November 12, 2025
Plant-based eating is becoming a staple in the Canadian dining scene. As more consumers turn to vegan and plant-based options, restaurants are seeing an increasing demand for diverse, flavorful alternatives.
The Canada Plant-based Food and Beverages Market is estimated to reach USD 2.21 billion by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 10.21%. This rapid growth highlights the vast opportunity for restaurant owners to meet customer demand with innovative plant-based menu items.
Offering vegan options not only attracts a growing customer base but also positions your restaurant as a forward-thinking, sustainable choice. Adopting plant-based dishes can set you apart, improve customer loyalty, and drive more business to your door.
In this blog, we’ll explore how to add vegan options to your menu, attract more customers, and capitalize on the growing plant-based trend without overhauling your entire kitchen.
To successfully offer vegan options, restaurant owners must understand both the core ingredients and strategies that allow them to adapt without completely changing their kitchen operations. Here's how to get started:
The key to adding vegan-friendly dishes lies in identifying simple plant-based swaps that don’t require significant alterations to your menu. Vegan ingredients like tofu, tempeh, avocado, and vegan cheese are versatile and easy to incorporate into existing dishes.
You can swap cheese for dairy-free alternatives or replace meats with plant-based proteins. Seitan or jackfruit can create satisfying vegan meals that even non-vegan customers will enjoy.
Ethnic cuisines such as Mexican, Italian, Mediterranean, and Asian naturally lend themselves to vegan adaptations due to their heavy reliance on fresh vegetables, legumes, and grains. By incorporating more plant-based options from these cuisines, vegan restaurants can create authentic vegan dishes that require minimal change.
For instance, a Mexican restaurant can easily add vegan tacos with black beans, guacamole, and avocado, or a Thai restaurant can offer vegan Pad Thai with tofu and coconut milk.
One of the easiest ways to improve the vegan dining experience is by ensuring that your menu and ordering system are vegan-friendly. Offering clear markers for vegan options on the menu helps diners quickly identify choices, reducing confusion and enhancing their dining experience.
POS system integration can manage vegan orders and modifications, making the process quicker and more efficient for both the staff and the customer.
By understanding the key ingredients and utilizing ethnic cuisines, you can seamlessly integrate vegan options into your menu and create an inviting experience for plant-based diners.
Also Read: A Detailed Checklist Guide for Restaurant Owners Before Purchasing a Restaurant
To successfully offer vegan options, restaurants can make simple adjustments without overhauling their menu. This section explores how flexible substitutions, reworked dishes, and staff training can seamlessly integrate vegan choices into your existing offerings.
Offering flexible substitutions is an easy way to incorporate vegan options without changing entire recipes. You don’t need to remove all dairy or meat items; instead, focus on providing alternatives like plant-based protein, vegan cheese, or dairy-free dressings.
For example, you can swap a regular burger patty with a plant-based burger or add avocado to any sandwich as a vegan-friendly substitute.
You don’t need to add a whole new vegan menu to cater to plant-based customers. By simply reworking existing dishes, you can cater to vegan diners without the need for significant kitchen changes.
For instance, a regular pasta with marinara sauce can easily be made vegan by eliminating cheese and offering plant-based protein options. Similarly, vegan-friendly sides like roasted vegetables, fries, or grilled mushrooms can complement many meals.
One of the keys to offering vegan-friendly options is training your staff to easily customize dishes for vegan customers.
This includes removing dairy products like cheese or cream, substituting non-vegan proteins with plant-based alternatives, and ensuring vegan-friendly preparation methods (e.g., avoiding animal-based broths).
With simple substitutions and staff training, you can easily cater to plant-based customers. Now, let’s explore how to adapt popular dishes across various cuisines to offer delicious vegan-friendly options.
Adapting your menu to include vegan options doesn't mean starting from scratch. Let’s discuss how you can easily modify popular dishes across different cuisines, making them vegan-friendly without compromising on flavor or quality.
Italian cuisine is rich in vegan-friendly options that can be easily modified. Consider adding vegan pizza with dairy-free cheese, pasta with marinara sauce, or a vegan risotto. Dishes like bruschetta, panzanella (bread salad), and minestrone soup are naturally vegan, making them easy to incorporate into your menu.
Example: “Vegan Pizza with Dairy-Free Cheese: A quick addition to your existing pizza menu that will appeal to both vegan and non-vegan customers.”
Asian restaurants have a wealth of plant-based dishes to choose from. Offering tofu-based stir-fries, vegan sushi rolls, and Thai curries made with coconut milk is a great start. Ensure that all soy-based sauces, such as soy sauce, are vegan-friendly (some may contain fish sauce).
Example: “Vegan Sushi Rolls: Simple modifications to your sushi bar can attract vegan customers and provide an inclusive experience.”
Mexican cuisine is one of the easiest to adapt to a vegan diet. Offering vegan tacos filled with beans, avocado, and plant-based protein is a great option. You can also offer burritos or fajitas that use vegan cheese, guacamole, and sautéed vegetables instead of animal-based ingredients.
Example: “The Perfect Vegan Taco: A simple, flavorful dish that makes the most of fresh ingredients.”
