The Ultimate Guide to the BEST Vegan Food in Denver

The Ultimate Guide to the BEST Vegan Food in Denver is updated to account for adjustments due to COVID as of January 7, 2021. Sadly, we had a few restaurants close last year but we continue to remain strong as a city with excellent vegan options!

Matt and I moved to Denver in the summer of 2014. It feels like it was just yesterday that we were packing up the car for our cross-country drive.

Naturally, we HAD to check out every vegan or vegetarian restaurant in town and the surrounding areas. After finding our favorites, we knew that we had to spread the word!

Read on for our version of the The Ultimate Guide to the BEST Vegan Food in Denver.

The Ultimate Guide to the BEST Vegan Food in Denver

💚 = 100% Vegan. 🌿 = Vegetarian.
🚌 = Food Truck. 😊 = Vegan-Friendly.

WaterCourse Foods 💚

Piante Pizzeria 💚

Piante makes the most delicious vegan pizza in town! Their first location opened up in Breckenridge in 2017 and now they recently opened a new location in Denver.

Native Foods Café 💚

This is a fast-casual vegan chain restaurant with locations in 4 states (California, Colorado, Chicago and Oregon). They serve salads, sandwiches, wraps, soups and desserts. They have a variety of signature plant-based proteins like their tempeh, seitan, ‘Native Chicken,’ ‘Native Bacon,’ and cashew cheese.

The Ultimate Guide to the BEST Vegan Food in Denver. Chicken and waffles from Native Foods Cafe. — Chicken & Waffles from Native Foods Cafe

Somebody People 💚

Somebody People is our favorite date-night restaurant. The food is phenomenal, always fresh and innovative. They also have a sophisticated cocktail menu that makes me feel so fancy!

MetaBurger 💚

MetaBurger now has 2 locations and, LUCKY for us, we live only 10 minutes from their newest location in Edgewater. Their burgers are SO GOOD—and they have a huge variety of toppings and combinations to choose from.

Make, Believe Bakery 💚

Make, Believe bakery is a 100% vegan bakery that recently opened under the owners of WaterCourse Foods. Their products are also available at Watercourse Foods and City O’ City (which is located right next door).

So Radish 💚

A little bit outside the city in Arvada, but totally worth the trip. They have some quirky decor and a really awesome brunch menu.

Urban Beets Cafe 💚

Also in Arvada, Urban Beets Cafe is a 100% plant-based cafe and juice bar that has a unique, rotating menu. The food is delicious and the restaurant is extremely welcoming and cozy.

Our Daily Bread Bakery & Deli 💚

Our Daily Bread Bakery & Deli is a vegan restaurant in Lakewood serving fresh breads, sandwiches, baked goods, salad bar, and daily soup. They grind their own wheat and use no preservatives.

Nooch Vegan Market 💚

Nooch Vegan Market is a small vegan grocery and retail store where you can find all kinds of 100% vegan items. It’s so fun to shop at Nooch because you can rest assured everything they sell is VEGAN!

They have a huge selection of unique, specialty items that you can’t find anywhere else! Pro tip: don’t forget to bring your own reusable shopping bag.

Pescky Kitchen (Pop-up) 💚

This vegan pop-up makes the most delicious vegan chicken wings and strips. Other mouthwatering items include the mac & cheese and the pulled pork sandwich. Order online and pick-up at their pick-up location — but order quick! Their food is SO GOOD that they sell out fast.

More info about where to order Pescky Kitchen can be found on their instagram.

The Ultimate Guide to the BEST Vegan Food in Denver. Crunchy vegan chicken strips from Pescky Kitchen. — Extremely Delicious Vegan Chicken Strips from Pescky Kitchen

City O’ City 🌿

City O’ City is consistently packed and the wait can be long at prime times – which is understandable because they serve up some bangin’ eats. It’s a must go place, so do not miss out if you can!

