Best Free Vegetarian and Vegan Resources Online

For this article I have gathered the best online blogs, recipe sites, and other resources for Vegetarians and Vegans. The best thing about these sites is that they're free!

Vegetarian Times

This website is a branch off of the bimonthly magazine, Vegetarian Times. Here you will find tons of recipes, ranging from energy-packed breakfasts, low calorie lunches, vegan and vegetarian feasts! They have it all here, and the recipes are usually fairly simple and delicious. The best thing about this website is that you can search for recipes by certain keywords: "egg-free", "vegan", "gluten-free", "dairy-free", "low-calorie", and "low-fat". This makes finding recipes that suit your particular dietary needs very easy. You do not need to be a subscriber to Vegetarian Times to use the website, although it will annoyingly give you the option to subscribe when visiting the recipe section of the site. VT also has the option to receive receipe of the day emails, which always gives me great ideas for dinner!

This site also gives great tips to newly converted vegetarians- a "veg starter guide" is available upon download, as is a "substitution guide" which I have found very useful. This guide provides great tools for new vegetarians and vegans, such as how to replace eggs in cooking (bananas, applesauce, flaxseeds, etc.) and even vegan replacements for buttermilk. Overall, Vegetarian Times provides is excellent guide for us all!

Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World

This site is an excellent, and almost irreplaceable, resource for vegan bakers, novice and experienced. The blog is updated by the authors of the book Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World and contains scrumptious looking photos of recently baked vegan cupcakes, cookies, cakes, and pies. The recipes are a bit advanced and often contain some odd ingredients that you might not have already in your pantry. But these vegan bakers are the experts when it comes to making delicious vegan treats. If you like the blog, consider buying their book Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World.

101 Cookbooks

This blog, written by Heidi Swanson, always has a new and fresh recipe on the front page. Here you will find an abundance of vegetarian and vegan recipes (although they are a few non-veg recipes, but you can easily avoid them). The recipes are always accompanied by fantastic photos and excellent step by step directions. You can search the recipes by subject or by ingredients...you would be hard-pressed not to find a good recipe on here, from muffins to brussel sprouts! If you're having difficulty thinking of a recipe for a family dinner, or just a good breakfast for yourself, this is the place to come to first.

Veg Web

This site is a great resource for vegetarians and vegans alike looking for recipes, articles geared towards vegetarians and vegans specifically, and links to other resources for vegetarians and vegans online. The articles on vegweb are really useful and are written on a range of topics from weight maintenance to great foods for vegetarians and vegans, to the effects of soy an abundance of soy in the diet, etc. Vegweb provides a great online community for vegetarians and vegans who are looking for a support system in their alternative diets.

Vegetarian Cooking

Vegcooking is run by PETA, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. This site provides excellent resources for vegetarians and vegans who love to cook and love to go out to eat. Provided by Vegetarian Cooking are different guides on living a vegetarian or vegan lifestyle. Very useful is their "shopping guide" which enumerates certain items vegetarians and vegans should always have on hand for baking, snacks, beverages, etc. The website also has a guide for eating out, including "restaurant of the month", "vegetarian eating on the road" and a "vegetarian friendly restaurant guide". Although the guide is organized by state, is divided into cities so it is not particularly easy to use, but may be useful for those struggling to find veg-friendly restaurants. Lastly, the site has a section on "becoming vegetarian", with hints about how to make your favorite dishes without meat and other hints for those making the transition.