The official 500 Vegan Recipes review thread (to be updated)
Breakfast
As you like it energy bars
These didn't hold together for me. Disappointing (dannibazaar)
Banana barley bars
They are wholesome, tasty, crunchy Grape Nuts cereal bars made with no oil, flour or sugar. This simple recipe combines the cereal with banana, peanut butter, agave with touches of cinnamon. The last time I made them I used half Grape Nuts cereal and half rolled oats and they came out great. The 8"x8" pan I pressed them in fit in my toaster oven. I've made these several times. Cut them into bars and stored them in a Ziploc bag in my freezer so I can just take one to work in the morning. (saskia)
Banana fritters
These are meh. An easy, quick way to use ripened bananas, but I'd prefer a healthier version. I halved it for 2 bananas, and made 5 fritters. They taste like banana, and the texture is just...ok. They are better with the maple syrup, but probably not something I'd make again. (AC)
Banana oat morning fuel
Great-tasting smoothie that is a filling and nutritious energy boost. This delicious drink is a blend of bananas, oats, peanut butter, nondairy milk, vanilla, cocoa powder and agave or maple syrup. I used organic vanilla rice milk and left out the agave/maple because my banana was super ripe and plenty sweet. The peanut butter enhances the taste of the Banana Oat Morning Fuel without being too strong. Fast and easy to make. I also like that the recipe was for made for one person. (saskia)
Banana peanut oat breakfast biscuits
Blackberry nut butter waffles
Buttermilk biscuits and gravy
Super yum! This was a nice change of pace. I added sausage crumbles because I couldn't help myself. (intheend)
Butternut drop biscuits
Carob chip waffles
Cast iron skillet frittata, four ways
Nice! A great, basic recipe and then you can add whatever you like, that's my kind of recipe. I've tried two of the variations and both of them turned out great. When I made the tofu mixture I thought it would become too dry with 1 cup of chickpea flour, but it wasn't dry at all. Once I had given it time to set (the recipe says it takes 10 minutes, I waited longer) it held together better than any other eggless frittata I've made. (eldsjal)
Chipotle sweet potato latkes
Chocolate breakfast cake
Chocolate chocolate chip pancakes
Cinna vanilla rice
Cookie crumble granola
Crunchy carob almond granola
I used cocoa since I'm not a fan of granola and really liked this. It has been the best granola I've made at home. (intheend)
Lemon currant cornmeal waffles
Macadamia yogurt granola
This was good but I have a sweet tooth and had to add 2 Tbsp of syrup to get it where I like it. I also made it with walnuts since I didn't have macadamias. (intheend)
Maple hickory tofu strips
Mexican hot mocha
Eh, nothing special. Not bad by any means, but nothing to do any extra work for. (disneyfav)
Muffin cup quiche in phyllo crust
No bake pecan brittle bars
No fail buttermilk pancakes
Not quite a fail for me, but definitely not the best. I followed the recipe (except heating skillet to really hot-I'd never do that for pancakes, they don't get done in the middle), and they were eh. The batter is not that thick, but the pancakes are too thick. They are thick, but not fluffy. Kinda dense and tough. I did get 6 smallish pancakes. Won't make this recipe again. (AC)
I tried them again and was surprised that I even liked them the first time around. It's a bummer because I wrote a review praising them but now I'd like to delete it! I made them so long ago I don't know if I made any modifications and just didn't write them down. Oh well. (intheend)
Noggy bulgur
Good, but too sweet, next time I'll use half the sugar. (disneyfav)
Peanut butter and chips granola
This did not turn out so well for me. After the first 8 minuntes of baking, I went to stir it all around and it was already burnt. I have an oven thermometer so temperature was not the problem. I tried to pick some of the middle (non-burnt) pieces out and they tasted alright. Not the greatest recipe IMHO. (icephrosty)
I made this off of the website and it did not come out. It just fell apart but it tasted ok. (monkey7)
