
Editor’s Note: The following is a guest post by Floor, a Nutrition student at the University of Applied Sciences Amsterdam.
Life as a vegetarian might seem hard in Medellín or Colombia in general.
There are not that many places where they love their meat as much as they do in Medellín. It’s not just that Bandeja Paisa (a plate that contains up to five different types of meat) is the typical dish of Antioquia, but also that a steak will most likely be cheaper in the supermarket than a few carrots.
But if you choose your products right and know where to eat, Medellín might surprise you.
How to maintain a well-balanced vegetarian diet when using typical Colombian ingredients
Want to eat out but cheaply? Most typical Colombian restaurants will offer el plato del dia (plate of the day) for a fixed and cheap price.
It’s normally a big and filling meal existing of a soup and a plate filled with rice, beans, plantain, salad, meat and sometimes a piece of avocado.
By ordering this plate without the meat, you will still consume a lot of the vitamins and minerals you need to maintain a healthy body. Los frijoles (beans) for example contain loads of iron and protein.
The only thing that might not be sufficient will be the veggies. The salad is mostly small and doesn’t contain much more than some lettuce and a piece of tomato, so you need to work on them in another moment of the day.
When cooking a plate like this at home, you can replace the meat for products such as tofu or a vegetarian burger.
Instead of using normal white rice you can prepare whole grain rice. Whole grain rice or brown rice contains more vitamins, minerals and fiber than white rice does.
Add some vegetables such as spinach, beetroot or broccoli and you have made yourself a well-balanced, healthy and nutritional Colombian meal.
Other products which are widely available in the Colombian supermarkets and which help you to balance out a healthy vegetarian diet are: whole grain products like bread, rice, tortillas, cereals, potatoes, sweet potatoes, green leaf vegetables, legumes as beans, chickpeas and lentils, soya products, tofu, nuts and seeds, eggs, cow milk, soya milk and cheese.
Vitamin C considerably helps your body to absorb the iron out of your foods. Luckily, Medellín offers an extremely big variety of all different types of delicious fruits and fruit juices. So drink some juice while enjoying your meals!

Where to Eat
Restaurants in Poblado
Most popular vegetarian restaurant in Medellin (and for a reason)…
- Place: Verdeo
- Address: Carrera 35 #8A-3, Vía Provenza
- Website: http://www.ricoverdeo.com
- Review on Medellín Living
- Place: Fango Veggie BBQ
- Address: Calle 13 #43D-49, Barrio Manila
- Website: https://www.facebook.com/FANGOveggiebbq
For a quick and healthy bite…
- Place: Lenteja Express
- Address: Carrera 35 #8A-76
- Website: https://www.facebook.com/LentejaExpressPoblado

Great pizza and live music on Wednesdays…
- Place: Café Zorba
- Address: Calle 8 #42-33, Parque Lineal de la Presidenta
- Website: https://www.facebook.com/cafezorba
- Review on Medellín Living
Fine dining…
- Place: Herbario (not only vegetarian food, but a lot of veggie options)
- Address: Carrera 43D 10-30
- Website: http://www.elherbario.com
- Review on Medellín Living
Delicious Indian food and nice atmosphere…
- Place: Naan (not only vegetarian food but a lot of veggie options)
- Address: Carrera 35 # 7-75
- Website: https://facebook.com/pages/naan/173317159424401
- Review on Medellín Living
Restaurants in Centro
- Place: Vegetus
- Address: Carrera 47 54 10
- Website: www.vegetus.ws
Hindu restaurant and cultural center…
- Place: Govinda´s
- Address: Calle 51 #52-17, Sector Botero
- Website: http://medellin.govindas.co

Restaurants in Laureles
Best bread in town…
- Place: Salud pan
- Address: Circular 4ta #70-84
- Website: http://www.saludpan.com/sitio
Restaurants in Suramericana
Small, casual restaurant right near Plaza Suramericana, focusing on house-made vegetarian fare. Many items contain ghee. Ask for vegan options.
- Place: El Árbol de la Vida
- Address: Carrera 64C #48-188, Local 1
Restaurants in Belén
- Place: Vegarden – El Jardín Vegetariano
- Address: Calle 32B #81-41
- Website: http://www.eljardinvegetariano.com
Vegetarian Shops
Centro
- Place: Tienda Naturista y Restaurante Vegetariano Vida Natural
- Address: Cr. 50 48-53 L-9930
Itagüí
- Place: Tienda cocina vegetariana el Palo
- Address: Cr45 52-63 , Mayorista

