25 Oil-Free Vegan Recipes (2024)

FAQs

What do vegans cook with instead of oil? ›

It's very easy to bake oil-free. I've done it for years and am very confident with it and know very well how each nut or fruit will perform. Instead of oil, I use fruit purees, veggies, dairy-free yogurt, nut butters, almond flour or other nuts, sometimes coconut butter.

Oven-baked and roasted dishes can be incredibly flavorful without the need for oil. Roast your favorite vegetables, marinated with herbs and spices, for a crispy and savory side dish. Explore zero-oil baking recipes, from savory muffins to guilt-free sweets.

Baking. In baking you do still generally need some fat, otherwise your cookies may lack crisp, golden brown texture, and cakes and quick breads may turn out dry and crumbly. Here are some great alternatives to oil in baking: Mashed avocado – adds moisture and fat; ideal for quick breads and cakes.

What are good vegan butter substitutes? In baking, you can use vegan butter, applesauce, dairy-free yogurt, coconut oil, coconut butter, olive oil, nut butter, mashed banana and mashed avocado. In cooking, you can use olive oil, coconut oil, vegetable stock, or avocado oil to replace butter.

The short answer is: oil is a processed food full of fat and calories and not much else. We all agree that sugar is a processed food, full of “empty calories.” Well, so is oil. Actually, oil has more empty calories than sugar.

Eating oil-free food or cooking food with less or no oil is one of the secrets to staying healthy, especially for heart patients. Doing this will not only make the food taste better but will also give you a healthy lifestyle. Zero Oil Cooking is not just a cooking method, it's a way of life.

Sautéing allows the natural sugars to release and intensify. The nice thing about sautéing in water or broth is that you end up tasting more of the food instead of the oil. If you are roasting or baking vegetables, you also do not need to use oil.

Vegetable oil substitutes include olive oil, walnut oil, flaxseed oil, and more. There are plenty of alternatives to vegetable oil. According to the American Heart Association (AHA) , the healthiest oils are low in trans, saturated, and partially hydrogenated fats and high in monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats.

Technically, frying without oil is often referred to as "baking" or "roasting." Frying typically involves submerging food in hot oil, while baking or roasting uses dry heat in an oven.

Can you fry eggs without oil? ›

Yes, you can use water to cook eggs. If you're frying or scrambling them, start by heating a non-stick pan over medium heat. Add a small amount of water, then crack the eggs into the pan and proceed to cook them as desired. The water helps create steam and prevents sticking.

Unsweetened applesauce, mashed fruit, or pureed fruit such as bananas, pears, and prunes may be substituted for vegetable oil in baked goods. You can substitute cup for cup. The texture of your foods may be altered slightly. For example, applesauce makes cookies moister and more cake-like.

Natural seed and nut butter, like peanut butter, almond butter, cashew butter, and sunflower seed butter, are all healthier, less processed forms of fat (especially if you use or make versions that only contain the nuts and sometimes a little salt) that make for a great vegetable oil substitute for baking.

A kitchen is never complete without cooking oil – we all use it for frying, baking, and as a salad dressing, to name a few. Thankfully for ethical and environmentally minded eaters, all mainstream oils are plant-derived products and completely vegan.

Air fryers can also make it easier to follow a vegan diet, offering a failsafe way to cook staples like tofu, cauliflower, and potatoes to perfection. Below, we've rounded up 10 mouth-watering recipes that prove plant-based cooking needn't be complicated or boring.

Most vegetable oils are vegan, these include canola, olive, coconut, and sunflower oils. Some oils like canola oil can be highly processed so do try to go for the less processed and healthier oils like virgin olive oil or coconut oil.

Algae oil, made from microalgae, like Nannochloropsis or Schizochytrium, is one of the best vegan sources of both EPA and DHA. It is also considered an ecologically sustainable form of Omega-3s.

The short answer is yes, olive oil is vegan! Olive oil is a completely plant-derived product that is made entirely from the fruit of the olive tree.