No leavening, no problem! These Vegan Passover Recipes use the best produce of springtime to create totally kosher, absolutely delicious meals for a beautiful Seder dinner and week of keeping Passover.
So much of my love for food comes from my mom and dad! Growing up I spent hours and hours in the kitchen with them, making their recipes and learning from their years of cooking experience. I hope my kids have those same memories with me!
Holidays always bring out the nostalgia of cooking, and making my family's traditional recipes for Passover is no exception. Recipes like Charoset make me feel connected to my heritage, and it's so cool to see my kids connect with them as well. I hope someday they make these foods for their own families!
This post is full of the Vegan Passover Recipes that I'd serve, both at Passover dinner and in the week following.
What is Passover?
Passover is a Jewish celebration commemorating the ancient Hebrew's liberation from slavery in Egypt. The name comes from the "passing over" of the forces of destruction, and it's celebrated for a week in the springtime! One of the major hallmarks of Passover is removing leaven (usually yeast) from our diet and only eating unleavened bread (called matzo). Unleavened bread reminds us of how quickly the Jews had to leave Egypt to escape suffering because they didn't have time to wait for their bread to rise! The most traditional Passover dishes on my site are:
Passover Dinner Recipes
In Judaism, Passover is a special occasion. It's a holiday meal we look forward to all year! Passover is meant to be a big celebration, starting with the first night and the seder. Here is a blog post I wrote on how to make a Vegan Seder Plate! These dishes are the ones I'd use to menu plan an extra-special vegan and gluten-free Passover dinner.
Passover Dinner Appetizers
I try to keep appetizers simple and delicious, which helps keep the focus on the Seder plate!
- Nana's Famous Apple-Walnut Charoset for Passover - Charoset (also called haroset) is a traditional Seder plate food. It resembles the mortar and brick used by the Jews who worked for Pharoah and it's served a bit like relish or as a dip with matzo. I don't have a gluten-free and vegan matzo I love, so I'll serve this with almond flour crackers or homemade seed crackers
- Healthy Maple Candied Pecans (refined sugar-free)
- Simplified Israeli-Style Hummus
- Sweet Potato Rounds with Vegan Ricotta and Toasted Walnuts
Soup & Salad
For a sit-down dinner, I like having a few soups and salads. It gives everyone at the table a variety of things to try. Plus...I LOVE having the leftovers for lunches throughout the following week of keeping Passover!
- Simple Vegan Cream of Asparagus Soup - This dish is SO beautiful for a sit-down dinner!
- Creamy Carrot Ginger Soup or Toddler & Kid-Approved Creamy Vegan Carrot Soup for the little ones
- Asparagus Ribbon Salad
- Pear and Roasted Beet Arugula Salad with Hazelnuts
- Raw Shredded Brussels Sprouts Salad
- Creamy Vegan Cucumber Salad with Dill and Red Onion
- Vegan Tzatziki Potato Salad
- Vegan Beet Tzatziki Salad
Springtime Veggies for Passover
Since Passover happens in the springtime, a lot of the same vegetables you'd see at an Easter dinner are served here, too! I love making a few vegetables to go with dinner, then serving them with a favorite sauce for optional drizzling.
- Simple Sautéed Broccoli with Garlic
- Herb Roasted Root Vegetables
- Easy Maple Glazed Sautéed Carrots or Whole Roasted Rainbow Carrots over Hummus with Easy Herb Tahini Sauce
- One-Skillet Garlic Asparagus with Sesame Seeds
- Crispy Oven Roasted Cauliflower with Easy Creamy Vegan Tahini Sauce
- Extra Crispy Smashed Fingerling Potatoes with Creamy Lemon Herb Sauce or Crispy Smashed Potatoes
- Simple Sauteed Broccoli with Garlic
- Easy Restaurant-Style Sautéed Mushrooms
- Crispy Maple Roasted Brussels Sprouts
- Instant Pot Spaghetti Squash
- Mini Hasselback Potatoes with Garlic and Herb Vegan Aioli
- Best Vegan Mashed Potatoes or Instant Pot Vegan Mashed Potatoes
Vegan Passover Entrees
In a traditional Passover dinner families might serve fish or brisket, but since I'm vegan and don't cook with meat, I rely on these dishes that are just as special! I love cooking with cauliflower as a main dish because it feels substantial, plates beautifully, and absorbs the flavors around it.
Dessert
Passover dessert usually means one thing: macaroons! Macaroons are a Passover favorite since the traditional, unaltered recipes doesn't require grains or yeast. Most people buy the canned version, but making them at home feels really celebratory! I've also got a dessert version of Matzo Crack, which is a great way to make usually-plain matzo a bit more fun.
- Vegan Coconut Macaroons (refined sugar-free, paleo, egg-free, gluten-free)
- Matzo Crack (Refined Sugar-Free) Made Vegan for Passover
- Vegan Gluten-Free Lemon Bars (refined sugar-free) - no baking powder or baking soda!
