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Guide for a Vegan Pesach | Shamayim

Created in partnership with: Rabbi Akiva Gersh | Design by: Ann Conrad | Edits & Updated for 2025 by: Emma Goldblatt, Shamayim Program Manager

Table of Contents

  1. Table of Contents
  2. Living Our Values
  3. Articles and Guides
  4. You, yes YOU can have a vegan Passover!
  5. Recipes
  6. Vegan & Kosher for Passover Cooking Demo
  7. Cooking with Mayim: Passover Edition
  8. Vegan Pesach Torah
  9. Extra Tips we ♡
  10. Webinar: A Passover that is Free for All: Worker, Animal, & Climate Justice
  11. Top 10 Vegan Pesach Questions
  12. Pesach is such a joyous time…
  13. Make a gift for Passover

Passover is the perfect time of year to reflect on our past and celebrate our freedom. And as we remember the Exodus from ancient Egypt, we can also take a moment to think about the freedom of animals, especially those in today’s agriculture industry. Sadly, animals are statistically the population to face the most amount of suffering, and we share the responsibility of bringing about positive change.

As we come together around the Seder table and talk about what it means to be freed, we can also take a moment to think about our habits and how they affect the world around us. One great way to make a positive impact is by making changes to our consumption of animal products. There are many ethical, environmental, and health concerns linked to eating meat. By choosing to live a vegan lifestyle, we can do our part to make sure that we aren’t contributing to these issues and instead support a more compassionate and sustainable way of living.

This Passover, let’s all take a moment to reflect on our daily habits and how they align with our values. Even small changes can make a big difference for the animals and the world we all share. So let’s work towards a future where all beings can experience freedom and liberation.

Download the Guide for Free:

Vegan Pesach GuideDownload

Living Our Values

Pesach is the classic Jewish holiday celebrating freedom. We gather with friends and family around the Seder table to tell the ancient story of the exodus of our people from bondage in Egypt and make an extra special effort to pass this story on to the younger generation, employing all kinds of creative methods to ensure their involvement including, of course, special foods. But Pesach is not just about remembering our history, though that is very important. On a deeper level, and possibly on a more important level,

Pesach is about internalizing the themes of this story that Jews have been telling for thousands of years and allowing them to inspire our lives and our actions today.

It is no coincidence that the ancient Israelites became a nation shortly after being freed from slavery. The value of freedom is an essential and core part of the Jewish tradition and what it means to be Jewish. In modern-day times Jews have been on the front lines of fighting for freedom and dignity for humans in all parts of the world who are being persecuted and whose freedom has been taken away from them.

The same must be done for animals who, in our generation, have been subjected to lives filled with disrespect, abuse and continuous suffering by factory farming industries focused on cheap production costs, high output and maximized profit.

More than any other Jewish holiday, food plays a central role throughout Pesach: preparing our kitchens, buying new food products, not eating chametz, checking labels for the “Kosher for Passover” symbol, and preparing the symbolic foods for Seder night.

But how can we sit around and discuss and celebrate our own freedom while eating foods that cause endless pain and agony for other creatures? That’s why Pesach is a perfect time to show our concern and compassion for animals by making food choices that ensure they are given the honor, dignity and freedom they deserve.

Some people feel daunted by the idea of making a vegan Pesach, but they needn’t be. Through this Shamayim guide to a vegan Pesach, you will see why it’s so important to make a vegan Pesach, how easy it is to make a vegan Pesach and how much more joy and meaning you will bring to your holiday celebration by doing so.

Have a Happy Vegan Pesach!

Resources

Articles and Guides

You, yes YOU can have a vegan Passover!

by Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz

Recipes

There are many traditional Passover foods and many contain animal products. Worry not- if you or someone at your seder is vegan, there are many delicious substitutions made with fruits, vegetables, grains, and nuts. Below are some of the recipes we like to use. But don’t forget to get creative! If you have a vegan passover friendly recipe to share, we’d love to see it! Feel free to tag us on social media @shamayimjewishanimaladvocacy

Recipe Cookbooks:

Breakfast:

Soups:

Mains:

Sides:

Desserts:

