We’re sharing our best vegetarian recipes to make for World Vegetarian Day today from recipes for creamy mushroom Stroganoff and a spicy chickpea curry to a comforting mushroom noodle soup with handmade pasta and an easy vegetarian bean chilli recipe for chilli con carne sin carne. We’ve also got loads of salad recipes and meatless soups.
When I decided to share a compilation of our best vegetarian recipes to make for World Vegetarian Day today, I was surprised how many vegetarian recipes we had in our archives, and there are far more vegetable-forward recipes, as well as vegan recipes, than the veggie recipes I’ve compiled here.
We are not vegetarian nor even vegetable-driven, but we eat plenty of vegetables. We simply believe in having a nutritious balanced diet, with as little processed food as possible, regularly eating meals without meat, as we appreciate their value to our health, as well as to the environment.
We adore good quality vegetables cooked to perfection, and would take a bowl of flavoursome vegetables over a fake piece of vegan meat any day. With many of our best vegetarian recipes we’ve simply removed the meat and bumped up the seasonings and spices.
Before I share our best vegetarian recipes, I have a favour to ask. Grantourismo is reader supported. If you’ve enjoyed our recipes, please consider supporting Grantourismo by supporting our epic Cambodian cuisine history and cookbook on Patreon; or buying a handcrafted KROK, the best mortar and pestle ever; booking a cooking class or meal with locals on EatWith; or by buying something on Amazon, such as these cookbooks for culinary travellers, classic cookbooks for serious cooks, or gifts for Asian food lovers and picnic lovers.
And remember: if you’re looking for more cooking inspiration, do dig into our recipe archives, which contain many hundreds of recipes that we’ve cooked, created and collected from around the world, from places we’ve lived, worked, travelled, and loved. Now let’s tell you all about our best vegetarian recipes.
Best Vegetarian Recipes to Make for World Vegetarian Day from Mushroom Stroganoff to Chickpea Curry
Our best vegetarian recipes include everything from a creamy mushroom Stroganoff to a gently spiced chickpea curry.
Creamy Mushroom Stroganoff Recipe for a Vegetarian Take on Beef Stroganoff
This creamy mushroom Stroganoff recipe is one of our best vegetarian recipes. It makes a vegetarian version of beef Stroganoff, based on my memory of my Russian-Ukrainian grandmother’s beef Stroganoff and the earliest documented Russian beef Stroganoff recipe dating to 1861. I also provide tips to making a vegan mushroom Stroganoff.
My creamy mushroom Stroganoff recipe will make you a deliciously-rich vegetarian version of my Russian beef Stroganoff recipe that is super easy to make and comes together quickly. This is not one of my Russian family recipes as our Stroganoff, like our traditional Russian beef stew, was always made with beef.
It’s worth noting, however, that historically beef was a luxury for most Russians, eaten mainly on holidays and special occasions while Russian nobles in the palaces of St Petersburg and Moscow feasted on everything from beef and venison to peacocks and swans tortoise, Russia’s rural poor ate fish, grains and vegetables, particularly mushrooms.
Russians used Sareptskaja mustard in their 19th century beef Stroganoff – which is widely available in Central and Eastern Europe and outside Europe, in European delis – but wholegrain mustard is the next best thing.
Creamy Mushroom Stroganoff Recipe for a Vegetarian Take on Beef Stroganoff
Cambodian Vegetable Congee Recipe Adapted for Rice Cookers – Vegetarian with Tips for Vegans
My Cambodian vegetable congee recipe makes a delicious, healthy vegetable-driven rice porridge or borbor in Khmer, with a base of kroeung, an intensely aromatic Cambodian herb and spice paste. It’s a vegetarian congee and it’s another of our best vegetarian recipes. I’ve also included tips for vegans.
Borbors are traditionally made in a pot on a clay brazier, over an open fire or on a gas burner, however, I’ve adapted the recipe for rice cookers.
