How to Do Veganuary (2026 Guide): Tips, Checklist & Beginner Meal Plan

Updated for Veganuary 2026.

If you’re taking the 30-day vegan challenge and going vegan this month of January for the now-famous Veganuary, congrats on this new beginning. You will never regret going plant-based or eating less meat. Here’s my easy Veganuary recipe to help you have a delicious and fulfilling month in this fine new year.

If you’re reading this, I guess you’re already familiar with what Veganuary is. I’m also assuming you’re here for some Veganuary tips or an easy Veganuary recipe on how to make your vegan month a success or at least make it more bearable. Nervous, already feeling like giving up, cold turkey sweats? Don’t be. Research shows that it takes 21 days to pick up a new habit (healthy or otherwise…) so give it a try, it may end up changing your life, such as it did for me when my vegan journey began 15 years ago. There are many apps for vegans you can already download; a great way to make your month easier, and why not read these vegan quotes to get your mojo working.

Below are my top tips on how to do Veganuary I’ve gathered over the years. Please get in touch on Instagram where I am most active, and let me know how you get on and ask as many questions as you want. There’s little in life I feel more strongly about than veganism. So congrats on reading this in the first place and let’s get cracking with my Veganuary tips already!

More on the topic of veganism on the blog:
* The Essential Vegan Grocery Stores List
* My Vegan Sneakers Collection
* The best Vegan Documentaries you Should Watch now
* Vegan Travel Europe: the Ultimate Guide
* The Best Apps for Vegans
* The Guide to Vegan Alcohol
* BCAA for Vegans: Where to Find Them
* My Favorite Vegan Health Supplements
* My Favorite Vegan Winter Boots
* All you Need to Know About Collagen for Vegans

What is Veganuary?

Veganuary is a global non-profit challenge that encourages people to go vegan for the month of January. It was founded in the United Kingdom in 2014 and has grown into one of the most significant events in the vegan movement, with millions of veganuary participants from over 200 countries signing up each year. High-profile Veganuary ambassadors have included singer Billie Eilish, actor Joaquin Phoenix, and actress Mayim Bialik, which tells you something about how far this thing has come in recent years.

The premise is simple: commit to a 30-day trial run without animal-derived ingredients. No dairy milk, no meat, no eggs, no animal cruelty on your plate. What you gain is a new way of eating that’s lighter on your carbon footprint, better for animal welfare, and, as a growing body of research now confirms, really good for your health.

Veganuary Checklist (Save This)

New to this? Start here. This Veganuary checklist covers everything you need before day one:

• Sign up to Veganuary for free email support and daily recipe ideas
• Plan 5 to 7 easy plant-based meals for your first week
• Stock your kitchen with vegan staples (more on this below)
• Download the HappyCow app to find vegan restaurants near you
• Pick your “why”: animal welfare, environmental impact, or your health
• Get a vitamin B12 supplement to avoid nutritional deficiencies
• Find at least one accountability buddy
• Accept in advance that you will mess up and that it is completely fine

How to do Veganuary: My Veganuary Tips to Ease Into Veganism in 2026!

1. Find a Veganuary Buddy

Doing anything alone is always harder, so why not partner up with someone? That’s one of the best Veganuary tips to begin with. This may be difficult if you live with a partner or flatmate who isn’t doing the 30-day vegan challenge, so perhaps there’s an incentive for them to humor you in this? It’s only a month long, what could you do in return for them the next month?

I originally transitioned to a vegetarian diet first and then vegan with my then-partner and, admittedly, had it not been for him, I don’t think I would have been able to do this on my own, let alone stick to it.

So find yourself a pal or an accountability buddy, and if you can’t, reach out to me!

Disclaimer: This post may include affiliate links.

Find your one Meaningful Reason to Make the Switch to Plant-based Foods

There are dozens of reasons why going vegan is the best thing you could ever do for yourself and the planet, but finding the one thing that strikes a chord with you the most is essential. Document yourself and find what you’re most passionate about.

Fitness is what did it for me.

As I said, I went vegetarian before going vegan (and here’s a very old article about it) and the appeal of sports performance was the biggest lure. After several years of smoking, eating crap, and being a couch potato, I had a moment of panic before entering my 30s and decided that I did not want to age into a gross ol’ flapjack. I first started working out at the gym, then I started running, and quickly signed up for my first half-marathon. Inspired by vegan triathlete Brendan Brazier and his book The Thrive Diet, as well as Matt Frazier, known as No Meat Athlete, I found something I was passionate about that would make these new habits stick. And they did!