In American diners or steakhouses, focus on offering vegan sides, plant-based burgers, and customizable dishes. Offering a vegan burger with a choice of avocado, vegan cheese, or a veggie patty will appeal to many customers. Additionally, many side dishes like fries, grilled vegetables, and salads can be made vegan with simple modifications.
Example: “Plant-Based Burgers: A popular and easy-to-implement vegan item that will satisfy both vegan and non-vegan customers.”
With the rise of vegan options in fast-casual and chain restaurants like Taco Bell and Chipotle, independent restaurants must also offer unique vegan choices to stay competitive. Offering signature vegan dishes or customizing popular items with plant-based ingredients can help differentiate your restaurant from the competition.
Example: "Offer vegan dishes like Jackfruit Tacos or Vegan Tempeh Burritos to stand out from the competition."
By incorporating vegan-friendly dishes across different cuisines, your restaurant can appeal to a wider audience. However, you must also incorporate staff training for optimal vegan service.
Also Read: Eco-Friendly Food Delivery Packaging: Development & Options
To provide an exceptional vegan dining experience, proper staff training is essential. This section covers best practices for educating your team on vegan preferences, ensuring accuracy with orders, and enhancing communication with vegan customers.
Training your staff to understand vegan preferences and dietary restrictions is important. Make sure your team knows the difference between vegan and vegetarian, and be mindful of hidden animal products in some dishes. This will help you avoid mistakes and enhance customer satisfaction.
Proper training ensures that staff can accurately process vegan orders and modifications. This not only reduces errors but also creates a more pleasant experience for your customers.
Training staff on how to communicate with customers about vegan options is essential. Ensure your team is comfortable offering substitutes and recommendations for vegan-friendly dishes.
Now that we have best practices in place, let’s look into some of the useful tips for restaurant owners to adapt.
Incorporating useful tips into your restaurant can make vegan customers feel more comfortable, leading to repeat business. It shows that you understand their needs and can create a welcoming environment for those seeking plant-based options. Here’s what you need to do:
By adopting these best practices, you can enhance the vegan dining experience. Now, let’s dive into how to promote vegan options and build lasting connections with vegan customers.
Engaging vegan customers requires more than just offering plant-based dishes. Here’s how social media, email campaigns, and loyalty programs can help you create lasting connections with vegan diners and drive repeat business.
Social media is a powerful tool to showcase your new vegan offerings. Use Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok to highlight visually appealing vegan dishes, engage customers, and create buzz around vegan promotions.
Email marketing can help keep your vegan customers informed about new vegan menu items, promotions, and special deals. Send personalized offers to your vegan customer base, offering them exclusive discounts on their next plant-based order.
Encourage vegan diners to return through loyalty rewards programs that offer discounts or free items after a set number of plant-based orders. This incentivizes repeat business and strengthens customer loyalty.
With the right marketing strategies, you can build lasting relationships with vegan customers. However, to make your overall process even easier, opt for iOrders. It simplifies managing vegan-friendly orders, ensuring smooth customization and efficient operations.
Also Read: How to Start a Successful Small Restaurant in Canada?
For restaurant owners looking to simplify vegan-friendly operations, iOrders makes it easy to integrate plant-based options into your menu. Our commission-free platform allows you to clearly mark vegan items, offer simple substitutions, and provide a seamless ordering experience.
Here’s what we offer:
With iOrders, you can simplify your vegan offerings, reduce costs, and improve operational efficiency without hidden fees.
Vegan dining is rapidly becoming a mainstay in the restaurant industry, with more diners seeking plant-based options that are both delicious and sustainable. Offering vegan choices not only meets this demand but also strengthens a restaurant’s competitive edge.
However, success goes beyond just adding vegan dishes. Efficient systems are essential for smooth operations, which is where iOrders stands out. iOrders provides a commission-free, all-in-one platform that simplifies online orders, enhances customer loyalty, and helps restaurants cut unnecessary costs.
For restaurant owners eager to tap into the growing vegan trend, iOrders delivers the tools to organize your processes and grow your business; all commission-free.
Start using iOrders today and see how we can support your plant-based menu.
Some of the most popular vegan dishes include vegan burgers, tofu stir-fries, vegan pizza, lentil soups, veg curries, and avocado toast. They offer variety, flavor, and appeal to both vegans and non-vegans.
Many foods that appear vegan are not, such as gelatin (found in gummy candies), cheese made with rennet, some wines and beers (processed with animal-derived fining agents), and Caesar salad dressing (contains anchovies).
Some unhealthy vegan foods include processed meat substitutes (high in sodium and additives), vegan junk food (vegan chips, pastries), and too many refined carbs (like white bread and pasta), which can lead to poor nutrition if consumed excessively.
Canada boasts several top vegan restaurants, including PLANTA in Toronto, known for its creative plant-based dishes, and The Green Kiss in Montreal, offering delicious organic vegan meals that emphasize sustainability and taste.
The number of vegan dishes varies, but many restaurants offer at least 3-5 vegan options, particularly in more progressive or health-conscious establishments. This can include appetizers, mains, and sides, though choices might be limited in some venues.
