Vegan in Dubai: A Guide to Where to Eat, Shop & More
As a longtime vegetarian who loves eating vegan food, I thought I would have a tough time finding veg-friendly options when I moved to Dubai. But I was so wrong! When it comes to finding vegan food in Dubai, I’ve been pleasantly surprised to come across pure vegan restaurants, see clearly marked plant-based options on menus, find vegan meats and cheeses in grocery stores, and encounter a multitude of vegan-friendly international cuisines.
I’ve written a full guide about the best vegetarian and vegan-friendly restaurants in Dubai in another post, but I wanted to dedicate this post to those of you who are wondering what it will be like to be vegan in Dubai, whether you’re moving here or just visiting.
This post is a breakdown of popular vegan-friendly cuisines in Dubai, as well as where to find vegan foods and products in grocery stores, a little list of some of my favorite restaurants for vegan food in Dubai, and a few handy tips.
Disclaimer: This post may contain affiliate links. If you make a purchase or booking through one of these links, I may earn a small commission (which I’m so thankful for!) at no extra cost to you.
A Local’s Guide to Finding Vegan Food in Dubai
Vegan-friendly cuisines in Dubai
One of the coolest things about Dubai is that it’s super multicultural. In fact, expats make up around 85% of the population here, with people hailing from places like Lebanon, Russia, India, the UK, Ethiopia, Vietnam, and beyond!
This means that you’re going to find cuisines from all around the world in Dubai, many of which have many vegan dishes to choose from. So you don’t necessarily need to seek out 100% vegan restaurants to find really good vegan food in Dubai, although those do exist!
Because Dubai is in the Middle East, you’re going to be spoiled for choice when it comes to Levantine restaurants, which offer lots of vegan dishes, like hummus (just be sure to ask if it’s prepared with dairy!), baba ganoush, falafel, tabouli, and lentil soup, to name a few of the many vegan options.
For example, if you dine at a Lebanese, Syrian, Palestinian, or Jordanian restaurant (all of which you’ll find in spades across the city), you’ll be able to get your fill with these Levantine dishes. And, of course, these dishes are popular in other cuisines, including Emirati, Turkish, and Egyptian cuisines.
But if you’ve had your fill of vegan shawarma, hummus, and falafel, you’re going to find other excellent international options in Dubai. Trust me: This is a city for foodies!
I personally love dining on vegan beyaynetu and injera (pictured above) at the city’s many Ethiopian restaurants, digging into curries at Thai eateries, slurping pho chay (vegan noodle soup) at Vietnamese places, and having cheat days with cheezy Beyond burgers at American-style fast-food joints.
Whatever your tastes or cravings, you won’t have to look too hard to find vegan options on the menu. Plus, menus in Dubai are almost always in English, and vegan options are often clearly labeled, which makes things even easier.
My favorite restaurants for vegan food in Dubai:
I’ll be writing a detailed guide about my go-to vegan and vegan-friendly restaurants soon, but here’s a small list of where I’ve found some of my favorite vegan dishes in Dubai. (Note: These are not necessarily vegan restaurants; it’s a list of places where I’ve found really good vegan dishes.)
- Neat Burger and Pickl: For plant-based burgers.
- Vietnamese Snack Food Café or Vietnamese Foodies: For clearly marked vegan Vietnamese options like pho and curry.
- Rosa’s Thai: For vegan Thai dishes (all of the Tofu & Veg options are vegan, but if you want to make sure just ask the server). I personally love all of their vegan curries!
- Zaroob: For a small selection of Impossible shawarmas with vegan tahini.
- Veganesha: For vegan Indian dishes (just be sure to ask for the vegan menu!).
- Operation Falafel or Allo Beirut: For when I’m in a pinch for falafel, pita, hummus, and popular Middle Eastern foods.
- Pizza Express: For their vegan pizzas with plant-based meats and cheeses.
