Today, I had a very interesting conversation with my friend during our lunch break and she told me : ” I legit would not know what to cook for you if you came over for dinner”. And you know what? I’ve probably heard that a hundred times. I get it, it can be intimidating at first but all I want to say is that it’s really not that complicated. Let’s dive in and have a look at what you can cook when you have a vegan guest without having to buy “weird” ingredients.

You will never go wrong with pasta

A lot people don’t know this but most store bought dry pasta is vegan. If it isn’t, the package will proudly state that they contain eggs. You won’t be able to miss it. But obviously, no pasta is dish is complete without a good sauce. If you’re feeling lazy, you can go for something as simple as marinara sauce. If not, you can step up your game with sauces like arrabiata, lemon garlic, grilled veggies or lentil bolognese.

Who doesn’t like a good soup? Your vegan guest sure does!

I know, I know. Soup doesn’t sound very exciting but trust me, it can be. I love pretty much any simple vegetable soup: pumpkin, mixed vegetables, leek and potato, carrot, sweet potato… the list goes on. Just top them with a few croutons and toasted nuts or seeds and you got yourself a light meal. Or, you can go down the hearty path and cook soups like minestrone, lentil soup, ramen or borscht.

Tex Mex Bonanza

Here is a random fact about Norway: people LOVE taco Friday and I get why. It’s festive, tastes good and is easy to make. You just prep a bunch of toppings and everyone does their own thing. If you’re accommodating a vegan guest, all you have to do is add a bowl of beans on the table. But your options are not limited to taco, you could also make nachos , chili sin carne, burritos or even enchiladas. Please use seasoning though!

Get you vegan guest curry-ed away

It doesn’t matter if we are talking about Indian or Thai curries, my favorite thing about them is that you can pretty much use anything you have at home in them. It can be lentils, chickpeas from your pantry or all sorts of vegetables you might have forgotten were in your fridge … Needless to say, curries taste amazing and they’re also fairly easy to cook once you get the spices right.