Weight loss can be a great incentive to switch to a vegan diet because vegan food tends to have fewer calories than omni, so you can likely eat as much as you want and would still lose weight. And it goes without saying that there are many health benefits associated with switching to a plant-based lifestyle. A healthy plant-based diet is linked with lower LDL cholesterol levels, reduced cardiometabolic risk factors, and a decreased cancer risk. A Stanford University study on identical twins found that the twin eating plant-based showed significantly better cardiovascular markers after just eight weeks compared to the twin on a healthy omnivorous diet. Going vegan can also have a positive effect towards a more sustainable future and slowing down climate change, and makes a real dent in your personal environmental impact. The research on this keeps stacking up.

Subscribe to Veganuary

Veganuary isn’t just a word, it’s a full-blown non-profit organization founded by Matthew Glover that’s there to promote veganism and support people in their transition by offering the OG Veganuary program, as well as tips and advice. Lazy? Take the month-long challenge pledge and sign up to their newsletter to receive daily vegan recipes, tips and more right to your mailbox. The Veganuary website is full of precious information to make your month a success, new recipes, plant-based milks suggestions, vegan snacks ideas, and so much more. Also worth checking out is the website of Vegan Society.

Reading this and it’s not January? No problem! You can start Veganuary and sign up to take the pledge at any time of year!

Document Yourself

Knowledge is power, and I would have never been able to transition to a vegan lifestyle had it not been for documentaries. I so happened to be at university studying design while I transitioned, so I used veganism as my research topic for a lot of my school projects. Here’s a fun website I did as part of a jquery class, haha.

Below is a list of my favorite documentaries:

• Cowspiracy
• Forks Over Knives
• What the Health
• Earthlings

Here a list of more vegan documentaries to watch!

Clean up Your Kitchen

Increase your chances of a successful Veganuary challenge by making a few adjustments to your kitchen pantry and planning a vegan grocery shopping list full of vegan alternatives. First, it’s a good idea to get rid of all animal products – this includes gravy, stock, butter, and all non-vegan baking supplies. But please don’t throw them away! Give them to someone. Someone you don’t like, preferably. Lol.

Second, get a few vegan food pantry staples and be open to new flavors. This includes nutritional yeast to make everything taste cheesy, black or kidney beans and tempeh for a great vegan meat replacement and to make sure you get enough protein (especially if you’re vegan muscle building!), chia or flax for egg replacement, fresh vegetables, as well as fresh herbs and indian spice to make everything tasty, an excellent peanut butter (or any nut butters really), a good quality olive oil for healthy fats and fatty acids, maple syrup to replace honey, a good butter replacement (Earth Balance was my favorite in North America and now I swear by Naturli in Europe) and milk replacement (Oatly Barista Edition is my fave of all plant milks of all time but I also like soy milk for the added protein). Also, something salty for those cheese cravings — olives and roasted smoked almonds do it for me. Or vegan cheese, they’re not half bad these days. Plant-based cheeses in particular have come a long way in recent years, especially here in Europe. iHerb is the right place to shop for vegan products!

Plant-based proteins are the backbone of a healthy plant-based diet. Tofu, tempeh, lentils, chickpeas, edamame — these cover your adequate protein intake without any animal ingredients. Make sure you check food labels carefully, too. Animal-derived ingredients hide in surprising places, from certain breads to pasta sauces. When in doubt, flip the package over.

Super-processed vegan options and plant-based alternatives such as sausages, vegan burger patties, or veggie ground meat are a good way to ease into transition periods and for new vegans, but don’t rely on these in the long run unless it’s for an occasional treat. They’re not super healthy and quite processed, but they can be tasty plant-based options to enjoy in moderation. Instead, aim for nutritious, whole foods and whole grains. If you live in Europe, the vegan dairy products are heaven (well perhaps they’ve evolved since I lived in Canada and the vegan yogurt tasted like wallpaper glue). Just give new things a try and make sure you read the ingredients list. You may be surprised — pleasantly or otherwise. Just be curious to try new foods. Some people find it helpful to have full-blown Veganuary plant-based eating meal plans, but I personally find this a little restrictive. You do you, my bro. And whatever you do, stay hydrated! A vegan diet is definitely not the only answer to good health.

Find Some Easy, Delicious, and Healthy Vegan Recipes

Finding vegan meal ideas that are both easy to make and delicious is key. I’m a very lazy cook and often my vegan menu consists of steamed veggies, crispy tofu or tempeh in some sort of dressing, or lentil dahl, but this works well for me. Find a few good websites with easy Veganuary recipes and be ready to have your mind blown at the amazing array of tastes you can get from plant-based food. With a little imagination, pretty much any of your favorite meals can be made into a vegan version. Vegan pizza, for example? Easy!

Below are some of my favorite vegan recipes that I keep making over and over again. You can also follow my vegan plant-based meals recipes Pinterest board. Vegan cookbooks in general are also great!