I really liked this a lot. I didn't use any chocolate chips...I used peanuts instead...super good if you like peanuts! It's really good sprinkled on soygurt. (dannibazaar)
Peanut butter and jam granola
Peanut butter oat bars
Peanut butter pancakes
These are AWESOME. The batter came out really think but I didn't add any extra liquid because I wanted them to be dense. Great PB flavor. Two thumbs up! (icephrosty)
These didn't have a very strong taste of peanut butter and they kicked ass with some golden syrup poured on top. (intheend)
Pull apart cinnamon sticky buns
Pumpkin chocolate barley bars
Pumpkin molasses power bars
Pumpkin spice coffee
Pumpkin tofu scramble
Pumpkin yogurt smoothie
Sweet potato ginger waffles
Pretty good, they took a long time to cook in my waffle iron though. I did omit the ginger and the candied nuts to make them baby-friendly. (berryraw)
Wheat germ raisin pancakes
White chocolate raspberry granola
Whole wheat couscous bowl of comfort
Zucchini fritters
Sweet and savory muffins
Apple candy muffins
Banana muffin tops
Blueberry orange muffins
These are good, but not my favorite blueberry muffins. I taste something missing, but I don't know what it is! I needed 2 1/2 large oranges for 3/4 cup. I also had to bake about 7-8 minutes more, and they maybe could have used another minute. Pretty good recipe. (AC)
Caramel apple muffin tops
Cherry pistachio scoffins
I had such high hopes for these but unfortunately, they were just hopes. After being baked, these are extremely dry and bland. They ended up being thrown out. (intheend)
Chocolate orange marmalade muffins
Coffee toffee muffins
Double chocolate muffins
Just meh. I've had better muffins made with just applesauce as a fat replacement. (dannibazaar)
Ginger cranberry muffins
Jam filled soda rolls
These were pretty bland. They might have been better had there been something added in the dough like nuts or something. I've had many a better muffin. (dannibazaar)
Lemon poppy seed muffins
Matcha almond muffins
Peanut butter muffins
Another winner. I used chunky PB and the texture was great. DH wolfed these down in one day! I halved the recipe and then used the batter to make 4 big muffins instead of 6 regular ones. Will definitely make again! (icephrosty)
Pumpkin carob muffins
I substituted the carob for cocoa powder and chocolate chips in this recipe. I ate one warm right out of the oven and wasn't totally wowed by them, wishing I had baked the pumpkin muffins in Vegan with a Vengeance instead. But then I had one the next morning and was pleasantly surprised by the marriage of chocolate and pumpkin flavors in this moist muffin! The recipe is also low fat(only 1/4 cup oil for a dozen muffins), low salt and calls for agave instead of dry sweetener. I used part agave, part date syrup. Great muffin. (saskia)
These tasted weird. I like the taste of both pumpkin and carob individually, but together...bleck. I tried letting them sit for a day to see if the flavours would meld or something but no...still bad. (dannibazaar)
Quinoa raisin muffins
Not your traditional muffin but very, very good. This meal muffin is packed with protein and peanut buttery goodness. Tastes like a chai-spiced peanut butter cookie in muffin form. Dense, sweet, moist with touches of vanilla, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg and sweet plump raisins. Batter is thick. I scooped it evenly into muffin tins with an ice cream scooper. Muffins only rose a little. Only problem with this recipe is that I don't know why the author didn't put "peanut butter" in the title since it's the dominant ingredient. Overwhelms the quinoa. But I'm not complaining though because I just really love peanut butter. (saskia)
Savory tomato olive muffins
Speculaas muffins with chocolate ganache
Spicy chick wheat savory muffins
Zucchini poppy seed muffins
Gluten Free Fudge Brownies: Holy crap these are amazing! I omitted the margarine completely and used unsweetened chocolate and used only 2/3 cups of sugar rather than 3/4 cups (half brown sugar and half white). They're a great combination of fudge-y and cake-y. They're so nice and dark...definitely one of my favourite brownies that I've made. The texture is also surprisingly nice, not all crumbly like other things that I've made with brown rice flour.
