Scrolling past a vegan recipe at midnight isn’t supposed to make your stomach growl. But lately? It does. Plant-based recipes have gone from “I guess that’s healthy” to “wait, I actually want that” territory, and it happened fast. Instagram’s flooded with jerk-spiced jackfruit that looks better than takeout. TikTok creators are making vegetables do things your grandmother didn’t know were possible. The game’s changed because these chefs stopped apologizing for what isn’t on the plate and started celebrating what is.
Nobody’s preaching here. There’s no “give up everything you love” energy, just ten people who cook so well you forget to ask where the meat went. Caribbean flavours that punch you in the face (in the best way). Soul food that hits exactly like your childhood. Comfort dishes your non-vegan friends will actually fight you for. These creators built followings in the millions because they cracked a code most missed: plants don’t need to taste like sacrifice. When mushrooms get the same treatment as a ribeye, when seasoning gets taken seriously, when technique matters more than trendy ingredients, that’s when dinner gets exciting again. No culinary degree required.
10 Best Vegan Chefs Online
1. Gaz Oakley
The Welsh guy who ditched restaurant life and became Avant Garde Vegan? Two million people on Instagram and 1.8 million on YouTube watch him cook now. Oakley worked Cardiff’s best kitchens since age 15, learned the techniques that matter, then walked away from that whole scene in 2015 to figure out plants. His videos don’t feel like cooking shows, they feel like watching someone who genuinely loves food make something beautiful. Those overhead shots. The way he lets the process breathe. Food sounds that make you want to start cooking at 11 PM.
What’s wild is watching him evolve past the “look how fancy vegan food can be” phase into actually living it. Moved to the countryside. Grows his own vegetables. Ferments things. Makes kimchi from scratch. His latest book “Plant to Plate” reads less like a cookbook and more like someone saying “slow down, connect with where your food comes from, stop outsourcing every meal to corporations.” When 1.8 million subscribers follow you into herb gardening and foraging, you’re doing something right. He’ll still show you how to make a Wellington that would make Gordon Ramsay shut up, but now it might include vegetables he picked that morning.
2. Rachel Ama
Half a million Instagram followers and 400,000 YouTube subscribers came for the Caribbean flavors, stayed for the realness. Rachel Ama doesn’t do that thing where vegan food becomes unrecognizable. Her jerk cauliflower tastes like jerk should taste because she understands spice isn’t optional in Caribbean cooking, it’s the whole point. North London raised, Caribbean and African roots, and zero patience for bland plant-based food that apologizes for existing.
Two cookbooks in, both bestsellers. “Vegan Eats” and “One Pot: Three Ways” solve the actual problem most people have: nobody wants to destroy their kitchen on a Tuesday night for one meal. Her one-pot Caribbean curried jackfruit works three different ways, coconut rice one night, flatbreads the next, patties the third. She posted new content February 6, 2025, still creating, still showing up. Knorr partnered with her. She launched her own sauce line (sold out immediately, apparently). When mainstream companies come calling, it’s because her approach works: familiar flavors, plant-based ingredients, nothing precious about it. That’s how you get people cooking.
3. BOSH! (Henry Firth and Ian Theasby)
Two guys from Sheffield who met at age eleven and accidentally built Britain’s biggest vegan cookbook empire. No culinary training. Just Henry and Ian filming recipes in their East London flat, hitting 100,000 followers the first month because their videos made plant-based food look stupid easy. Their whole philosophy? Take what you already eat, swap in plants, make it so good nobody cares about the swap. That’s it. That’s the secret.
First cookbook sold 350,000 copies in 2018. Cracked the top 50 UK cookbooks of all time. They’ve published five more since then. Got their own ITV show called “Living on the Veg”, first vegan cooking show the network ever made. Developed product lines you can buy at regular supermarkets across the UK. Their Instagram sits at 750,000 followers now, and people trust them precisely because they’re not chefs trying to prove anything. They’re just mates who figured out mushroom and walnut Bolognese tastes better than the meat version. Their Ultimate Chilli recipe went viral because it uses stuff you already have. No specialty store trips. No weird ingredients. Just food that works.
4. Max La Manna
American-born, London-based, and somehow makes zero-waste cooking feel doable instead of preachy. One million Instagram followers watching this guy turn carrot tops into pesto and broccoli stems into soup bases. Spent 15 years cooking professionally, LA, Norway, all over, before dedicating everything to reducing food waste and teaching people plants don’t have to be expensive or complicated. He calls it “feeding change” which sounds cheesy but actually tracks when you watch him cook.
His books raised $150,000 for food causes. More impressive though? He teaches people to see their fridge differently. That wilted spinach? Throw it in tomorrow’s pasta. Those sad herbs? They’re flavouring next week’s stock. Food waste contributes one-third of global greenhouse emissions, and La Manna’s entire thing is showing you how to stop contributing to that without feeling guilty about it. His recipes work around real life, busy schedules, tight budgets, families who won’t eat “weird” food. When someone makes sustainability feel accessible instead of aspirational, people actually listen. His following proves that.
5. Jenné Claiborne (Sweet Potato Soul)
Atlanta native who took Southern soul food, kept all the flavor, ditched the animal products, and built Sweet Potato Soul into something half a million people follow. Three hundred sixty thousand on Instagram, nearly 500,000 on YouTube. She went vegan in 2011 when her skin cleared, her hormones balanced, and her depression lifted without medication. Started personal cheffing in New York for people like India Arie and Lucy Liu. Then the blog and YouTube channel blew up because her food hits different.