- Dark Chocolate Avocado Truffles
- Vegan Grain-Free Key Lime Pie Bars with Avocados - no baking powder or baking soda!
- No-Cook, No-Avocado Vegan Chocolate Pudding (refined sugar free + gluten free + nut free)
Recipes for Keeping Passover (no leavened foods!)
After the formal Passover dinner, there's a whole week of what we call "keeping Passover." This is a time of totally Kosher eating, mainly avoiding foods with leavening like yeast or grains that can ferment and become leavened, like wheat, barley, spelt, oats and rye. Here are a couple of ideas if you're planning a week of meals with these guidelines!
- Breakfast: Vegan Toaster Pastries (gluten-free, paleo, refined sugar-free), Chia Seed Pudding, Lemon & Coconut Energy Bites, Spring Root Vegetable Hash with Creamy Herb Sauce, or any of the smoothies in my Ultimate Vegan Smoothie Recipe Roundup!
- Lunch: Easy Vegan Zucchini Pizza Bites (paleo), Crispy Quinoa and Avocado Salad with Vegan Strawberry Vinaigrette (Easy and Creamy), Cream of Mushroom Soup
- Snacks: Easy Vegan Apple Ring Sandwiches, Best Crispy Kale Chips, Zucchini Hummus with Almond Flour Crackers or Super Seed Crackers or Sweet and Spiced Roasted Chickpeas
- Dinner: Rainbow Veggie Kebabs with Chimichurri Sauce, No-Bread Panko "Breadcrumbs", Thai Coconut Curry Soup, Apple Arugula Salad with Walnuts, Dates and Vegan Feta, Vegan Mediterranean Quinoa Bowl, Roasted Spaghetti Squash with Black Lentils and Creamy Marinara Sauce, Instant Pot Vegan Mushroom Risotto
- Dessert/Celebrations: Vegan and Paleo Raspberry Thumbprint Cookies [contains baking soda], No-Bake Gluten-Free Chocolate Cheesecake, or Vegan Grain-Free Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake (paleo + refined sugar-free) [no baking powder and no baking soda], Maple Cinnamon Baked Pears, Ice Cream Cake, Vegan Dessert Shooters
For more Passover-friendly recipes check out my paleo recipe section of the blog. Not all are kosher for Passover but most are!
More Vegan Recipe Roundups
- Ultimate Vegan Hanukkah Recipe Roundup
- My Ultimate Vegan Rosh Hashanah Recipe Roundup
- Vegan & Gluten-Free Recipes to Make in the Instant Pot
- Homemade Holiday: Food Gifts for Everyone
- Vegan Rainbow Recipes
- 115+ Vegan Blender Recipes
- Healthy Comfort Food Recipes
- Vegan & Gluten-Free Recipes From Around the World
- Ultimate Gluten-Free & Vegan Birthday Recipe Roundup
- Kid-Friendly Vegan Dinners
- The Pantry Staple That Does it All: Over 30 Chickpea Recipes
- Foods That Reduce Waste: Eco-Friendly Vegan Recipes
Shira says
I love this! There can never be enough vegan Passover ideas. I'm finishing my Passover planning tomorrow and will definitely consider many of these. Question on the cake: I didn't think baking soda was kosher for Passover even if you eat kitinyot.
Elaine Gordon says
Thank you so much, Shira! I'm so glad this was published just in time for your menu planning.
As for baking powder, I have understood that it is okay for most since it is not leavening as a result of fermentation (like yeast). Baking soda and baking powder leaven with a chemical reaction, not fermentation, so they are usually permitted. However, if you keeping strictly kosher or are orthodox you may be uncomfortable with it. You can look for "Kosher for Passover" items or "Kosher for Passover" baking powder made without cornstarch.
I have removed the cupcake and cake recipe so that everyone feels comfortable with the recipes listed in this round up. The cookie cake is safe though as the recipe does not contain baking powder or baking soda. I hope that helps!
Please let me know if you have any questions.
Best, Elaine
Shira says
Thanks! I think I'm going to make the lemon bars and the chocolate chip cookie cake. They both look delicious! It's always hard figuring out what I can eat since I will eat kitinyot and googling what is kosher for Passover typically assumes you don't. And it doesn't help that my mom grew up Orthodox and doesn't even understand why I eat kitinyot. 🙂 Thank you also for the recipe suggestions for the week of Passover. That's even more key than the seder since you need breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks for 8 days!
Elaine Gordon says
Awesome - two great picks! And I'm so glad the menu suggestions for the week of Passover are helpful too. There are a lot more recipes on the site that would work but I didn't want to overwhelm. If you look in my paleo category then you will see all my grain-free recipes and a lot of those fall within the Passover-friendly category. Not all but most!
https://www.eatingbyelaine.com/category/paleo/ (highly recommend the lemon energy bites - we are obsessed over here and eat them for breakfast and snacks)