Where to shop for vegan groceries in Dubai
There are a lot of grocery store chains in Dubai. It’s actually overwhelming. So this is a general list of supermarkets and online stores where I’ve found vegan food in Dubai. I’m sure there’s a lot more out there!
big supermarket chains with vegan products
Generally, the larger branches of Spinneys, Waitrose, Carrefour, Grandiose, and Choithrams should all have a good selection of plant-based meats, cheeses, and other vegan goodies. So keep these five in mind. That being said, you’re not going to be limited to these.
Plant-Based Meats
All of the larger branches of these grocery stores should have a good selection of vegan mock meats in the frozen food section. Plant-based meats seem to be taking off in the UAE, so you’ll find tons of more expensive brands from Beyond, Impossible, Quorn, TiNDL, and Linda McCartney’s to less-pricey brands like Switch and Meatless Farm.
In the refrigerator section of these larger stores, you will often find sliced vegan deli meats, while in the deli sections of Spinneys and Waitrose, there are plant-based kebabs (and other really good prepared vegan foods).
Vegan Cheese
I was actually shocked at how common it is to find vegan cheese in Dubai’s grocery stores. You’ll find a variety in all of the grocery stores listed above, with Violife being the most common brand I’ve come across. It’s mainly sliced cheese and cream cheese, but honestly, you never know what vegan goodies you’ll come across! And it’s not uncommon to see other brands pop up, including Esti, Tofutti, and Daiya.
Plant-Based Milks
You’re pretty much going to find almond, oat, and soy milk in most stores.
Tofu and Tempeh
You’ll find tofu in many stores, including the main supermarkets listed above. But like many products in Dubai, sometimes tofu can be really expensive, and sometimes it’s super cheap. It all depends on where it’s sourced from. I personally get my fresh local tofu from VIVA, which is a great budget grocery chain in Dubai!
I haven’t come across tempeh in stores but I don’t bother to look because I bulk order it from Dubai-based Vicky Tempeh. It gets delivered to my door, and I just store it in the freezer. Her product is great!
Vegan Ice Cream
Again, I’m surprised at how common vegan ice cream is in Dubai. You can find it in most of the major chain stores listed above as well as in a lot of ice cream and dessert shops. It’s not the cheapest, but it’s definitely everywhere! The Brooklyn Creamery has been my go-to, but you’ll find loads of vegan ice cream brands in Dubai.
Raw Cashews
If you want to make your own cashew cheese at home, you’ll want to know where to find raw cashews. These are actually quite common, but depending on which grocery store you go to, these can be pricey. So far, the lowest price I’ve found is at VIVA. You can also order them on Amazon.ae.
Where to shop for vegan products online
Order from any of these places and your groceries will be delivered to your door!
Be Vegan
Be Vegan is based out of the UAE and has all things plant-based, gluten-free, and organic. If you’re looking for a common or even super obscure vegan or gluten-free product, search their website. They have tons of products.
Kibsons
Kibsons is a Dubai-based company that has loads of vegan products, too, although it’s not exclusively vegan like Be Vegan. It’s well worth perusing the site for things like plant-based butter, cooking cream, milk, yogurt, egg replacers, cheese, and other products you might not be able to find at the grocery store.
Organic Foods & Cafe
Organic Foods & Café is another great option in the UAE if you’re searching for vegan food and products in Dubai. You never know what you’ll find.
A few more tips for vegans in Dubai
Join facebook groups
There are a lot of Facebook groups in Dubai and the UAE catering to all manner of topics. You may find groups like Vegans Take Dubai and even Dubai Foodies helpful. Group members can be super helpful if you’re looking for a certain product, food, or restaurant. Just ask a question or do a quick search to see if your question has been asked before.
Download the Happy Cow app
If you’re on a quest to try all of the best vegan restaurants in Dubai, downloading the Happy Cow app is my number one tip. The app is totally free and I personally use it whenever I’m traveling in a new city. I even use it when I’m looking for places to eat in a part of Dubai that I’m not familiar with.
Chances are you’ve already heard of it, but it basically shows you all of the vegan and vegan-friendly restaurants near you with reviews and pictures from real people. It’s super handy and it’ll lead you to some real gems.
