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vegan cookbooks
Vegan food can be healthy, fun and simple to make. Markus Spiske//Unsplash

There are a number of reasons why anyone would go vegan. You could be an advocate of sustainability and veganism is one way to lessen your carbon footprint. You could be looking for a healthier alternative to your current diet. Or you could even be a vegetarian looking to transition into a fully plant-based diet.

But whatever the reason, going vegan is a major lifestyle change that can intimidate even the most modest carnivores. And there is a skewed perception that vegan food can be boring to the palate and complicated to prepare. These vegan cookbooks will prove all of that wrong with their delicious recipes that even a novice in the kitchen can whip up.

1. Forks Over Knives―The Cookbook: Over 300 Recipes for Plant-Based Eating All Through the Year
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The New York Times Best Seller "Fork Over Knives" cookbook follows the monumental documentary on the philosophy of eating wholesome, plant-based foods to address your health concerns. The philosophy revolves around not what you can’t eat, but what you can. The cookbook features over 300 mouthwatering vegan recipes using nutritious ingredients.

2. The Plant Based Diet for Beginners: 75 Delicious, Healthy Whole Food Recipes
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"The Plant-Based Diet for Beginners" focuses on a whole-food plant-based (WFPB) diet with 75 delicious recipes that include nutritional information for each. The cookbook is an instructional on how to transition into a WFPB diet. It lists down the benefits of a plant-based diet, features resources on cooking the basics and essential kitchenware, and guides you on how to eat out at restaurants.

3. Vegan for Everybody: Foolproof Plant-Based Recipes for Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, and In-Between
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"Vegan for Everybody" features over 200 recipes that were meticulously tested to “decode and demystify vegan cooking.” America’s Test Kitchen addresses the questions and drawbacks of vegan cooking. The cookbook offers reimagined recipes using fresh plant-based ingredients that are flavorful, satisfying, and easy to cook.

4. The Plant-Based Diet for Beginners: The Health Benefits of Eating a Plant-Based Diet
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"The Plant-Based Diet for Beginners" introduces you to the main health benefits of a plant-based diet such as reducing the risk of chronic diseases and health concerns. It offers a 21-day plant-based meal plan, a number of drool-worthy recipes, and a shopping list to help you get started with your journey to veganism.

5. Plant Over Processed: 75 Simple & Delicious Plant-Based Recipes for Nourishing Your Body and Eating From the Earth
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"Plant Over Processed" wants readers to join the 30-day plant over processed foods challenge meant to detox the body. The book also offers a long-term plan for transitioning into a plant-based diet without sacrificing your favorite dishes. The book features recipes that are fun, healthy, delicious and colorful.

6. The Complete Plant-Based Cookbook: 500 Inspired, Flexible Recipes for Eating Well Without Meat
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"The Complete Plant-Based Cookbook" features 500 inspired, flexible recipes for a plant-based diet that still pushes for great tasting food. The cookbook offers both vegan and vegetarian substitutes in its recipes such as eggs or tofu, or butter or coconut oil. The book also lets readers rethink vegetables creating delicious dishes using simple, unexpected ingredients.

7. Love Real Food: More Than 100 Feel-Good Vegetarian Favorites to Delight the Senses and Nourish the Body
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"Love Real Food" shows you how to eat well through wholesome plant-based food with fun and approachable recipes. Authored by the woman behind the popular vegetarian food blog, Cookie + Kate, it features new and exciting dishes for all levels of cooks and even some of her blog recipe favorites.

8. The Homemade Vegan Pantry: The Art of Making Your Own Staples
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"The Homemade Vegan Pantry" focuses on going back to the basics with a thorough guide on creating your own vegan pantry staples. The cookbook covers everything from homemade meat and dairy substitutes, like vegan yogurt to bacon. Moving away from overprocessed and overpackaged products, opting for homemade is healthier, more flavorful, and shouldn’t take a lot of time.

9. Afro-Vegan: Farm-Fresh African, Caribbean, and Southern Flavors Remixed
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Considered one of the best vegetarian cookbooks by Bon Appetit, "Afro-Vegan" blends African, Caribbean and southern cuisines into memorable recipes that integrate classic spices, staples, and dishes. The cookbook features over 100 new and original recipes that are sure to amaze not just vegans and vegetarians but even omnivores.

10. Vegetable Kingdom: The Abundant World of Vegan Recipes
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With numerous accolades from publications like The New Yorker and Vogue, "Vegetable Kingdom" offers a fresh look at vegan cuisine by providing the basics of plant-based cooking. The cookbook features dishes that no longer rely on meat substitutes, only fresh plant-based ingredients. Recipes are organized by ingredient for easy reading.

11. Plant-Based on a Budget: Delicious Vegan Recipes for Under $30 a Week, in Less Than 30 Minutes a Meal
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"Plant-Based on a Budget" offers vegan meals using affordable ingredients. While there is a perceived notion that going vegan can be expensive, this cookbook breaks that impression with “frugal but delicious” recipes. It proves that going vegan can be done to improve your health and help the planet without breaking the bank.

12. Fuss-Free Vegan: 101 Everyday Comfort Food Favorites, Veganized
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"Fuss-Free Vegan" features 101 veganized recipes of your favorite everyday dishes showing that vegan food isn’t boring. The cookbook offers comfort food like cheesy nachos and chocolate cake that rely solely on plant-based ingredients. The best part, they’re delicious, healthy, and very easy to make.

13. Thug Kitchen The Official Cookbook: Eat Like You Give a F*ck
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"Thug Kitchen" is a foul-mouthed yet extremely passionate website that resulted in a cookbook that aims to inspire people to eat more vegetables and live a healthier lifestyle. It offers unpretentious mouthwatering recipes and arms you with the info you need to cook well on a budget.

14. Plants-Only Kitchen: Over 70 Delicious, Super-Simple, Powerful and Protein-Packed Recipes for Busy People
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"Plants Only Kitchen" features 70 exciting vegan recipes that complement your lifestyle. The dishes featured are fresh but uncomplicated without the need for superfluous ingredients, giving a new perspective to vegan food. Conveniently, each recipe is flagged by category -- high in protein, gluten-free, less than 15 minutes, and more.

15. Minimalist Baker's Everyday Cooking: 101 Entirely Plant-based, Mostly Gluten-Free, Easy and Delicious Recipes
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"Minimalist Baker’s Everyday Cooking" features 101 delicious and vibrant plant-based recipes, most of which are gluten-free. The Minimalist Baker’s approach to cooking is simple, delectable, and healthy. The book shows pantry essentials and features recipes based on categories like 10 ingredients or less, 30 minutes or less, or one-pot dishes.