Tabitha Brown Dishes on What Dinner Recipe She's Making on Repeat

If you have spent any time on TikTok or Instagram, chances are you're familiar with Tabitha Brown. The actor, chef, cookbook author, online personality and real-life ray of sunshine is beloved by many. Her vegan recipe videos are full of flavor and fun, and Brown's optimistic outlook on life sets her apart from other creators.

Brown's first cooking rule is all about flavor. Her recipes are packed to the brim with flavors, seasonings and spices. She first collaborated with McCormick a few years ago to release her popular Sunshine Seasoning—with ginger, thyme and turmeric—and knew she wanted to create more. Her new line includes three spice blends and two seasoning packets, including Sauté Business Seasoning Mix, which Brown suggests using on vegetable sautés, and Like Sweet Like Smoky All Purpose Seasoning, perfect for plant-based dishes that would benefit from the addition of smoky, barbecue-like flavor.

We sat down with Brown to hear what she's been cooking up lately, plus the ingredients she always has on hand and her advice for people interested in adopting a plant-based diet.

EatingWell: What are some recipes that have been in steady rotation for you lately?

Tabitha Brown: Well I just came back from three weeks of traveling for work and vacation. So when I got back, Easter was my first day of like, "Oh, let me get back into the kitchen." I made mushrooms. I love mushrooms, I'm always doing something with them. Portobellos are the new thing right now that I'm really into because I used to be all about my oyster mushrooms (which I still love). But recently, I was making portobello steaks, portobello ribs, portobello fajitas. I'm just in a "mushroom thing" right now. You know, they're good for your brain, but they're also a great meat substitute.

I'm taking salads from winter salads which are more warm, to like a fresh, more summery salad. I love that. One of my favorite salads right now is with kale. I take roasted garlic olive oil, and I put it on the kale with lime juice and then I massage the kale until it gets soft and light. Then I add a pinch of sea salt, some Very Good Garlic [part of Brown's recent spice line with McCormick] and chopped-up cucumbers, tomato and white onions. Listen: it is the best salad of your life. You get a little pinch of salt and pepper on top if you want to. It sounds so simple but the flavor is so good.

EatingWell: What are some of your refrigerator or pantry staples?

Tabitha Brown: Well, of course, garlic powder! And I always keep some spinach wraps because I love a good, quick wrap where I wrap some veggies in. Avocados are a must. I love avocado, whether it's avocado toast or avocado on top of my scramble. Oh and dill pickles! Gotta have it. I hate sweet pickles, but honey, I do love a Claussen dill pickle!

EatingWell: What is your best piece of advice for people who are interested in going vegan or plant-based but don't really know where to start?

Tabitha Brown: Well, I always say, "Let's start with our 'why.'" Why do we want to go on the journey? If it really means something to you, you are really trying to figure out how to make it work. When you start exploring food, think about all your favorite non-vegan things that you love to eat and try to figure out what's the substitute to make that vegan. So then you don't feel like you're taking something away from yourself, but you feel like you're giving yourself something new.

EatingWell: What does "eating well" mean to you?

Tabitha Brown: Eating well to me means that I'm putting things inside of my body, not because I'm concerned about how it makes me look but how it makes me feel. And I always want to feel well!