine vinegar, rice vinegar, white vinegar
• Sweeteners: pure maple syrup, Medjool dates, coconut sugar, raw agave syrup, molasses
• Odds & Ends: canned tomatoes, vegetable broth, tamari (a type of soy sauce), nutritional yeast, peanut butter, almond butter, coconut butter, tahini, unsweetened apple sauce, raisins, dried cranberries, dairy-free chocolate chips, cocoa powder

Equipment

Thankfully, all you really need for making easy vegan German recipes is a food processor and a good blender, preferably high-powered. Investing in these two pieces of equipment, if you haven’t already, is definitely worthwhile.

Nuts and seeds, especially cashews, are often blended with other ingredients to make creamy sauces, dressings, spreads, desserts, and soups. Having a good quality machine is the best way to get the smoothest results.

I have a Vitamix blender and we use it at least once everyday. And (perhaps most importantly!) it is super easy to clean. From making smoothies to delicious sauces and dressings and soups, I could not imagine my life without it. Sounds dramatic, but it’s true!

However, if a high-powered blender is not in the budget, soaking the nuts overnight and letting your blender run a little longer should also yield smooth results.

An electric citrus juicer is another handy tool, and super convenient. I use a lot of lemon juice in my recipes, and so to save time I like to buy a whole bunch of lemons and juice them all at once. And then I pour the juice into ice cube trays and freeze it. One lemon cube is approximately 1 tablespoon. I have this one and love it! 

Let’s get cooking!

I look forward to creating new recipes that will excite your German tastebuds! I have a few recipes in the works based on traditional German dishes such as vegan potato pancakes, vegan German potato salad, vegan German potato dumplings, vegan potato noodles, vegan spaetzle, and vegan meatballs.

Since this section of the website is just starting out, please keep coming back as Oma Gerhild and I add more and more recipes.

In the meantime, check out what we’ve come up with so far:

Vegan German Bread Recipes

Artisan Bread

No-knead Sourdough Bread

Vegan German Salad Dishes and such

Easy Homemade Hummus

Creamy Hummus Salad Dressing

German Cucumber Salad

Easy Homemade Sauerkraut

How to Make Cashew Cream

Tomato Salad

Sauerkraut Salad

Bean Salad

Fennel Salad

Vegan German Veggie Recipes

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Balsamic Vinegar

Sauerkraut (use oil)

Sweet-Sour Red Cabbage

Marinated Potatoes

Braised Bavarian Cabbage

Roasted Fennel

Roasted Cherry Tomatoes

Air Fryer Sweet Potatoes

Vegan German Main Dishes

Vegan Shepherds Pie

German Mustard Sauce Dinner

Vegan Chili, slow cooker

Vegan German Soup Recipes

Easy Vegan Potato Soup

Leek and Lentil Stew with Potatoes

Cheesy Vegan Cauliflower Soup

Sweet Potato Soup

Creamy Vegan Mushroom Soup

Sweet Potato & Kale Soup

Barley Soup,slow cooker

Tomato Bisque Soup

Slow Cooker Lentil Soup

Vegetable Soup, Homemade

Red Lentil Soup

Creamy Celery Soup

Vegan German Desserts

German Apple Strudel

Oma's Easy Banana Bread

Chocolate Brownie Mini-Muffins

Chocolate Brownies - yummy

Vegan Info

What are Cashews good for?

Want to know which recipes are Oma's favorites? Grab your copy of her very favorite recipes in Favorite German Recipes eCookbook.

Take a peek at all Oma's eCookbooks. They make sharing your German heritage a delicious adventure!

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Hi, I'm Oma Gerhild! As a food writer and cookbook author, I'm always looking to find ways to pass on my German heritage using local ingredients. Quick and easy. That's my goal. Wunderbar food. That's the result.