Twin Cities Vegan Chef Challenge 2026: Dishes we tried
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If you turn your nose up at vegan food, or think vegan food is nothing but lettuce and veggie burgers, let the Twin Cities Vegan Chef Challenge open and change your mind.
Every August, we look forward to a road trip for the Twin Cities Vegan Chef Challenge, where restaurants throughout the Twin Cities create special vegan dishes specifically for the challenge. This is the perfect excuse for a day trip to the Twin Cities.
We’ve done this before. In 2024, Kelly and a friend took the challenge to another level and tried seven dishes in one day. If you’re wondering whether it’s possible to turn the Twin Cities Vegan Chef Challenge into a full-blown foodie road trip, see how we pulled it off.
A Vegan Foodie Road Trip Through the Twin Cities
To participate in the Twin Cities Vegan Chef Challenge, so far we’ve made two day trips around the greater Twin Cities metro area to try several of this year’s featured dishes. Some were standouts we’d happily order again and hope they make the regular menu. Others were good but didn’t quite hit the mark for us.
That’s the fun of doing a challenge like this. You win some, you lose some, just like anytime you decide to go out for a meal. Some knock your socks off, and some you say, “We’ll eat again.”
Speaking of road trips, if you’re planning a road trip to Duluth and the North Shore of Lake Superior, one of Minnesota’s most popular destinations, check out our Duluth and North Shore Vegan Guide.
Here’s what we tried during the 2026 Twin Cities Vegan Chef Challenge.
Disclosure: We paid for most of the meals featured in this post. One meal was complimentary from the restaurant for review. We were not compensated for our opinions, and all thoughts and recommendations are our own.
The Block- Rogers: Vietnamese Lemongrass Bánh Mì
Dish Description: Shaved Seitan marinated in fresh lemongrass, tamari, garlic, and five-spice; pickled daikon radish, carrot, and onion; cucumber spears, jalapeños, fresh cilantro; Vietnamese vegan mayo.
- Our take: excellent flavors and a good portion- big enough to share
- Worth the drive? YES!
- Find it: The Block- Rogers, 21400 John Milless Dr, Rogers, MN
We’re always excited to try a Bánh Mì sandwich at a non-vegan restaurant. It’s full of flavor and takes creativity and effort to make vegan, so we’re always impressed to see it on a menu.
The Vietnamese Lemongrass Bánh Mì at The Block- Rogers delivered!
The flavors were excellent. It had savory, aromatic flavors, and the pickled vegetables added so much flavor. Even our waitress said she couldn’t believe vegan food could be so good. RIGHT?!
We loved hearing that they made the seitan instead of using a fake meat. Love the effort!
Duke’S on 7
Dish Description: Charred broccolini, roasted red pepper, bulgogi-marinated seitan, coconut rice, ssamjang agave sauce, kimchi, purple cabbage, pickled carrots, cucumber, fresh cilantro and scallion, crispy tofu topping.
- Our take: We loved it and hope it makes it on the regular menu. Huge portion!
- Worth the drive? Yes
- Find it: Duke’S on 7, 15600 MN-7, Minnetonka, MN
This Korean BBQ Bowl had plenty of flavor and was a seriously generous portion. We shared the dish, and it was the perfect amount.
This dish had so many flavors. Again, loved that they made an in-house bulgogi seitan and didn’t use a mock meat. It adds to the dish’s creativity.
Stanley’s NE Bar room: Crispy Cauliflower Chimichurri Tacos
Dish Description: Tortilla filled with crispy fried cauliflower, fresh shredded lettuce, avocado, and sweet corn chimichurri, finished with a bold vegan sweet-and-spicy aioli.
- Our take: We’d order this again if they kept it on the menu. We liked that it was light yet filling
- Worth the drive? Yes
- Find it: Stanley’s NE Bar Room, 2500 University Ave NE, Minneapolis
Stanley’s took cauliflower in an interesting direction with its crispy cauliflower chimichurri tacos.
We liked the dish, but felt the cauliflower was not crispy; it felt more steamed than crispy. We thought a crispy breading would have offered the perfect crunch. The chimichurri flavor was really good, and the pops of sweet corn were perfection. We loved the chimichurri.
Starling: Harissa-Marinated Tofu Enchiladas
Dish Description: Corn Tortillas, filled with marinated tofu, topped with green and red chili sauces, served with crema and jalapeno-jicama slaw
- Our take: We’d order this again if they kept it on the menu. Large portion
- Worth the drive? Yes
- Find it: Starling, 4925 Edina Ave, Edina, MN
This entire menu and restaurant vibe is elevated and just a lovely experience, so we had great expectations of this dish, and they were met! This dish had the right amount of heat and a generous portion.
