Vegan Recipes: Which is More Vegan, Dubai or Abu Dhabi?

By Jun 2, 2020 Vegan

We’ve been adding new vegan recipes to our meal kits for five years now and delivering it all around the UAE. Since most of our customers come from the two biggest cities in the UAE, we decided to look at our data and see which city is more vegan.

The data was analyzed from thousands of Hello Chef recipes ordered & delivered in 2019 in both cities. Most of you probably guessed that Dubai would win this vegan face-off, however, the results may surprise you!

Remember to scroll further down for our Top 3 Vegan Recipes of the year 2019.

After analyzing the data we concluded that Abu Dhabi is slightly more vegan than Dubai! According to our data: Abu Dhabi is 5.25% more vegan than Dubai.

The best Hello Chef vegan customer Tracey Tops cooked a total of 181 Hello Chef’s vegan recipes last year. She only missed 27 recipes! Hats off!

Tracey tells us that she has been a vegan for over a year and a half now.

“First, I went on a two-week trial, and started to love how my body felt. Suddenly I had all this extra energy!” Tracey says. “After that I’ve never gone back. I don’t feel deprived of anything.”

Tracey’s favourite vegan foods are typically Asian.

“Recently I had an amazing Red Tofu Curry from you. The Sri Lankan Palak Dal is also one of my favourites, as well as the vegan pizza.”

Below you have the Top 3 vegan recipes that were among the most popular in both cities in 2019. Those recipes are: Creamy Cashew Nut Spaghetti Arrabiata, Peanut Butter and Hoisin Fettuccine, and Black Bean and Mushroom Chilli.

You can view the recipes by scrolling down or clicking on the hyperlinks above. Keep cooking and enjoying vegan!

Creamy Cashew Nut Spaghetti Arrabiata

Creamy Cashew Nut Spaghetti Arrabiata

Serves 2

Cooking time 30 min

Ingredients:

Pasta and sauce:

250 g spaghetti (regular or whole grain)

60 g cashew nuts

60 g sun dried tomatoes

2 garlic cloves

1 can (400 g) chopped tomatoes

2 tsp sugar

1 tsp chilli flakes

1 tsp salt

0.5 tsp black pepper

2 Tbsp olive oil

200 ml water

Baked tomatoes:

250 g cherry tomatoes

1 Tbsp olie oil

0.5 tsp salt

0.25 tsp black pepper

To serve:

Fresh basil

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 220°C/200°C fan. Rinse the cherry tomatoes and place them in a baking dish. Drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper. Bake in the oven for 20 min.

2. Meanwhile, bring a pot of lightly salted water to a boil and add the spaghetti. Cook for 10-12 min or until “al dente”. Reserve 200/300/400 ml of the cooking water, otherwise drain the pasta.

3. Meanwhile, add the cashew nuts, sun dried tomatoes, peeled and chopped garlic cloves, chopped tomatoes, sugar, chilli flakes (adjusting to your taste), salt, pepper and olive oil to a blender or a food processor. Blitz until thick and smooth. 

4. Transfer the sauce to a pot. Add the measured water, using the pasta cooking water. Bring to a light simmer. Cook over a low heat, covered, for 10 min, stirring occasionally. Finally check the seasoning.

5. Combine the drained spaghetti and the tomato sauce. Divide the pasta among plates and top with the baked cherry tomatoes. Garnish with fresh basil leaves.

Per serving:

Cal 728.1

Carb 123.8g

Prot 26.4g

Fat 16.7g

Peanut Butter and Hoisin Fettuccine

Peanut Butter and Hoisin Fettuccine

Serves 2

Cooking time 20 min

Ingredients:

Pasta and sauce:

250 g fettuccine pasta (regular or whole grain)

1 small broccoli

1 carrot

1 red onion

2 spring onions

1 large red chilli

2 garlic cloves

30 g ginger

4 Tbsp peanut butter

2 Tbsp tomato paste

2 Tbsp hoisin sauce

1 Tbsp soy sauce

60 ml water

2 Tbsp olive oil

0.5 tsp salt

0.5 tsp black pepper

To serve:

3-4 Tbsp roasted salted peanuts

Method:

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the fettuccine for 8-10 min to “al dente” or until cooked to your liking. Reserve some of the pasta cooking water, otherwise drain the pasta and keep it warm.

2. Meanwhile, separate the broccoli to small florets. Peel, halve and thinly slice the carrots and onions. Chop the spring onion. Remove the red chilli stems (and seeds, if you prefer a milder heat) and chop the chilli finely. Peel and chop the garlic. Peel and grate the ginger.

3. In a small bowl, combine the peanut butter, tomato paste, hoisin sauce, soy sauce, garlic, ginger and measured water. This is your sauce.

4. Heat a pan over a medium-high heat with a drizzle of oil. Fry the carrot, onion and broccoli for 5 min until a bit softened. Add the spring onion and chilli. Season with salt and pepper.

5. Add the sauce to the pan and cook for 1-2 min until heated throughout. Add the drained pasta and a splash of the pasta cooking water. Mix gently to combine.

6. Divide the pasta among plates and garnish with roughly chopped peanuts.

Per serving:

Cal 840.3

Carb 128.6

Prot 35.1

Fat 24.0

Black Bean and Mushroom Chilli

Black Bean and Mushroom Chilli

Serves 2

Cooking time 35 min

Ingredients:

For chilli:

1 can (400 g) black beans

250 g mushrooms

1 red onion

3 garlic cloves

2 large red chillis

2 Tbsp vegetable oil

3 Tbsp tomato paste

1 tsp brown sugar

1 tsp salt

0.5 tsp black pepper

1 tsp smoked paprika powder

1 tsp chipotle powder

1 tsp cumin powder

1 tsp dried oregano

150 ml water

100 ml soy cream (or other vegan cream)

Rice:

150 g jasmine rice

350 ml water

0.5 tsp salt

To serve:

100 g soy yogurt (or other vegan yogurt)

Fresh chives

Method:

1. Rinse and drain the canned black beans in a colander. Clean and chop the mushrooms. Peel and chop the onion and garlic. Remove the red chilli stems (and seeds, if you prefer it milder). Chop the chilli and reserve some for garnish.

2. Heat a soup pot over a medium-high heat with a drizzle of oil. Fry the mushrooms for 5 min or until the liquid has evaporated. Add the onions and cook for 3 min. Add the garlic, chilli, tomato paste, sugar, salt, pepper, smoked paprika, chipotle powder, cumin powder and dried oregano. Cook for 2 min.

3. Add the measured water, soy cream and drained black beans. Bring to a light simmer, cover with a lid and reduce the heat to low. Cook for 20-25 min.

4. Meanwhile, rinse the jasmine rice. Add the rice, measured water and a pinch of salt to a pan with a lid and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat to low, cover, and cook for 10-12 min or until the water is absorbed and the rice is cooked. Once cooked, remove the pan from heat and keep covered until serving.

5. Chop the chives. Serve the chilli over cooked rice. Serve with the soy yogurt. Garnish with the reserved red chilli slices and the chopped chives.

Per serving:

Cal 622.6

Carb 117.9

Prot 26.1

Fat 8.6