Chef José Andrés’ 7 Best Plant-Based Recipes (2024)

During the ongoing humanitarian disasters around the world, celebrated Spanish chef José Andrés has been on the ground to feed countless people through his World Central Kitchen.

The chef has also spoken candidly about how the food system contributes to the climate crisis. Back in 2018, the chef called out the need for diverse solutions, like the Impossible Burger, to feed a growing world population and professed his love for vegetables during an interview at SXSW. “If we’re going to be feeding nine billion [people], we need to be open in many ways,” Andrés said.

“A vegetable … you put it in [your mouth], it’s elegant from the beginning almost to the end,” Andrés added. “Why are we eating meat still?”

In 2021, Andrés joined the Board of Directors at Good Meat before the company secured historic approval from the FDA and USDA to serve its cultivated chicken—or chicken made from cells without the need to slaughter birds en masse—in the United States. The benefit of making meat this way is a substantial reduction in resource use and greenhouse gas emissions.

Chef José Andrés’ 7 Best Plant-Based Recipes (1)Scott Suchman

Last year, Andrés became one of two chefs in the country—and one of the very few in the world—to serve cultivated chicken at his Peruvian fusion restaurant, China Chilcano, in Washington, DC.

Jose Andrés’ best plant-based recipes

While Andrés uses animal products in his cooking, his vegetable-centric mentality has carried over into many of his projects and recipes. Here are just a few of our favorite recipes that are either vegan or can easily be made without any animal products.

Chef José Andrés’ 7 Best Plant-Based Recipes (2)José Andrés

1Tomato Watermelon Skewers

As the days get warmer, these party-friendly vegan watermelon skewers come together in just a few minutes—or in the time it takes for you to “fillet” and skewer the ingredients. Tomato and watermelon get a hit of sherry vinegar, good Spanish olive oil, lemon juice, and zest, along with a few fresh herbs for a citrusy, refreshing appetizer that is full of Spanish gazpacho charm.
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Chef José Andrés’ 7 Best Plant-Based Recipes (3)José Andrés

2Cold Tomato and Bread Salad

Another refreshing recipe that focuses on fresh and ripe tomatoes. Spanish food is about the quality of the ingredients and this salad is all about crusty rustic bread that’s refreshed with verdant bell peppers, scallions, and briny olives, along with sherry vinegar and sweet pimento—both key elements of Spanish cooking. Most of the work in making this salad is in crushing the garlic together with parsley in a mortar and pestle to deliver a complexity of flavor to the entire dish.
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Chef José Andrés’ 7 Best Plant-Based Recipes (4)José Andrés

3Tichi’s Garbanzo Stew

This chickpea stew is a perfect dinner for chillier nights. Andrés’ trick to make the chickpeas extra flavorful is soaking them overnight in water with a pinch of bicarbonate soda (baking soda), which softens their skins and opens them up to absorb maximum flavor. Classic Spanish saffron, pimentón (smoked paprika), and cumin give this stew a depth of flavor while the addition of spinach provides a little greenery.This one’s best sopped up by crusty, toasted bread, maybe slathered with a little vegan butter.
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Chef José Andrés’ 7 Best Plant-Based Recipes (5)José Andrés

4Beefsteak’s Marinated Beet Salad

This recipe comes from Andrés’ Beefsteak restaurant in Washington, DC, which focuses primarily on plant-based fare with only minimal animal products such as dairy and eggs. The burgers are either made with vegan chicken, plant-based protein, or thick-cut vegetable patties made from beefsteak tomatoes or marinated beets. The latter is the inspiration for this salad, which features tender beets marinated for 12 to 18 hours in apple cider vinegar, a pinch of salt and sugar, black peppercorns, and fresh thyme.
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Chef José Andrés’ 7 Best Plant-Based Recipes (6)

José Andrés

5Potato Chip Omelette

A few of the chef’s top recipes are fairly easy to veganize with some of our favorite plant-based swaps. This is a classic Tortilla Española—a traditional omelet—which means the main ingredient is eggs. Lucky for us, there are plenty of vegan stand-ins these days, the most popular of which is mung bean-based Just Egg. The rest of the ingredients here are vegan, including the branded Jose Andrés’ Potato Chips that give this “tortilla” its crunch.
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Chef José Andrés’ 7 Best Plant-Based Recipes (7)José Andrés

