Vegan Cooking 101: Foundations of Plant-Based Cuisine

Discover how to make vegan milks at home with a simple soak, rinse, optional cook, and blend method. Customize taste, texture, and nutrition to suit your recipes.

Gather essential vegan cooking equipment: a large bowl, blender or food processor, a saucepan for coconut milk, and straining gear like nut milk bags or cheesecloth.

Explore raw materials for vegan milks—unsalted nuts and seeds soaked to soften skins, coconut, grains, legumes, and quinoa prepped for blending.

Soak legumes, grains, and hard nuts for at least eight hours, except coconuts and small seeds, to create a milk-like liquid. Cook legumes and greens for thicker, milder, flavorful puree.

Discover the basics of vegan sweetness by using unflavored options for versatility and trying sweeteners like granulated sugar, agave nectar, maple syrup, honey, and coconut and date syrups.

Explore unstrained flavoring in vegan cooking by starting with small amounts, using dominant flavors sparingly, and blending spices, cocoa powder, espresso powder, vanilla, tamarind, spirulina, orange and rose essences.

Strain flavorings after blending to straighten them. Include unsweetened coconut, grated citrus zest, colored zest, berries, bitter dates, and fresh herbs such as basil or mint.

Learn to steep flavorings using pesticide-free dried flowers like chamomile, hibiscus, or rosebuds, and integrate grated fresh ginger or turmeric found in herbal stores, natural foods shops, and ethnic markets.

Explore plant-based milks as interchangeable dairy substitutes that match flavor, color, and thickness in recipes. Test each milk’s texture, since rice milk can be too thin for savory sauces.

Explore a chart of flavors and uses for plain unsweetened non-dairy milks, noting preparation methods influence quality and which ingredients to exclude, such as Brazil nut and peanut.

Explore how to enjoy plant based milks warm or chilled, in coffee or tea, and cook with unsweetened milks such as almond, cashew, soy, coconut, barley, tiger nut, or millet.

Learn to make soy milk from overnight-soaked soybeans, including skin removal, two-part blending, and straining, then boil for flavor and digestibility, and store up to four days.

Blend two cups grated coconut with half a cup water to make coconut milk; strain, blend pulp with water to adjust consistency, and refrigerate up to four days for chutney.

Master oat milk by soaking oats, blending with cold water and ice, and straining through cheesecloth; reuse the pulp as a body scrub and refrigerate up to four days.

Learn to make almond milk by soaking one cup almonds, blending with water, and straining; reuse the pulp for almond flour or pudding, and refrigerate up to four days.

Turn homemade soy milk into tofu by carefully boiling, adding lemon juice in intervals to reach a golden curd, drain without cheesecloth, and press for 30 minutes to finish.

Create a tofu scramble using homemade tofu, sautéed with onion, bell peppers, green chilies, tomatoes, and spices like turmeric and red chili powder, finished with coriander leaves.

Marinate cubed tofu with cornflour, salt, and pepper, shallow fry to golden crisp, then simmer with garlic, ginger, onions, peppers, soy sauce, chili garlic sauce, and tomato ketchup.

Craft a creamy coconut milk stew by sautéing spices with vegetables, simmering with water and curry leaves, then finishing with homemade coconut milk for a versatile vegan dish.

Learn to make coconut chutney from leftover coconut pulp by blending peanuts, ginger, green chillies, coriander leaves, tamarind, salt, then temper with oil, mustard seeds, red chillies and curry leaves.

Learn how to make an oat milk smoothie as part of vegan cooking foundations, exploring simple, practical steps for a plant-based breakfast or snack.

Create a creamy almond milk soup from homemade almond milk using garlic, olive oil, salt, black pepper, and cornflour for a plant-based vegan dish, garnished with sliced almonds.

Blend one cup almond milk with half to one teaspoon coffee powder, vanilla essence, and honey, then add ice and blend again for a frothy iced almond milk coffee.

Discover how to make vegan meals at home and master plant-based cooking basics. Try these recipes on your own to reinforce the skills learned.