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Many of the most loved dishes on Muslim tables — ful in Cairo, mujaddara in Damascus, dal in Lahore and Dhaka, gado-gado in Jakarta, kısır in Istanbul — were plant-based long before anyone used the word "vegan". For much of history, meat was an occasional food for most Muslims, kept for feasts and guests. Eating mostly plants is not a break with Muslim food culture. It is a return to its everyday heart.
The Qur'an lists God's provision mostly in plants: "We pour down water in torrents, then split the earth, and grow in it grain, and grapes and herbs, and olives and date palms, and lush gardens, and fruit and fodder" (80:25–31). The recipes below are chosen from across the Muslim world. They are cheap and filling, and most can be made from a well-stocked pantry.
In short
- Every recipe here is plant-based and halal by ingredient.
- Each is built around a protein-rich legume, grain or soy food.
- Check shop-bought stock, flavourings and bread for hidden animal additives.
- Batch-cook dals, beans and soups to save time through the week.
Eight recipes
Egypt & the Levant
Ful medames
Ingredients
- 2 tins (800 g) fava beans
- 3 garlic cloves, crushed
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- Parsley, tomato and onion to serve
Method
- Warm the beans in their liquid for 10 minutes.
- Mash about half with the garlic, cumin and lemon.
- Top with olive oil, parsley, tomato and onion. Serve with bread.
A classic suhoor: slow-digesting protein and fibre keep you full through the fast.
Morocco
Vegetable harira
Ingredients
- 1 cup brown lentils
- 1 tin chickpeas
- 1 onion, 2 celery sticks, chopped
- 1 tin chopped tomatoes + 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 tsp each turmeric, ginger, cinnamon
- Large handful each of coriander and parsley
- 2 tbsp flour whisked in water
- Lemon and dates to serve
Method
- Soften the onion and celery in oil with the spices.
- Add lentils, tomatoes, paste and 2 litres of water; simmer 35 minutes.
- Add chickpeas and herbs, then stir in the flour mixture until silky.
- Serve with lemon wedges and dates.
The traditional Ramadan soup works perfectly without meat; the lentils carry it.
Levant
Mujaddara
Ingredients
- 1 cup brown or green lentils
- 1 cup rice or bulgur
- 3 large onions, thinly sliced
- 5 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp cumin, salt
Method
- Boil lentils 15 minutes until just tender.
- Fry onions slowly in oil until deep brown; set half aside.
- Add rice, lentils, cumin and water to the pan; cover and cook 20 minutes.
- Top with the crisp onions. Serve with yoghurt-free cucumber salad.
Rice and lentils together give a complete protein profile.
South Asia
Chana masala
Ingredients
- 2 tins chickpeas
- 1 onion, 3 garlic cloves, 1 thumb ginger
- 2 tomatoes or 1 tin
- 1 tsp each cumin seeds, garam masala, coriander
- ½ tsp turmeric, chilli to taste
- Fresh coriander, lemon
Method
- Toast cumin seeds in oil, then add onion, garlic and ginger.
- Add ground spices and tomatoes; cook to a thick paste.
- Add chickpeas and a cup of water; simmer 15 minutes, crushing a few.
- Finish with lemon and coriander; serve with rice or roti.
Ready in the time it takes to cook rice — a weekday staple.
Indonesia
Gado-gado
Ingredients
- 200 g tempeh and 200 g firm tofu
- Potatoes, green beans, cabbage, beansprouts, cucumber
- Sauce: 5 tbsp peanut butter, 1 garlic clove, 1 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tbsp palm sugar, lime, chilli, warm water
Method
- Fry tofu and tempeh until golden.
- Boil potatoes and blanch the vegetables.
- Blend the sauce ingredients until pourable.
- Arrange everything on a platter and pour over the sauce.
Tempeh is a traditional Javanese fermented soy food — rich in protein and easy to digest.
Iran
Ghormeh sabzi with kidney beans
Ingredients
- 1 cup kidney beans (soaked) or 2 tins
- 4 cups chopped parsley, coriander, spinach, 1 cup chives, 2 tbsp dried fenugreek
- 250 g mushrooms, quartered
- 1 onion, 1 tsp turmeric
- 4 dried limes (limoo omani), pierced
Method
- Fry the herbs slowly in oil until dark and fragrant (15–20 min).
- Brown onion with turmeric and the mushrooms.
- Add beans, herbs, dried limes and water; simmer gently for an hour.