First cookbook “Sweet Potato Soul” reimagined Southern classics, coconut collard salad, fried cauliflower that’ll make you question why you ever ate actual chicken. Second cookbook “Sweet Potato Soul Vegan Vibes” dropped February 4, 2025 (literally two days ago) focusing on quick family meals because she’s a mom now and gets that nobody’s spending three hours on dinner. Her Indian tofu scramble recipe. Her Korean pulled mushroom sandwiches. She pulls from everywhere but keeps that soul food heart beating underneath. Vegetables can be the star when you season them right. That’s her whole philosophy. Claiborne proved it works.
6. Tabitha Brown
Four point four million Instagram followers. Five point one million on TikTok. Became “America’s Mom” by accident when a carrot bacon video hit 21 million views in 2020. Tabitha Brown’s rise is wild because it happened through pure authenticity in a space that usually rewards the opposite. Chronic headaches for years that doctors couldn’t fix. Went vegan, headaches gone in ten days. Started sharing recipes from her car, talking to her phone like she talks to friends, and millions of people went “yes, this one, I trust her.”
Her cookbook “Cooking from the Spirit” became a New York Times bestseller. McCormick gave her a seasoning line. She opened a restaurant called Kale My Name in Encino, California where you can actually eat her famous mac and cheese. Deviled “eggs” made from mushrooms and chickpeas. Carrot hot dogs that work way better than they should. Her catchphrases (“that’s your business,” “like so, like that”) are authentically her, not marketing team creations, and people feel that difference. TikTok and Instagram are flooded with cooking content, but she’s the one people turn to when they need to feel good while they figure out dinner.
7. Todd Anderson (Turnip Vegan)
Nine hundred fifty-four thousand Instagram followers watching this guy build a greenhouse in the desert while also teaching them how to cook vegan weeknight dinners. Two cookbooks written. Recipes that work in actual kitchens where you don’t own every gadget or shop at specialty stores. Anderson’s whole vibe is “here’s what I’m figuring out” you’re watching someone live sustainably in real time, making mistakes, sharing what works, not pretending everything’s perfect.
The greenhouse project is ambitious as hell. Building it from scratch. Desert heat and all. But he balances that with recipes normal people can make Tuesday night after work. His followers stick around because he’s not just showing finished dishes, he’s showing the process from seed to plate. Where does food come from? How do you grow it yourself? What works when you’re trying to reduce your impact? That’s the content. Plant-based living as an actual lifestyle, not just a diet. When someone’s building something real instead of just talking about it, people pay attention differently.
8. Jacob King (Peng Vegan Munch)
Started Peng Vegan Munch in 2019 and immediately understood what most vegan creators miss: sometimes you just want food that’s fun. Over 400,000 Instagram followers, TikTok growing fast, and his recipes sound like Friday night instead of healthy Monday. French toast burrito. Peri peri “chicken” rice. Stuff that went viral because it solves the “vegan food is boring” problem by completely ignoring it and making whatever sounds good.
Minimal ingredients, maximum flavour, that’s his whole approach. Five or six things you probably have already. No complicated techniques. No chef skills required. He’s part of Plant Boiis, a UK collective challenging the stereotype that vegan food is automatically feminine or weak (which is stupid but apparently still a thing). His recipes prove you can make restaurant-quality food from pantry basics. When that barrier drops, when someone shows you it’s actually easy, people start cooking. That’s what King does. Makes it feel possible.
9. Tomaso Mannu
Michelin-starred chef who walked away from traditional fine dining to build plant-based restaurants and prove vegan food deserves the same respect as anything else. Founded The Fish Out making vegan seafood. Opened Grazie Dio, London’s first vegan pasta bar. Wrote “The Naughty Vegan Cookbook” because he gets that sometimes you want indulgent food and most vegan cookbooks won’t admit that.
During the pandemic he pivoted to content creation, building community around holistic food approaches, natural remedies, self-improvement. His techniques elevate everything because he trained at the highest levels of cooking, those Michelin stars weren’t gifted. When chefs like Mannu choose plants after building careers on animal products, it sends a message. Plant-based cooking isn’t a limitation, it’s innovation. He does virtual dining consultancy now, works with restaurants, creates content, and shows professional kitchens and home cooks that vegetables can be the centrepiece. His background makes everything he teaches carry more weight.
10. Lillian Cumic
Two decades of professional cooking experience. Thirty years living in Japan. Ran her own dining bar in Sendai. Now in Honolulu hosting “Lillian’s Vegan World” on ThinkTech Hawaii and teaching classes through Lillian Vegan LLC. Her specialty is gourmet seven-course vegan meals and Vegan High Tea, proving plant-based food can stand next to any fine dining experience without apologizing.
Cookbook “Hawaii: A Vegan Paradise” showcases Hawaiian cuisine through plants. Nearly 200 recipe videos across YouTube and Facebook. What separates Cumic from Instagram influencers? Depth. She’s not chasing trends, she’s applying 20 years of professional technique to plant-based cuisine. CRAVE magazine featured her in June 2019. Recognition in the vegan community. Restaurant-quality food that doesn’t need the qualifier “for vegan food.” When classically trained chefs commit to plants, it changes how people see vegetables. Cumic treats them like they deserve the spotlight, not the side dish slot. That shift matters.
Ten chefs who stopped making excuses for what plants can do and started proving it instead. Caribbean spice. Soul food. Michelin-level technique. All plants. Check out FeedSpot’s directories for Vegan Influencers, Vegan Food YouTubers, Vegan Lifestyle Blogs, Vegan Blogs, Vegan Podcasts, Vegan YouTubers, Vegan RSS Feeds, Plant Based Food Blogs and hundreds more plant-based creators doing work worth watching. The food’s better than it’s ever been. Might be time to pay attention.