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    Home » Date night

    9 mouthwatering vegan seafood recipes

    Updated: Jun 20, 2025 · Published: Jan 7, 2021 by Cadry Nelson · This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. · 2 Comments

    Text overlay: 9 vegan seafood recipes. Collage with vegan fried shrimp, crab cakes, caviar, and fish tacos.

    Dig in to vegan seafood recipes for plant-based versions of fried shrimp, crab cakes, fish tacos, tuna salad sandwiches, and more.

    If you crave something sprinkled with malt vinegar, dipped in cocktail sauce, or squeezed with lemon, enjoy this wealth of options.

    Vegan crab cakes on platter by cocktail sauce.

    Vegans don't eat fish or other sea life. But that doesn't mean we can't enjoy the flavors and textures of foods that are flaky, briny, and salty.

    There are so many ways to make vegan seafood. Options include hearts of palm, jackfruit, chickpeas, artichokes, or store-bought plant-based alternatives.

    Here's a round-up of 9 vegan seafood recipes to satisfy your every craving.

    In this post:

    Jump to:
    • Fried shrimp
    • Crab cakes
    • Fish tacos
    • Tuna salad sandwich
    • Crab rangoon
    • Carrot lox
    • Ceviche
    • Vegan caviar
    • Crab dip

    Fried shrimp

    Hand dipping breaded hearts of palm into sauce.
    Make this recipe

    Before going vegan, one of my favorite fancy date night dinners was fried shrimp. With a crisp & airy panko breadcrumb coating plus a swish of cocktail sauce, it was a mainstay for birthdays and special events.

    Luckily, all of those flavors are still possible thanks to hearts of palm.

    This briny and toothsome vegetable takes the place of shrimp beautifully. Bread and fry it, and get ready for dipping with homemade cocktail sauce.

    Crab cakes

    Vegan crab cakes on plate with lemon dill aioli serving sauce and lemon wedges.
    Make this recipe

    Artichokes and chickpeas take over the starring role in vegan crab cakes.

    Artichokes have a wonderful flakiness to them, while chickpeas add substance and protein.

    The cakes have layered flavors of Old Bay seasoning, lemon zest, lemon juice, hot sauce, and stoneground mustard for zing. They're finished with a dollop of lemon dill sauce.

    Serve as an appetizer or entrée. Plus, they can be baked, fried, or air fried.

    Fish tacos

    Vegan fish tacos on plates by chipotle crema.
    Make this recipe

    You'll feel like you're living that SoCal lifestyle all over again with these vegan fish tacos.

    Gardein fishless filets are a quick, weeknight staple that makes this dinner a breeze to prepare.

    After warming corn tortillas, fill them with shredded cabbage, avocado, onion, and cilantro. Then drizzle spicy chipotle cashew crema on top of the battered filets.

    Just before serving, add a squeeze of lime.

    Tuna salad sandwich

    Chickpea tuna salad sandwich on table with vegan mayo and bread.
    Make this recipe

    As a kid, one of the first things I ever learned to prepare was a tuna salad sandwich. And one of the first things I ever learned to prepare as a vegan was a vegan chickpea tuna salad sandwich.

    Making them is basically the same process, you just use chickpeas in place of tuna.

    Chickpeas are quickly broken up in a food processor. Then they're whipped up in a bowl with diced celery, pickles, eggless mayo, dill, and celery seed.

    It's great on a sandwich, piled on crackers, stuffed into a tomato or lettuce leaf.

    The pickle adds salt and crunch, while the chickpeas keep it satiating.

    It's a true winner for your plant-based lunchbox or whenever you need a meal in minutes.

    Crab rangoon

    Hand dipping vegan crab rangoon appetizer into sweet chili sauce.
    Make this recipe

    Crab rangoon got its start at San Francisco restaurant, Trader Vic's. Since then it's been popping up on Chinese restaurant menus across America.

    I first came across them back in the 90's. I was taken with them right away.

    They're usually filled with cream cheese, crab or mock crab, and green onions. Then they're stuffed inside of won ton wrappers and fried.