- Serve with saffron rice.
Mushrooms replace the meat's depth; the herbs and dried lime are the real soul of the dish.
Turkey
Kısır
Ingredients
- 1 cup fine bulgur
- 2 tbsp tomato paste, 1 tbsp pepper paste
- Spring onions, parsley, mint
- Juice of 1 lemon, 2 tbsp pomegranate molasses, olive oil
Method
- Pour 1 cup boiling water over the bulgur; cover 10 minutes.
- Knead in the pastes while warm.
- Add herbs, lemon, molasses and oil; season. Serve in lettuce leaves.
A favourite for iftar spreads and picnics; keeps well for two days.
Pakistan, India & Bangladesh
Tarka dal
Ingredients
- 1 cup red lentils
- ½ tsp turmeric
- Tarka: 2 tbsp oil, 1 tsp cumin seeds, 3 garlic cloves, 2 dried chillies, 1 small onion
- Coriander, lemon
Method
- Simmer lentils with turmeric in 3 cups water for 20 minutes until soft.
- Fry the tarka ingredients until the garlic is golden.
- Pour the sizzling tarka over the dal; finish with coriander and lemon.
Cheap, fast and nourishing — the everyday food of hundreds of millions of people.
A 7-day meal plan
This plan uses the recipes above, with leftovers carried into the next day's lunch. Swap days freely. Add fruit, nuts and a portion of leafy greens daily.
| Day | Breakfast | Lunch | Dinner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | Oats with dates, walnuts and fortified soya milk | Hummus, falafel and tabbouleh wrap | Chana masala with brown rice |
| Tuesday | Ful medames with wholemeal bread | Leftover chana masala | Mujaddara with cucumber-tomato salad |
| Wednesday | Peanut butter toast and a banana | Kısır with chickpeas | Gado-gado |
| Thursday | Tofu scramble with spinach and za'atar | Lentil soup and bread | Tarka dal with rice and greens |
| Friday | Overnight oats with figs and chia | Family jumu'ah lunch: ghormeh sabzi and saffron rice | Leftovers with salad |
| Saturday | Manakish with za'atar, olives, tomatoes | Vegetable harira | Bean and vegetable tagine with couscous |
| Sunday | Smoothie: soya milk, banana, oats, peanut butter | Harira leftovers | Batch-cook dal and beans for the week |
Ramadan and Eid menus
Fasting days call for slow-burning suhoor foods and a gentle iftar. Eid calls for abundance. Both are easy to do without animal products. For the question of qurbani itself, see our page on qurbani and Eid al-Adha.
Ramadan: suhoor
- Ful medames or hummus with wholemeal bread
- Overnight oats with dates and nuts
- Water, cucumber and watermelon to help hydration
Ramadan: iftar
- Break the fast with dates and water (Sunan Abi Dawud 2356)
- Vegetable harira or lentil soup
- Kısır, fattoush and stuffed vine leaves
- Mujaddara or chana masala as the main dish
Eid feast table
- Ghormeh sabzi or a chickpea and apricot biryani
- Stuffed vegetables (dolma/mahshi) with rice and herbs
- Ma'amoul made with plant butter or olive oil
- Sheer khurma with oat or almond milk
Pantry and nutrition notes
Keep dried or tinned lentils, chickpeas and beans, rice, bulgur, oats, tahini, peanut butter, tomato paste, olive oil, and the spice-box basics: cumin, coriander, turmeric, cinnamon, paprika and chilli. With these, every recipe above is within reach.
Supplements matter
Use the ingredient label checker on our Tools page to scan packaged foods for gelatine, carmine, whey and other hidden animal-derived additives.
Research trail
Sources and further reading
- 01Qur'an 6:141, 80:24–32 — the gardens, grains, olives, dates and fruits listed as God's provision
- 02Sunan Abi Dawud 2356; Jami' al-Tirmidhi 696 — breaking the fast with fresh dates, dried dates or water
- 03Sahih Muslim 2052 — 'What a good condiment vinegar is' — the Prophet's simple meal of bread and vinegar
- 04Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, Position on Vegetarian Diets (2016) — well-planned vegetarian and vegan diets are healthful for all life stages
- 05NHS, The vegan diet — practical guidance on B12, iodine, calcium, iron and omega-3
References are given so readers can check them in the primary sources. Hadith gradings and scholarly positions are summarised in good faith; where a text is disputed we say so. Verify before you rely on anything here.
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