50+ Vegan Chinese Recipes (2024)

FAQs

What Chinese dishes are vegan? ›

Tofu Vegan

Chinese classics on its extensive menu include wonton soup, Cantonese sweet and sour “chicken”, dim sum, and Peking “duck”. 美味! Its Islington branch has been so successful that you can now find a Tofu Vegan in Spitalfields and Golders Green, too.

Veganism has been gradually gaining popularity in China, and there are indeed options available for both locals and tourists seeking vegan food. Major cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Chengdu have seen an increase in vegan restaurants and options due to a growing awareness of plant-based diets.

Wheat, buckwheat and rice noodles are all common and on their own present no dangers for a vegan as they are all plant-based. This can also be true for less-common noodles made with seaweed, acorn or mung bean. Egg noodles, on the other hand, clearly are not suitable for vegans as they combine their flour with egg.

Chinese Scallion Shanghai Noodles

Another super simple but timeless recipe that is completely plant-based is Shanghai stir-fried noodles with loads of scallion and tossed in a sesame-soy sauce.

General Tso Chicken – According to Grubhub, this sweet fried chicken dish is the most popular Chinese food in America. It's also unhealthy, considering that it is deep-fried and the recipe demands tons of sugar.

Is Chinese food usually vegan? ›

There is a common misconception that Chinese cuisine is not very vegan-friendly…and the truth is, it can be very heavy on chicken, pork and seafood. While it's easy enough to swap out animal ingredients from most recipes, there are actually a fair few traditional recipes that are in fact 100% plant-based.

At its core, chow mein noodles are made from wheat and water, which are vegan-friendly ingredients. However, the devil's in the details when you eat out or pick up a ready-made version. Some chow mein dishes may include animal-derived ingredients, such as eggs in the noodles or meat and seafood as part of the stir-fry.

Considered a specialty in Chinese cuisine, Dim Sum, comprised of a variety of steamed and fried foods like dumplings, rolls, and buns, can also provide a wealth of dairy-free options. Steamed vegetable dumplings, for instance, are a delicious, dairy-free favorite.

Excluding any spring rolls that contain seafood or meat, the answer is generally yes, spring rolls are vegan-friendly. The dough is simply made from flour, water and salt and vegetable fillings are nearly always 100% plant-based.