The ultimate vegan date night
While it’s nice to go out and eat at a fancy restaurant from time to time, it can be equally awesome to surprise your partner with a romantic dinner for two at home. You don’t have to fight the crowds and you can make whatever your heart desires – which is especially handy if you’re vegan because you can design the perfect menu.
We love our vegan range here at iPantry and we’ve assembled an amazing array of options suited to a whole evening of delicious vegan food. To help you plan, here are some tasty vegan recipes and products for a memorable three-course meal you will both love.
Vegan starters
When it comes to starters, there are stacks to choose from if you’re willing to get creative or even try something new. From classics like bread and dip through to dumplings, you can serve up vegan dishes from a variety of different cuisines.
Bread and dip
Kickstart your evening with a little pita bread, fava and vegan feta to warm up your appetite. This flavour combo is Greek-inspired and won’t fill you up (too much) before the main course. If you're looking for a gluten-free option, try Ceres Organics rice crackers with one of the cashew cheese dips from Kehoe's Kitchen.
Soup
We get it, you’re busy and you want healthy food that’s easy to prepare. With this in mind, check out our broccoli and blitzed quinoa soup which you might like to serve with a side of spiced chickpea and spinach from Bar Lourinhã. Vegan recipes don’t have to be complicated and soup is a handy go-to, especially in the cooler months.
Dumplings
Melburnians love their dumplings and no one does these tasty parcels quite like our friends over at Drumplings. Their vegan truffle mushroom dumplings are out of this world, so you may want to leave room for seconds (or perhaps upgrade them to your main meal!). Serve with Niulife teriyaki coconut amino sauce.
Alternatively, another great vegan starter that comes in a small package is Elyros’ Kalitsounia greens. These pastry pockets are traditional Cretan pies and while they may be small, they’re certainly mighty in flavour.
Vegan dinner
And now, the moment you’ve all been waiting for – drum roll please – vegan recipes for your main course! We’ve got some great show stoppers for you to serve up that are not only impressive, but come from some of Melbourne’s best restaurants and cafes.
For a hearty feast, try our vegan tandoori vegetable pie or the Yay! Foods vegan peppersteak pie with a fresh salad or roast veggies (pick your favourite vegetables from our online shop). And if you’re not in the mood for pie, you might prefer a slice of vegan moussaka, A25’s next level vegan and gluten-free lasagna or a Veganz pizza.
Craving pasta? Check out the Mister Bianco range, which includes the fusilli (one of our faves). Add a splash of tomato and basil sugo, sprinkle on a little vegan cheese and your inner Italian will be happy.
For something a little lighter, whip up some plant-based chicken using the Deliciou 'just add water and oil' mix and add it to a Caesar salad. Create your own croutons using a Noisette olive baguette and mix together with cos lettuce, Pimp My Salad coconut bacon and Dibble vegan garlic aioli (optional to add a squeeze of lemon). Finish with Pimp My Salad cashew parmesan.
Other options for your vegan dinner main meal could include:
- Syndian vegan smoked chipotle sausages, mash potato and hot sauce
- Viana organic cowgirl steaks with roast veggies, or a
- Quorn hot and spicy burger patty with all the trimmings.
Vegan dessert
To round out your vegan date night (and impress your better half) here are a few vegan desserts ideas. We like to keep things simple at iPantry, so get your sweet tooth ready for some mind-blowing vegan dessert options.
Hands up if you love chocolate? Well, then you’re going to flip over the Bellarine Belgian chocolate brownie. It’s also gluten-free and is a brilliant after-dinner treat. You could pair it with a scoop of Nudie’s coconut yoghurt or GoRaw mousse.
If cake is more your style, you can’t go past our vegan chocolate peanut butter cake. Serve this up with a few dollops of The Vegan Dairy’s vanilla bean or dutch chocolate creme and send your dining partner off to dessert heaven!
Smaller treats are also available and are delicious with a hot chocolate or tea. We have chocolate bars from Freedom, Kresho and GoMaxGo, along with vegan honeycomb, organic lollies and other small treats – all found in our Vegan Collection.Drinks for vegans
Every inspiring menu needs beverages to match. On iPantry, you’ll find a huge range of drinks to accompany your vegan date night that are both interesting AND good for you.
If you like soft drinks but want to ditch the sugar, try Liberty Kombucha or Remedy Kombucha. We’re already done a deep dive on everything you need to know about kombucha, but this fizzy fermented drink is good for the gut and comes in some great flavours.
A good alternative to plain ol’ water is flavoured sparkling water. Check out CAPI, Dash Water, Osun Sparkling and Kreol for all-natural, fruit-infused beverages!
For something a little more sophisticated, to really set the tone for the evening, try Monday Distillery's non-alcoholic cocktails.
Plan your next vegan dinner with us on iPantry
Take a scroll through our range of vegan goodies for inspiration and high-quality ingredients. And if you order before 2pm Monday to Friday, we’ll deliver your items the next day. Happy planning!
