Why Should I Take an Online Vegan Cooking Class?

Online vegan cooking classes help you expand your cooking horizon, no matter whether you have been plant-based for a long time but want new inspiration, or whether you are newly plant-based and need suggestions for how to maximize nutrition and flavor in vegan dishes. Even if you are not 100% vegan, online cooking classes are a great way to add more plant-based recipes to your repertoire. And these classes go beyond dinner; they also teach you how to make vegan products from scratch, such as vegan cheese and vegan baking.

Can an Online Vegan Cooking Class Help Me Become a Chef?

There is a lot that goes into becoming a professional chef and most culinary arts programs will also require on-site externships; however, Rouxbe is an accredited online program that offers a Plant-Based Certification Course and the Food Future Institute offers a Certificate of Completion though these are not equivalent to a Professional Culinary Arts Diploma. Ultimately becoming a chef has more to do with real-life kitchen experience in a professional setting (and there are many professional chefs who have not had formal training in a school).

How Much Do Online Vegan Cooking Classes Cost?

Prices range from free to about $1,300 for a certification course. However, the average is around a few hundred dollars for an all-access class with hundreds of recipes in the video archive.

Online Vegan Cooking Classes vs. In-Person: Which Is Better for Me?

There are pros and cons to online and in-person classes. The benefit to in-person is that you get immediate guidance and hands-on feedback from an instructor; however online courses provide the convenience of learning from home, on a self-paced timeline, and in most cases, with lifetime access to the full library of courses that you can replay at any time. Another benefit to an online curriculum is that you can pick and choose which class themes are of the most interest to you. And while there is no in-person guidance, there is still virtual support available from instructors and private Facebook groups.

Best Online Vegan Cooking Classes 2023

For those wanting to learn or hone their cooking skills, there are a number of general online cooking classes available to choose from. But for those following strictly vegan diets or wanting to shift to more plant-based diets, the general basic cooking classes may not be the best bet. Luckily, there are a variety of cooking classes designed for those following plant-based lifestyles. The best online vegan cooking classes offer a range of recipes for everyday meals and special occasions as well as a mix of recreational and professional courses. We have selected our favorite online vegan cooking classes for you to get started.

Best Online Vegan Cooking Classes of 2023

Best Overall: Veecoco
Best for Free: Wicked Healthy
Best for Plant-Based Certification: Rouxbe
Best for Elevated Plant-Based Cuisine: Food Future Institute
Best for Kids: Tiny Green Chef

Best Overall: Veecoco

Key Specs

Number of lessons: More than 800
Cost: $39/month
Target group: Home cooks of all levels

Why We Chose It

Veecoco offers a monthly membership to get access to over 800 cooking lessons featuring vegan dishes from around the world.

Pros & Cons

Pros

7-day free trial
30-day money-back guarantee
Globally inspired recipes
Charitable donation

Cons

High price point for single classes

Overview

Founded by twin brothers from Germany inspired by the life-changing effects of adhering to a vegan diet, Veecoco is an online cooking school with more than 800 cooking lessons featuring vegan dishes from around the world.

Recipes are covered upwards of 23 different courses taught by experienced chefs who guide viewers through the world of vegan cooking step-by-step. Some course examples include Vegan Classic Italian, Authentic Vegan Thai, Vegan Japanese, Vegan Korean, Vegan German Classics, Fine Italian Pastries & Desserts, and many more.

A Veecoco Membership is required to get full access to all lessons. Membership is a monthly fee of $39 and can be canceled at any time. There is a 30-day money-back guarantee, and subscriptions do not automatically renew.

Lessons can be accessed from anywhere through the mobile app, and course materials are all downloadable. There is also a private Facebook group for questions that may come up as you go along. Not sure you want to commit right away? Veecoco offers a seven-day free trial (no credit card required). As a bonus, Veecoco partners with a local nonprofit in Thailand to provide vegan and vegetarian meals to children in need; for every month purchased, one meal is donated.

Best for Free: Wicked Healthy

Key Specs

Number of lessons: over 250 video recipes
Cost: Free
Target group: Home cooks, families with kids

Why We Chose It

Wicked Healthy is a free online platform with plant-based recipes and cooking videos for audiences of all ages.

