- Hi, I'm Rachael, and I'm a Tasty producer.
Today, I'm gonna share with you
some of my favorite tips and tricks
for finding vegan options when I go out to eat.
One cuisine that has a lot of vegan options
is Chinese food.
Look for veggie dumplings, eggplant with garlic sauce,
tofu with mixed vegetables, rice,
and veggie spring rolls instead of egg rolls.
You'll wanna watch out for eggs
in fried rices or in noodles like lo mein,
or fish or oyster sauce used in sauces or soups.
I love ordering Chinese
because there are so many sauces and flavor profiles to try,
which can make tofu and vegetables
feel like a totally different dish every time.
Another great option is Middle Eastern food.
My go-tos here are hummus, falafel, Israeli salad,
baba ganoush, tabbouleh, and pita bread.
You'll wanna look out for yogurt,
which is used in tzatziki sauce,
and feta, which is commonly used in salads.
One tip is to substitute tahini,
which is made from sesame seeds, for tzatziki
to drizzle on falafel wraps and platters.
I love Middle Eastern foods
because it's a great place to take a big group of friends
where there will be something for everyone.
One of my favorite cuisines for vegan options
is Indian food.
Some great choices are eggplant with potatoes, chana masala,
rice, dosas filled with potatoes or lentils,
non-dairy sauces and chutneys, papadum,
and samosas and pakoras.
Here, you'll want to avoid ghee, which is a clarified butter
and typically used to make naan bread,
cream or yogurt, which can be found in curries and sauces,
and paneer, which is a type of cheese.
Some tips here are to substitute papadum for naan bread.
And if there's a dish you wanna try
that contains cream or yogurt, ask your server
if it's possible to substitute coconut milk
and they might be able to accommodate you.
I love Indian food because a lot of the dishes
are inherently vegetarian or vegan,
so there are tons of options to choose from.
Another cuisine that is usually a safe bet is Mexican food.
Here, I like to get rice and beans, salsa,
guac and tortilla chips, and veggie burritos or tacos.
Just be sure to check that the rice and beans
weren't cooked in chicken or beef broth,
and make sure to omit any cheese or sour cream
from any of your dishes.
One tip is to substitute guacamole for cheese and sour cream
on a burrito to replace that creaminess.
Even if you have to make a few substitutions,
it's usually pretty easy
to find vegan options at a Mexican restaurant.
And personally, as lon gas I have guac, I'm a happy camper.
Next up is Thai food.
I'll usually get pad see ew with tofu and veggies,
Thai red curry, papaya salad, and sometimes if they have it,
a vegan coconut broth-based soup.
You have to be careful with Thai food
because a lot of dishes do contain fish sauce,
oyster sauce and shrimp paste,
so ask your server if those can be omitted.
While rice noodles don't contain egg,
egg is very common in pad see ew and pad Thai,
so make sure to ask to have it removed.
While fish sauce is prevalent in Thai food,
there are restaurants that don't include it.
So I would just call the restaurant
ahead of time to be safe.
So Italian food is when things
start to get a little trickier,
but I'm gonna show you how you can still make it work.
I'll usually get a veggie pizza without the cheese,
pasta with marinara sauce, bruschetta, and mixed olives.
Your biggest obstacles here will be cheese,
which is in basically everything,
egg, which may be in some fresh pastas,
and you just wanna make sure
that the tomato sauce wasn't cooked with any meat.
But that being said,
Italian food can be surprisingly vegan friendly.
And don't knock pizza without cheese until you try it.
Last up, we have our most difficult category,
the steakhouse.
Here, side dishes are your friends.
Look for sides of roasted or steamed veggies,
rice pilaf, or baked potatoes.
The biggest ingredient you'll want to avoid here,
well, besides the steak, is butter.
So ask if the sides are cooked in it
and if you're able to substitute oil
so you're not just eating a sad baked potato.
Another option is to ask your server
if the kitchen can prepare you a vegan-friendly dish
using ingredients from the menu, like pasta and vegetables.
And if worse comes to worst,
remember there's always fries and salad.
While eating vegan at a steakhouse
isn't the ideal situation, with a little creativity,
you can still enjoy a tasty meal.
So the dishes I mentioned tend to be vegan friendly,
but keep in mind that every restaurant is different.
So always double check with your server
to see how a dish is prepared.
And if any of this felt too restrictive to you,
just do the best that you can.
The important thing to remember is that
when you ask for vegan options, it lets restaurants know
there's a demand for them and they'll start including them
in their menus more and more.
Finding vegan options when you go out to eat
might seem difficult at first,
but with a little practice, it's totally doable.
Whether it's substituting an ingredient
or getting creative with the menu,
there's almost always a vegan option out there.
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