So you are vegan and you have this passionate love of food. You would like to continue with this passion, but you are not sure what the vegan cooking school options are. Happily, there are many! There are quite a few schools that focus on plant-based foods, and many that aren’t exclusively vegan may be geared towards you, so you won’t find yourself cutting chickens and preparing fish if you don’t like that.

There are many informal plant-based cooking classes around the world if you’re looking for something just for fun without any fancy certification. However, in this article I will focus more on professional programs that have varying degrees of intensity. Some require little time and money if you don’t want to be a professional chef; others will take you the full distance to run your own kitchen.

Without further ado and in no particular order, here is a list of some popular schools from around the world, with information on each one.

Living Light Institute of Culinary Arts
Where is? Fort Bragg, California
What are you offering? 100% vegan and raw food instruction
When do the programs run? Several times a year, depending on the program
Website: rawfoodchef.com

The Living Light Institute of Culinary Arts is located in a small coastal community on the Mendocino Coast. If you love the ocean, mild climate, and raw vegan cuisine, you will love this school. Run by Cherie Soria, the “mother of raw foods,” this is the raw food institute. This is the one that attracts people from all over the world and produces top-of-the-line celebrity chefs of all kinds.

There are several types of courses, including a Gourmet Chef Certification Series (6 weeks), an Advanced Instructor Training Certification Series (4 weeks), a Raw Food Nutrition Educators Series, and the full Professional Chef Series. , which lasts almost an entire year, including a 250-day internship at the school.

Many of the world’s best-known raw food chefs came to Living Light for their training, including Chad Sarno and Jennifer Cornbleet.

The Natural Gourmet Institute
Where is? New York, NY
What are you offering? Plant-based and vegan-friendly public classes and professional chef training
When do the programs run? Check by email on their website
Website: naturalgourmetinstitute.com

The chef training program they offer is an intensive, professional course that can be taken part-time or full-time, but lasts for 619 hours. This school teaches people how to prepare seafood, chicken, and eggs, but if you are vegan, you can choose not to. This school teaches a wide range of cooking styles, including how to ferment, prepare raw foods and macrobiotic foods, and even Chinese medicine and medicinal cooking. The emphasis is on whole plant foods.

The Natural Gourmet Institute offers a fun dinner on Friday nights, where those enrolled in the school prepare a gastronomic experience for the general public at large communal tables (by candlelight!), So if you are in the area, you can stop by and see what it’s all about.

The Matthew Kenney Academy –formerly the 105 Degrees Academy
Where is? Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
What are you offering? Raw Food Chef Certification Program
When do the programs run? Monthly or several times a year for the more advanced classes
Website: kenneycuisine.com

Matthew Kenney offers very small and personal raw food chef training classes (typically 4-8 people). It is designed for both beginners and chefs.

There are two 4-week training sessions: Level 1: Fundamentals of Raw Cooking and Level 2: Advanced Raw Cooking. Level 1 courses are held every month and are Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. M. At 3 p. M. The Level 2 course is taught 4 times a year and has the same schedule as the Level 1 classes.

Cordon Vert School
Where is? Altrincham, Cheshire, UK
What are you offering? Vegetarian leisure classes and workshops, a diploma program for professional chefs only
When do the programs run? Several times during the year; the programs are short
Website: cordonvert.co.uk

The Cordon Vert School offers classes at the headquarters of the Vegetarian Society, and they even have rooms to stay. They have a variety of vegetarian courses, ranging from 1-2 day workshops, free time classes, and professional classes. His one-week professional diploma class is only available to professional chefs. However, its workshops and leisure courses are open to the general public and are held frequently throughout the year.

Natural Epicurean Academy of Culinary Arts
Where is? Austin, Texas
What are you offering? Full professional chef program that is vegan friendly, public classes.
When do the programs run? Starts every August and February
Website: naturalepicurean.com

This school specializes in vegetarian, vegan, macrobiotic, Ayurvedic and raw food preparation and cooking. They offer a full 900-hour professional chef training program. All training takes about a third of a year, if you go directly from training to internship. This is an intensive course that will fully prepare you to work in a natural kitchen.

They also offer public classes, although these are rare and rarely due to the emphasis on the professional chef training program.

The Natural Cooking School
Where is? Boulder, Colorado
What are you offering? Vocational training as a basic course, with the option to go further
When do the programs run? Most are in the fall and spring.
Website: naturalcookery.com

The basic course of the Natural Cooking School is a 16-week diploma in which you learn the fundamentals, baking, gastronomy, nutrition and more. If you get a very high grade in this course, you can take a 4-week personal chef course or a teacher training course. However, to be able to follow the teacher training course, it is necessary to have completed their classes, as well as to have five years of experience with natural nutrition.

Courses are typically offered during a spring semester and a fall semester and last for a typical school semester.

Vegan Culinary Academy
Where is? Anguin, California
What are you offering? Online courses and a 1000 hour professional learning.
When do the programs run? Anytime
Website: veganculinaryacademy.com

There are two highlights of this school: first, someone who is looking for a professional learning opportunity will find it here, and it can be completed in six months or two years, depending on how much you work, and second, they offer a distance learning program. The online program only requires you to have a camera and a computer with internet, and each student receives personalized attention from the instructors, in addition to all class materials and lessons. The apprenticeship is for those who are already chefs, dietitians, or food service managers.

Heaven on Earth Vegetarian Institute
Where is? Hamilton-Stoney Creek, Ontario
What are you offering? A vegan, macrobiotic, and Ayurvedic 3-module program
When do the programs run? From mid-October to mid-March for the 3 modules
Website: heavenstudio.ca

This institute offers a holistic health consultant and cooking certification program that runs in 3 modules and goes well beyond cooking. It delves into many aspects of holistic health, including yoga, pranayama, diet and lifestyle changes to prevent illness, and of course, healthy food preparation. All the cuisine is vegan except for one class, where fish is included.

Natural Kitchen Cooking School
Where is? Mercerfield, NJ, Haddonfield, NJ, and New York City
What are you offering? A natural chef training program
When do the programs run? October to May, one weekend a month
Website: naturalkitchenschool.com

This school has multiple locations and runs on weekends, making it more accessible. Class sizes are kept small (12 or less) so that personalized attention and assistance can be provided.

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This list is by no means exhaustive, but it does cover the top vegan-friendly cooking schools out there. Every year more and more small classes pop up in different cities, so if you’re just looking for basic instruction and have no interest in pursuing a career in cooking, check out what your town (or nearby town) has to offer. If you’re looking to get serious about making that amazing vegan meal, there are some great options on this list that could help you achieve your dreams.