It’s primarily vegetarian but most dishes can be made vegan when asked, and it’s ALL delicious! This restaurant inspired our BEST tofu scramble – so if you can’t stand the wait, you can make it at home instead 🙂

The Ultimate Guide to the BEST Vegan Food in Denver. Vegan fish and chips from City O' City. — Lunch out on the patio at City O’ City

Vital Root 🌿

Opened in 2016, an awesome new vegetarian restaurant in the highlands neighborhood. Situated on Tennyson St., Vital Root is surrounded by trendy restaurants and local shops. Order at the register and sit down in the artsy dining room or outside on the herb-decorated patio.

Vital Root is a fairly new restaurant, opening its doors in June 2016, but it does not disappoint with its creative and healthy dishes. They have plenty of raw options and 99% of their menu can be made vegan.

The ULTIMATE Guide to the BEST Vegan Food in Denver. Sangria on the patio at Vital Root. — Sipping sangria as we wait for our food outside on the back patio at Vital Root.

Whole Sol Blend Bar 🌿

Smoothie bowls, juice, and other healthy snacks. LOTS of vegan options such as their Just Egg Breakfast Sandwich and variety of Avocado Toasts.

WongWayVeg 💚 🚌

WongWayVeg is awesome! We are absolutely addicted to their Boulder Philly. Their menu is filled with plant-based deliciousness. This is our FAVORITE food truck in town and one that you do not want to miss.

Find out where you can track down WongWayVeg by following them on Instagram.

The Ultimate Guide to the BEST Vegan Food in Denver. The famous Boulder Philly from WongWayVeg Vegan Food Truck. — Boulder Philly and veggie tots from WongWayVeg Vegan Food Truck

Mu Denver 💚 🚌

Mu Denver is an asian food truck that serves up “the BEST vegan ramen in Denver” according to the reviews on their facebook page. They are regularly parked outside of Nooch Vegan Market.

Follow Mu Denver on instagram for the latest news and locations.

Vegan Van 💚 🚌

The first time we found the Vegan Van, they were completely sold out of food because of a huge rush of hungry vegans! We finally got to try their food at VegFest and it did not disappoint. You can find them parked around town and sometimes they even show up outside Nooch.

Find out where you can track down the Vegan Van by visiting the calendar on their website: www.veganvan.com/calendar

The Ultimate Guide to the BEST Vegan Food in Denver. Seitan wings, corndog, burger and fries from Vegan Van Food Truck. — Seitan wings, corndog, burger and fries from Vegan Van Food Truck

El Five 😊

If you’re looking for a restaurant that’s a more upscale for a special occasion, El Five is your best best. It’s not 100% vegan but they have a good selection of vegan options, including wine and cocktails.

VooDoo Donuts 😊

VooDoo Donuts has a wide selection of vegan donuts to choose from. And they aren’t cake donuts either, they are the fluffy ones with the creamy filling – soooo good.

The Alamo Drafthouse 😊

Located in the Sloan’s Lake neighborhood, the Alamo Drafthouse is a movie theater that serves food and drinks while you’re watching the movie. Their menu has a separate section for everything vegan like cauliflower wings and avocado toast.

Blue Sushi Sake Grill 😊

Located right on the 16th Mall in Downtown Denver, Blue Sushi has several unique vegan sushi rolls on their menu. This place is awesome for happy hour, too.

Honorable Mentions:

Bang Up to the Elephant 💚 – now all vegan! A fresh take on tropical dishes and drinks.
Charcoal Bistro 😊 – They have a separate vegan menu and vegan specials.
Hops & Pie 😊 – They offer pizza with housemade sausage, smoked tofu, and daiya cheese. Also, a “vegan sloppy jane” made with tempeh.
Fire on the Mountain 😊 – Delicious seitan wings or cauliflower wings with several vegan sauces to choose from
Root Down 😊 – Good for Brunch, Mimosas, Tofu Scramble (same owner as Vital Root)
Linger 😊 – Unlimited mimosas during brunch! Soyrizo. (same owner as Vital Root)
Sputnik 😊 – Dive-bar with a separate vegan menu
Indian Restaurants:
- Spice Room 😊 – Traditional Indian food. They have A LOT of great vegan options to choose from on their menu and most items can be made vegan by request.
- Yak and Yeti 😊 – Indian restaurant with lots of vegan options.
- Himchuli 😊 – they host a monthly vegan buffet night, every third Tuesday of the month!

