Veganuary is just a few short months away and is expected to be another nationwide event with more people than ever participating. Whether you are a care caterer, restaurant, event caterer or work in the education sector, Veganuary is an event that can be tailored to meet audiences young, old and every stage in between. Every year we invite chefs and business owners to share how they mark the occasion, and we are never disappointed with the creativity and innovation demonstrated – this year proves no different.
Samantha Rain
Head of Innovation and Training, Henley Bridge
Consumers expect exciting vegan desserts to be on the menu, so it’s worth investing time and effort into creating them. It’s important to arm yourself with a few key vegan ingredients – for me, these include a great quality vegan milk chocolate, such as Belcolade or Chocolat Madagascar, and Sosa’s vegan mousse gelatin powder is a must. In fact, the Sosa range is a brilliant toolbox for vegan cookery. I used several of their products to create a delicious hazelnut mousse with surprise layers inside: maple jelly, pear gel and crunchy hazelnut.
Adonis Icalina
Author & Chef
One must-have ingredient in our vegan menu is tofu. It’s incredibly versatile and can absorb flavours beautifully. One dish I always recommend is our Tofu Sisig. It’s a vegan twist on a classic Filipino dish, where we marinate the tofu in a blend of soy sauce, vinegar, and spices, then sauté it with onions and peppers. It’s a hit among our vegan customers!
Right now, we offer around ten vegan dishes on our menu. This includes everything from appetisers to main courses and even desserts. We have dishes like Vegan Kare-Kare, a rich peanut stew with vegetables and tofu, and Vegan Adobo, where we use mushrooms and tofu instead of meat. Our vegan dessert options include a delightful Coconut Milk Leche Flan.
Brad Savage
CEO, GardenCup
We offer eight vegan salads and grain bowls, including our popular Superfood Salad with kale, broccoli, chickpeas and a lemon tahini dressing. My personal favourite is our Buddha Bowl, packed with sweet potatoes, black beans, avocado and a spicy peanut sauce. For Veganuary, we’re launching new salads featuring meat alternatives and spotlighting our vegan menu on social media.
Kieran Corbitt
Head of Marketing, KG Hospitality
Halo Burger, first established in 2017 disrupted the fast-food market by replicating the branding, and menu of iconic fast-food joints such as McDonalds and In N Out Burger, only 100% vegan. Our menu is fully vegan with burgers that taste like beef, thanks to a secret recipe for smoky seasoning that is blended through the pea-protein patties. A personal favourite is the Smoky BBQ Carolina Burger with barbecue sauce, smoked vegan gouda and crispy onion strips. Follow it with a Vegan Biscoff Shake or Soft Serve.
Clare Coghill
Owner, Café Cuil
Veganuary is always an exciting time of year for chefs, mostly for inspiration and creativity. Café Cuil offers plenty of vegan dishes all year round, showcasing the abundance of produce that grows around us, whether grown by organic producers or foraged from the land. Our most popular vegan dish has to be our foraged Chanterelles on toast, served with vegan miso butter & sage pesto.
Gary Townsend
Chef & Owner, Elements
Our plant-based tasting menu features six courses, but we can adapt more and offer alternatives where dairy or meat is to be avoided. My favourite ingredient is our dark-salt cashew nut butter, it is so versatile to cook with. It adds real depth to our roasted cauliflower dish and Fenland leek course. I spent a long time searching for a ‘dairy butter substitute’, however, our dark-salt cashew butter is genuinely outstanding, I can’t even call it a substitute.
Dean Harper
Chef & Director, Harper Fine Dining
Encouraging children’s participation in Veganuary 2025 can be an exciting journey for schools. To get children interested, teachers should be looking to engage in enjoyable interactive activities, like cookery classes focused on plant-based dishes. Colourful veggie wraps with hummus, playful fruit skewers and vibrant vegetable stir-fries are likely to spark children’s curiosity, so don’t be afraid to highlight the variety in vegan cuisine!
Craig Wescott
Trade Marketing Manager, Lamb Weston
Try my favourite vegan recipe; baked cauliflower tacos with loaded REALLY
Crunchy Fries. Simply toss small cauliflower florets in taco seasoning and olive oil and bake until golden. Blend avocado, fresh coriander, vegan sour cream, salt and lime juice until creamy. Warm tortillas, load up with some shredded, pickled red cabbage, the roasted cauliflower and REALLY Crunchy Fries. Drizzle with the avocado cream and serve garnished with freshly chopped coriander and sliced jalapenos.
Gareth Penn
Head Chef, Spaces at The Spine
At Spaces at The Spine, we offer environmentally-conscious catering, from using locally sourced and sustainable ingredients to placing our vegan dishes front and centre by listing them first on all of our menus.
This year, we have focused on our vegan desserts. Our culinary team have produced delicious, fully vegan desserts to ensure all our visitors can enjoy a sweet treat while attending a conference. These include Parkin and sticky toffee pudding, two eggless recipes that feature oat milk and vegan baking margarine and our berry crumble which is sprinkled with gluten-free porridge oats and gluten-free cornflakes for extra crunch.
Barnaby MacAdam
Development Chef, Santa Maria Foodservice
Santa Maria is proud to offer a wide range of vegan spices, sauces, tortilla chips and wraps to help operators unlock a world of flavour and drive growth. Our Fermented Chili Sauce is extremely versatile and can add a vibrant, tangy bite and spicy kick to any vegan burger, wraps, loaded fries or cauliflower bites. A popular protein replacement is Tofu, so enhance your tofu dishes with our Kimchi Paste Chili and Garlic for a bold and flavourful twist. The chili and aromatic garlic not only adds a spicy kick but also infuses the tofu with rich umami flavours – perfect for marinating, stir-frying, or grilling.
Daniel Meursing
CEO/Founder, Premier Staff
We’ve seen a significant increase in requests for skilled vegan chefs and servers who can expertly present plant-based dishes. Our most popular vegan offering is a deconstructed avocado sushi roll, which combines the luxury of traditional sushi with a modern, plant-based twist. We typically offer 3-5 vegan options at our events, ensuring there’s something for every palate.
Nick Collins
Founder and CEO, Cleverchefs
The must-have ingredient we use at Cleverchefs is oat milk. We use a chai concentrate along with light oat milk to create a fantastic chai pannacotta. The oat milk gives a super clean finish. It’s rich in calcium, low in sugars and fat and 100% plant based. My personal favourite dish is lentil and sweet potato dahl. Made from scratch using authentic Indian spices, it is full of flavour and contains great amounts of fibre, vitamin C, B6, calcium and potassium.
This Veganuary we plan to get the children involved by turning watermelon into fish. We marinade slices of watermelon in a secret mix of ingredients and roast in the oven. This is a great way to encourage kids to participate in trying new innovative plant-based food.
Brandon Blackwell and Jen Sherrod
Co-founders, Elysian Events Catering
One of our standout vegan dishes is the Farmer’s Market Salad featuring locally sourced vegetables, fresh tomatoes, baby greens, garlic croutons, and a zesty olive vinaigrette. This dish is a celebration of fresh, local produce and vibrant flavours. Additionally, we offer a variety of other vegan options that highlight the best of what the season has to offer. These include Roasted Oyster Mushroom Sauce Piquant, Eggplant Creole with Roasted Poblano Peppers, Herb-Roasted Carrots & Fennel, and the refreshing Watermelon Tartare with Chili Oil and Mint. These dishes are perfect for anyone seeking delicious, plant-based options.
