Author: One of my favorite things to do is recreate restaurant favorites at home. Whether it's cracking the secret behind Chipotle Sofritas, perfecting Olive Garden Breadsticks, or making a Starbucks Lemon Loaf that's even better than the original, I love figuring out what makes these recipes so irresistible, then recreating them with simple vegan ingredients. After years of developing vegan recipes, these are some of my very best copycats.
Looking for a specific restaurant? Jump to your favorite below, or browse them all to discover a new homemade favorite.
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Why I Keep Coming Back to These Copycats
I'll be honest, half of these recipes started because I was craving a restaurant favorite from my pre-vegan days, or because I didn't feel like driving across town for a burrito bowl or paying $6 for a latte I could make at home in five minutes.
The other half started as a challenge to myself: could I recreate those same flavors using tofu, beans, and ingredients I already had in my pantry? Turns out, yes.
Every recipe here has been tested, retested, and snacked on more times than I'd like to admit before it made the cut, so you can skip the trial and error. Expect simple grocery store ingredients, no fancy equipment, and plenty of freezer-friendly and make-ahead options for the weeks when cooking from scratch feels like a lot.
Here's why this roundup deserves a spot in your bookmarks:
- Your favorite restaurant and café classics made completely vegan
- Made with simple, easy-to-find grocery store ingredients
- Budget-friendly alternatives to expensive takeout and coffee runs
- Better for the animals, made using plant-based ingredients
- Plenty of meal prep and freezer-friendly options
- Family-friendly recipes everyone will enjoy
- Everything from comforting dinners and drinks to bakery treats and candy
- Tried, tested, and perfected so you can skip the trial and error
Find the Perfect Recipe
| If you're craving... | Make this |
|---|---|
| Chipotle | Chipotle Sofritas |
| Olive Garden | Zuppa Toscana |
| Starbucks | Lemon Loaf |
| Panda Express | Orange Chicken |
| McDonald's | Big Mac Salad |
| KFC | KFC Coleslaw Copycat |
| Krispy Kreme | Glazed Donuts |
| Cinnabon | Cinnamon Buns |
| Reese's | Peanut Butter Cups |
| Cadbury | Creme Eggs |
| Buffalo Wild Wings | Buffalo Cauliflower Wings |
| Red Lobster | Cheddar Biscuits |
| Sushi Night | California Rolls |
🌯 Chipotle Copycat Recipes
Love Chipotle? These vegan copycat recipes recreate everything from smoky sofritas and cilantro lime rice to guacamole, corn salsa, and pico de gallo so you can build your favorite burrito bowls, burritos, tacos, and salads at home.
Tofu Sofritas: Smoky, saucy, and packed with flavor, this Sofritas recipe tastes just like Chipotle's, but better because it's homemade, budget-friendly, vegan, and ready in one skillet. 🕒 30 Minutes 💪 High Protein 🌾 Gluten Free 🍱 Meal Prep
Chipotle Guacamole: Ripe avocado, lime, cilantro, and a little jalapeño kick. That's really all it takes. I make a double batch every time because it never lasts long in my house. 🕒 30 Minutes 🌾 Gluten Free 🍱 Meal Prep 🌱 Oil Free
Chipotle Rice Recipe (Cilantro Lime Rice): Inspired by Chipotle's cilantro lime rice, it's easy to make at home and perfect for burrito bowls, tacos, meal prep, or serving alongside beans and veggies. 🕒 30 Minutes 🌾 Gluten Free 🍱 Meal Prep
Chipotle Corn Salsa: Made with sweet charred corn, roasted poblano pepper, jalapeño, cilantro, lime juice, and red onion, this easy copycat recipe is bright, smoky, zesty, and incredibly delicious. 🕒 30 Minutes 🌾 Gluten Free 🍱 Meal Prep
Avocado Crema: This silky-smooth Avocado Crema is tangy, bright, and ultra-creamy thanks to fresh lime and vegan yogurt. It blends up in just 5 minutes and adds instant flavor to tacos, bowls, nachos, roasted veggies, quesadillas, and more. 🕒 30 Minutes 🌾 Gluten Free 🍱 Meal Prep 🌱 Oil Free
Pico de Gallo (Better than Chipotle!): This fresh pico de gallo tastes just like the recipe from Chipotle, but even better because it's extra fresh, easy to customize, and made at home in minutes. 🕒 30 Minutes 🌾 Gluten Free 🍱 Meal Prep 🌱 Oil Free
🥗 Olive Garden Copycat Recipes
Bring Olive Garden home with these vegan copycat recipes. From cozy Zuppa Toscana and creamy Fettuccine Alfredo to warm breadsticks and the famous house salad, these recipes recreate everything you love about the restaurant.