The Ultimate Denver Vegan Restaurant Guide Interactive Map

Check out the map below to see what’s going on in Denver. We threw in a few extra all-vegan restaurants from surrounding cities because they were just way too good to leave out!

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Vegan White Bean Alfredo

Dinner, Pasta, Sauce
15 Comments

This Vegan White Bean Alfredo recipe is creamy, cheesy, and packed with flavor. Who would have ever guessed that you can make an alfredo sauce using a can of white beans. This recipe is healthy, low-calorie, and low-fat so you don’t have to feel bad about going back for seconds.

The great part about beans is that they are high in fiber and protein, which can be extremely beneficial for your health. High in fiber and protein, they support a healthy body weight, muscle mass and digestion.

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The BEST Vegan Baked Ziti

Dinner, Pasta
3 Comments

Vegan Baked Ziti by Pasta-based. Cheesy, saucy, creamy baked ziti bubbling over a small crockpot sprinkled with vegan parmesan and fresh parsley.

This Vegan Baked Ziti recipe is creamy, cheesy, and bubbling with tomato sauce. Although this recipe requires a few different steps, it’s actually easy to make and tastes delicious.

This Vegan Baked Ziti will bring you back to the good ol’ days when mom would make her cheesy pasta bake and the whole family would enjoy it together around the dinner table.

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Vegan Alfredo Meatball Subs

Be honest, when you’re at a restaurant and you see a meatball sub on the menu (vegan or not vegan depending on the stage of your life), it’s always one of your top choices. I’ve always had a soft spot for the saucy, gooey and comforting sandwich since I was a little kid.

Mom used to make meatballs all the time, usually to be paired with pasta and red sauce. Sometimes I would eat them before she could even put them in the sauce because they were so dang good! But then comes the time when dinner is over and there’s leftovers.

Shall we use it for more pasta tomorrow, or be bold and go for the meatball sub!? I usually went for the sub and devoured it the next day with red sauce and cheese if I had it.

So when we were creating this recipe, we wanted that traditional sandwich we always remembered craving. We’d recently been making a lot of alfredo, whether our cauliflower alfredo recipe or our white bean alfredo recipe, so that gave us an idea. Lets put a spin on this to spice it up even more, by swapping the red sauce for a delicious creamy vegan alfredo. And voila, our Vegan Meatball Subs were born.

It’s funny how you get inspiration from other recipes to add twists to other dishes to make them more interesting. We had also recently gotten inspiration from Whole Foods when we had one of their vegan breakfast sandwiches. It was a chickpea “egg” patty with vegan sausage, roasted campari tomatoes and arugula on an english muffin.

We loved the flavor the roasted campari tomatoes added to that sandwich, so we created our own recipe for the blog! Combine those with our healthy cauliflower meatballs, our cauliflower alfredo in a fresh hoagie roll and you have a tantalizing sub!

This Vegan Meatball Sub recipe is sure to bring a smile to your face on the first bite. Whether you call it a hero, grinder, sub, or hoagie – you won’t be disappointed tasting this delicious, wholesome sandwich.

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Roasted Campari Tomatoes

Juicy, bright red campari tomatoes, drizzled with olive oil and roasted in the oven. Easy and quick to make, delicious for sandwiches or sauces.

This recipe for Roasted Campari Tomatoes is incredibly easy to make and bursting with flavor. This recipe takes fresh campari tomatoes to a whole new level. Juicy, bright red, tangy and unbelievably fresh.

Roasted campari tomatoes are excellent to use in a variety of recipes from pasta sauces, to toasts and sandwiches, or just eat them by themselves straight out of the oven.

Oven Roasted Campari Tomatoes by Pasta-based. Beautiful bright red campari tomatoes on the vine, washed and wrapped in a linen towel.

Where this roasted campari tomatoes recipe came from:

Everyone is used to having tomatoes on sandwiches, but raw. We had been getting this delicious vegan breakfast sandwich from the grocery store that had these roasted tomatoes on it that was DIVINE.