My last review was supposed to be for the gluten free spicy brownie cake! My bad! But I would like to document my sister's reaction. So I was just like "Hey, I made brownies if you want one" She responded by saying she was still full, maybe later. I said "try one they're really good! Like chocolate heaven only better!" So she obliged, took a nibble, went all wide eyed, said "ohmygod yum" and shoved the whole damn thing in her mouth. It made me laugh.
ham fauxsage: this was surprisingly good! It's sweetish, a little smoke-y but not overly so..I daresay, meaty. It's been too many years since I've had actual ham to say that it tastes like ham, but whatever it is, I like it! I chopped it up and put it in leftover mac and "cheese." Yum!
Dijon thyme bread - Oh, how I love this bread. The taste of mustard is very rich, but not too overwhelming. Dijon and thyme is a wonderful combination! I'm gonna make this over and over again.
EDIT: Pic: http://i588.photobucket.com/albums/ss326/Philsing/Mat/SDC10703-1.jpg?t=1283431884
Seitan bacon crumbles - This is even better than the bacon bits! The most bacon-like faux meat I've ever had! Salty, greasy, a little sweet and with a perfect texture! :D
Peanut butter mousse pie with candied peanuts and chocolate ganache - I made this as my own bday celebration cake and am so glad that I did! It's quite a few steps (and dishes) but this has to be one of the most decadent desserts ever. I made the regular version for candied peanuts since I figured why bothered with the shortcut after putting in all that effort?
Inari and spicy sushi sauce - I cheated and used japanese aburage but this was still very good! I liked the sauce, it was a nice addition to liven up something that didn't have much going on.
Crispy coconut tempeh nuggets - Total fail. The batter was extremely thick so I tried to thin it out but it fell completely off the tempeh so essentially it was just coconut fried tempeh.
Cheater mac and cheese - I thought the sour cream would be odd in this but it works and it works nicely! I like this version better than most other mac and cheeses I've tried.
Baked Chimichangas - These were a success! They are so tasty but unfortunately they don't make a lot so if you're trying to feed a family of 4 then you need to double this recipe. I served them with guacamole and extra salsa on top. Absolutely loved these and you will too!
Cauliflower pasta crisp - This is so insanely creamy and decadent. I used the least amount of pasta cause I like a lot of sauce and when eaten the next day, it didn't completely soak it up so that was a plus. The only thing I would change is to omit the lemon zest in the topping. I just felt it was too overpowering.
Stuffed chiles - I doubled the recipe and used 8 oz of seitan which ended up being the perfect amount (since I doubled the recipe it was supposed to be 12 oz but that seemed too much). I added the optional miso so that I wouldn't have to do a salt check. Alone, the mixture tastes kind of funky but don't let that deter you. Once you stuff it in the poblano and bake it, it ends up being divine! I poured the enchilada sauce (made from this book also) over it and devoured it.
Enchilada sauce - I have to be honest and say that I thought this wouldn't be that great since I never use tomato sauce for enchilada sauce. I'm glad to be proved wrong though! This has just the right amount of spice and a tad bit of smokiness from the chipotle powder.
Chocolate tapioca pudding - Super creamy and heavy chocolate taste. It was easy to make and was delicious.
Seitan bacon crumbles - This has to be one of the best recipes in this book! The crumbles come together fast and are perfectly salted with a nice smoked taste.
Colcannon - This cooks up pretty fast and is filling. I loved it and would make it again.
