Vegetables for a Healthy Vegan Diet | How to Eat More as a Vegan

Vegetables and health seem to go hand in hand. While there are many different perspectives on what healthy eating looks like, most people seem to agree that vegetables are needed for optional health. Unfortunately, a vegan diet isn’t necessarily a healthy diet. It’s important for vegans to ensure they eat a range of different food groups, including vegetables.

While many people don’t enjoy vegetables, often times they have only had poorly cooked vegetables or haven’t really given vegetables a fair chance.

This article covers:

What are Vegetables?
Health Benefits of Vegetables
Nutrition Content of Vegetables
Why It’s Important to Eat Vegetables as a Vegan
List of Vegetables to Include on a Vegan Diet
How to Include More Vegetables into your Vegan Diet
Recipes with Vegetables from Lettuce Veg Out

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Why vegetables are essential for a healthy vegan diet

What are Vegetables?

Vegetables are plants or parts of plants that humans use as food ¹. There are different categories of vegetables, often classified by the part of the plant that is eaten. For example, “root vegetables” indicates we are eating the root of a plant.

Many of the vegetables that we eat fit the botanical definition of a fruit ¹. However, when it comes to nutrition and culinary applications, the nutrient content and use in cooking is a far more practical way to define food.

When we look at vegetables as a food group, we are referring to a group of food with similar nutritional value and similar use in cooking applications.

Health Benefits of Vegetables

There are many health benefits associated with consumption of vegetables. Please note, since vegetables and fruits are often grouped together, research tends to look at vegetables and fruits as one group.

Some of the strongest associations we have between vegetables and health are for heart diseases including stroke ²^,³^,⁴^,⁵^,⁶^,⁷^,⁸. Studies generally show consumption of vegetables (and fruits) lowers risk of heart disease ²^,³^,⁴^,⁵^,⁶^,⁷^,⁸.

There’s also evidence for the health benefits of vegetables in relation to cancer. Research shows that vegetable intake can both help prevent cancer and provide better outcomes for those who are diagnosed with certain types of cancers ⁹^,¹⁰^,¹¹^,¹²^,¹³^,¹⁴^,¹⁵^,¹⁶^,¹⁷.

Intake of vegetables appears to benefit cognitive function with age ¹⁸^,¹⁹^,²⁰^,²¹^,²².

Nutrition Content of Vegetables

Personally, I separate vegetables and fruits into two distinct food groups (vs grouping them together). My main reasoning for this is to demonstrate the importance of eating both vegetables and fruits.

People are more likely to consume fruit so by separating fruits from vegetables, emphasis can be placed on the importance of consuming a variety of vegetables for health.

Vegetables tend to be a bit more nutrient dense compared to fruits, but it really depends on which vegetables and which fruits you are comparing.

Vegetables typically provide higher amounts of:

Vitamin A (in the form of beta carotene)
Magnesium
Calcium (specifically in leafy and dark green vegetables)
B vitamins, including folate
Vitamin K
Vitamin C
Zinc

While there are many beneficial antioxidant and phytochemical compounds in fruits, there are also many distinct and health-promoting compounds found exclusively in vegetables. Someone who only consumes fruit, or doesn’t consume any vegetables or fruits, would miss out on these amazing health benefits.

Why It’s Important to Eat Vegetables as a Vegan

It might seem silly to point out that vegans need to eat vegetables for health. However, a vegan diet isn’t necessarily healthy or meeting nutrient needs and there are vegetarians and vegans out there who do not consume enough vegetables.

Especially with the abundance of vegan options that replace animal products, a vegan could consume the vegan version of the Standard American Diet. Some of these vegan replacements to animal products are healthy whereas others may not be ideal as a staple in a vegan diet.

It’s perfectly okay to include processed vegan options in an overall balanced diet. But, not eating vegetables is not the path to optimal health, even if someone is following a completely vegan diet.

A vegan diet needs to be balanced and varied to ensure adequate nutrition is being consumed, and vegetables are an important part of that picture. Consuming legumes, whole grain, nuts, seeds, fruits and vegetables is a great base for a balanced vegan diet.

List of Vegetables to Include on a Vegan Diet

When selecting any foods, variety is often important. This holds true for vegetables in particular because each different vegetable contains different plant compounds. Many of these plant compounds haven’t been studied yet, but many of the ones that have been researched seem to benefit health (generally speaking).

Different colors also indicate different nutrition content as well as different antioxidants. Eating a variety of differently colored vegetables can be a helpful way to maximize nutrient intake.

So what vegetables should vegans include in their diet?! Vegans can eat whatever vegetables they enjoy. If you’re not a fan of vegetables, try to push your taste buds of find new ways of cooking that work better for you. See my tips below!

