My Favorite Comfort Foods and How I Make Them Plant-Based

I had a weight loss coaching client once who was really trying to eat a whole-food plant-based diet. She could stick to it most of the time, but when she was stressed or sad or having big feelings, she would turn to her lifelong comfort foods: mac and cheese, grilled cheese sandwiches, and chocolate chip cookies. 

I told her I had good news. She did not have to abandon her comfort foods! She just had to tweak them to make them plant-based comfort foods. She nearly cried with relief because she’d been afraid I was going to have her eat a bowl of steamed broccoli the next time she was sad. No way! Instead, I gave her recipes for whole-food plant-based mac and cheese, grilled cheese sandwiches, and chocolate chip cookies to make the next time she wanted comfort food. 

And it worked. 

Knowing she could still have comfort food (just made with different ingredients) shifted things for her mentally, and she fully embraced a whole-food plant-based diet, which helped her lose the 50 pounds she’d been trying to lose for decades. (If you want to lose weight in a healthy, loving, supportive way, check out Drop It Club: Plant-Powered Weight Loss.)

Sometimes, we all need a helping of comfort food

A while back, I was sick, sick, sick. I had a wicked cold that felt more like COVID-19 (it wasn’t, I got tested). It started with a low-grade fever, body aches, fatigue, and a sore throat. Then it morphed into a severe congestion situation, and finally, the dreaded dry cough.

I didn’t have much of an appetite, but there were two things I was craving, and they were both comfort foods straight from my childhood.

One was a breakfast burrito with rice, scrambled eggs, cheddar cheese, and salsa that I used to get from literally any Mexican restaurant in the town where I grew up in New Mexico.

The other was my mom’s version of a Denver Sandwich she used to make for me when I was little—a fried egg, mayo, and ketchup on toasted bread.

Back when I had that client, many moons ago, I did not have the luxury of giving her the link to the Clean Food Dirty Girl portal, which houses thousands of the best whole-food plant-based recipes out there. Now, I can simply log in to the portal and search for whatever I want, whether it’s for me or one of our members. And that’s exactly what I did.

First, the burrito situation 

I had store-bought tortillas, so I made this rice, this nut-free cheesy sauce, and this egg-like scrambled tofu. I didn’t have any salsa, but I did have cherry tomatoes, so I chopped up a bunch of those. I heated my tortilla, added rice, tofu, cheesy sauce, and tomatoes, folded up my burrito, and chowed. 

I was in BLISS. Was it the exact burrito of my childhood? No. But it was close enough, it satisfied that comfort craving, and I was able to stick to eating in a way that aligns with my values and goals. 

Next, the sandwich

I remembered that we had a recipe for Savory Tofu Scramble Seasoning in the CFDG portal. I made that, sliced some tofu, seasoned it, then put it in the oven to bake. With the “egg” portion of my sandwich sorted, I whipped up a batch of this Oil-Free Vegan Mayo, toasted some Buckwheat Bread I’d made previously, and layered it with the mayo, ketchup, and the tofu “egg.” 

Oh my! I was brought right back to my childhood and was filled with such comfort. It tasted exactly as I remembered my mom’s Denver Sandwiches tasting. What a gift to be able to replicate it in a way that fits with how I choose to eat today. 

Were my burrito and sandwich the healthiest things I could have eaten? No. They were lacking in the veggie department, but that’s true of most comfort foods. Indulging in straight up whole-food plant-based comfort once in a while is a wonderful and necessary thing. 

So yes, find comfort in your food

Enjoy your comfort foods. Eat the things that bring you back to happy times. Just tweak them slightly so they can truly be a comfort. With over 5,000 whole-food plant-based recipes in our portal, a plant-powered version of your comfort food is waiting for you. Check out our Comfort Foods recipe collection to get a taste.

Talk to me in the comments below about your favorite comfort foods. If you’re needing a plant-based version of your favorite comfort food, please share and we’ll give a recommendation! 

Xo 
Molly