Food is delicious and being vegan doesn’t mean that you need to sacrifice flavor to maintain your diet. This is particularly relevant for traveling because fine dining is often a highlight of any vacation.
As a vegan, you likely understand the frustration of trying to find good food that you can eat wherever you go. It’s often a process of researching beforehand or sticking to restaurants that you know are safe.
With this in mind, there’s a simple way of ensuring that you have plenty of choices. You need to carefully choose the location that you’re visiting and consider their local cuisine.
Some cultures are naturally vegan-friendly, meaning that you’re sure to have good eats your entire trip if you visit them. To give you an idea of what to expect, we’ll give you four great choices for vegan traveling below!
Indian
Indian cuisine is filled with spices and features rice, flatbreads, vegetables, sauces, and legumes. Some dishes do contain meat, particularly chicken, but many are made entirely of vegetables.
In some dishes, meat is substituted for other fillers like potatoes and chickpeas. With the addition of spices, many dishes are complete as they are and don’t need meat.
Some of the most popular Indian foods include naan (flatbread), samosas (fried, spiced, and potato-stuffed triangles), tikka masala (tomato-based spicy chicken, can sub for chickpeas), chana masala (spicy chickpea curry), and vegetable biryani (spiced rice medley).
The flavor of Indian food is quite distinct and deep. There’s no place better than India to eat authentic Indian food like it’s meant to be enjoyed. If you’re a fan of spice and chickpeas, then India may be the destination for you!
Mediterranean
Several countries belong to the Mediterranean region, but many have a unique style of food. The cuisine of European countries is far different than it is in the African and Middle Eastern countries.
The Middle East is particularly a good choice for vegans because much of their food is vegetable-based. Israelian food is a perfect example of this, incorporating fresh produce into just about every dish consumed there.
Many dishes are light and fresh, often having a hint of tang to them. Herbs are used amply and nothing ever tastes bland.
Some of the tastiest Mediterranean foods include falafel (fried chickpea balls), pita (flatbread), hummus (ground chickpea dip), tahini (sesame seed paste) and baklava (layered, crispy, and sweet pastries).
If you enjoy meals that taste crisp and won’t weigh you down, then you can’t go wrong with Mediterranean food.
Ethiopian
Another excellent choice is Ethiopian cuisine.
While Ethiopian food is often associated with lots of meat dishes, there is also a great assortment of vegan alternatives.
The key characteristic of Ethiopian cuisine is the spice (berbere), which is a unique blend that tastes unlike anything else. When foods are prepared with berbere, they give excellent flavor to ordinarily basic ingredients.
Another important thing to keep in mind is that most food is eaten by hand. Just about any meal will be paired with injera, a stretchy flatbread that tastes like sourdough. You will dip your injera into the variety of dishes that you decide to eat.
A few good choices to pair with your injera include wat (red onion-based vegetable stew), beyainatu (injera topped with an assortment of dishes), fuul (stewed fava beans), shiro (spicy chickpea stew), and plenty of flavorful coffees.
If you enjoy eating food with your hands and an assortment of hearty spices, then Ethiopia is an excellent choice.
Italian The last cuisine on this list you might not expect to be a vegan favorite, but it’s Italian food.
Italian cuisine consists of a variety of food, but some common ingredients include pasta, herbs, and fresh vegetables (particularly tomato).
While there are a wide variety of choices for vegans, most dishes consist of some form of pasta. This is then topped with a warming sauce; tomato is the most common.
Choices like spaghetti (tomato sauce pasta), lasagna (layered pasta, sauce, and cheese - vegan options available), manicotti (stuffed pasta rolls), and linguine (wider pasta noodles, often paired with white or light sauces) are all great.
Alternatively, a few non-pasta options include focaccia (fluffy herb bread), risotto (creamy rice), polenta (cornmeal porridge), and of course, pizza (fluffy or crispy bread topped with sauce and ingredients).
Of all the cultures listed above, you’re likely most familiar with Italian food. This will make it a safe choice should you want vegan eats on your travels.
Closing Thoughts All cultures from around the globe have a passion for food. Each country makes its food a little differently, providing a unique flavor that characterizes that country’s cuisine.
A few cultures are particularly great at providing vegan-friendly options because most of their dishes contain vegetarian ingredients. The four we mentioned above include Indian, Mediterranean, Ethiopian, and Italian.
Figure out what type of food sounds best to you and pick a destination with that in mind! Amazing vegan food is waiting to be found, you just have to go out there and experience it yourself.
