Why You’ll Love These Gift Ideas

• Whatever your budget this year, there will be something on this list to suit you – whether it’s just spending a few dollars for a work colleague, or a lot more for a close family member.
• I’ve chosen these gifts to suit various kinds of people – whether they’re a vegetarian who cooks from scratch every night, or someone who doesn’t actually enjoy cooking all that much!

Perfect Gifts for Vegetarians

No more chit-chat – here you go. 9 perfect presents for the vegetarian in your life!

1. Tofu Press

Approximate cost: $20

I’ll admit, I don’t always bother pressing my tofu, because I’m lazy and usually in a rush (quick meals ftw). However, if the vegetarian you’re buying for likes to be a bit more precise with their cooking, a tofu press is a good way to get the best out of tofu. It essentially squeezes out any excess liquid from the tofu, helping it to become extra firm and crispy.

Which one to buy?

There are various designs of tofu press available, but this one from Tofuture has great reviews, and is a decent price. Find it on Amazon UK / Amazon US.

A tofu press can be used for these recipes:
Pizza baked tofu
Cheesy tofu meatballs
Sticky teriyaki tofu

2. Cheese Grater (with a tub)

Approximate cost: $10

If your vegetarian is a cheese-lover like me, they probably spend half their life grating the stuff. Weirdly, it’s one of my least favourite kitchen jobs ever, so I try to avoid it whenever I can! This cheese grater with a built-in tub means the cheese can be grated in bulk, and kept fresh for a few days in the fridge, cutting down on how often it needs to be done. They can also be used to grate vegetables like carrots, zucchini and potatoes.

Which one to buy?

There are many similar products available, but this one on Amazon UK or this one on Amazon US both look great, and have good reviews.

A grater can be used for these recipes:
Smoked cheese and broccoli tart
Vegan lentil loaf
Garlic mushroom mac and cheese

3. Vegetable Chopper

Approximate cost: $20

Chopping vegetables for a veg-heavy recipe can be a bit tedious, but a vegetable chopper can drastically reduce prep time! Just place your vegetable on the top, press down firmly, and it’ll pop out into the tub underneath, chopped to your liking. A lot of these choppers comes with various attachments, so you can slice or dice your vegetable to the perfect size. I don’t have one of these myself, but every time I see them mentioned, people are raving about them.

Which one to buy?

This chopper on Amazon UK has incredible 5-star reviews, with lots of different chopper attachments to choose from. This one on Amazon US also looks like a great option.

A vegetable chopper can be used for these recipes:
Mediterranean scrambled eggs
Creamy cowboy caviar with avocado dressing
Creamy Mediterranean tortellini bake

4. Air Fryer

Approximate cost: Huge variation, but anywhere from $50-$200

If you’re buying for someone who you’re happy to spend a little more money on, an air fryer is a great option. It’s one of the most used appliances in my kitchen – I use mine almost daily. Pretty much anything you can cook in an oven can be made even better in an air fryer (and in much less time!).

Which one to buy?

I use the Ninja Foodie Dual air fryer (find it on Amazon UK / Amazon US), and I love that it has two separate compartments. I would highly recommend this model – it’s ideal for cooking a full family meal. However, I admit that it’s not the cheapest option.

Before I upgraded, I used to own a much more budget-friendly option – this Tower one on Amazon UK (here’s a similar one on Amazon US). I loved this one too, and even though it’s a little smaller than the one I use now, it’s a great air fryer to buy for someone who’s new to air frying.

An air fryer can be used for these recipes:
Air fryer vegetarian fajitas
10 minute air fryer quesadillas
Air fryer stuffed peppers

5. Vegetarian Cookbook

Approximate cost: $20

There are obviously hundreds of vegetarian cookbooks out there, and even though I rarely actually cook from recipes (I’m too slapdash for that), I absolutely love browsing through a good vegetarian cookbook – especially one with big, bright photos of each recipe.

Which one to buy?

One of my favourite vegetarian cookbooks from the last few years is Veg by Jamie Oliver. It’s full of just my kind of food – hearty, simple recipes that looks seriously tasty and easy to make, with full page images. You can find it on Amazon UK, and there’s even a version that’s been adapted with American measurements on Amazon US.

6. Mini Food Processor

Approximate cost: $20

If your vegetarian friend likes to cook from scratch, a mini food processor is a must for their kitchen. I use mine for making breadcrumbs, blitzing up homemade pesto, quickly chopping nuts, cutting fresh herbs, and any number of other things. It definitely speeds up prep time for all sorts of recipes.

