In some Jewish households, eating kosher is important to their traditions. For some health-conscious (and planet-conscious) people, eating a plant-based diet is a must for their life. Lucky for both of these groups, being vegan is kosher. If you’ve been considering switching to a plant-based lifestyle and you’re Jewish, you’re in luck.

Why (and How) Vegan Is Kosher

The kosher diet is followed by Jews, either year-round or during high holidays. Keeping kosher means following Judaism’s 3,000-year-old dietary laws. The basics prohibit eating pork and shellfish or mixing meat and dairy. In a kashrut kitchen, pots, pans, dishes, and utensils that are used with meat cannot be used with dairy (the reverse is also true).

Since kosher foods include meat and dairy, kosher is not always vegan. After all, plant-based diets include no meat or dairy. But does that mean that all food that’s vegan is kosher?

Not necessarily.

Generally speaking, vegan is kosher. However, if you dig deeper, you’ll find some instances when that statement isn’t true. Some areas in which kosher is stricter than a standard plant-based diet include:

• Kosher produce has to be cleaned to specific standards to avoid insects.
• Certain kosher foods need to be prepared by a Jew.
• A kosher kitchen must be certified by a rabbi or kosher agency.
• Kosher kitchens require their own kitchenware that is not used for non-kosher food.
• Wine, grape juice, and balsamic vinegar are not kosher unless certified.

The Benefits of a Plant-based Diet

The inherent fact that a vegan diet does not include meat or dairy makes it more in alignment with a kosher diet. That means it would be easier for a vegan kitchen to be certified kosher than it would be for most restaurants in the US.

It might also be easier for a devout Jew to transition to a plant-based diet while keeping kosher. For instance, since vegan is kosher, you wouldn’t need:

• separate dishes for meat and dairy
• to wait 3–6 hours after eating meat before eating dairy (and vice versa)
• to worry about eating blood or flesh from a non-kosher animal

A vegan diet may make it easier and more cost-effective to keep kosher, which could attract more Jews to the idea of keeping kosher.

Vegan Taste Supports Your Kosher Lifestyle

Depending on your level of adherence to Jewish laws will dictate just how kosher your kosher lifestyle really is. For many Jews, being vegan is an easy way to maintain their religious values and keep kosher. Regardless of how strict your diet is, one thing veganism and kosher most certainly have in common is a focus on eating healthy.

At Vegan Taste, we are committed to supporting a healthy lifestyle. Whether you believe that eating vegan is kosher or not, we can all agree that a vegan diet is better for your health and the planet at large.

See our latest menu of what we’re cooking this week. We guarantee it will be delicious.