    My vegan crab rangoon takes a number of shortcuts.

    Instead of won ton wrappers, it uses pre-made phyllo cups as a timesaving measure.

    Non-dairy cream cheese replaces the dairy version. And store-bought vegan crab cakes are chopped into the filling.

    The end result is a pretty little appetizer that's worthy of any gathering. It never fails to elicit ooh's and ah's.

    Carrot lox

    Hand holding bagel with vegan lox, cream cheese, and dill.
    Make this recipe

    Who knew long strips of carrots could morph into carrot lox?

    Put smoky, salty, briny carrot ribbons onto toasted bagels with vegan cream cheese, fresh dill, and capers.

    It makes an excellent vegan brunch that’s sure to impress.

    This mouthwatering recipe comes from The Herbivorous Butcher cookbook by Aubry & Kale Walch.

    Ceviche

    Vegan ceviche in bowl by tortilla chips and jalapenos.
    Make this recipe

    You can almost feel the sun on your skin and sand under your toes when you dip into vegan ceviche.

    Unlike the non-vegan counterpart made with raw fish, this one uses the briny magic of hearts of palm.

    It's rounded out with avocado, cherry tomatoes, chopped onion, jalapeño, and cilantro.

    No cooking is required.

    This easy appetizer is ready to eat in 10 minutes. Get those tortilla chips ready!

    Vegan caviar

    Hand holding cracker with almond cheese, pink couscous, and dill leaf.
    Make this recipe

    Woo your sweetheart with vegan caviar on crackers. This appetizer is surprisingly easy to make, but looks elegant.

    Israeli couscous is colored with beets. Then it’s flavored with garlic and lemon.

    Great with crackers and a swish of almond cheese!

    Crab dip

    Jackfruit crab dip in a small bowl with a crab on it by toasted bread.
    Make this recipe

    If a creamy dip is what you desire, look no further than this vegan crab dip.

    It is made with shredded young jackfruit, Dijon mustard, and Old Bay seasoning. A full-bodied cashew base gives this dip some oomph.

    Serve it with crackers, corn chips, or piled on toasted crostini.

    More Date night

    • Vegan breaded eggplant on plate with marinara and non-dairy cheese.
      Air fryer eggplant parmesan (vegan & crispy)
    • Crispy pan-fried vegan schnitzel on plate with mashed potatoes and sauteed squash.
      Crispy vegan schnitzel (Breaded chickpea cutlets)
    • Vegan tofu dumplings with adobo sauce on platter.
      Chipotle tofu dumplings (pan-fried, crispy & saucy)
    • Pan-fried Brussels sprouts side dish with gochujang glaze in white bowl.
      Crispy pan-fried Brussels sprouts with gochujang garlic glaze
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    About Cadry Nelson

    Cadry Nelson is the writer, recipe creator, and photographer behind Cadry’s Kitchen, and the author of Living Vegan For Dummies, 2nd Edition. Since launching her blog in 2009, Cadry has been making plant-based cooking approachable, and reimagining classic comfort foods. Her work has been featured in NBC News, Buzzfeed, Yahoo, Parade, VegNews, and more. She regularly appears on local TV shows, demonstrating to a broad audience how easy vegan cooking can be.

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    1. Mary Finelli

      September 30, 2021 at 4:14 pm

      Wonderful! It’s remarkable how creative people are in replicating flavors and textures, and these recipes all look to be so quick and easy. Will be adding the links to the Vegan Seafood page of the Fish Feel website, and sharing on our Facebook page. Thank you!

      Reply
    2. Bianca N Phillips

      January 07, 2021 at 3:41 pm

      So many creative options!! I never liked seafood, but all of these vegan versions sound great. It was the fishy taste I didn’t like, so this solves that! Cream cheese wontons were my fave growing up! I don’t know if I ever had an actual crab rangoon, but they look amazing.

      Reply

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    I’m the creator behind Cadry's Kitchen and author of Living Vegan For Dummies.

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