My inspirations are a couple of Cambodian borbors, one called ‘borbor phe’ (I’ve never met a Cambodian who can tell me what ‘phe’ means, sorry), a vegetable-driven congee which nearly always comes with snails, sometimes comes with fish, and always with prahok (fermented fish) and fish sauce.
While it’s absolutely delicious, I wanted to create a vegetarian rice porridge more similar to another street food dish in Siem Reap that is ‘same same but different’, a vegetarian borbor known as ‘borbor banlle’ (‘banlle’ means vegetables in Khmer) or ‘borbor kroeung’ to reflect that it’s based on a kroeung (herb and spice paste), unlike other Cambodian congees.
Vegetable-forward borbors are mostly made here in Cambodia when the weather starts to cool during the last couple of months of monsoon, in autumn/fall and winter, the ‘cool’ season in Cambodia, although it’s all comparative.
Cambodian Vegetable Congee Recipe Adapted for Rice Cookers – Vegetarian with Tips for Vegans
Easy Vegetarian Chilli Recipe for Chilli Con Carne Sin Carne (Without Meat) and It’s Vegan Too
This easy vegetarian chilli recipe makes a chilli con carne sin carne (without meat) and it’s another of our best vegetarian recipes, and I’s vegan if you eat it without the dairy accompaniments such as sour cream and cheese.
I’ve been making it forever, developing the earliest incarnation of this bean chilli way back when Terence and I first moved in together in Sydney many years ago. I’d put a huge pot of the stuff on the stove and let it simmer for hours.
Now, I use more spice and cook it quickly on high heat. While this bean chilli is a cinch to make and comes together quickly, it’s full of so much flavour thanks to the spices that even meat-lovers won’t miss the beef mince.
You could use leftovers of this on my ultimate nachos or on quesadillas or in enchiladas. Or top it with a fried egg or two for a weekend breakfast or brunch.
Easy Vegetarian Chilli Recipe for Chilli Con Carne Sin Carne (Without Meat) and It’s Vegan Too
Mushroom Noodle Soup Recipe with Handmade Pasta for a Centuries Old Russian Vegetarian Soup
This comforting mushroom noodle soup recipe with handmade pasta called ‘lapsha’ makes a centuries-old Russian vegetarian soup and it’s another of our vegetarian recipes.
Historically eaten during the Orthodox Great Lent period of fasting, which begins after Pancake Week or Maslenitsa next week and runs until Easter, this hearty broth provided so much nourishment that the forbidden meat, eggs and sour cream wouldn’t have been missed.
Of course, this nourishing soup with hand-made noodles can be enjoyed at any time. I serve it with plenty of fresh fragrant dill and rye bread.
The handmade noodles are super-easy to make and there are few things more satisfying than eating rustic hand-cut noodles that you’ve made yourself. The act of making noodles is really very therapeutic, especially if you open a bottle of wine, which will also give you confidence.
Mushroom Noodle Soup Recipe with Handmade Pasta for a Centuries Old Russian Vegetarian Soup
Chickpea Curry Recipe for Punjabi Chole from Indian Cooking Class by Christine Manfield
This chickpea curry recipe makes a comforting Punjabi chole from the cookbook Indian Cooking Class by Australian chef Christine Manfield, whose love of spice, Indian food and India began soon after she started cooking.
Chole is ‘chickpeas’ and this richly spiced chickpea stew is a beloved dish of Punjabi cuisine of Punjab, a region straddling Northern India and Pakistan.
“Chole bhatura is a Punjabi staple that makes use of humble pantry ingredients. Chole is a chickpea curry served with puffed bhatura bread, a dish that has been widely embraced in other regions of India,” Christine Manfield says in the introduction to her chole recipe.
You might also know this richly spiced chickpea curry as chole masala – ‘masala’ refers to the spice blend – or chana masala, which is the name of the dish in Southern India.
