After nearly a decade of plant-based cooking, I've learned that the real kitchen wisdom has nothing to do with fancy recipes and everything to do with quiet, unglamorous habits.
When I first went vegan at 35, I thought success meant mastering complicated recipes and stocking my pantry with every specialty ingredient I could find.
I spent weekends attempting elaborate cashew cheese wheels and homemade seitan roasts, often ending up exhausted and surrounded by dirty dishes.
Nearly a decade later, my kitchen looks completely different. The recipes are simpler, the grocery bills are lower, and somehow everything tastes better. The shift happened gradually, through small adjustments that experienced vegans rarely think to mention because they've become second nature.
These aren't the tips you'll find in beginner guides. They're the quiet habits that make plant-based cooking feel effortless rather than like a constant project.
1) They batch-cook grains and legumes without a specific recipe in mind
New vegans often cook grains and beans only when a recipe calls for them. Long-term vegans keep containers of cooked quinoa, rice, lentils, and chickpeas in the fridge at all times, ready to become whatever the week demands.
I spend maybe 30 minutes on Sunday cooking a big pot of something, and that single act removes friction from every meal that follows. Tuesday's leftover rice becomes Wednesday's fried rice, then Thursday's grain bowl. The mental load of starting from scratch disappears when the building blocks are already waiting.
What would change if you always had something ready to build a meal around?
2) They salt their cooking water like they mean it
This sounds almost too simple to mention, but it transformed my cooking. For years, I under-salted everything, and my grains and pasta tasted flat no matter what sauce I added.
Experienced plant-based cooks salt their pasta water until it tastes like the sea. They season their bean cooking liquid generously. The difference is remarkable because seasoning from within creates depth that surface seasoning can never replicate.
If your vegan meals taste like something's missing, this might be the invisible culprit.
3) They treat nutritional yeast as a seasoning, not a cheese substitute
Beginners often pile nutritional yeast onto everything, hoping it will taste like parmesan. It won't, and that expectation leads to disappointment.
Seasoned vegans use nutritional yeast differently. A tablespoon stirred into soup adds umami depth. A sprinkle in salad dressing creates complexity. It's a flavor enhancer, not a replacement for something else. When I stopped trying to make it be cheese and started appreciating what it actually does, my relationship with this ingredient completely shifted.
It became a tool rather than a compromise.
4) They keep a jar of aquafaba in the fridge
That liquid you're draining from your canned chickpeas? Long-term vegans save it. Aquafaba whips into meringue, binds veggie burgers, creates fluffy pancakes, and adds richness to baked goods.
I keep a mason jar in my fridge and add to it every time I open a can of chickpeas. When it's full, I use it or freeze it in ice cube trays. It's free, it works beautifully, and throwing it away now feels like tossing out eggs.
Research has shown that aquafaba functions as an effective egg replacer in many culinary applications, making it one of the most versatile tools in a vegan kitchen.
5) They build flavor through layering rather than adding more ingredients
New vegans often think more ingredients equal more flavor. Experienced ones know that technique matters more than variety.
Blooming spices in oil before adding other ingredients releases their essential oils. Caramelizing onions for 30 minutes creates sweetness no amount of sugar can replicate. Deglazing a pan captures all those browned bits that would otherwise wash down the drain.
These small acts of patience build complexity without requiring a longer shopping list. What would happen if you slowed down and let each layer develop before adding the next?
6) They embrace acid as the secret weapon
A squeeze of lemon, a splash of vinegar, a spoonful of fermented something. Acid brightens flavors and makes everything taste more alive.
I keep multiple acids on hand: apple cider vinegar for earthier dishes, rice vinegar for Asian-inspired meals, fresh lemons always in the fruit bowl. When a dish tastes good but not quite right, acid is usually what's missing. It lifts heavy foods, balances sweetness, and adds the brightness that makes you want another bite. This simple addition has rescued more mediocre dinners than I can count.
7) They stop trying to replicate meat textures and lean into what plants do best
Early in my vegan journey, I spent considerable energy trying to make vegetables behave like meat. Mushrooms had to be meaty. Jackfruit had to shred like pulled pork.
Now I appreciate what each ingredient naturally offers. Roasted cauliflower has a nutty sweetness meat never could. Crispy smoked tempeh brings something entirely its own to a dish.
This shift from imitation to appreciation changed how I experience food. I stopped mourning what wasn't on my plate and started celebrating what was. The mental freedom that comes with this acceptance is hard to overstate.
8) They meal prep components, not complete meals
Beginners often batch-cook entire recipes, then grow tired of eating the same thing by day three. Long-term vegans prep flexible components: a sauce, a protein, some roasted vegetables, a grain.
Monday's tahini-dressed grain bowl becomes Tuesday's wrap with the same ingredients plus some fresh greens. The roasted vegetables join pasta on Wednesday and top a pizza on Thursday.
This approach prevents boredom while still saving time. It's the difference between eating leftovers and creating variations on a theme.
Final thoughts
None of these habits require special equipment or expensive ingredients. They're simply the accumulated wisdom of years spent cooking plants, distilled into small adjustments that make an outsized difference.
If you're newer to vegan cooking and feeling like it's more work than it should be, know that it gets easier. Not because you'll eventually master every technique, but because you'll develop intuition. You'll stop following recipes so rigidly and start cooking by feel. The kitchen will become a place of ease rather than effort.
Which of these might you try this week? Sometimes the smallest shift creates the biggest change.
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