Vegan in Iran
Food culture in Iran
[“Typical Iranian main dishes are combinations of rice with meat (such as lamb, chicken, or fish), vegetables (such as onions and various herbs), and nuts. Fresh green herbs are frequently used, along with fruits such as plums, pomegranate, quince, prunes, apricots, and raisins. Characteristic Iranian flavorings such as saffron, dried lime, cinnamon, and parsley are mixed and used in some special dishes.”] – source Wikipedia. Don’t y’all pretend like you don’t use it as a source too sometimes

Felafel. Fry at home or get one at one of the many felafel stands all around Iran.
Your go to Persian food:
Ash Reshteh – Soup with beans, herbs and noodles – don’t forget to ask to get without any sour cream
Tahdig – Rice with crips bottom, sometimes with potato slices set at the bottom too
Sabzi Polo – Rice with herbs(often served with fish so make sure to ask for it without fish)
Baghali Polo – Rice with beans and dill (extra good with raisin and fried onions)
Adasi – Lentil Soup(can sometimes be made with butter instead of oil so ask about that)
Lobia – Black Eyed Bean soup
Spaghetti with soy – this is a very common dish in Iran but they often mix the soy mince with real minced meat, so just be sure that it’s only got soy.
Shiraz Salas – Green salad with tomato, cucumber, red onion
Baba Ganoush – Aubergineröra
Samosa – Stuffed pastry, often with meat but there are also one’s filled with vegetables
Felafel/Falafel – These round and fried balls of chickpeas and herbs you’ve probably tried before. Cause they’re simply amazing
Lavashak – Dried fruit roll, comes in all kinds of flavours

Lavashak, delicious fruit rolls
Restaurants
These are the restaurants I tried in Tehran:
Zamin – Completely vegan restaurant with a massive menu
Pure Vegetarian Cuisine – small menu but good food, a few vegan options
Iranians Artist’s Forum – A few vegan options and at least the food I had was amazing
And there are more options that you can check out here at HappyCow’s website

Zamin, vegan restaurant in Tehran
Stores
Much of the food in the store has ingredients lists in English as well as Persian, which makes is possible for you to read the labels yourself.
I saw two different brands of Soy milk and they both offered a wide selection of flavours including natural, vanilla, malt, chocolate, cappuccino and strawberry.
You can also get dried soy and falafel in almost every store.
I had a hard time finding plain crackers that were free from any kind of milk, but I did find wafers with many different flavours that were vegan. The wafers had flavours of orange, banana and melon to name a few.
But most importantly – eat the locally grown fruits and vegetables. The melons I had in Iran were the best I’ve ever had.

Strawberry pie at Zamin, a vegan restaurant in Tehran
Moj
You can add Adas Polo with soy too.
It’s lentils +rice+soy+raisin+[dates]
Donya
I’m an Iranian vegetarian (not even vegan) and I really have trouble eating out. Most of the foods mentioned above are not easy to find. The only vegan options easy to find are:
1. Falafel (Best falafel sandwiches you’ll ever eat) but be sure to skip the mayo dressing.
2. French fries with mushroom topping.
3. Ash reshte (Only if you skip the “kashk”)
4. Baghali polo (rice and fava beans) or plain rice 🙁
5. You might find adasi or Lubia at some downtown cheap places but it’s not easy to find in posher areas.
6. You’ll be more likely to find samosas at bakeries. Don’t ask restaurants for it.
You can also find some vegan teens:
1. “aubergine dish: oil, aubergine, and tomato”
2. Baked beans and mushrooms
3. Baked beans in tomato sauce
4. Baked chickpeas
Lovely vegan side:
1. Zeytoon parvardeh (olive, pomegranate paste, ground walnuts)
Alternative option:
Say Hello to some locals and chances are you’ll be invited to lunch or dinner (It actually works! Try it)
earthwanderess
Thank you so much for these tips, Donya! Super helpful 😀
Joy
These sound delish! Perhaps ask if the tahdig contains butter or ghee. <3