Vegetarian food guide to Valencia

Valencia is a great destination for a city trip. You can read what to do and see in this blog post and where to eat (vegetarian) this page.
Vegetarian food can sometimes be hard to find in Spanish cities, luckily I’m here to help you out! On this page I’ve listed my favorite vegetarian and vegan friendly restaurants in Valencia.

Paella

Paella is a traditional Spanish dish that originated in Valencia. Most restaurants that have Paella on the menu also have a vegetarian version. And as there’s no dairy involved in making paella, the vegetarian version is also vegan. Paella is a rice dish that’s seasoned with special herbs including saffron. For this vegan version you’ll get vegetables instead of fish, sausage or chicken. I had this vegan paella skillet at Terraza la Cava, near the Mercado Central.

Tapas

Many tapas are made with fish or meat, so finding vegetarian tapas could be a bit difficult. Most restaurants do have Patatas Bravas, the potatoes with sauce pictured above, on their tapas menu and Patron peppers or bread with aioli can also be added to your vegetarian tapas dinner. We went to Taberna El Olivo, a restaurant with a lovely outdoor area underneath an olive tree. They had many vegetarian tapas, including artichoke, courgetti and deep fried aubergine (eggplant)

Vegan Breakfast

Look at this delicious vegan breakfast! We had these chocolate pancakes at vegan lunchroom Amaranta. Amaranta is an organic and vegan café that is perfect for breakfast and brunch in Valencia. They have sweet and savory dishes on the menu. Sweet dishes include vegan croissants, cereals with fruit and these vegan pancakes with bananas, strawberries and chocolate sauce. On the savory menu you’ll find (amongst others) a vegan English breakfast, mushroom and tofu toast and the avocado rye bread toast pictured at the top of this page. They also have many fresh juices and smoothies.

Vegetarian lunch

I had this goat cheese sandwich at Panaria. Panaria is a bakery with over 80 stores in Spain. There’s one very conveniently located next to the Mercado Central. They have several vegetarian options on their menu, like the one pictured or a focaccia with mozzarella and tomatoes. Be aware that some dishes have a green checkmark behind the title, but they aren’t vegetarian!

Ice Cream

Luckily pretty much everything you can get in Valencia to satisfy your sweet tooth is also vegetarian! There are many ice cream parlors across the city that sell delicious ice cream. Perfect for sunny days! We went to Heladerias Llinares on the big square (Placa de la Reina) next to the Cathedral twice, as they have many flavors. You’ll have a hard time choosing between flavors like After Eight, Ferrero Rocher, Kinder, Oreo cookies and even Rum.

Bubble Waffles

When you walk from the train station to hipster neighborhood ‘Eixample’ you’ll walk pas Xis Khrim, where they sell very Instagram worthy sweets. They have rolled ice cream and Taiyaki a fish shaped cake filled with soft serve ice cream that I’ve had in its original country Japan as well. And what about this Bubble Waffle served with ice cream, toppings and sauce of your choice. I went for vanilla ice cream with banana, Maltesers and Nutella sauce.

Waffles on a stick

Speaking of waffles, in a small shop just of you can get waffles on a stick! Just find the colorful shopfront of Waffle Time, choose your sauce and/or toppings and you’ll have a waffle popsicle! I topped mine with Oreo sauce and let the guy behind the counter top it with his favorites. I got a fun mix of puffed wheat, Oreo crumbles and colored sprinkles.