• Black Pepper and Thyme Crusted Tofu
• Green Goddess Veggie Burgers
• Butternut Squash Risotto
• Mexican Stuffed Bell Peppers
• Tofu Steaks with Chimichurri & Baby Spinach
• My Corn Chowder
• Creamy Vegan Polenta with Mushrooms and Spinach
• Vegan Butter Chicken
• Red Onions Soup
• Creamy Avocado Pasta
• Curried Sweet Potatoes Lentil with Coconut Milks
• Lemon Juice bars (excellent if you have a sweet tooth!)

A vitamin B12 supplement should also be on your radar if you’re planning to be on a plant-based diet. If it’s the winter months, also consider a vitamin D supplement, but that goes for everyone, not just vegans.

Easy 1-Day Veganuary Meal Plan (Beginner-Friendly)

Not sure what to eat on day one? Here’s a simple plant-based meal plan to get you started. No exotic ingredients, no two-hour cooking sessions.

Breakfast: Oat milk latte or smoothie plus a protein-packed breakfast of peanut butter on whole grain toast with banana. Or go for a tofu scramble with fresh vegetables and a generous shake of nutritional yeast. Ten minutes. Zero regrets.

Lunch: Buddha bowl with quinoa, roasted veggies, and chickpeas, drizzled with tahini. This is a complete plant-based meal that covers your adequate protein intake without any fuss.

Snack: Hummus with carrots or celery. A handful of roasted almonds. A square or three of dark chocolate (check it’s dairy-free).

Dinner: Lentil curry with coconut milk, or a simple tofu stir-fry with whatever vegetables are in your fridge. Serve over rice or noodles.

Dessert: Vegan yogurt with fruit, or more of that dark chocolate.

Eating out? Vegan restaurants are easier to find than ever, and chain restaurants have caught up too. Even Burger King now has plant-based options on the menu. Download the HappyCow app and you’ll never be stuck. Here are my favorite vegan Berlin restaurants and Barcelona vegan restaurants.

Nobody is perfect

Last but definitely not least on this list of tips for Veganuary. Don’t panic, we all make mistakes. When you go out, when you travel as a vegan, when you’re invited over to someone’s house. We’re all human, and we’re all trying our best, and that’s the most important thing. Having a slip doesn’t mean you’ve failed, that’s something super important to remember. Make sure you download the Happy Cow app for when you go out, and always offer to bring something when you get invited over for dinner.

Repeat after me: shit happens. Easy does it. You got this. The best way to transition into a new habit is to stay positive!

Veganuary FAQs

What is Veganuary?

Veganuary is a global non-profit challenge founded in the United Kingdom in 2014. It encourages people to go vegan for the month of January. In recent years it has attracted millions of participants worldwide and helped push new vegan products, vegan restaurant menus, and plant-based eating into the mainstream.

Is Veganuary healthy?

A well-planned vegan diet can be completely nutritionally adequate. Research links a healthy plant-based diet to lower LDL cholesterol levels, reduced cardiometabolic risk factors, and decreased cancer risk. The key is making sure you cover your nutrient needs, particularly vitamin B12, vitamin D, iron, and omega-3s. If you are unsure where to start, a registered dietitian nutritionist can help you put together a plan that works for your body.

Do I need supplements for Veganuary?

Yes. Vitamin B12 is essential. You cannot reliably get enough from plant-based food alone, so a supplement is non-negotiable. Add vitamin D if you are doing this during winter months, especially in northern Europe or Canada.

Can beginners do Veganuary?

Absolutely. That is literally who it is designed for. Start with simple meals, stay curious about new flavors, and give your taste buds a few weeks to adjust. Most veganuary participants report that the first week is the hardest. After that, it gets much easier.

What do I eat during Veganuary?

There are plenty of vegan recipes for every meal, cuisine, and skill level. Focus on whole foods: fresh vegetables, legumes, grains, nuts, and seeds. Tofu, tempeh, and lentils are your plant-based protein workhorses. Stock your pantry with the staples listed above and you will never run out of ideas. Check out the 1-day Veganuary meal plan in this article for a solid starting point.

Is Veganuary only in January?

No. January is the official challenge month, but you can take the pledge and start your 30-day trial run at any point during the year.

Amélie

Amélie is a health and wellness junky. Certified yoga instructor with Yoga Alliance in the Vinyasa and Ashtanga styles, she has a Yoga Instructor Certification – Level I (300 hours) and Yoga Instructor Certification – Level II (200 hours) under her belt. She also has a certified Open Water Diver certification with PADI and SSI Scuba Schools International Freediving Level I certification with SSI Scuba Schools International. She’s been vegan for over 15 years and is obsessed with anything wellness-related.