Vegan & Kosher for Passover Cooking Demo

Cooking with Mayim: Passover Edition

Vegan Pesach Torah

Extra Tips we ♡

  • Most of the items on the Seder plate are already vegan: charoset (substitute agave for honey), maror, karpas and chazeret. That leaves the zeroa (shankbone) and baytzah (egg). For the zeroa, The Talmud mentions that one of the sages, Rav Huna, used a beet to symbolize the Passover lamb. So, a beet slice is an acceptable, animal-free substitute. For the baytzah, If you view the hard-boiled egg as a symbol of renewal, then a flower is a beautiful and cruelty-free substitute.
  • Guacamole tastes great on matzah!
  • Use quinoa like you would use rice.
  • For protein, focus on nuts, quinoa & high protein vegetables.
  • Indian spices and dishes such as Aloo Gobi (cauliflower and potatoes) can make a vegan Passover much more delicious! Indian food can also be made in advance and served over quinoa.
  • Many soups can be already Passover appropriate, such as tomato-basil soup or zucchini soup.
  • Various configurations of vegetables – esp. onions, carrots, potatoes, zucchini, squash, mushrooms, etc. – can be either oven-roasted with spices or put in a stew with tomato sauce and served over quinoa.

Webinar: A Passover that is Free for All: Worker, Animal, & Climate Justice

Top 10 Vegan Pesach Questions

Answered by Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz

What do you replace the zeroa (shankbone) with?

A Beet! (see Pesachim 114b)

What in the world do you eat?


A vegan Pesach is easier than ever before (even if you, like us, don’t eat kitniyot). Just google “vegan pesach recipes” and “vegan passover recipes” and you’ll find countless options, B”H.

Would you eat Korban Pesach if there was a 3rd Temple?


Rav Natan holds (Pesachim 78b) that one doesn’t need to eat the korban pesach to fulfill the mitzvah. But it’s a machloket so if he’s wrong, yes, i’ll hold by the minimum shiur (a kazayit). In any case, I believe Rav Kook is right that in a 3rd Temple there will not be animal offerings.

What do you replace the beitzah (egg) with?


A Mushroom!

What is the vegan message from the Pesach story?


Wow, there are so many. One clearly is that we must fight all oppression wherever we find it and advocate for freedom wherever there is oppression! Further, veganism in its ideal form is a movement for non-violence and so not only do we want to advocate for justice but also to do so non-violently.

Do you wear tefillin (since they’re made from leather)?


Hey, that’s not a Pesach question! But yes, I do. We continue to work for options to create tefillin from neveilah (animals that have died naturally) but we haven’t been successful yet.

Should I join a seder where they will serve animal products?


Well, that’s a personal question. But, yes, I believe we should cultivate friendships (and certainly maintain strong family relationships) with people who live differently from us. But they should be respectful of a vegan lifestyle (notice I didn’t call veganism a “diet”).

Must I eat meat at the seder to fulfill the mitzvah of “Simchat Yom Tov?”


It says in the Talmud (Pesachim 109a): “Rabbi Yehudah ben Beteira says: When then Temple stood, there was no joy except with meat.” The Talmud goes on to teach that once the Temple was destroyed (almost 2000 years ago) joy on yom tov is experienced through drinking wine (not eating meat). There are those who still believe meat is required but many poskim who do not think so and clearly one should eat food that cultivates joy (joy of the palette and joy of the soul).

In any case, the Rambam says we don’t fulfill simchat yom tov with simchat kreiso (joy of the stomach) but with taking care of the needy.

What role did the animals play in the Exodus?

The midrash teaches that the freed slaves no longer knew songs of joyful liberation. They looked up in the sky (after they were free on the other side of the sea) and they heard birds chirping and those birds taught them once again how to sing.

If I do eat kitniyot but am still very careful about chametz, which products not certified as kosher l’pesach can I rely on?

You might find Rav Abadi’s kosher l’pesach list (for items not certified as kosher l’pesach) to be helpful:

Pesach List 2021 – Ohel Torah

Bonus question! How do you make vegan matzah balls?

Woah, I don’t know. I never made them. Everyone says use an egg replacer like potato starch OR flax seeds (OU says they are kitniyot but CRC says they are NOT kitniyot) OR chia seeds.

Have another question? Check our FAQ’s or submit a question to the Rabbi here:

Resources

Pesach is such a joyous time…

to celebrate the power of redemption, the joy of liberation, and the promise of more justice to come.

We yearn for a non-violent world, a society of compassion, and a more sustainable approach to our stewardship of the planet.

May we continue to bring progress in this coming year!

From my family to yours, wishing all a Chag Kasher V’Sameach – a joyful Passover holiday!– – Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz, Founder & CEO of Shamayim

Make a gift for Passover

For Passover, please consider a donation so that we can continue to provide animal advocacy and Vegan education, resources, and videos for the Jewish community!

Donate here: shamayim.us/donate

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