Vegan Zuppa Toscana: Olive Garden's Zuppa Toscana soup recipe- but veganized! This soup is lusciously creamy and loaded with potato, kale, and homemade tofu sausage. 🍱 Meal Prep 🌱 Oil Free 🌾 Gluten Free 💪 High Protein
Vegan Fettuccine Alfredo: Creamy, garlicky, and unbelievably silky, this tastes just like the restaurant classic, but it's totally dairy-free and made with simple pantry ingredients. No nuts, no blender, no fuss. 🕒 30 Minutes 🍱 Meal Prep 🌾 Gluten Free 🧊 Freezer Friendly 🌱 Oil Free
Vegan Olive Garden Breadsticks: Soft, fluffy, and brushed with buttery garlic salt, just like the restaurant. They're warm, pillowy, and dangerously easy to keep eating. Serve them with pasta, soup, or a big salad and prepare to feel extremely proud of yourself. 🍱 Meal Prep 🧊 Freezer Friendly
Vegan Olive Garden Salad: This Vegan Olive Garden Salad tastes just like the restaurant classic, crisp lettuce, juicy tomatoes, briny olives, spicy pepperoncini, crunchy croutons, and the signature creamy-tangy Italian dressing. It's quick to make, perfect for serving a crowd, and perfect paired with a bowl of pasta. 🌾 Gluten Free 🕒 30 Minutes
☕ Starbucks Copycat Recipes
Skip the coffee shop line and make your Starbucks favourites right at home. These copycat drinks and baked treats are easy to make with simple ingredients. So you can enjoy your café favourites anytime.
Vegan Lemon Loaf (better than Starbucks): Buttery, moist, and bursting with lemon in every bite, then finished with a glaze that sets into the perfect sweet topping. This one is a fan favorite for a reason! Egg and dairy-free, and easy enough for a weeknight bake. 🧊 Freezer Friendly
Pecan Crunch Oat Latte (Starbucks Dupe): Treat yourself to a café-style break with this Starbucks copycat Pecan Crunch Oat Latte! Toasty pecan syrup, hints of brown sugar and maple, and creamy oatmilk come together to make the coziest, nuttiest latte. 🕒 30 Minutes 🌱 Oil Free 🌾 Gluten Free
Cinnamon Dolce Coffee Syrup: Just like the Starbucks latte but even better! Homemade cinnamon dolce coffee syrup is quick and easy to make taking only 10 minutes of simmering and using just 5 simple ingredients. 🕒 30 Minutes 🌱 Oil Free 🌾 Gluten Free
Easy Vegan Pumpkin Spice Latte: Just 6 ingredients (7 if you like coconut whipped cream, which I definitely do), and about 5 minutes to make. This dairy-free version is so quick and easy to whip up and tastes even better than Starbucks. 🕒 30 Minutes 🌱 Oil Free 🌾 Gluten Free
🍗 Restaurant Copycat Recipes
These vegan restaurant copycat recipes recreate some of the most iconic restaurant favorites, from Panda Express Orange Chicken and Red Lobster Cheddar Biscuits to Buffalo Wild Wings, McDonald's, and more.
