An ingredient so accessible, so basic, yet so versatile and powerful it can give plain dishes a serious makeover and even change lives – you guessed it, we’re talking about the onion! Join us in celebrating National Onion Day, because this humble vegetable deserves all the praise. We bet you’ll be able to find a vegan onion recipe that will and add some serious flavor to your life on our list of over three dozen onion-starring dishes ranging from appetizers & sides to soups, dips & sandwiches to pies, mains, and even condiments. There’s something for everyone in each category. Enjoy!
Vegan Onion Appetizers & Sides
Vegan Onion Rings by Make It Dairy Free
We’re kicking off today’s list with a true American classic among onion dishes made plant-based! These vegan onion rings are a bit healthier since they are over-baked and top 8 allergen (including gluten) free!
Click here for the full recipe.
Baked Pakora (Onion Bhaji) by Vegan Richa
This vegan onion recipe is another take on fried onions, this time coming from Indian cuisine. Onion Bhaji is a popular snack made from thinly sliced onions fried in fragrant batter. If you’ve tried it at an Indian restaurant and want to recreate it at home, this is the recipe for you!
Click here for the full recipe.
Vegan Oven-Baked Blooming Onion by Eat Drink Shrink
Blooming onion is a battered and deep-fried onion that’s cut to resemble a flower. This appetizer was popularized by chains that vegans likely don’t frequent. However, if you’ve never tried it and are intrigued with the concept, or have tried it and would like to recreate it at home, it’s easily veganized, and can even be made in an oven to save you all the deep-frying trouble!
Click here for the full recipe.
Pearl Onions In Cream Sauce by Living Vegan
When you look at pearl onions, it’s clear where they got their name from. They are smaller, whiter, and sweeter than regular onions, and are more commonly used for pickling because their dainty teardrop shape doesn’t always hold well after being cooked. However, in the US they are also known as creamers, and we found a vegan onion recipe that preserves their shape and flavor while cooking them in a creamy sauce!
Click here for the full recipe.
Loaded Baked Onion by The Blooming Platter
Eating a whole onion on its own is no small feat if it’s fresh, but when it’s baked almost au naturel, and then topped with vegan butter, sour cream, green onion slices, and smoked almonds, it becomes a decadent treat!
Click here for the full recipe.
Vegan Sogan Dolma (Bosnian Stuffed Onions) by Margo Drobi
If baked stuffed onions sound exciting to you, be sure to check out this veganized traditional Bosnian recipe for sogan dolma – a dish that allows the natural sweetness of onions to encase a savory minced meat and rice filling. Only in this case, there’s no mince and no need to buy plant-based meats – lentils, mushrooms, and veggies will do just fine!
Click here for the full recipe.
Kachumbari (East African Salad) by Paleo Low Carb Kate
This simple, refreshing and tangy East African salad will be a perfect addition to summer dinners and barbecues! Made with fresh onions, tomatoes, and just a handful of more simple ingredients, it is often served as an appetizer or as a side dish in Kenya.
Click here for the full recipe.
Vegan Sour Cream & Onion Biscuit by Forager Project
Moving on to vegan onion recipes starring scallion, we have these flaky, airy biscuits that use cashew-based sour cream that provides rich, tangy flavor, and acidity that helps make the biscuits incredibly light and tender. Serve them warm with more vegan sour cream and scallions to further enhance this dreamy flavor combination!
Click here for the full recipe.
Pajeon 파전 (Korean Green Onion Pancake) by Maangchi
While jeon refers to a Korean dish that can be made of almost any vegetable or protein, as long as it’s thinly sliced, coated in flour, and fried, pajeon is a kind of jeon with scallion as its prominent ingredient (pa (파) means scallion). This easy vegan onion recipe basically consists of scallions covered in a thin batter made from accessible ingredients and served with some spicy sauce (with more onion in it). Yum!
Click here for the full recipe.
The Ultimate Guide to Flakiest Chinese Scallion Pancakes (葱油饼)
Chinese scallion pancakes (also known as cong you bing or green onion pancakes) are a popular street food, and for a good reason – they have a crispy thin outside layer that crackles when you bite into it, and many more translucent elastic dough layers inside, and of course, lots of scallions inside! Hannah Che of The Plant-Based Wok went on a quest for the perfect Scallion Pancake recipe and shared her best tips & tricks. What a treat!
Click here for the full recipe.
Crispy Scallion Potato Pancakes by The Viet Vegan
A simpler, yet just as delicious way to make a scallion pancake is to mix it up with some grated potato, dill, and spices, and to top it with some vegan sour cream and chives!
Click here for the full recipe.