Pros & Cons

Pros

Free content
Broad audience, including kids
Enthusiastic, fun teaching approach

Cons

Short videos, not full classes
Smaller video archive

Overview

Wicked Healthy is a platform founded by chefs and brothers Derek and Chad Sarno who are on a mission to inspire others to cook and eat more plants. Through consulting services, food products, cookbooks, partnerships, classes, and more, Wicked Healthy focuses on making delicious food that is good for you and good for the planet. The service offers a large database of recipes on its site and a selection of video-based cooking classes on its YouTube Channel.

Wicked Healthy Kids is a free YouTube Channel that features Chef Chad and some of his favorite young cooks to coach you through making simple, delicious, family-friendly, plant-based meals. The videos highlight ways to get your kids involved in the kitchen, how to make comfort meals, on-the-go snacks, and lunches, as well as weeknight desserts along with easy quick recipes kids can make on their own—all encouraging ways to get more plants in kids’ everyday meals.

In addition to kids' classes, Wicked Healthy offers other free lessons on YouTube such as Wicked Party Food, Vegan Breakfasts, BBQ Mushroom Steak, and general cooking videos on the main Wicked Kitchen channel. Note: These videos are more like mini-classes, and most are less than 10 minutes.

Best for Plant-Based Certification: Rouxbe

Key Specs

Number of lessons: More than 130
Cost: About $1,800
Target group: Professional chefs and dedicated home cooks

Why We Chose It

Rouxbe is a leading online culinary school offering several plant-based courses and certifications for professionals.

Pros & Cons

Pros

Multiple program options
Acclaimed chef instructors
Free trial lesson

Cons

High price point

Overview

Rouxbe is recognized as a leading online culinary school and validated by the American Culinary Federation Education Foundation. As part of a large selection of course offerings, Rouxbe offers several plant-based lessons.

For those interested in plant-based training as a form of career advancement, the Plant-Based Professional Certification offers more than 130 in-depth lessons, over 200 instructional technique videos, and personalized instructor support and grading. This program is designed to be taken over nine months and focuses on core techniques, plus guidance for various dietary modifications including low sodium and gluten-free among others. You will also gain access to your course for life. Pricing for professional certification is nearly $1,800.

The Plant-Based Professional Certification does not have specific start dates; it is self-paced and can be taken at any time after enrollment. Rouxbe also offers a free trial course for anyone before committing (no credit card required).

Best for Elevated Plant-Based Cuisine: Food Future Institute

Key Specs

Number of lessons: More than 100
Cost: $350 for Foundations course
Target group: Dedicated home cooks

Why We Chose It

Renowned chef, Matthew Kenney, founded the Food Future Institute to teach cutting-edge, elevated, plant-based cuisine.

Pros & Cons

Pros

Led by world-renowned plant-based chef
Access to class materials indefinitely
Sequential coursework
Has a student portal with a live chat feature

Cons

Labor-intensive, complex recipes
No free trial or money-back guarantee
Extensive equipment list

Overview

The Food Future Institute launched its online program in 2020 by world-renowned chef and restaurateur and pioneer of plant-based cuisine, Matthew Kenney. Kenney has more than 30 years of experience in the culinary industry.

The Food Future Institute offers a skill-building course known as Foundations, which includes more than 100 lessons taught in sequential format, culminating in a certificate of completion. Each course is designed to combine fundamental techniques of classic culinary training with creativity inspired by Kenney’s restaurants around the globe. You can do them at your own pace, but they must be taken within one year of purchase in order to receive the certificate of completion. (Students have access to the coursework indefinitely.)

Expect to spend a minimum of approximately 200 hours of training with practical cooking exercises, assignments, and multiple comprehensive exams, including a final project at the end of the program. Food Future Institute estimates that if a student is studying full-time, it could be completed within three months. Each lesson includes extensive visual features, including videos, professional photos, and infographics, along with original recipes designed for the course and instruction on food styling and plating.

After completing the program, you will have a solid foundation of techniques and skills to not only create your own inspired plant-based dishes but understand how to follow a great recipe. The Foundations course is priced at $350 and FFI offers a course titled "Home."

Keep in mind that because the program is designed to teach high-level refined cuisine, the lessons can be more labor-intensive than others and include some advanced techniques. However, instructor support is available for any questions or feedback for the entire year after purchasing the program.

Best for Kids: Tiny Green Chef

Key Specs

Number of lessons: 4 modules with more than 30 lessons
Cost: $100
Target group: Kids

Why We Chose It

The Tiny Green Chef Program offers kids cooking classes and interactive activities to teach families how to prepare everyday plant-based meals.