Which one to buy?

I have owned this Kenwood Mini Chopper (Amazon UK) for years and years, and it’s never failed me. I’d highly recommend it. This one on Amazon US looks quite similar, and has great reviews.

A mini chopper can be used for these recipes:
Peanut and sesame noodles
Chickpea pasta salad with pesto
Nutty tofu lettuce wraps

7. Fun Spice Mixes or Sauces

Approximate cost: Whatever you want to spend

I love trying new spices and seasonings, and I’m always happy when someone cleverer than me has done all the hard work blending together the right combinations. If your vegetarian friend or family member loves trying new cuisines, why not send them a selection of spice mixes or tasty sauces to bring a bit of variety to their kitchen!

Which one to buy?

There are literally hundreds of different spice mixes and tasty sauces available, so just see what’s on offer in your local shop. I love the look of this selection on Amazon UK, because it contains such a wide variety of flavours, from Thai to Mediterranean, Chinese and Moroccan! The spice pots do mention that they might be good used on meat or fish, but the spice mixes themselves are vegetarian, and there are plenty of veggie-friendly ways to use them too!

Spice mixes can be used for these recipes:
Easy baked mushroom tikka
Blackened tofu steaks
Sheet pan halloumi fajitas

8. Hand Blender (Immersion Blender)

Approximate cost: $15

I make soup about once a week, and I always use my hand blender to make it nice and smooth. It’s so much easier to just stick the blender straight into the pot and blitz it all up, rather than having to somehow pour a pot of hot soup into a countertop blender (which I am 100% certain would not end well, given I once broke my arm trying to sit on my own bed – no lie). Immersion blenders can also be used to make smoothies, sauces, and anything else that needs smoothening.

Which one to buy?

Most stick blenders look much the same, so just go for one with good reviews that fits your budget. This Russell Hobbs one on Amazon UK looks great, as does this one on Amazon US.

A hand blender can be used for these recipes:
Ultra creamy roasted broccoli soup
Slow cooker tomato sauce
Vegan vegetable gravy

9. Reusable Produce Bags

Approximate cost: $10

Chances are, the vegetarian in your life buys a lot of vegetables – I know some people that live on beige food (hello, teenage me), but most veggies love veggies.

These reusable produce bags are great for all kinds of reasons:

• You can take them to the supermarket to fill with loose fruits and veg, meaning you can avoid using the plastic bags provided (much better for the environment!)
• They help keep your fridge organised by storing like products together
• They keep your produce fresh for longer
• You can store loose items like dried beans without the risk of the packet splitting

It’s a win-win (-win-win…)!

Which one to buy?

There are tons of similar products available. This set on Amazon UK is a great price, with really good reviews, and here’s a similar set on Amazon US.

There you have it – 9 perfect gifts for vegetarians. Which one do you have your eye on?

Top Tips for Buying a Gift for a Vegetarian

• If you’re buying them candy / sweets, or any other edible item, make sure you check that it’s vegetarian first. A lot of gummy sweets, for example, are made with gelatine, which isn’t vegetarian.
• Think about how much cooking the person actually does before you choose your gift. If they rarely cook from scratch, for example, they might not get much use from a mini chopper – but they might love an air fryer to crisp up their favourite oven fries and vegetarian nuggets!
• If you’re not sure what they already have in their kitchen, choose a gift that won’t matter if you double up. They probably won’t want to end up with two tofu presses, for example, but it won’t matter if they end up with some extra spice mixes, even if they already have some.

Other Helpful Vegetarian Resources

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• It’s an easy recipe that you can make any day of the year, but it also feels special enough for a celebration (perhaps Christmas dinner!).
• The flavours in this vegan lentil loaf are wonderful – although you could easily adapt the recipe to use different spices, or different vegetables, if you prefer.
• Any leftovers keep really well, and can easily be reheated in the microwave.
• We vegetarians don’t need to miss out on the usual roast dinner trimmings, like roast potatoes and gravy – this lentil loaf will sit alongside them beautifully!

Ingredients

Here’s what you’ll need to make this recipe. You’ll also need a few cupboard staples, like oil, salt and pepper. See the printable recipe card below for detailed ingredient quantities.