Vegan Onion Dips
Vegan Korean Cauliflower Wings with Scallion Dip by The Sasha Diaries
If you love gochugaru (aka spicy Korean fermented pepper paste) as much as you love scallions, this vegan onion recipe is perfect for you! It’s a Korean twist on the cauliflower wings, cooked in a sweet & spicy gochugaru glaze, topped with fresh scallions, and served with cooling, zingy scallion dip. Yum!
Click here for the full recipe.
Vegan French Onion Dip by The Simple Veganista
Caramelized onions make a wonderful, deeply flavorful base for so many vegan dishes (as we will see further), and this crowd-pleasing dairy-free sourcream-based French onion dip is no exception!
Click here for the full recipe.
Caramelized Onion White Bean Dip by The Curious Chickpea
If you’re not in the mood for a full-on onion dip, but don’t want to miss out on the burst of flavor it provides, use caramelized onions to top a delicate creamy white bean dip, just as Eva of The Curious Chickpea did!
Click here for the full recipe.
Vegan Onion Sandwiches & Burgers
Sweet Potato & Caramelized Onion Toast by Sweet Potato Soul
This flavorful vegan onion recipe makes for the ultimate comforting breakfast toast! It’s a perfectly sweet, yet undeniably savory spread perfect for eating with bread, gluten-free crackers, lettuce, or even on its own!
Click here for the full recipe.
Grilled Cheese & Onion Sandwich by The Korean Vegan
Joanne Molinaro of The Korean Vegan describes this recipe as a “‘rustic’ (aka, “I’m hungry so I don’t need it to look pretty”) sandwich”, and if that’s your favorite kind, too, be sure to check out her full recipe with tips and tricks on how to make this perfectly imperfect vegan grilled cheese!
Click here for the full recipe.
BBQ Tempeh Sandwiches with Roasted Onion and Ginger Slaw by Chocolate for Basil
Baked BBQ tempeh sounds good enough on its own, but when you pair it with fragrant roasted red onion & red cabbage slaw, it becomes irresistible! Additionally, you can use onion potential to the max by adding sliced scallions, and fried onions between the buns.
Click here for the full recipe.
Vegan Oklahoma Fried Onion Burger by Thee Burger Dude
If you’ve never heard of the Oklahoma Fried Onion Burger, it’s said to have been conceived during the Great Depression (hence its other name, Depression Burger) as a way to stretch out the amount of protein available for serving in those lean years by swapping half the meat in burger patties for onions. But these days it’s just a very flavorful (vegan, thanks to Thee Burger Dude!) burger with a dark secret.
Click here for the full recipe.
Vegan Onion Pies & Tarts
Zwiebelkuchen (German Vegan Onion Tart) by VE Eat Cook Bake
Vegan Zwiebelkuchen (which literally translates to “onion cake”) is made with yeast dough and topped with sautéed onions, and silken tofu cashew cream that has a slightly smoky taste. It’s one of those comforting vegan onion recipes you’ll want to come back to!
Click here for the full recipe.
Vegan Tarte Flambée 4 Ways by Zucker & Jagdwurst
Flammkuchen (the German name for tarte flambée) is somewhat similar to Zwiebelkuchen from the previous recipe, but in this case, the dough is rolled out very thinly before baking, and then covered with sour cream and various toppings (which, of course, include onions!). Isa & Julia of Zucker & Jagdwurst share their favorite flavor variations which include onions & smoked tofu, pumpkin & pear, and more!
Click here for the full recipe.
Vegan Onion Soups
Vegan Creamy French Onion Soup by Barbara French Vegan
Another famous onion-starring dish, veganized: this creamy French onion soup is hearty, flavorful, and absolutely delicious! Barbara’s version is made in under an hour, so it will likely become one of those vegan onion recipes you’ll want to make all the time!
Click here for the full recipe.
Cheesy Vegan Leek and Potato Soup by Two Spoons
One of the most popular ways to cook leek (a close relative of the onion), is in a creamy pureed soup along with potatoes. This recipe in particular uses homemade cashew cheese sauce for that extra flavor boost!
Click here for the full recipe.
Vegetable Broth from Veggie Scraps by It Doesn’t Taste Like Chicken
A great way to utilize your onion skins is to cook them into a homemade veggie broth with scraps. Lower your food waste and enhance your soups, curries, and other savory dishes with this easy DIY veggie broth!
Click here for the full recipe.
Vegan Onion Mains
French Onion Gnocchi Bake by Life in the South
One-pot meal lovers, rejoice! This vegan onion recipe is pantry-friendly and made in under 20 minutes (if you have vegan gnocchi on hand, that is). This bake is onion-heavy, and we’re absolutely here for it!
