Despite being sustainable, nutritious and delicious, vegetables are often relegated to side dishes instead of center of the plate. No longer an afterthought, it’s time for vegetables to shine!
Today, many brands and chefs are looking at the plant-based revolution from a new perspective, taking a simpler approach that puts vegetables in a leading role. Vegetables are being elevated through flavor-boosting preparations such as fermenting, pickling, grilling and roasting.
An area where we’re seeing a clear shift toward whole-food formulations is in the alternative protein market, where vegetable-centric options are popping up alongside the plant-based meat analogues. Ingredients such as cauliflower, jackfruit, artichokes and beets are prominently displayed on ingredient labels and menus, often supplemented with nutritious chickpeas, yellow peas and quinoa.
IN THE PROTEIN SPACE:
- Eggplant pâté, positioned as gluten-free and supplemented with green banana (Brazil)
- Mushroom meatballs, made with lion’s mane mushrooms, seasonings and non-GMO soybeans (Taiwan)
- Buffalo jack wings, a vegan option with whole jackfruit as the first ingredient (US)
In foodservice, chefs are taking advantage of seasonality to reinvent menu items with a vegetable-forward twist—think dishes like short ribs made with braised eggplant instead of beef. Vegetarian tasting menus take this creativity even further, celebrating the versatility of vegetables across preparation types and flavor profiles. This approach also helps to minimize food waste, with stems, leaves and bruised produce being repurposed into items like sauces and purées.
ON THE MENU:
- Glazed turnips with turnip leaf onion sauce, hazelnut miso butter and togarashi pickles (US)
- Braised morchella with soy “brisket,” radish and golden tremella, served with kale rice (Hong Kong)
- Celery root shawarma with spinach pâté and fermented tomato (UK)
For the snack category, crisps, chips and jerky are common formats to showcase vegetables as the main ingredient. Brands are working to streamline their manufacturing processes to deliver products that are as close to raw as possible, with flavors that appeal to kids and adults alike.
ON RETAIL SHELVES:
- Crunchy sweet potato biscuits made with brewers’ spent grain flour, flavored with rosemary and hazelnuts (France)
- Spanish tomato-flavored tapioca chips, serving as a source of calcium and iron (India)
- Corn-flavored plant-based ice cream, made with non-GMO corn (China)
Vegetable-driven menu items and product offerings are emerging all over the world, showcasing how vegetables can be tasty, indulgent and fun. They can attract not just to vegetarian and vegan diners, but flexitarians as well. And for regions with less direct access to fresh produce, packaged, canned and frozen vegetable items can help bring nutrient-rich options to an underserved population.
3 PERFECT BITES
FOODSERVICE: Fine dining is leading the charge in developing creative dishes that celebrate whole vegetables at the center of the plate, but we’re seeing innovation across segments.
PROTEIN PROCESSORS: Brands are experimenting with vegetable-forward meat alternatives that celebrate the integrity of the original ingredient, incorporating a variety of vegetables.
SNACKING: Simple preparations (e.g. roasting and drying) are being used to preserve the nutrients in vegetable-based snacks, along with “hidden” ingredients to introduce more regular vegetables into diets.