• red lentils. Unlike some other kinds of lentils, red lentils cook down nice and soft, and they bring a lovely moist texture to the loaf.
• oats
• red onion
• carrot – I grated my carrot into the loaf mixture, but you could dice it nice and small instead, if you’d prefer a chunkier texture.
• garlic
• veggie stock – I used a stock cube, but jelly stock or liquid stock would be fine too.
• herbs and spices – dried thyme, smoked paprika, curry powder and ground cumin. The flavours are delicious, but will still blend in nicely with the other elements of your meal.
• fresh chives

Ingredient Changes

Feel free to make this recipe your own – it’s really easy to customise with extra vegetables. As long as you don’t add so many extras that they stop the loaf from holding together properly, you should be fine.

You could try adding:

• grated courgette (zucchini)
• frozen peas
• frozen sweetcorn
• sautéed mushrooms (finely diced)
• chopped green beans
• sautéed diced peppers

Different combinations of vegetables will bring different flavours and textures to the lentil loaf, so why not try something new each time!

Equipment

The only ‘unusual’ equipment you’ll need to make this vegan loaf is a loaf tin (it’s kind of in the name) – nothing too crazy, but it’s something you probably don’t use every day, and you may not already have one if you’re new to cooking.

My loaf tin measures around 9 x 5 inches, and it’s made of metal (rather than ceramic). I find metal tins are best for spreading the heat around the whole loaf, and giving a nice crispy crust.

Here’s a metal loaf tin with great reviews on Amazon UK – or, here’s a set of two on Amazon US.

Instructions

Here’s how to make this recipe – see below for the printable recipe with detailed ingredients and instructions.

Step 1: Begin by cooking the carrot and onion with all the spices, then simmering with the red lentils until it’s all cooked down into a seriously tasty mixture.

Step 2: Mix in some oats, to thicken up the mixture.

Step 3: Spread the mixture into a well oiled loaf tin, and bake until crispy.

Step 4: Carefully turn the lentil loaf out onto a board. As you can see, the front corner of my loaf crumbled ever so slightly, but generally this loaf holds together really well! The metal tin definitely helps to give a crispy crust, which makes the loaf more stable.

Step 5: Slice, and serve.

Becca’s Top Tip

If you’ve got a bit left after your meal, thin slices of leftover lentil loaf make a really amazing vegetarian sandwich filling!

Recipe FAQs

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• The flavours! Oh my… the flavours.
• It reheats beautifully, so if you can resist eating it all in one sitting, you’ll be glad to have leftovers.
• A special side dish like this mushroom gratin really takes a simple meal up a notch.
• It’s easy to make, but extraordinary enough to serve for a special occasion, like Thanksgiving or Christmas.

Ingredients

Here’s what you’ll need to make this recipe. You’ll also need a few cupboard staples, like oil and black pepper. See the printable recipe card below for detailed ingredient quantities.

• mushrooms
• potatoes
• brie cheese
• cream
• fresh parsley (just to garnish)
• vegetable stock – or just use salt if you prefer!
• garlic – I used minced garlic from a jar, but feel free to use fresh garlic if you prefer.
• dried thyme
• nutmeg

Instructions

Here’s how to make this recipe – see below for the printable recipe with detailed ingredients and instructions.

Step 1: Cook mushrooms with plenty of garlic in a buttery cream sauce.

Step 2: Peel some potatoes and slice them as thinly as you can.

Step 3: In a baking dish, layer up the sliced potatoes, creamy garlic mushrooms, and slices of brie.

Step 4: Bake until the potatoes are soft and the brie on top is golden brown and crispy.

Becca’s Top Tip

If you’re not a fan of brie, you could easily swap it for some grated cheddar cheese instead.

Recipe FAQs

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• The flavours are unbelievably good – this mushroom pie is seriously irresistible.
• It’s a hearty meal that will satisfy vegetarians and meat-eaters alike – so it’s great for feeding a crowd!
• The creamy mushroom mixture can be used in various other ways, if you don’t want to make your own crust – see below for some ideas.
• Adding chestnuts to the mushroom filling makes it feel extra special, and a little bit festive – this mushroom pie would be perfect for cooking on a special occasion like Christmas!

What is a Suet Pie Crust?

Suet is essentially a type of fat. It traditionally comes from animals, but I obviously use a vegetarian version, which is made from vegetable oil.

In the UK, vegetarian suet is easy to find in most supermarkets, but if you live elsewhere and you can’t find it locally, you may be able to purchase it online. Here it is on Amazon US, for example.