Pros & Cons

Pros

Accessible, approachable ingredients
Food science experiments
30-day money-back guarantee

Cons

Only one program package
No free trial
Limited information on specific recipes and classes prior to purchase

Overview

Founded by a professional health coach and mom with over two decades of professional wellness experience, The Tiny Green Chef Program is an online kids' cooking class with lessons, demos, food experiments, and interactive activities that teach you and your child how to prepare whole plant-based meals at home.

The program is divided into four cumulative modules that include over 30 step-by-step cooking lessons and over more than 60 kitchen skills from basic to intermediate levels. There are also 20 different kitchen science experiments and 20 kid-friendly health lessons and fun food facts on the value of a plant-based diet.

Recipes feature easily accessible and affordable ingredients. Examples include kale rolls, spiced apple balls, and chia seed pudding among others. The Tiny Green Chef Program is priced at about $100, but occasional promotions and discounts may be available.

Upon purchasing the program you will get lifetime access to the course and contents, as well as an invitation to the company’s private Facebook group where you can interact with other members. If you are not satisfied with the program, there is a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Final Verdict

This list includes a variety of options for online vegan cooking classes to make sure there is a fit for everyone. To get just a taste of vegan cooking without investing much time, Wicked Healthy offers great free programming that includes short cooking videos for individuals and families. If you want more intensive thorough lessons, Veecoco has an extensive library of hundreds of classes and lifestyle tips. If your focus is mainly on cooking for your kids and learning how to raise plant-based eaters, The Tiny Green Chef Program is right for you. And if you are looking for an online class as part of career advancement or to achieve the skills of a professional, Rouxbe and The Food Future Institute would be the places to check out.

Online Vegan Cooking Class	Number of Lessons	Cost	Target Group
Veecoco Best Overall	800+	$39/month	Home cooks of all levels
Wicked Healty Best for Free	over 250 video recipes	Free	Home cooks, families with kids
Rouxbe Best for Plant-Based Certification	130+	$1,800	Professional chefs, dedicated home cooks
Food Future Institute Best for Elevated Plant-Based Cuisine	100+	$350 for Foundations course	Dedicated home cooks
Tiny Green Chef Best for Kids	4 modules, over 30 lessons	$100	Kids

Frequently Asked Questions

Why Should I Take an Online Vegan Cooking Class?

Online vegan cooking classes help you expand your cooking horizon, no matter whether you have been plant-based for a long time but want new inspiration, or whether you are newly plant-based and need suggestions for how to maximize nutrition and flavor in vegan dishes. Even if you are not 100% vegan, online cooking classes are a great way to add more plant-based recipes to your repertoire. And these classes go beyond dinner; they also teach you how to make vegan products from scratch, such as vegan cheese and vegan baking.
Can an Online Vegan Cooking Class Help Me Become a Chef?

There is a lot that goes into becoming a professional chef and most culinary arts programs will also require on-site externships; however, Rouxbe is an accredited online program that offers a Plant-Based Certification Course and the Food Future Institute offers a Certificate of Completion though these are not equivalent to a Professional Culinary Arts Diploma. Ultimately becoming a chef has more to do with real-life kitchen experience in a professional setting (and there are many professional chefs who have not had formal training in a school).
How Much Do Online Vegan Cooking Classes Cost?

Prices range from free to about $1,300 for a certification course. However, the average is around a few hundred dollars for an all-access class with hundreds of recipes in the video archive.
Online Vegan Cooking Classes vs. In-Person: Which Is Better for Me?

There are pros and cons to online and in-person classes. The benefit to in-person is that you get immediate guidance and hands-on feedback from an instructor; however online courses provide the convenience of learning from home, on a self-paced timeline, and in most cases, with lifetime access to the full library of courses that you can replay at any time. Another benefit to an online curriculum is that you can pick and choose which class themes are of the most interest to you. And while there is no in-person guidance, there is still virtual support available from instructors and private Facebook groups.

Methodology

The best online vegan cooking classes were selected after reviewing the overall variety of course offerings, professionalism of the instructors, pricing and flexibility of purchase plans, option for self-paced classes, brand history, and customer reviews. Accessibility of ingredients and approachability of recipes were also deciding factors in relation to the intended audience.