Best Vegetarian Cookbooks in the UK

There is hardly a person who doesn’t know Jamie Oliver. It’s a name that constantly pops up in online ads and from various popular TV shows. Yet, today, Jamie Oliver is much more than an extremely popular cook, he is already a global brand loved by home cooks and appreciated by professionals. An experienced chef, Jamie Oliver eagerly shares his knowledge with others and proves that sophisticated restaurant-worthy dishes can be a breeze to cook at home. So, if you are a strong vegetarian in search of some new food combinations or just a passionate omnivore cook who seeks to introduce brilliant veg recipes into weekly menus, in this recipe book by Jamie Oliver, you’ll find solid advice from a famous cook.

Striving to change the way people eat and cook and help them build healthier eating habits without compromising the final food taste, the author has made up a decent collection of interesting and utterly delicious vegetarian recipes inspired by different flavours and taste preferences. And while vegetables and fruit usually play a supporting role to make meat or fish a star, here, they will shine as the main heroes and you’ll be stunned by what you try.

At the same time, full of appetizing colours and incredible relish, all those recipes are pretty simple to throw together. They are written in a step-by-step manner, so, are easy to grasp and need no specific cooking skills. More than that, most of them are a mix of basic products you can come across in a regular store. However, if you need something special and fancy, it is readily available in the book as well. And at the end of each recipe, you'll find handy suggestions on how to change it to further enlarge the variety of dishes you can cook. With that, whether you need some ideas for a weekend feast or a satisfying dish for a regular supper at home that will become your family favourite, this book has it all.

The unforgettable taste and flavour of hearty family meals evoke sweet memories of childhood and is something that makes us rush back to the comfort of our home each day. In the Middle East, family traditions are highly valued and extremely strong and so are veg-based cooking traditions. Hence, Middle Eastern cuisine is a magnificent depository of veggie recipes, enriched with spicy and distinct Asian flavours and uniquely delicious. Looking to introduce the eastern cooking tradition to your vegetarian diet or just add a rich Asian vibe to your meatless menu? If so, you’ll hit the spot with the Middle Eastern Vegetarian Cookbook by Salma Hage.

Salma Hage is not new to writing recipe books. She is the author of a classic bestseller, the Lebanese Kitchen widely popular among fans and true esteemers of Middle Eastern cuisine. With over fifty years of home cooking experience, Salma also has vast expertise in working as a professional cook. So, she knows all the peculiarities, pitfalls, and tricks of the cooking process from all sides. What made her transform the way she cooked onto a vegetarian path was her son and grandson ditching meat and fish from their diets. Naturally longing to treat her family with wholesome, delicious, and, what is not less important, delicious home foods, Salma redesigned a whole variety of habitual recipes traditionally cooked by her mother, mother-in-law, and her sisters-in-law to veg-based and created a whole bunch of new ones. All made up with heart and her own family in mind, Salma Hage’s recipes provide a new fresh look on old-time traditions and keep up with modern tendencies to cut down on meat consumption.

What is the most popular cuisine in the world? You’ll be surprised to know that France takes only the third place after Japan and Italy topping the list. Asian cuisines are also all-time favs and India is one of the topliners among them. Strongly dedicated to flavour, Indian cuisine lends no rules for the use of spices. Indian cooks are true spice wizards juggling with the same spices to add zest to a variety of completely different dishes. Spicy vibes aside, Indian cuisine can also be regarded as the cradle of vegetarianism since no other cuisine has such a plethora of vegetarian treats that taste so good and get you hooked almost from the very first bite. Are Indian dishes among your favourites as well and you want to be able to cook them in your home kitchen to diversify your daily menu? Then check the Fresh India vegetarian cookbook by Meera Sodha.

Indian by origin but born and living in the UK, in her book, Meera Sodha tried to reveal authentic traditions of Gujarati cooking in particular and Indian cuisine on the whole. Besides, given the increased interest in Indian foods, she put every effort to adapt original recipes to using local produce. Hence, all recipes are created with the availability of ingredients in mind. And you can really find most of the components in ordinary supermarkets or the nearest Asian shops. All recipes from a 130-piece collection represented in the book were tasted, cooked, and tailored to perfection by Meera Sodha. As she states, the most reliable tester is her own tongue and all the recipes she developed are inspired by the dishes she tried herself and centuries-old Indian cooking traditions.