Red meat lasagna - F'ing owned. I skipped on using TVP and instead grounded up some VB italian sausages. Also added mushrooms cause I had some that I needed to use. The ricotta was delicious but I felt it didn't make enough for this dish. I'd double it next time. (intheend)
"Meaty" marina - This will now be my go-to recipe for lasagna and pasta sauce. (intheend)
Tofu ricotta - This has been the best ricotta I've tried so far. I was trying to put less oil but you actually do need it after the tofu is pressed. I think next time I make this I won't press the tofu so that I don't have to put so much oil. (intheend)
Pumpkin Carob Muffins-I substituted the carob for cocoa powder and chocolate chips in this recipe. I ate one warm right out of the oven and wasn't totally wowed by them, wishing I had baked the pumpkin muffins in Vegan with a Vengeance instead. But then I had one the next morning and was pleasantly surprised by the marriage of chocolate and pumpkin flavors in this moist muffin! The recipe is also low fat(only 1/4 cup oil for a dozen muffins), low salt and calls for agave instead of dry sweetener. I used part agave, part date syrup. Great muffin.
Cauliflower pasta crisp - Tastes like chicken, in a good way! And so creamy! But next time I make it, I wont add the bread crumbs on top, it was way to much.
Chipotle Ranch Dressing: Really great stuff, even though it's pretty thick so it's more like a dip than a dressing. Tasted awesome with the tamalliettas, as the book suggests.
Tamalliettas: These needed to bake longer than suggested so they wouldn't be so doughy inside, but I loved them with the chipotle ranch dressing. On their own the flavor is good, but not anything too exciting. I really love tamales so I was looking forward to getting the taste without all the work and these did a decent job of that.
Curried Apple Sprouts: This is a combination of ingredients I'd never thought of before and absolutely LOVED it! I'll definitely be making this again, it's a great dish for the holidays.
Independence Day Wieners: I never liked hot dogs and haven't found a veggy-dog I like yet, so I don't know why I made this recipe, but I REALLY enjoyed these dogs! It had good smokey flavor and a good sweetness to it. I made some of the dogs bigger and some smaller - the bigger ones need to bake a little longer for better texture, imo.
Yellow cake - When I was making the batter for this I was tripped out by how bread-like it was. I double checked the ingredients list to see if maybe I missed where it called for milk but I didn't. It rose nicely in the oven but when it came to flip it, the bottom was a hot mess! I let it bake for 28 minutes and my toothpick came out clean but it was completely gummy at the bottom. This was such a bummer too because the taste of the cake is down right decadent.
Fajita pita - I just got done eating this and am still thinking about how awesome it was. So instead of using bell pepper I used 2 anaheim chiles and it ended up being a great substitution. They stood just a little bit crunchy so it worked great for texture. This definitely makes 6 servings worth and I was able to cook it in one shot using my wok but if you don't have one, you'll be making it in two batches. I made my ranch dressing from this website and just added a chopped chipotle pepper and a few spoons of adobo sauce. When you put all of this into a homemade pita that's still warm and top it with some chipotle ranch, life is good.
As You Like It Energy Bars - These didn't hold together for me. Disappointing :(
Peanut Butter and Chips Granola - I really liked this a lot. I didn't use any chocolate chips...I used peanuts instead...super good if you like peanuts! It's really good sprinkled on soygurt.
Double Chocolate Muffins - Just meh. I've had better muffins made with just applesauce as a fat replacemetnt.
Pumpkin Carob Muffins - These tasted weird. I like the taste of both pumpkin and carob individually, but together...bleck. I tried letting them sit for a day to see if the flavours would meld or something but no...still bad.
Curried Butternut Squash Hummus - Love. I make this all the time. It's my favourite hummus recipe.
Green Cauliflower Masala - I didn't like this. It was just kind of gross.
Split Pea Soup - This is one of my favourite recipes in this book and I make it all the time. It is simple, delicious, and I can actually get my little sister to eat vegetables this way! I seriously make it once every two weeks or so. It never lasts very long!
Cheater Mac and Cheese - I was surprised that I liked this! Mum says that this is her favourite vegan mac and cheese, and I have to agree. Not sure what it is about it, but it's damn good.
Imitation Bacon Bits - These were good. I used them in the colcannon. It kind of freaked me out how much my kitchen smelled like bacon after making these.
