Vegan Chinese Food Guide for Dining Out or at Home

Posted by Calvin on October 09, 2024

Whether you’re dining out or eating at home, Chinese food always hits hard—and there are so many vegan choices! Almost every Chinese restaurant has tofu (aka “bean curd”), which can replace meat in pretty much any dish. By popular request, Panda Express also recently brought back its Beyond the Original Orange Chicken at some of its locations. 😋

Even if you don’t live near one of these eateries, there are tons of other options available to you. Check out our vegan Chinese food guide to see what we mean.

DRINKS

Dining Out

• Tea

At Home

• Tea bags (Black, green, and oolong teas are common in Chinese cuisine.)

APPETIZERS

Dining Out

• Vegetable spring rolls with sweet and sour sauce (Avoid egg rolls.)
• Vegetable steamed dumplings
• Hot or cold sesame noodles
• Salad with ginger or sesame dressing

At Home

• Omni Plant-Based Pork-Style Potstickers
• Omni Plant-Based Pork-Style Spring Rolls
• Omni Plant-Based Teriyaki Bao Buns
• Salad with ginger or sesame dressing

MAIN DISHES

Dining Out

Ask for any meat to be replaced with tofu, and check for fish sauce, chicken broth, beef broth, or eggs. Here are some meat-free options:

• Garlic tofu
• General Tso’s tofu
• Sweet and sour tofu
• Cashew tofu
• Tofu and broccoli
• Mapo tofu (Order it without pork since this dish is traditionally cooked with it.)
• Mongolian tofu
• Orange tofu
• Kung pao tofu
• Buddha’s Delight

At Home

• Sweet Earth General Tso’s Tofu
• Gardein Ultimate Plant-Based Sweet & Sour Chick’n Bowl
• Gardein Ultimate Plant-Based Be’f and Broccoli Bowl
• Amy’s Kitchen Asian Dumpling Bowl
• Vegetarian Plus Vegan Orange Chicken
• Vegetarian Plus Vegan Kung Pao Chicken

NOODLES AND RICE

Dining Out

Ask for any meat to be replaced with tofu, and check for fish sauce, chicken broth, beef broth, or eggs. Try the following options:

• Veggie chow mein
• Tofu chow mein
• Singapore noodles (Order this dish without eggs.)
• Steamed rice
• Vegetable fried rice (Order it without eggs.)
• Tofu fried rice (Order it without eggs.)

At Home

• Annie Chun’s Chinese-Style Kung Pao Noodle Bowl
• Amy’s Kitchen Chinese Noodles & Veggies
• Sweet Earth Veggie Lo Mein
• Simply Asia Spicy Kung Pao Noodle Bowl
• Simply Asia Chinese Style Lo Mein Noodles

VEGETABLES

Dining Out

• Steamed vegetables with a side of sesame sauce
• Sautéed green beans
• Garlic eggplant
• Garlic broccoli

At Home

You can prepare any of the above veggies at home. Try them with Sweet and Spicy Dipping Sauce or the sauces from Kung Pao Tofu or General Tso’s Soy Chicken.

DESSERT

Dining Out

Fortune cookies at many Chinese restaurants, including Panda Express, are vegan. Be sure to ask about the ingredients or check the wrapper to avoid ones made with eggs or milk.

At Home

La Choy Fortune Cookies

*****

You can veganize cuisines from all over the world. Learn how to make two popular Mexican dishes at home: