With the popularity of vegan or plant-based food at an all-time peak, Veganuary will continue to dominate people’s lives this January. It’s a time when we all look to make resolutions and a healthy stamp on the beginning of the new year and new decade.

With sustainability and climate change top of the agenda, trialling a plant-based menu and diet will surely be in more people’s thoughts this year. With that in mind, here’s some of our top tips for vegan dishes and ways of incorporating it into catering for a function.

1. Favourite dishes: Think of your favourite dishes and then make small tweaks to make them suitable for vegans. Such as, create a vegan Shepherd’s pie with either loads more veg or by using a soya-based substitute. You can still get that depth of flavour with added herbs and spices and pack it full of mushrooms for that Umami hit and real savoury note.
2. Vegan cheese: This has improved so much in recent years. It means you can cater for all guests with mini pizzas topped with roasted veg and a sprinkling of vegan cheese. Perfect for all.
3. Vegan restaurants: With the likes of top chefs opening vegan restaurants, that’s truly a game changer. Recently Neil Rankin launched a plant-based restaurant – Simplicity Burger – which is totally vegan. He focuses on developing natural patties full of flavour with vegetables that are sustainability sourced. Follow him on Instagram and watch him continually strive to push the boundaries of meat free burgers to offer a full-on taste experience for diners.
4. Cook with spices from scratch: While the choices of readymade meals in shops making Veganuary easier, make sure you take the time to cook from scratch to also help to keep things healthy. Our blog for world vegan month has top tips on spices and pulses to help you create some truly tasty dishes…think chilli flakes, cumin or smoked paprika for starters.
5. Buffets: We may be biased on this one, but buffets as a choice for an event offer a great way to cater for dietary requirements and also offer an introduction to different dishes and cuisines. For buffets that cater for vegans, our top choices include our vegetable goulash for a hot fork buffet menu choice or a range of canapes including our dainty crostini with organic mushroom pate and selection of onion bhajis and vegetable pakoras.