Whether you are curious, newly vegan or just want to up your vegan culinary game, The Veginner’s Cookbook will set you on the right path! Check our our review AND enter our giveaway to win your very own copy!
If you don’t already follow Elephantastic Vegan, do it NOW! Its creators, Bianca Haun and Sascha Narderer, are a blogging duo living in Austria, creating some pretty amazing dishes that are accessible, simply and nail it with flavor. What they also deliver is a global culinary voyage that doesn’t leave you feeling overwhelmed or screaming “HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO MAKE THIS?!?!?” They’ve put together something wonderful no matter where you are in your vegan journey to help you navigate around the kitchen…and your palate with The Veginner’s Cookbook: The Ultimate Starter Guide for New Vegans and the Veg-Curious.
WHY YOU SHOULD GET THE VEGINNER’S COOKBOOK?
The book is not just for the vegan novice. It’s really balanced in its presentation to a broader audience. You don’t have to be vegan to understand what’s in here. You just have to take an interest in how to prepare plant-based meals and not shy away from flavor. Not only are you expanding your horizons with an introduction to vegan living and cooking, you get to see how easy it can be to replicate your favorites while being a little adventurous in the kitchen.
What helps with that are the photos…THE PHOTOS!!! We’re big on cookbooks with photos, because they guide us to the end goal…on the plate! Just about every recipe has a photo of the dish you’ll be creating.
The recipes are simple. Note: This is not a “5 ingredients or less” or “30 minutes and done” type of book. Some recipes are quick and easy, like the Tomato Coconut Chickpea Curry, made in 25 minutes. Some are a little more complex like the Blender Brownies with Chocolate Avocado Frosting, which has 2 sets of ingredient lists, takes 50 minutes to make, plus 3 hours to cool. The time is definitely worth it for this recipe!
The common thread across the recipes in The Veginner’s Cookbook is that all of the ingredients are available in your local grocery store. You don’t have to go on a mission to find what you need to make meals from this book. Being that this book is intended for newer vegans, I think some of us long-standing vegans can still appreciate this book…and add a few recipes to our recipe box.
WANT TO TRY A RECIPE?
A bonus for reading our review is getting a recipe to try. We love the Tomato Coconut Chickpea Curry A LOT, because it’s comfort in a bowl. (Psst. They also have a flatbread recipe in the book to pair with this). Give it a whirl, then scroll down to enter to win a copy of The Veginner’s Cookbook to add to your shelf!
- 1 teaspoon canola oil
- 1 red onion, chopped
- 1/2-inch ginger root, minced
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 1/2 cups (260 g) canned chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 1/4 teaspoon curry powder
- 1 1/2 cups (375 g) tomato passata*
- 1/4 cup (65 g) full-fat coconut milk
- 1/4 teaspoon salt + more to taste
- Cayenne pepper, to taste
- Chopped cilantro for garnish
- In a large pot with canola oil on medium to high heat, add in the onion, ginger and garlic. Cook until translucent.
- Then, add in the chickpeas and curry powder. Let everything cook for about 5 minutes on medium to high heat.
- Reduce the heat to low and add in the tomato passata, coconut milk and salt.
- Stir and let it cook for about 10 minutes (while slowly turning up the heat again). This is the point where you can adjust the curry to your taste by adding more coconut milk, salt etc. Add cayenne pepper to taste.
- Once the curry is hot and creamy, transfer it to a bowl, garnish with chopped cilantro and serve with basmati rice and garlic flatbread.
- Copyright 2018 by Bianca Haun and Sascha Naderer; Reprinted with permission.
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- *We used store-bought tomato passata (with salt and no additional herbs) for this recipe. IT's often canned or in cartons, not to be confused with tomato paste, which is thicker in consistency. You can also used canned crushed tomatoes instead.
GIVEAWAY TIME - WIN A COPY OF THE VEGINNER’S COOKBOOK!
We’re so honored to be able to host a giveaway for The Veginner’s Cookbook! Enter TODAY and you may just be the lucky winner!
The Veginner’s Cookbook Giveaway
From our SpokesCAT, Mozzer “Small Print” Giardina: Contest ends on April 1, 2026 at 11:59pm ET. US residents only. Winner will be notified via email and must respond with 72 hours to claim their prize. GOOD LUCK!
I love the delicious recipes! You look like you have fun with food!!ðŸŒðŸ¶ðŸ†ðŸŒ½ðŸ ðŸœðŸðŸ•ðŸ´ðŸ”ðŸ‰ðŸ‡ðŸ’ðŸ‹ðŸ“ðŸðŸðŸŒðŸˆ
Thank you so much for the amazing review, you two!
Having a photo of every recipe was really important to me! I don’t understand why people produce books that don’t have that - it’s craziness 😀
These type of books are great! I think the biggest thing that helped me go and stay vegan was a supportive husband. I think I could be single and vegan, but it is very hard to stay vegan if your significant other isn’t supportive/demands they get their share of non-vegan food.
Knowing what the animals go through helped me go vegan.
I think more convenience foods would help me be 100% vegan. I’d say about 10% of the time I’m vegetarian.