Easy Vegan Orange Chicken: Better than takeout, this Vegan Orange Chicken recipe is easy to make, healthier than Panda Express, and so tasty! Just 1 pan and 20 minutes is all it takes. 🍱 Meal Prep 🌱 Oil Free 🌾 Gluten Free 💪 High Protein
Vegan Garlic Bread: This vegan garlic bread is crispy on the edges, soft and fluffy inside, and packed with bold garlicky flavor. It's easy to make this Buca di Beppo dupe with simple ingredients and can be enjoyed as-is or upgraded to cheesy garlic bread with your favorite vegan cheese. 🕒 30 Minutes 🍱 Meal Prep 🧊 Freezer Friendly
Easy Vegan Cheddar Biscuits: These Easy Vegan Biscuits taste just like the Cheddar Bay Biscuits from Red Lobster, but they are entirely plant-based and easy to make at home in just 30 minutes! Buttery, flaky, and garlicky, with a generous amount of vegan cheddar cheese mixed into the dough, making them incredibly flavorful. 🍱 Meal Prep 🧊 Freezer Friendly
Crispy Vegan Buffalo Wings: A quick and easy Buffalo Wild Wings vegan dupe! These vegan wings are crispy, spicy, and baked, not fried. A crunchy cornflake coating is the secret to their irresistible texture. Always a hit, especially with vegan blue cheese dip! 🍱 Meal Prep 🌾 Gluten Free 🌱 Oil Free
Vegan California Roll: This simple Vegan California Roll recipe tastes just like what you get at your favorite sushi restaurant, but it's totally vegan! Homemade sushi is so fun to make, very affordable, and soooo tasty! The filling is made up of 6 simple ingredients that when combined taste just like the classic California roll but no fish are harmed. 🌾 Gluten Free 🌱 Oil Free
KFC Coleslaw Copycat: This KFC coleslaw copycat is creamy, tangy, and perfectly sweet with that classic flavor everyone loves. Finely chopped cabbage and carrots are tossed in a smooth, tangy dressing, making it the perfect make-ahead side for BBQs, potlucks, or easy dinners. 🍱 Meal Prep 🌾 Gluten Free 🌱 Oil Free
Vegan Big Mac Salad: All the flavor of a Big Mac, the tangy special sauce, the pickles, the shredded lettuce, all piled into a bowl instead of a bun. Fast enough for a weeknight, and it packs into meal prep containers beautifully for lunches all week. 🍱 Meal Prep 🌾 Gluten Free 🌱 Oil Free
Vegan Hamburger Helper: The Best Vegan Hamburger Helper is easy to make and uses easy-to-find ingredients that you likely already have on hand. Inspired by the cheeseburger flavor, tofu is seasoned and cooked for a beefy-tasting bite, and the pasta is cooked in a cheesy creamy sauce that everyone will love. You won't believe this is vegan! 🍱 Meal Prep 🌱 Oil Free 🌾 Gluten Free 💪 High Protein
🍩 Sweet Copycat Recipes
Got a sweet tooth? These vegan copycat recipes recreate your favourite donuts, cinnamon buns, chocolate bars, and candy with simple ingredients.
