18 Vegan Dinner Recipes That Are Creamy and Delicious

February 04, 2021

Enjoy a rich, yet healthy, dinner with these vegan recipes. These recipes use ingredients like cashews, coconut milk and cauliflower to create a creamy and luscious texture that’s free of animal products. Try recipes like Vegan Chili Mac and One-Pot Coconut Milk Curry with Chickpeas for a satisfying and savory dinner.

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Vegan White Bean Chili

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Fresh Anaheim (or poblano) chiles add mild heat to this classic white bean chili and contribute lots of smoky flavor. Quinoa adds body to the chili, while diced zucchini provides pretty flecks of green and increases the veggie content.

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One-Pot Coconut Milk Curry with Chickpeas

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The assortment of vegetables in this vegan one-pot dish add varying textures and flavors to make each forkful exciting. The sweet potato balances the savory spices nicely. Serve this bright and flavorful curry with rice or rice noodles.

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Vegan Cream of Mushroom Soup

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This creamy vegan mushroom soup is thickened with walnuts, which give the soup a creamy texture--no cream required! Add sautéed mushrooms and walnuts on top for garnish and a little crunch, and a scattering of fresh chives for even more flavor.

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Vegan Chili Mac

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Raw cashews are the base of this velvety smooth sauce. (A high-speed blender will yield you the creamiest results.) Nutritional yeast and tomato paste provide rich umami flavor to this easy vegan dinner.

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Chickpea Coconut Curry

Credit: Dera Burreson
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Here, coconut milk adds creaminess while keeping the dish vegan. Serve over basmati rice or with a side of naan.

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Creamy Vegan Butternut Squash Carbonara

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Carbonara, traditionally bathed in eggs, gets a vegan makeover using roasted and pureed butternut squash instead to make it ultra-creamy. A topping of ground almonds, garlic and sage gives it texture and an herby, savory flavor in place of the cheese and bacon.

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Roasted Cauliflower & Potato Curry Soup

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In this healthy cauliflower soup recipe, roasting the cauliflower first adds depth and prevents the florets from turning to mush. A little tomato sauce and coconut milk give the broth a rich, silky texture. Serve with a dollop of sour cream or yogurt, if desired.

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Vegan Roasted Vegetable Quinoa Bowl with Creamy Green Sauce

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In a vegan riff on green goddess dressing, cashews provide a creamy base with tons of flavor from herbs and apple-cider vinegar. Drizzle it all over this bowl of quinoa and roasted vegetables to make a satisfying vegan dinner or easy packable lunch that is ready in just 30 minutes.

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Vegan Cauliflower Alfredo

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Unbelievably rich and creamy, this easy vegan Alfredo is bound to become a favorite. Be sure to check the ingredient list on your unsweetened almond milk, as some contain vanilla flavoring even if they aren't labeled as such. For this recipe, you'll want almond milk without any vanilla.

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Roasted Vegan Cauliflower Soup with Parsley-Chive Swirl

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Blitzed cauliflower gives this very easy vegan soup recipe its creamy taste without adding any dairy. To get the silkiest texture, puree the soup in a blender rather than using an immersion blender.

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Vegan Mac & Cheese

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Mac and cheese no longer has to be off the menu if you don't do dairy. A blend of hearty cauliflower, butternut squash, cashews and nutritional yeast gives this vegan macaroni and cheese the gooey, cheesy texture and flavor of traditional mac, without a bit of dairy!

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Instant Pot Vegetarian White Chili

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Parsnips lend a wonderful sweet and nutty flavor to this healthy white bean chili. Using an Instant Pot (or any other pressure cooker) means this hearty chili can be ready in under an hour, but it still tastes like it's simmered away for hours. Pureeing some of the chili gives the stew a nice creaminess, but feel free to skip that step to save time. Garnish the chili with cheese and sour cream for a richer meal, or serve it as-is to keep it vegan.

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Curried Sweet Potato & Peanut Soup

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In this flavorful soup recipe, sweet potatoes simmer in a quick coconut curry, resulting in a creamy, thick broth punctuated by notes of garlic and ginger. We love peanuts for their inexpensive price and versatile flavor. They're also a great source of protein--1 ounce has 7 grams.

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Vegan Lasagna

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Silken tofu seasoned with cheesy-tasting nutritional yeast makes a flavorful vegan substitute for ricotta and Parmesan. Whole-wheat noodles and lots of veggies make this version healthier than a typical lasagna.

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Vegan Cauliflower Fettuccine Alfredo with Kale

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In this date-night-worthy vegan fettuccine Alfredo recipe, cooked cauliflower transforms into a rich, luscious sauce when it's blended with softened cashews. A high-speed blender will give you the creamiest results. Opt for whole-wheat fettuccine to add fiber to this vegan pasta recipe.

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Vegan Mushroom Stroganoff

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The rich mushroom sauce in this vegan version of classic beef stroganoff gets thick and creamy thanks to vegan sour cream.

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Slow-Cooker Curried Butternut Squash Soup

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Skip the roasting in this butternut squash soup recipe and let your slow cooker do the work instead. Just load up all the ingredients into the crock pot, set it and forget it for an easy, healthy dinner or packable lunches.

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Winter Vegetable Dal

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This southern-Indian-inspired vegetable dal recipe is rich and creamy thanks to light coconut milk and gets exotic flavor from spice-infused coconut oil. Serve with flatbread or naan.

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