You know stuffing and cornbread and dumplings and quinoa … waffles and pasta and kugel and pizza … but do you recall … your most favorite recipes of all? Here’s a countdown of our 20 most popular recipes of 2020! These were the most viewed recipes of the year, so you know they’re good. We suggest that you take the next 20 days to try them all. 😊
PETA’s Top 20 Recipes of 2020
20. Sincerely, Katerina’s Vegan Peanut Butter and Banana Sushi
It’s like we always say: Who needs to slaughter fish when we’ve got bananas? In the number 20 spot are these delicious banana sushi rolls—super-easy to make and perfect for breakfast or a guilt-free (and dare we say totally Instagrammable) snack.
19. Peanut Butter Cookie Dough
The best part about vegan cookie dough is that you don’t even have to bake it—you can just eat it straight up (because there’s no risk of salmonella poisoning). This treat is perfect if you’re crunched for time or you prefer your cookies with zero crunch.
18. Berry Overnight Oats Crumble Cup
Anyone who burns their foot trying to wake up to the smell of bacon (à la Michael Scott) needs this recipe. All you do is mix the ingredients together at night, bake it as soon as you wake up, and enjoy a delicious, totally heart-healthy (and foot-safe) start to your day.
17. Vegan Gimbap: Veggie, Rice, and Seaweed Roll
In this traditional Korean dish, gim is dried sheets of seaweed and bap is rice, but we’re pretty sure GIMBAP is also an acronym for “get in my belly ASAP, please.”
16. Spicy Sesame Noodles
Yuh 👏 uh 👏 uh 👏 uh 👏 uh 👏 uh 👏 ummmm. 👏 And we mean it.
15. Strawberry-Almond-Kale Salad with Citrus Vinaigrette
This naturally low-calorie salad is easy to make and packed with vitamins A, C, E, K, and B₆ along with calcium, potassium, copper, manganese, and antioxidants. Think of all the money you can save on multivitamins just by eating this salad!
14. Vegan Fried ‘Chicken’
The bodies of sentient beings don’t belong in recipes, obviously. That’s why we love this fried “chicken”! One bite will make your eyes pop. But don’t worry—you made it yourself, so you know it’s vegan.
13. Enchilada Pie
This crowd-pleasing dish is disproportionately easy to make for how delicious it is. All you need is soy chorizo, beans, tortillas, vegan cheese, a few spices, and some toppings—and voilà! You’ve got yourself an enchilada pie. 👌
12. Tofu ‘Egg’ Salad Sandwich
It’s the classic lunchtime favorite but without the stink and the cruelty to birds. In the egg industry, male chicks are killed by being ground up alive and hens are mutilated and forced to live in squalor before they’re eventually killed. So this recipe calls for tofu and egg-free mayo instead. OMG, yum. 👍
11. Breakfast Scramble Tacos
Tofu scramble, soy chorizo, vegan sour cream, and vegan cheese? Taco ’bout tasty—we love everything about this satisfying dish.
10. Vegan French Toast
Sliding into the lineup at number 10 is vegan French toast. For this perfectly sweet and satisfying breakfast, we’ve swapped out dairy for soy milk, because why should cows be abused for French toast? Rounding out the recipe are yummy nutmeg and vanilla.
9. Vegan Chicken Parmesan
“Did I just teleport to Italy?” you’ll wonder as you taste this delicious meal made with vegan chicken cutlets (because the alternative is horrific), panko bread crumbs, vegan eggs, flour, marinara sauce, and vegan cheeses. Bellissimo!
8. No-Bake Cookie ‘Cheesecake’ Cupcakes
Whoa, whoa, whoa—a cookie cheesecake cupcake? According to our calculations, that’s three desserts in one. And you don’t even have to bake it! This eight-ingredient vegan dessert is nothing short of a miracle.
7. The Buddhist Chef’s General Tso’s Tofu
📣 Step away from the takeout menu. Once you learn how to make your own General Tso’s tofu, you’ll never go back to delivery. There’s even a video that shows you how to do it so you can’t mess it up.
6. Easiest Vegan Mac ‘n’ Cheese Ever
Vegan mac ‘n’ cheese belongs on every list—no matter what kind of list it is. We have quite a few recipes for this dish on our page, but this one has stolen the show. And it just so happens to be the easiest one (ever).
5. Raw. Vegan. Lasagna. And It’s Delicious.
It’s raw, it’s healthy, it’s delicious, and when you make it yourself, this lasagna is super-affordable. Just be sure to soak the cashews the night before (but if you forget, you can simmer them for 15 minutes instead). Watch the video to see for yourself how easy it is to make.
4. Delicious Vegan Battered ‘Fish’ Tacos
One bite and you’ll know you’re not in Kansas anymore. “Baja, California, here I come!” These vegan fish tacos will have you reaching for a fresh margarita that may or may not be there. That’s your call.
3. The Buddhist Chef’s Black Bean Veggie Burger
It shouldn’t always be about taking a plastic-wrapped patty out of the freezer and plopping it onto a skillet. We love convenience, but veggie burgers can also be a work of art. Let your kitchen be your canvas and this recipe the paint. Now go—go create your masterpiece! It’s totally worth it.
2. WATCH: Spicy Buffalo Cauliflower ‘Wings’
Once you realize that paying people to kill chickens so that you can eat their wings is something only a goblin would do, you realize that the thing you love most about this dish is the sauce. So many realizations. You can still have all the hot, savory, yumminess of Buffalo sauce and dip these bites in vegan bleu cheese or ranch dressing without any of the slaughtered animals. Love that!
1. Tofu-Spinach Lasagna
In the number one spot is tofu spinach lasagna! Tofu, being the miracle food that it is, makes for delicious ricotta, and the herbs, spices, and veggies will have you looking forward to a second piece before you’ve even finished the first.
*****
There’s no shortage of fun recipes or delightful foods for vegans to eat. With less saturated fat and no cholesterol, hormones, antibiotics, feces, or trauma energy—as are found in animal-derived foods—vegan meals are healthier, more affordable, and delicious. Plus, they make you feel good.