Click here for the full recipe.
Vegan Caramelised Onion Risotto by School Night Vegan
Take your vegan risotto skills to the next level with this recipe by Richard Makin that yields glossy, deeply flavored, satisfyingly silky results! Two main secrets of this dish are that it looks decadent, but is made from pantry staples, and it’s also “an absolute love song to the onion”, which is where all the flavor comes from!
Click here for the full recipe.
Vegan Caramelized Onion Pasta by Rainbow Plant Life
Onions are a universal savory ingredient: they’re inexpensive, they have a decent shelf life, and they do wonders when it comes to enhancing flavors of even the easiest dishes. This vegan onion recipe uses only a handful of ingredients besides pasta and onions (with a strong umami punch from tomato paste & sundried tomatoes), and is perfect for a quick weeknight dinner!
Click here for the full recipe.
Vegan Brown Rice Jollof by The Canadian African
This vegan recipe is a “healthier” alternative to regular Jollof Rice (Learn more about the origins of this dish in our Food History column), which has a few star ingredients to its signature flavor, and one of them is the onion! Check out The Canadian African’s full blog post to find out what the other secrets of this dish are.
Click here for the full recipe.
Chinese Scallion Oil Noodles by The Foodie Takes Flight
Scallions are sometimes underappreciated, but they have great potential in terms of enhancing the flavor and aroma of the dish. Case in point: these vegan Chinese noodles that are bathed in fragrant scallion oil and mushroom soy sauce. Is anybody else drooling yet?
Click here for the full recipe.
Crispy Tofu Steaks with Caramelized Onion Gravy by Connoisseurus Veg
What is it about caramelized onions that instantly makes any dish more comforting? The tofu steaks might be perfectly crispy and mouthwateringly golden brown, but they wouldn’t be complete without a rich thick caramelized onion gravy!
Click here for the full recipe.
Tofu Dopiaza (Fried Tofu with Double Onions) by Sanjana Feasts
This fragrant Indian dish has onions added at two separate stages during cooking, hence the name dopiaza (which translates as “two onions”). We’re sure you can imagine how flavorful a dish with twice as many onions is! Not only that, it’s rich with textures from crispy tofu & crunchy green peppers, as well as flavors from aromatic masalas.
Click here for the full recipe.
Authentic Vegan Japanese Curry by Okonomi Kitchen
Japanese curry is made with simple ingredients, and yet it’s incredibly rich and flavorful! Onion fans will recognize the brown color of the curry as a result of onion caramelization, and stew experts will recognize its thick, glossy texture as a result of adding roux. Head on over to Okonomi Kitchen to learn how to make real Japanese curry!
Click here for the full recipe.
Vegan Onion Condiments, Pickles, Sauces & Spreads
Homemade Pico de Gallo by Real+Vibrant
Pico de Gallo is one of the originally vegan onion recipes on today’s list. This Mexican salsa fresca is made with onions, tomatoes, cilantro, jalapeno, and lime juice, and works perfectly as a taco topping, or enjoyed on its own with some chips!
Click here for the full recipe.
Garlic Chive Herb Tofu Cream Cheese by Radiant Rachels
Chives are slightly more rarely used onion relatives due to their mild flavor which can get lost amid louder ingredients, but these thin, grass-like members of the allium family add a subtle oniony flavor with a hint of garlic to this creamy breakfast spread!
Click here for the full recipe.
Onion Chutney by Holy Cow Vegan
Eat it with a dosa, spread it on a toast, add it to a wrap – it doesn’t matter how you devour this vegan onion chutney, but we bet it will be hard to stop! This very traditional South Indian vegan onion recipe is extremely flavorful yet perfectly versatile.
Click here for the full recipe.
Quick Pickled Red Onions by From My Bowl
Pickling your onions is not only a great way to preserve them, but also to have a different tasting experience, where their flesh is still crunchy, but the flavor isn’t as strong as the fresh onions’. All this gorgeous color will brighten your dishes, and all you’ll need to get there is 10 minutes and 4 common ingredients!
Click here for the full recipe.
Homemade Onion Powder & Flakes by Grow a Good Life
Finally, if you’re into DYI spice making, this vegan onion recipe will not only save your onions from going bad, but also provide you with a no-nonsense homemade onion powder to enhance any savory dish even if you don’t have onions to cook with! Head on over to Grow a Good Life to learn how to turn your onions into dehydrated onion flakes, minced dried onions, and onion powder.
Click here for the full recipe.
Editor: Anna Kot.