Note that it’s perfectly acceptable to eat chole with papadams and long grain basmati rice – although we’ve had to use jasmine rice, as we don’t get a lot of basmati here in Cambodia.
Chickpea Curry Recipe for Punjabi Chole from Indian Cooking Class by Christine Manfield
Tamarind Eggplant Recipe from Rajasthan from Indian Cooking Class by Christine Manfield
This tamarind eggplant recipe from Rajasthan is another vegetarian recipe from the cookbook Indian Cooking Class by Australian chef Christine Manfield, who has a deep love of India, Indian cuisines and spices, having travelled to India 40 times and published four books on Indian food.
If you loved Christine Manfield’s chole bhatura recipe for a Punjabi chole or chickpea curry from the Punjab region of Northern India, which straddles India and Pakistan, then you’re also going to love this tamarind eggplant recipe from neighbouring region of Rajasthan.
“I collected this recipe years ago in Rajasthan,” says Christine Manfield. “It’s one of my all-time favourite eggplant dishes. I use it at any opportunity. I love its deeply satisfying sweet and sour notes.”
Christine’s recipe calls for large 300gram eggplants. We often can’t source eggplants that big so used pieces half that size from smaller eggplants and the dish worked out just fine.
Tamarind Eggplant Recipe from Rajasthan from Indian Cooking Class by Christine Manfield
Mee Kola Recipe for the Vegetarian Noodles of Cambodia’s Kola People
This mee Kola recipe makes the vegetarian noodles of Cambodia’s Kola people who originally came from Burma and settled in the Pailin area in northwest Cambodia to mine gem stones and it’s easily another of our best vegetarian recipes.
Made with rice stick noodles stir-fried in soy sauce, served with papaya cucumber pickle, bean sprouts, crunchy vegetables, fragrant herbs, and crushed peanuts, which you combine altogether with a dressing in your bowl, it’s addictive, easy to make, and it’s our best vegetarian recipes.
Mee Kola translates to Kola noodles – ‘mee’ are noodles and this is a noodle dish of the Kola people (also known as the Kula and Gula people), a Cambodian ethnic minority people who originally came from Myanmar). Families of Kola heritage are now scattered all over Cambodia, including here in Siem Reap.
So, no, Kola noodles are not made with Coca Cola, if that’s what you’re wondering – which is nothing to be embarrassed about, as many visitors to Cambodia leave with that impression. One of my tuk tuk drivers told me exactly that when I invited him to lunch to get his insights and help with translation soon after we moved to Siem Reap seven years ago. More on that story below.
Mee Kola Recipe for the Vegetarian Noodles of Cambodia’s Kola People
Classic Korean Japchae Recipe for Stir Fried Glass Noodles with Mixed Vegetables
This classic Korean japchae recipe makes a delicious Korean noodle dish of stir fried glass noodles with mixed vegetables. Called dangmyeon in Korean, the sweet potato starch noodles are doused in sesame oil, soy sauce and sesame seeds, then combined with stir-fried carrot sticks, onion, mushrooms, and spinach.
An old Korean specialty long before it was popular Korean restaurant fare and a Korean takeaway favourite, japchae was a centuries-old Korean royal dish served at palace banquets. It was invented in the 17th century for King Gwanghaegun and is documented in the royal records of the period.
The original japchae consisted of thinly sliced mixed vegetables with a special sauce – hence the name: ‘jap’ means mixed and ‘chae’ is vegetables. The glass noodles made from sweet potato starch didn’t appear until 1919 when a dangmyeon factory was opened in Sariwon and a version of japchae made with dangmyeon became popular a decade later.
Another one of our best vegetarian recipes, japchae has been a dish eaten out as well as eaten in, a traditional home-cooked meal and celebratory dish made for special occasions such as birthdays and anniversaries, as much as it is a Korean restaurant speciality and takeaway favourite.