Colcannon - Totally delicious. I'm going to have to make this more often. It's definitely an omni friendly dish (how couldn't it be...it's basically mashed potatoes with a bit of pizazz)
Cocoa Nut Quick Bread - This was a disappoitment. It sank in the middle...and I was so looking forward to eating this!
Hodgepodge O' Flours Bread - I love making this! (And I'm surprised that I have all the flours on hand...) It's light, tender, and just plain good. I try to have these flours on hand to make it.
Maple Brown Sugar Oatmeal Cookies - I like these. They aren't all that sweet, which I really like. I don't feel as bad about eating them! They're great with coffee.
Chocolate Graham Cracker Crumbs - Nice and simple. Not much else to say, they're just good for what they are.
Oatmeal Cookie Topped Apple Crumble - I love this recipe so much. It's easy and a great change from plain old apple crisp or apple cobbler. The cookie topping is so yummy! I always sub applesauce for the oil in the cookie part. This crumble never lasts very long! ;)b
Molasses Cake Bars - Very yummy, and pretty healthy. I really like anything with molasses in it so...these were inherently good.
Caraway Onion Cornmeal Bread: Ick. It rose nicely but just did not taste good. It needed more salt or even some kind of sweetener.
Mole Bread: Another ick. Oh well.
Cranberry Chili: Awesome. I made the pumpkin fauxsage to put in it and it was a lovely addition I really recommend. I added a can of tomato sauce and used red instead of kidney beans. It was delicious.
Pumpkin Fauxsage: Can't really taste pumpkin, but the taste and texture is really good. It went great in the chili as it's a bit spicy.
Oktoberfest Wieners: I was really disappointed by these but my mom snarfed them down and enjoyed them and she is an eater of bratwursts and such.
Ham Fauxsage: Texture was off but the taste was good.
Seitan Bacon Bits: Yummy! And so easy and quick! I made a vegan quiche and put these in it and it was awesome.
That's good to know about the split pea soup, that's next on my list from this book!
Caraway Onion Cornmeal Bread: Ick. It rose nicely but just did not taste good. It needed more salt or even some kind of sweetener.
Mole Bread: Another ick. Oh well.
Cranberry Chili: Awesome. I made the pumpkin fauxsage to put in it and it was a lovely addition I really recommend. I added a can of tomato sauce and used red instead of kidney beans. It was delicious.
Pumpkin Fauxsage: Can't really taste pumpkin, but the taste and texture is really good. It went great in the chili as it's a bit spicy.
Oktoberfest Wieners: I was really disappointed by these but my mom snarfed them down and enjoyed them and she is an eater of bratwursts and such.
Ham Fauxsage: Texture was off but the taste was good.
Seitan Bacon Bits: Yummy! And so easy and quick! I made a vegan quiche and put these in it and it was awesome.
That's good to know about the split pea soup, that's next on my list from this book!
I've honestly had not much luck with the baked goods in this book, which really disappoints me because they sound so good.
Yeah, the soup is great! I was just going to make it again the other day, only to realize that I have no split peas! Ahg, I was so aggravated...
Seitan Bacon Bits: Yummy! And so easy and quick! I made a vegan quiche and put these in it and it was awesome.
Is this for the seitan bacon crumbles? I want to make sure and put it in the right place, because there are like 3 similar recipes! ; )
Pumpkin cranberry tamales - I had been looking forward to making these for a few weeks. It bums me out to report that they are awful. They are extremely bland and not even sweet. Nobody could eat these in my house so into the trash they go =(
Mac n sleaze - I tend to dislike all vegan mac n'cheeses but I'm out of groceries and needed something for dinner. I threw in some frozen mixed veggies and was surprised that I found this dish decent. Making the cheese sauce is painless and it was alright but I felt like something was missing. Like I said, I'm not to be trusted for Mac n cheese reviews but the only thing I was really into was the panko bread crumbs.
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