A Non-Vegan’s Guide to Creating a Vegan Dinner Party Menu

Making food that vegan and non-vegans alike can enjoy is not the challenge you think it is. Take it from me, a non-vegan.

Rebecca Eisenberg
Tenderly
Published in
8 min readFeb 24, 2020

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Photo: Andrik Langfield/Unsplash

A common lament in many of the various food and cooking groups on Facebook is a plea from someone who is hosting a dinner party and has just found out one of their guests is vegan and please, oh god, won’t someone help them find a good vegan recipe they can make???

Often, the recommendations that come in from cooks more experienced with vegan cuisine involve aquafaba, tofu, or other ingredients that can be unfamiliar and intimidating to non-vegans. Many of those recipes are worth trying, but the last thing a dinner party host needs is adding a brand new ingredient to the mix.

I’m not vegan. I do, however, live in L.A., and so naturally I often host vegan friends at dinner parties. I create menus that work for everyone, simply using recipes I already know and love that just happen to be vegan and that everyone can enjoy. I know! What a concept.

If you’re a non-vegan facing this particular dilemma, have no fear. I’m here to help.

Let’s dive right into the main courses, shall we? Side dishes and salads are easy enough to make vegan, so I’ll trust you…

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Rebecca Eisenberg
Tenderly

Freelance editor, sometimes writer. Formerly @Upworthy, Headspace, Medium. Fat positive feminist. I write about food & cooking @ ThePracticalKitchen.com.