6Tortilla con Pisto

Pisto is a traditional Spanish dish that’s vegan without modifications. It’s a vegetable stew that consists of tomatoes, zucchini, red and green peppers, and onions, all stewed together until soft. It’s a bit like Ratatouille from France or caponata from Italy.For this dish, Andrés lays the pisto over an egg tortilla—made perfectly with the help of a plate flip trick during the cooking process. Again, Just Egg can easily replace the eggs in this recipe for a fully vegan dish.
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Chef José Andrés’ 7 Best Plant-Based Recipes (8)José Andrés

7Scallops With Roasted Catalan Sauce

The scallops in this recipe are secondary to the flavorful “Catalan” sauce—which is a traditional red romesco. This sauce is made with bell peppers, plum tomatoes, garlic, Chile peppers, white bread, and blanched almonds, along with some key spices and, of course, high-quality olive oil. The sauce can easily become a flavorful topper for crusty bread, grilled tofu, or even vegan scallops—store-bought or made from trumpet mushrooms, your choice.
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For more vegan food, read:
  • These 20 Restaurants in the US Serve Up Some of the Best Sushi—Hold the Fish
  • The Best Way to Organize Your Fridge If You Eat a Lot of Plants, According to the Experts
  • These Are the Best Vegan Desserts, According to a Dietitian

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Chef José Andrés’ 7 Best Plant-Based Recipes (9)

Anna Starostinetskaya is the Senior News Editor at VegNews and is always keeping an eye on all things vegan in her home city of San Francisco, CA and everywhere else.

Chef José Andrés’ 7 Best Plant-Based Recipes (2024)

FAQs

Can you eat honey on a plant based diet? ›

Whether to eat honey is a contentious issue. It's made by bees, and therefore not plant-based; however many plant-based eaters choose to include it in their diet. We believe what you eat is a personal choice. We do include honey in some of our recipes, and typically include alternatives.

What is Chef Andres know for in the culinary world? ›

José Andrés

Over the next 30 years, José made a name for himself as a world-renowned chef and restaurateur -- often credited with introducing tapas to American eaters and earning four Michelin stars -- and currently his ThinkFoodGroup comprises 28 acclaimed restaurants around the world.

Can you eat bananas on a plant-based diet? ›

Let's start, then, with a vegan diet grocery list that can be the baseline for all vegetarian diet foods list: Fruits: apples, pears, strawberries, blueberries, pineapple, bananas, etc. Choose in-season fruits, and opt for frozen fruit for smoothies.

What kind of bread do you eat on a plant-based diet? ›

Vegans can eat bread that does not contain animal products or byproducts. This includes breads that only use some variation on flour, water, yeast, and salt including ciabatta, baguette, focaccia, sourdough, pita, and ezekiel breads.

How much weight has chef jose andres lost? ›

The 43-year-old originally drank shakes to keep a 1,000-calorie-a-day diet--but that's hardly sustainable, especially for a chef. So how did Andres drop more than 40 pounds from his 278-pound frame? Quality over quantity. Now he keeps the 1,000-calorie daily guideline in his sights with foods he loves.

Who is arguably the best chef? ›

Who are the Most-Awarded Michelin-Star Chefs in the World?
  • Joël Robuchon, 31 Michelin Stars.
  • Alain Ducasse, 21 Michelin Stars.
  • Gordon Ramsay, 16 Michelin Stars.
  • Martin Berasategui, 8 Michelin Stars.
  • Carme Ruscalleda, 7 Michelin Stars.

How many Michelin stars does José Andrés have? ›

Chef José Andrés

Andrés is the only chef globally that has both a two-star Michelin restaurant and four Bib Gourmands.

Can I call myself vegan if I eat honey? ›

For most of us, that means not eating honey. Also, although it's not part of the official vegan definition, many of us consider ourselves environmentalists, and farming bees for their honey is detrimental to wild bee populations and therefore biodiversity of plant and animal life.

What do vegans use for honey? ›

Vegan alternatives

Date syrup, maple syrup, molasses, butterscotch syrup, golden syrup and agave nectar are all viable options, whether you need a product for baking, cooking, as a sweetener for drinks, or to eat a spoon of out of the jar at the end of a long day.

Can you have chocolate on a plant-based diet? ›

While dark chocolate is usually vegan-friendly, milk and white chocolate typically are not. Milk Chocolate, as the name implies, contains dairy, making it not vegan, unless it is made with a nondairy milk like oat milk or almond milk. White Chocolate also frequently contains dairy products.

Is honey considered a whole food? ›

If you're looking to go the more natural and less refined route, brown rice syrup, maple syrup, and raw local honey are good options though some whole food plant-based experts do note they're not technically whole foods (and honey isn't vegan).

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