Written by Jessica Moore

 

ICYMI…the vegan/vegetarian YouTube community is rich with food enthusiasts sharing innovative recipes and techniques for plant-based diets and lifestyles.

Here are our top YouTube channels that inspire hundreds of thousands of viewers with recipe walkthroughs and informative videos guaranteed to keep your plant-based dishes fresh and creative! And if you’re an omnivore, don’t worry! These channels in the very least will inspire you to eat more plants, just in time for the new year!

Nina Montagne

source: instagram @ninamontagne

Where she’s from: Costa Rica and currently residing in New Zealand. She’s often on the go, creating wonderful plates incorporating local produce as she travels!

You’ll want to make: Buckwheat Crepes with Apple Pecan Filling

Our favorite video: A Week of Dinners

 

 

 

The aesthetic of Nina Montagne’s channel is as refreshing as the meals she makes. Nina’s channel is comprised of gorgeously edited “What I Eat in a Day” videos, walking you through breakfast, lunch, and dinner recipes, and everything in between.

Her videos deviate from the formulaic “What I Eat in a Day” YouTube vegan trend, steering away from the barrage of hyped-up product placements and obsessions over exact measurements that tend to cloud food tutorials.

Instead, Nina inspires her subscribers with her simplicity and silliness: close-ups of raw aspects of the kitchen, like fiddling her fingers in a jar for the last drops of peanut butter, or diving head first in a mango slice and not caring about the chunks that linger on her cheeks, define Nina’s outstanding creativity.

Food is messy just like our lives, and she embraces and documents its beauty. Nina develops simple yet dynamic recipes that focus on fresh ingredients. Her food stands for minimalism packed with complexity.

Additionally, Nina Montagne posts soothing compilations featuring her poetry, insightful musings on life, and lifestyle recommendations backgrounded with excellent chillwave music. Her videos are intimate glimpses into her minimalist life, full of outdoor meanderings and nourishing food prepared in an effortless fashion.

Nina Montagne is passionate about veganism without the pretension. Her dishes are guaranteed to motivate you to eat colorful, plant-based food. It’s difficult to not be in awe of her delicate camera work, editing, and her uncomplicated approach to food.

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Sweet Potato Soul

source: instagram @sweetpotatosoul

Where she’s from: Atlanta, Georgia, now living in Los Angeles, California

You’ll want to make: 5 Easy & Delicious Salad Dressings (especially her delectable miso tahini salad dressing)

Favorite Video: it’s a tie between Vegan Groceries for $35/Week | Healthy Vegan Grocery Haul Part 1 & 2, and Fried Cauliflower “Chicken” | Vegan Soul Food

 

 

 

 

Jeneé Clairborne combines veganism with soul food in her YouTube channel, Sweet Potato Soul. Jeneé is a professional chef from Atlanta with a sweet potato obsession; she’ll not only show you all the ingenious ways to prepare this versatile root vegetable but will also inspire you to veganize hearty soul food favorites.

Jeneé wraps her recipes in a sweet, fun, and jazzy ensemble, showing you step-by-step how to create her delicious recipes with voiceovers that guide you as you cook.

Her videos consist of some of the best vegan food porn I’ve ever seen: mouthwatering vegan buttermilk waffles, sweet potato cinnamon rolls, and vegan Buddha bowls are just some of her culinary masterpieces.

Jeneé considerately focuses on making veganism accessible and affordable. There is a pervasive misconception of how expensive veganism/vegetarianism can be, and while it’s true that purchasing novelty products, obscure ingredients, and meat substitutes can definitely add up, it’s simply not the case when you compare purchasing fruits and vegetables to the cost of animal products.

Jeneé proves this by setting restrictive weekly budgets (like spending a mere $35 for an entire week!) and developing delicious recipes within that budget to show viewers how a back-to-basics eating lifestyle is not only healthy but will also save you a lot of money. Jeneé even brings you along with her during her shopping trips, which is invaluable especially if you’re just starting your plant-based journey!