So, our little blogger minds started imagining this easy recipe on our site. We quickly realized how easy it was going to be when we really thought about the ingredients.

First attempt, they came out amazing! We added them to our vegan meatball subs and have used them since on many things!

How to make these roasted campari tomatoes:

Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C).
Slice campari tomatoes in half, or three times if they are large.
Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Sprinkle sliced garlic on top. Drizzle with olive oil.
Bake for 30 minutes, or until tomatoes are soft and start to wrinkle.

That’s it! Super easy and so delicious.

Here’s a few other tomato recipes we’ve cooked up:

Simple Fresh Grape Tomato Sauce: Nothing better than a fresh tomato sauce! Especially when the tomatoes are fresh from your own plants or garden.
Vegan Sun-dried Tomato Cream Cheese: Such a great recipe for a flavorful cream cheese that will make you smile early in the mornings.
Sun-dried Tomato Pasta: A nice lemony, tangy and flavorful pasta dish we know is perfect for family dinner.
Easy Vegan Tomato Sauce: It’s great to have a homemade tomato sauce to save money and maximize deliciousness!
Lentil Bolognese Sauce: Those looking for flavor and protein, look no further. This sauce is robust and will keep you full for the long haul!
Vegan Penne alla Vodka: One of our all-time favorite sauces, this penne alla vodka with tempeh pancetta takes dinner to a whole new level.

If you try this recipe, please comment below and tag us on Instagram or Facebook @pastabased.

3.59 from 46 votes

Print Friendly Version

Oven Roasted Campari Tomatoes

Prep Time

5 mins

Cook Time

30 mins

Total Time

35 mins

Juicy, bright red campari tomatoes, drizzled with olive oil and roasted in the oven. Easy and quick to make, delicious for sandwiches or sauces.

Course: Appetizer, Ingredient

Cuisine: American, Italian, Vegan, Vegetarian

Keyword: campari tomatoes, Garlic, oven-roasted, Roasted, roasted tomatoes

Servings: 1 pound

Calories per Serving: 209 kcal

Ingredients

1 pound campari tomatoes on the vine
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 clove garlic peeled and sliced thin
salt and pepper

US Customary – Metric

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C). Slice campari tomatoes in half, or three times if they are large. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Sprinkle sliced garlic on top. Drizzle with olive oil. Bake for 30 minutes, or until tomatoes are soft and start to wrinkle.

Recipe Notes

Store roasted tomatoes in the refrigerator for up to one week. You may also freeze them for up to six months.

Nutrition Facts

Oven Roasted Campari Tomatoes

Amount Per Serving (1 pound)

Calories 209 Calories from Fat 126

% Daily Value*

Fat 14g22%

Saturated Fat 2g13%

Sodium 23mg1%

Potassium 1075mg31%

Carbohydrates 18g6%

Fiber 5g21%

Sugar 11g12%

Protein 4g8%

Vitamin A 3780IU76%

Vitamin C 63mg76%

Calcium 45mg5%

Iron 1.2mg7%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Vegan Cauliflower Meatballs

Golden brown vegan meatballs piled up in a white textured bowl. Laying on top of a dark grey linen towel.

This recipe for VEGAN cauliflower meatballs is made with a mixture of cauliflower, brown rice, breadcrumbs, and variety of herby and warming Italian spices.

We included options to either bake or fry the “meatballs” but we highly recommend frying it because the flavor profile is so much more amazing and delicious.

The outside of the balls sizzle in the vegetable oil, getting crispy and golden brown while leaving the inside soft and tender.

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	vegan Italian meatballs Vegan meatballs, Italian-style, made with savory mushrooms and bulky lentils. Baked or fried until crispy on the outside.
	fresh grape tomato sauce Juicy, bright red grape tomatoes are cooked in a pan until burst open to create a creamy sauce that comes together in minutes.
	vegan ravioli Homemade vegan ravioli dough stuffed with our signature vegan ricotta cheese and smothered in marinara sauce.
	vegan stuffed peppers Italian-style roasted bell peppers, stuffed with quinoa, sautéed onion, and a vegetarian cauliflower-walnut marinara sauce.

Get on the list!