I usually use suet to make incredible suet dumplings, which are soft and doughy, and seriously comforting cooked on top of a hearty stew! To make this suet pie crust, I just made a flatter layer of the dough, and spread it across the top of the mushroom pie filling. The underside of the crust retains that soft, doughy texture, while the top crisps up beautifully, like pastry.

Ingredients

Here’s what you’ll need to make this recipe. You’ll also need a few cupboard staples, like butter, salt and pepper. See the printable recipe card below for detailed ingredient quantities.

• mushrooms – I used a mixture of baby portobellos and chestnut mushrooms. Stick with one type if you prefer!
• onion
• garlic – I love using garlic paste or pre-chopped garlic from a jar, to cut down on prep time.
• dried thyme
• vegetable stock – I use a stock cube, but liquid or jelly stock would be fine too.
• chesnuts – I used the kind that come ready-cooked in a packet (Amazon UK).
• white wine – nothing too fancy! Any cheap dry white wine will be fine.
• shredded vegetarian suet (I use this one – Amazon UK / Amazon US)
• self-raising flour
• cream
• fresh parsley

Becca’s Top Tip

If you can’t find chestnuts, use chopped walnuts instead. They’ll do a great job of adding that slight crunch, and making the mushroom pie feel a little bit special.

Ways to Simplify the Recipe

If you can’t be bothered to make your own pie crust (or if you can’t find suet anywhere), don’t let that put you off – there are plenty of ways you could adapt the recipe to suit you.

Here are a few examples:

• Make a standard pastry crust using your favourite pastry recipe.
• Use shop-bought puff or shortcrust pastry, instead of making your own crust.
• Make a simple savoury crumble topping instead.
• Serve the mushroom and chestnut filling without a crust at all, just like a standalone mushroom stew (similar to a creamy mushroom stroganoff!)
• Serve mushroom mixture in a different way, for something a bit different – perhaps creamy mushrooms on toast, or creamy mushroom pasta.

Instructions

Here’s how to make this recipe – see below for the printable recipe with detailed ingredients and instructions.

Step 1: Prepare the suet dough, and leave it to rest in the fridge.

Step 2: Cook the onion, mushrooms and chestnuts in the creamy sauce.

Step 3: Roll or press out the suet dough into a rough rectangle.

Step 4: Transfer the mushroom pie filling into a baking dish, and top with the suet crust.

Step 5: Bake until the filling is piping hot, and bubbling up around the crispy suet crust.

Becca’s Top Tip

If you’re baking something in a dish, always place the dish on a baking tray before putting it in the oven! Pies and casseroles have a tendency to bubble over the edge of the dish, and the tray will help to catch any drips.

Recipe FAQs

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• The flavours are incredible.
• It’s an easy side dish that uses very few ingredients.
• Roasting is such an easy way to elevate a vegetable and make it really special.
• These roasted green beans are really versatile, and would be perfect to serve alongside a special meal (perhaps even Thanksgiving or Christmas!) – or even just as a healthy snack.

Ingredients

Here’s what you’ll need to make this recipe:

• frozen green beans. You can use fresh green beans too, if you prefer, but I actually prefer the texture when they’re roasted from frozen.
• feta cheese – a little goes a long way! You don’t need much at all.
• lemon juice – fresh is best
• butter (for a bit of luxury)

See the printable recipe card below for detailed ingredient quantities.

Becca’s Top Tip

If you’re not keen on my choice of feta cheese + lemon, you can easily add all sorts of other flavour combinations to your roasted frozen green beans, to match the meal you’re serving them with. Try adding your favourite dried spice blend, or a dollop of any kind of paste (pesto, curry paste, etc.).

Instructions

Here’s how to make this recipe – see below for the printable recipe with detailed ingredients and instructions.

Step 1: Toss the frozen green beans in a little oil, and spread them out on a baking tray. Don’t pile them up too much – a wide, shallow metal tray is best. Sprinkle with plenty of salt and pepper.

Step 2: Roast the green beans until they’re almost cooked. I like my beans nice and crispy on the edges – they should just be starting to brown very slightly.

If you’re not adding the feta and lemon juice, you can give the beans a few extra minutes in the oven, then eat them plain.

Step 3: Scatter the beans with some crumbled feta cheese, some small cubes of butter, and a good squeeze of lemon juice.

Step 4: Return them to the oven for about 5 more minutes, until the feta cheese is crispy, and the melted butter has coated the beans.

Recipe FAQs