The heat of the flavor was perfect- it had a warmth that isn’t overpowering. We also loved the combination of the red and green sauces.
We were also happy to learn that the dish they entered into the 2025 Twin Cities Vegan Chef Challenge made it onto the regular menu! The Sweet potato and Chicpea Curry is an absolute cozy delight- the pineapple chutney was a delicious twist.
The Howe Daily Kitchen & Bar: Vegan-Style Poutine
Dish Description: Sweet potato waffle fries smothered in house-made mushroom gravy, topped with plant-based cheese curds, vegan chorizo, pickled jalapenos, vegan shredded mozzarella, and Cajun spice.
- Our take: We don’t recommend this dish, but we hope The Howe tries again because a good vegan poutine would totally fit their vibe, and we know it would be a popular menu item if they could pull it off.
- Worth the drive? No (the dish no, the restaurant yes, it’s one of our favorites and we repeat it often)
- Find it: The Howe, 3675 Minnehaha Ave, Minneapolis, MN
We really wanted to love the vegan-style Poutine at The Howe. Unfortunately, this one missed the mark for us.
This dish didn’t have enough gravy; there was maybe a ¼ cup of gravy on the whole dish. We expect to make a mess when we eat poutine. The sweet potato waffle fries were not the right choice, and the cheese wasn’t quite right. It resembled feta rather than a cheese curd. We did love the vegan chorizo, and appreciate the twist on a poutine classic, but the dish was a miss for us.
It wasn’t bad, and we certainly didn’t leave a fry behind, but it wasn’t what we hoped it would be.
WELLS Roadside: Pretzel Jack Stack
Dish Description: BBQ jackfruit served with our house Kale Crunch Slaw on a pretzel bun.
- Our take: Good but boring
- Worth the drive? Maybe?
- Find it: WELLS Roadside, 3712 Quebec Ave S, St. Louis Park, MN
This sandwich was good but also underwhelming. It was a bit boring. It was not STACKED with house-made kale crunch slaw. We did like the smokiness and texture of the jackfruit, but it was just OK.
That’s not necessarily a criticism, but compared to the other challenge dishes, it doesn’t stand out to us. The texture and flavor of the jackfruit itself could easily fool any carnivore in a blind taste-test.
Plus, WELLS Roadside is a really casual roadside restaurant with outdoor seating only, so technically it was on brand.
More Twin Cities Vegan Chef Challenge Dishes to Come
We hope we’re not done trying the Twin Cities Vegan Chef Challenge dishes yet. With two more weeks of the challenge (as of this post), we hope our schedules align for a drive to the Twin Cities.
Check back, as we’ll keep adding our experiences in this post as we try them.
Have you tried any of the dishes, and can you recommend one we haven’t tried yet? Please let us know.
Twin Cities Vegan Chef Challenge- Our Tips For Planning
If you’re planning to participate in the challenge yourself, here are a few things we’d keep in mind.
Go hungry. Some dishes are light; some are more substantial. Whatever you do, go on an empty stomach. Especially if you plan to eat at more than one restaurant the same day.
Don’t discount a 100% vegan restaurant. We’re lucky to have a decent amount of plant-based restaurants in the Twin Cities. What we love most about this challenge is that some participating restaurants are NOT 100% vegan but see the value in offering a challenge dish and keeping regular vegan options on the menu.
Create demand for creative vegan dishes. Most vegans today are feeling the squeeze of diminishing vegan options at restaurants.
Participating in a vegan food challenge like this lets restaurants know we still want vegan food in the Twin Cities and greater Minnesota.
Some restaurants offer a boring Beyond or Impossible Burger, but with a little creativity, they can really offer great vegan food.
Bring a Friend. Sharing dishes with a friend is a nice way to squeeze more dishes into the challenge. It also helps bring down the cost if you share the expense, allowing you to try more challenge dishes! Here’s how we planned our 2024 Vegan Chef Challenge foodie road trip.
Vote for your favorites. Don’t forget to vote for your favorites. You can also share your challenge experience on social media for a chance to win prizes. It’s an easy way to support participating restaurants and help your favorite dishes get some attention.
Make a day out of it! We live in Mankato, and to get to these restaurants, we have to drive at least 1.5 hours. It makes perfect sense to us to dedicate a day or two to these challenges and eat our way through the day. One day, we even picked up our niece to join, and it was such an unexpectedly fun day to drive around and eat.
Make a plan with this resource! This link to the Twin Cities Vegan Chef Challenge 2026 participating restaurants is the perfect resource for planning your trip. The list view shows all participating restaurants, dish names, dish descriptions, and other pertinent restaurant information. The map view is great for planning, too.