In Fresh India, you will come across both classic staple dishes such as dals, samosas, kebabs, pickles, and curries, all made in a vegetarian format, and familiar Indian recipes based on seasonal British ingredients including malai broccoli, bharela ringan with baby eggplants or Brussels sprout thoran. Alongside, there is a whole chapter devoted to spicy and vibrant salads (which is not a typically Indian dish) and a section on pudding habitual for the UK, yet, provided in non-traditional recipes. And of course, mouth-melting carrot halwa, creamy and tangy cardamom ice-cream, and other exotic desserts that won’t leave you indifferent.

Slender and fit bodies are always in trend. However, keeping fit is not an easy task for many of us, with all those yummy treats calling from confectioneries and groceries and numerous specialized restaurants indulging us to try everything. And that’s not to mention the fast-paced modern lifestyle where we have little time for cooking and tend to eat a lot of fast food. To go slim, many people choose to turn to a vegetarian diet. Yet, it’s a wrong approach from the start since vegetarian is not synonymous to slimming and some veg dishes are packed with carbs. But if you are a veggie seeking to lose a couple of kilos or looking to diversify your diet with low-calorie plant-based dishes to bring it to a healthier format, the Hairy Dieters Go Veggie cookbook has a lot of great ideas to offer.

The book is written by Si King and Dave Myers, the so-called duo of Hairy Bikers, known by popular TV cookery series and widely loved by the British. This book is the fifth in their Hairy Dieters series that boasts multi-million sales. The whole idea behind their cooking is that dietary recipes should not be deprived of the taste and pleasure the food can bring. And there is no need to get hung up to some culinary trends or superfoods, it’s all about appropriate combinations and a balanced diet. The same is true for their vegetarian cookbook. They take hearty classic dishes and family recipes and convert them into delectable vegetarian masterpieces. Flavour-packed pies, spicy chille, burgers, sausages, and legendary hot pots are all represented in their meatless versions and with lower calorie intake. Containing no meat, they still have that meaty flavour and texture that will be highly appreciated by first-time veggies to fill in the gap in that pretty difficult transition period when swapping to vegetarianism. And strict diet followers will love a variety of light desserts, snacks, and soups that palate delicious and help cinch your waist.

Think that healthy plant-based recipes are too pricey due to the number of expensive fancy ingredients you’ll have to buy to achieve a delicious taste and keep up with proper nutrient intake? That’s definitely a huge exaggeration unless you are going to toss together your vegetarian meals exclusively from exotic and hard-to-get ingredients. On the whole, the vegetarian diet is pretty much affordable and will even help you save some funds if you choose the right approach. And this is where the Hungry Student vegetarian cookbook by Gail Wagman will come into play.

Needless to say that students don’t spend much time and effort on cooking. They prefer something quick and easy on the pocket. As the name suggests, the Hungry Student vegetarian cookbook offers a budget-friendly approach to a veggie diet as well as fairy simple cooking options even a student or teenager can get the hang of. As for the contents, as many as 200 recipes are wisely grouped to deliver cooking ideas for different occasions, meals, and cooking skills. Thus, the Bring on Brekky chapter is devoted to wholesome and yummy breakfast foods to make your mornings tasty and enjoyable. Made in a Flash is a variety of quick snacks while the Comfort Food section abounds in single-serve recipes. All the Carbs covers nutritious and palatable pastas, risottos, and curries and the Roasted and Baked section stands for main dishes. The book also contains a multitude of savoury desserts and even has a separate cocktail section. So whether you have a party ahead, a family dinner, or just need to quickly knock off a meal for yourself, you’ll have dozens of recipes to choose from.

With all the versatility, the recipes are based on affordable ingredients and are very easy to follow and a breeze to cook so that even a novice cook with little to no cooking experience will cope with that. Besides, all dishes are perfectly balanced and will help you set up a healthy and nutritious diet. In addition, handy affordability stamps provide nice tips on budgeting while lunchbox ideas and leftover creation will help you stay practical and minimise wasted foods.

To wrap it all up, if you are not much into haute cuisine and rather prefer quick and simple recipes that will fit into a tight budget, the Hungry Student Vegetarian Cookbook is for you.