How difficult is it? Which dining halls have the best vegan food? Look no further, animal lovers - here's a comprehensive guide to help you find the tastiest food that fits your meal plan.
First, here are some things I've figured out in my first couple of months living on a meal plan.
1. In the dining halls that offer them, take almond/soy milk from the designated "vegan fridge" rather than the dispensers.
Really, just steer clear of the milk dispensers. The milk in the dispensers tastes watered down, while the fridge has actual store-bought milk. (The fridge in the Ike usually has soy milk, almond milk, and rice milk.)
2. Take a piece of fruit every time you leave the dining hall.
You're allowed one carry-out item, and the fruits make for easy snacks!
3. 57 North and Penn Station have a lot of snacks that you can spend your meal plan's Cafe Credits on.
You can make your own wrap or buy a black bean burger at 57. Both 57 and Penn Station also sell tons of candy, Tofutti ice cream bars, cut-up fruit, energy drinks, and even dairy-free mac and cheese from the frozen section! These stores are both pretty over-priced compared to other stores, but I guess convenience literally comes with a cost.
Next...
Now that you've learned some tips, it's time to plate your new healthy eats!
Here are some of the meals I've had here and what I thought about them. One important note is that the Ikenberry Dining Hall has an entirely vegan section called "Soytainly," so a lot of these meals are from the Ike!
1. "Ham and cheese" quinoa, tofu scramble, and baby carrots at the Ike
Soytainly's tofu usually tastes undercooked. The taste was not very flavorful at all. The quinoa this day was a fake "ham and cheese" quinoa, which I tried because it seemed interesting. Unfortunately, it was far too salty, and I really did not enjoy it.
2. Oatmeal with nuts and raisins at the Ike
If you go for breakfast or early lunch at the Ike, you can usually get oatmeal and add whatever you want to it, so I love going around 11 am just for the oatmeal.
3. More oatmeal at the Ike
I got the raspberries and blackberries from a different part of the dining hall (not next to the oatmeal), so just look around and see what all your options are.
4. Spaghetti with marinara sauce and fruit at LAR
Admittedly, you really don't get variety on some days. This particular night at LAR, the salads were only pre-made (as opposed to a salad bar) and had cheese in them! Spaghetti with marinara sauce and fruit were the only vegan options in the entire dining hall. I won't be going back to LAR anytime soon, unless it's for Field of Greens, but it has very specific hours.
5. Falafel sandwich with fruit at the Ike
The salad bars always have cut up fruit, so when I need something to fill my plate, I go there. Sometimes the fruits are pretty watery, especially when there aren't many left - it's definitely not an uncommon sight to just see a bunch of fruit sitting in a puddle of water. So gross. Make sure to tilt the spoon so that you don't have a watery mess on your plate.
6. Rice and salad bowl at Orange on Green
(A closer look...yikes)
This was a meal from Orange on Green. This dining hall, located in the Union, is great for dinner because you can usually make your own rice or noodle bowls. They're usually pretty delicious, and you can get a lot of food for just one swipe. You can even take your food to go from this dining hall.
I found this piece of bacon that had fallen into my bowl, and after taking the photo I found a few more, which wasn't fun. Although it wasn't a huge deal that some food had fallen in by mistake, it just goes to show how easily cross-contamination can happen in the dining halls.
7. Salad bowl with fake chicken at Orange on Green
Orange on Green redeemed themselves with this rice bowl, however.
One thing to note is that the fake meat in all the dining halls tastes wildly different from real meat - it doesn't taste bad, but it's consistently very sweet, which is an unexpected flavor from something that looks like meat. If you expect your fake meat to taste somewhat like real meat, you won't get that from here.
8. Falafel patties, some spinach thing, baby carrots, beans, and fruit at the Ike
On this particular day at the Ike, the food at Soytainly didn't look too appealing, aside from the falafel patties. They have them often and I've grown fond of them.
I headed over to the salad station again to get some fruit, carrots, and green beans, which they have every single day.
Noodles with tofu and baby corn, spinach, quinoa patty and veggie burger patty at the Ike
This has been one of my favorite meals so far - not surprisingly, it was at the Ike. I had noodles from Hortensia's and veggie burger patties from Soytainly.
Note: Soytainly has that exact spinach dish (at the bottom of the plate) often, and it's really flavorless and wet - I don't recommend it.
In summary, whether or not you get good vegan options in the dining halls really depends on the day. There were some meals that were really tasty, and others from the same dining hall that were more than unappetizing.
The best dining hall for vegans? Probably the Ikenberry Dining Hall, because of the Soytainly station. Next would definitely be Orange on Green in the Union.
In general, could there be more vegan options? Yes, always. Some days, like the one time I went to LAR, were pretty disappointing.
However, I hope I was able to demonstrate that just because we're in college does not mean that it's impossible to find vegan food. Most of my plates were filled with plenty of color and flavor, and the U of I dining halls really do try to give us enough variety. You do have to know to look in other sections of the dining hall, and sometimes, you have to be a little bit creative, but once you get used to it, eating becomes much easier.
Special thanks to Lexi Frieman and Simone Perrin, two vegan friends who helped me by sharing some of their ideas and tips!
