Travelling as a vegan isn’t always the easiest, you can have a travel bucket list longer than your arm, but never manage to press confirm on the hotel booking without a quick preliminary search on Happy Cow. I’ve been eating a vegan diet for nearly 7 years now, and I’m not ashamed to admit that Happy Cow has decided my next travel destination more than once. Thankfully for the vegan community, a country with at least one city on most people’s travel bucket lists, Italy, is great for vegans.
WHY ITALY IS GREAT FOR VEGANS
Italian cuisine may not be obviously vegan when you first think of it, but cuisine varies from region to region and what they serve at your local Italian restaurant might not be quite the real deal. There’s a lot more to Italian cuisine than cheesy pizza and dry cured meats. Yes, I added the word cheesy for a reason.
TRADITIONAL PIZZA DOESN’T HAVE CHEESE
I know, you get looked at like an alien in most places for asking for a pizza without cheese, and if you do, it’s often a little dry and not all that great. However, traditional pizza from Naples didn’t actually contain cheese. It was simply the base, tomatoes, and herbs. While that’s not what we’re used to in most places, it’s quite normal in Italy to request your pizza without cheese, even if it does come with cheese by default on the menu.
RISOTTO REIGNS
In certain areas of northern Italy, pasta is not the default carb, it’s rice. Risotto is the signature dish in certain regions. It’s very easy to request a vegan risotto as the parmesan is added towards the end of the cooking process and doesn’t change a lot for the rest of the dish. Obviously, there are many different variations of vegetable/ plant based risottos, so you don’t have to feel like you’re eating the same thing on repeat even if you do end up having it as your go-to dish.
VEGANS CAN EAT PASTA
Yes, fresh pasta usually contains egg, and dried pasta is typically vegan, but these rules aren’t set in stone. The majority of places will serve fresh pasta, but you’ll always be able to get some egg free pasta and even if that does turn out to be dried, you can still enjoy a fresh, delicious sauce on it.
In certain regions of southern Italy, pasta was traditionally the poor man’s dish and is often made following a basic flour and water recipe, so even the fresh pasta can be vegan friendly.
DON’T WANT TO MAKE CHANGES?
I hear you! It’s great to be able to get something even if you have to ask for a few changes here and there, but it can get tiring having to ask for something with or without this or that constantly.
Thankfully, there are more and more vegan eateries appearing in the main tourist spots all the time. Remember how I said Happy Cow chooses my trips sometimes? Well, there was a March 2020 trip (that never happened – thanks Covid) to Florence that Happy Cow helped me choose.
I popped a couple of my final choice destinations into Happy Cow and was amazed to see how vegan friendly Florence is, and that level of inclusivity appears to be the norm in major Italian cities.
Vegan Restaurants in Rome
Vegan Restaurants in Florence
QUICK VEGAN ITALIAN GLOSSARY
- pasta secca – dried pasta (typically vegan)
- pasta fresca – fresh pasta (often with egg)
- senza formaggio – without cheese
- Senza latte – Without milk
- Senza carne – Without meat
In short, food shouldn’t stand in the way of you booking that trip to Italy. Italy is great for vegans, even without missing out on their famous traditional cuisine.