Easy Vegan Glazed Donuts: These easy vegan glazed donuts are the perfect Krispy Kreme vegan dupe! They go perfectly with your morning coffee or will satisfy that late-night craving. But it gets even better... this vegan donuts recipe requires only 10 ingredients that you probably already have in your cupboards and it takes less than 30 minutes to prepare! 🕒 30 Minutes 🧊 Freezer Friendly
Vegan Powdered Donuts: These melt-in-your-mouth white powdered donuts taste just like the traditional Dunkin' Donuts recipe... but better because they're easy to make, baked instead of fried, can be made in the comfort of your own home, and of course, are entirely vegan. 🕒 30 Minutes 🧊 Freezer Friendly
Vegan Double Chocolate Donuts with Sprinkles: Another vegan Dunkin' Donuts dupe - this is the best baked chocolate donuts recipe that takes only 30 minutes to make. Top your chocolate donuts with sprinkles, chopped nuts, or leave them plain.🕒 30 Minutes 🧊 Freezer Friendly
Easy Vegan Cinnamon Buns: No yeast. No rising. Only 10 ingredients. No weird ingredients. Freezable. Completely addictive!! No one will know these Cinnabon dupes are vegan. 🧊 Freezer Friendly
Vegan Soft Frosted Sugar Cookies: The perfect vegan Lofthouse cookie dupe! Pillowy soft, cakey - they are almost like the top of a cupcake that got smushed into a cookie complete with frosting and sprinkles! 🧊 Freezer Friendly
Vegan Peanut Butter Cups: So easy to make and they taste just like Reese's! A great recipe for Easter, Christmas, or just when you are craving chocolate. 🌾 Gluten Free 🌱 Oil Free 🧊 Freezer Friendly
Homemade Mounds: If you love Mounds bars (or Bounty bars!), you are going to flip for this simple homemade version. They're perfectly coconutty, lightly sweet, and coated in thick, snappy chocolate. Just mix, shape, dip, and chill. That's it. And yes… they are dangerously snackable. 🌾 Gluten Free 🧊 Freezer Friendly
Vegan Chocolate Creme Eggs: A snappy chocolate shell around a sweet, gooey center that splits open just like the real thing. Only 6 ingredients, and they freeze well. No shame in making a batch just for yourself between holidays. 🌾 Gluten Free 🧊Freezer Friendly
Copycat Recipe FAQs
What are vegan copycat recipes?
Vegan copycat recipes recreate the flavors of popular restaurant meals, bakery treats, drinks, and candy using plant-based ingredients. The goal isn't to create an exact replica, but to recreate the flavors and textures you love in a homemade version that's just as satisfying.
What ingredients are used to replace meat and dairy?
Tofu, beans, and even vegetables like cauliflower can make excellent meat substitutes when prepared the right way. Plant-based milk and vegan butter are easy swaps for dairy, while vegan cheese, homemade cheese sauces, nutritional yeast, and white miso paste all help recreate rich, cheesy flavor.
Are vegan copycat recipes healthier than the originals?
Often, yes! Restaurant food is usually made with generous amounts of oil, butter, sugar, and salt to maximize flavor. Making these recipes at home gives you complete control over the ingredients, so you can adjust them to suit your taste. Many of my recipes also include wholesome ingredients like tofu, beans, vegetables, and whole grains.
Do vegan copycat recipes really taste like the originals?
They really can! While the goal isn't to make an exact scientific replica, I spend a lot of time testing each recipe until it captures the flavors, textures, and overall experience of the original. In many cases, readers tell me they actually prefer the homemade version because it's fresher, customizable, and completely vegan.
Which copycat recipe is best for beginners?
Go with whatever recipe you are most excited to try! I test every recipe to make sure it's approachable for home cooks, whether you're brand new to vegan cooking or you've been cooking this way for years. They're quick to make, use simple ingredients, and are great confidence-building recipes for new vegan cooks.
Can I meal prep these recipes?
Many of these recipes are perfect for making ahead. Chipotle components, Hamburger Helper, Orange Chicken, and KFC Coleslaw all keep well in the fridge, while many baked goods freeze beautifully for later.
Can I freeze these recipes?
Many baked goods freeze beautifully. Cinnamon buns, biscuits, donuts, peanut butter cups, Mounds bars, and crème eggs are all freezer friendly. Fresh recipes like salads, guacamole, and salsas are best enjoyed shortly after making them.
Did you try any of these recipes? Let us know by leaving a comment and rating it. I'd love to see what you made. Share your creation in the It Doesn't Taste Like Chicken Community! (This is where we're all hanging out now!). Or tag @itdoesnttastelikechicken on Instagram.
Bon appetegan!
Sam Turnbull.
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