Classic Korean Japchae Recipe for Stir Fried Glass Noodles with Mixed Vegetables
Aloo Gobi Recipe for a Cauliflower and Potato Curry Like Your Favourite Indian Restaurant Makes
This easy aloo gobi recipe for a cauliflower and potato curry makes a gently spiced aloo gobi just like your favourite Indian restaurant makes and it’s easily another of our best vegetarian recipes.
Traditionally a Punjabi dish originating in Northern India and Pakistan, this delicious vegetarian curry has become a much-loved dish all over the world, thanks to Indian and Pakistani migrant and the proliferation of Indian restaurants.
‘Aloo’ means ‘cauliflower’ and ‘gobi’ is ‘potato’ and this classic Indian aloo gobi recipe will make you an incredibly delicious cauliflower and potato curry just like your favourite Indian restaurant makes. And while the category of dish is often translated as a ‘curry’, aloo gobi is actually a ‘sabji’ or spiced or curried vegetable dish.
Aloo gobi can be served as a side dish, as one of an array of dishes served as part of a home-cooked family feast or a restaurant meal, but it can also be eaten alone with rice or Indian flatbreads such as roti and naan. I’ll happily make a plate of papadams to tuck into leftover aloo gobi, which is even better with leftover tomato and cucumber yogurt raita on the side.
Aloo Gobi Recipe for a Cauliflower and Potato Curry Like Your Favourite Indian Restaurant Makes
Cambodian Climbing Wattle Frittata Recipe for Pong Moan Chien Sa’om
Our recipe for Cambodian climbing wattle frittata makes a much-loved market snack called pong moan chien saom in Khmer if made with chicken egg – ‘pong’ is egg and ‘moan’ is chicken – or pong tia chien saom if made with duck egg or pong tia.
It’s typically translated into English as ‘climbing wattle cake’ though it’s definitely in the frittata family and it’s absolutely delicious. If you’re a lover of frittatas, herb omelettes, and garlicky herbs, then you’re going to love this.
Saom or sa’om or sa-om are the feathery shoots of senegalia pennata, which is also called acacia pennata, or ‘acacia leaf’ here in Cambodia, but is more commonly known as climbing wattle.
In neighbouring Thailand, where they also make this herbaceous eggy snack, sa’om is called cha-om, and in Myanmar it’s named su pout ywet. Foraged and farmed, it’s a much-loved ingredient. You can read more about this fragrant full-flavoured garlicky herb in this Cambodian sa’om omelette recipe post.
Cambodian Climbing Wattle Frittata Recipe for Pong Moan Chien Sa’om
Cambodian Vegetarian Num Pang Recipe for a Baguette Filled with Fragrant Herb Frittata
This Cambodian vegetarian num pang recipe makes a ‘num pang’, a Cambodian baguette sandwich, slathered in mayonnaise and filled with a quick pickle of grated carrot and daikon, fresh crunchy salad ingredients, aromatic herbs such as coriander, mint and basil, slices of a fragrant herb frittata, and a generous squirt of homemade chilli sauce.
Of course, you don’t really need a recipe to make what’s essentially a Cambodian baguette sandwich. But you will need a recipe for the climbing wattle frittata, which you’ll find above, which is another of our best vegetarian recipes.
Another filling idea is inspired by one of our favourite Hoi An banh mi makers in Central Vietnam, the lovely Madame Khanh, who makes a banh mi with omelette, which she calls ‘banh mi op la’. Squeeze this French-style sa’om omelette into the baguette instead.
Creamy mayonnaise, a remnant of French colonial times, is essential. Street food cooks make their own mayonnaise. If we’re not making mayo, we’ll use our favourite store-bought mayonnaise. We also like to squeeze on some chilli sauce. Terence’s homemade Sriracha sauce and homemade Thai sweet chilli sauce work for me!
Cambodian Vegetarian Num Pang Recipe for a Baguette Filled with Fragrant Herb Frittata
Please do let us know in the comments below if you make any of our best vegetarian recipes as we love to hear how our recipes turn out for you.