List of Vegetables by Category

Leafy green vegetables (kale, collard greens, spinach, cabbage, beet greens, Swiss chard, watercress, all types of lettuce etc.)
Cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, radish etc.)
Root vegetables (potato, sweet potato, parsnips, carrots, rutabaga, turnips etc.)
Allium vegetables (onion, garlic, leeks, scallion, shallot, chives etc.)
Stems/ stalks (asparagus, celery, fennel, fiddlehead etc.)
Vegetables that are technically fruits (all types of squash and pumpkin, bell peppers, cucumber, tomato, avocado, olives etc.)
Mushrooms (technically a fungus)
Corn (technically a grain)
Peas, snow peas/ snap peas, green beans (technically a legume)

How to Include More Vegetables into your Vegan Diet

Most people could benefit from including more vegetables in their diet. Eating more vegetables is a common goal. However, it’s a goal that is often challenging to succeed with.

Here are my top tips for how to include more vegetables in your diet.

Don’t Boil Vegetables

Unless you truly enjoy eating vegetables this way, try other techniques for cooking vegetables. Boiled (and steamed) vegetables are often boring so instead, try stir frying/ sautéing, roasting, air frying, stewing, grilling and/ or pickling vegetables.

Try a New Vegetable a Few Times Before Deciding if you Like It

Taste buds are often hesitant with new foods and it can take many exposures before we start enjoying a food. While there’s nothing wrong with truly not liking something (and no reason to eat foods we don’t enjoy) giving each vegetable a few chances, cooked in a few different ways, can really help expand our palate and increase the variety of vegetables we want to include in our diet!

Make a Tasty Salad

Skip the boring iceberg lettuce salads and prep a new and exciting salad each week. There are thousands of recipes out there so get experimenting. Once you find a few that you like, add them to your regular meal rotation, with room to try a new salad recipe every month or so!

Keep Frozen Vegetables on Hand

Frozen vegetables can be a quick and easy way to add some nutrition to a meal. Frozen vegetables work well in mixed dishes like stir fry, soup, stew and curries. It’s nice to have a mix of fresh and frozen vegetables in a recipe, but by keeping frozen on hand, there’s never an excuse for skipping out on the veg! Peas, corn, edamame, broccoli, cauliflower, stir fry veg (peppers, onions, snap peas mix) and frozen leafy greens are all great to keep on hand.

Buy Ready-to-Go Vegetable Options

If it fits within your budget, buying vegetables already washed and/or cut can be a huge time saver and make incorporating vegetables into your routine easier.

Set Aside Time to Prepare Vegetables Every Week

Especially if buying prepped vegetables doesn’t fit into your budget, set aside a half hour or so to prep vegetables yourself once you get home from the grocery store. This is one of the best ways to ensure you eat vegetables as you are much more likely to toss them into a meal if they are ready to go.

Buy a Realistic Amount of Vegetables Each Week

Sometimes, when people want to eat more vegetables they go a bit overboard at the grocery store. Be realistic with what you can eat and have a plan in place for how to use up leftover veg that’s starting to go bad at the end of the week (see the recipes below).

Recipes with Vegetables from Lettuce Veg Out

I put vegetables in almost any recipe I make which means most of the recipes I’ve posted here at Lettuce Veg Out have vegetables in them!

It’s also helpful to have a plan to use up vegetables before they start going bad. Having recipes that work no matter what you throw into them are a fantastic to keep in mind. As long as you have the flavoring ingredients (herbs, spices, sauces), you can make a tasty meal.

Here’s a list of my favorite recipes to make when I have a few vegetables around that need to get used up:

Hope you find this list helpful so you never have to waste veggies again! There’s also the option to roast vegetables with a touch of oil and your favorite spices.

Summary: Vegetables for a Healthy Vegan Diet

Vegetables are an important food group for a healthy vegan diet. There are many health benefits to consuming vegetables as well as many important nutrients that vegetables provide in the diet.

Despite vegan diets having the potential to support health at any stage of life, without a balance of food groups including vegetables, a vegan diet may not be considered healthy. Vegetables may be challenging to consume enough of, but focusing on trying new options and using cooking methods that make vegetables taste better can be very helpful in increasing intake.

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References cited:

Please note that this is a curated list of references for the topics above and is not intended to be comprehensive.

Disclaimer: always speak with a doctor before changing your diet. Please read our full website disclaimer.

Author Profile: Nicole Stevens

Nicole is a vegan Registered Dietitian (RD) and founder of Lettuce Veg Out. She provides vegans with balanced meals and easy-to-understand nutrition science.

Having attained a Masters degree and passing a national registration exam, Nicole is a trusted source of nutrition information. She uses this knowledge to educate others about vegan diets and how to thrive as a vegan.