In addition to making weekly recipe videos, Jeneé posts videos on ethical beauty and fashion products, as well as vegan travel videos, informative Q&As, and Vegan 101 videos explaining, for example, how to use nutritional yeast (a “cheesy” condiment packed with essential vitamins and minerals, a vegan favorite!), vegan protein, and vegan supplements. Her enthusiasm for food and a compassionate lifestyle is so infectious!

Get her gorgeous cookbook, Sweet Potato Soul: 100 Easy Vegan Recipes for the Southern Flavors of Smoke, Sugar, Spice, and Soul.

The Happy Pear

source: instagram @thehappypear

Where they’re from: Wicklow, Ireland

You’ll want to make: Vegan Chicken Nuggets | Yes you read that right

Our favorite video: Creamy Mushroom Pasta | Vegan One Pot Wonder

 

 

 

When two identical twins scream “Yo dudes!” at the start of every video, you know you’re going to have a good time. These Irish twins put hilarity into fine vegan cooking.

Dave and Steve, The Happy Pear (get it?), own a natural food market, farm, and restaurant in Ireland and share their techniques and favorite recipes inspired by cultures and tastes from around the world. They’re on a mission to make healthy eating “mainstream, accessible, and attractive,” and they’re excelling at it. Their kitchen setting is bright, stripped down, and quaint, a perfect setting for these light-hearted cooks.

The Happy Pear is best known for their nail-biting 5-minute meal videos, pushing the edge of what can be accomplished in such a small amount of time. These videos are especially suitable for students and people with insanely busy schedules.

These brothers make the impossible possible within 5 minutes: chickpea curry, pad thai, falafel, granola, even vegan pizza! You obviously don’t have to be so under the clock (unless you’re up for a challenge), but their quick, flavorful recipes really put into perspective how vegan cooking doesn’t have to be convoluted or take up so much time.

The Happy Pear’s longer videos are even more flavorsome and stunning, recreating beloved meaty dishes and tweaking the ingredient list with healthy and delicious alternatives.

A top concern for people transitioning to veganism usually revolves around cheese and milk. They address this head-on by filling their channel with mock cheeses like vegan mozzarella, vegan nacho cheese, vegan feta cheese, even a hearty vegan mac and cheese recipe! The Happy Pear also includes a long list of tasty sweet treats: from dark chocolate pound cake, caramel cream pie, to homemade Nutella, you’ll never need milk for your baking needs!

These brothers prove that with a bit of imagination and fearlessness, you can create delectable dishes while moving toward better food choices. 

Check out their delicious cookbook, The Happy Pear: Recipes for Happiness.

 

Avant Garde Vegan

source: instagram @avantgardevegan

Where he’s from: Cardiff, Wales United Kingdom

You’ll want to make: Vegan Sticky BBQ ‘Ribs’

Our favorite video: Ultimate Vegan Breakfast

 

 

Introducing the king of the mock-meats, professional chef Gaz Oakley of Avant Garde Vegan.

With 8 seasons uploaded on his cooking channel, Avant Garde Vegan has become a vegan household staple. Gaz’s popularity is skyrocketing; his 500k+ subscribers are calling him the future of vegan food and I can’t agree more.

From vegan kebabs, Kentucky fried chicken, chorizo vegan hot dogs, and vegan steak, you’ll never miss real meat again.

But Gaz is far from a one-hit wonder–he bakes up a storm, too. His channel includes some of the classics: vegan flan, creme brulee, and vegan tiramisu, but also infuses unique flavors in his own innovative creations, like acai cheesecake.

Vegan food is far from dull with Avant Garde Vegan.

Check out his debut cookbook titled Vegan 100: Over 100 Incredible Recipes from Avant-Garde Vegan.

 

Need more inspo for plant-based meals? Check out how to make the perfect buddha bowl every time, and discover our favorite vegetarian comfort food recipes!