Products Available in the Supermarkets
Hojaral
- Vegetal Burger (hamburger made of lentils, wheat and soy protein)
- Vegetal Chorizo (sausages made of beans, wheat and soy protein)
- Cruji vegetal (crunchy soy based croutons, goes well in soups, beans and salads)
You can find Hojaral in the following supermarkets: Euro, Consumo and the Exito del Este, and the ones in Poblado and Envigado.
There is one other brand that is selling vegetarian products in supermarkets:
- Alves
In nature shops, you will find products from the following brands:
- Sabyi
- Lenteja Express
- La Senda
- Vegeta
If you have a recommendation to add to this list, share it in the comments below. Be sure to include an address or website so readers can find it.
________
About the Author: Floor is a Nutrition student at the University of Applied Sciences Amsterdam, now doing her internship in Medellín. She loves to travel, cook and discover different food cultures.
I want to know how you find the veggie burgers in the market. I can’t seem to find them in any market in Bogota. Which market are you going to?
Being vegetarian, I fell in love with colombia for its year round produce. It is amazing how much great fresh fruits and vegetables you can get. It is like heaven for vegetarians, at least those who can cook. If not you are stuck to the meat heavy menus 😉
Hi Erick,
I completly agree with you. Have never seen such a diversity of available and local produced fruits and vegetables!
In Bogota you can find our products in Bio Plaza, Zukini, La esquina vegetariana y Fractales.
Hope you enjoy them!
The best deal and veg food I’ve eaten is Prana in Envigado. Can’t recommend it highly enough.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/PRAN%C3%81-Cocina-natural-tienda/772853102727788
Thanks BB. I actually just moved to that part of Envigado, so will go there soon!
Just ate at Prana after having seen this recommendation. For the sake of future readers, if you are looking for a totally vegetarian restaurant, you should know that Prana also serves chicken and other “animal protein”. Their menu option is vegetarian and they have plenty of veggie options. They are also planning on having a local organic farmer come and sell produce Saturdays out front (starting soon I was told… but not sure of the hours).
Being a vegetarian from the San Francisco Bay Area (supposedly a hotbed for vegetarianism), I was surprised at the sheer quantity of veggie restaurants in Medellin. I find it extremely easy to be vegetarian here with the more than 10 veggie restaurant options, the great variety of veggies (as previously mentioned in the article), and the juices and salpicon everywhere.
Here’s a restaurant not mentioned in your article but very tasty and excellently priced.
MATI – Chinese vegan buffet owned by a delightful couple from Taiwan.
Mon-Sat 10:00am-7:00pm
Located in the Monterey shopping center in El Poblado
Carrera 48, Unit 10-45, Local 234b (Calle 10)
Medellin, Colombia
Link to HappyCow write-up http://www.happycow.net/reviews/mati-comida-saludable-medellin-42882
Thanks Joe. Didnt know about that restaurant, will definetly check it out!
https://www.facebook.com/Espiritulibre.com.co?fref=ts
Espiritu Libre has vegan food, a shop selling organic and vegan produce at very reasonable prices, and a cultural/well-being program of courses/workshops on offer! Open for lunch and dinner a block from Consumo on the 76 in Laureles 🙂
Hello, please follow this restaurant in Medellín https://www.facebook.com/vegetarian.medellin?fref=ts
Hey Floor, nice work!
You mentioned sweet potatoes – the only thing close I’ve found is called “ñame” and has a skin like tree bark. Can you recommend where to find a good variety of sweet potatoes?
Hey Joe,
Thanks!
To be honest I shouldn’t have mentioned it in the list of easy available products in Colombia. It might be hard to find them.
I found some sweet potatoes (batata/ camote) in La Plaza Minorista.
It’s close to ´la Universidad de Antioquia´
Hope you will get to find them.
There are a lot more restaurants and vegetarian shops in Laureles, all of them highly recommended:
Naturlandia
https://www.facebook.com/naturlandiamedellin
Antonio’s Rinconcito Saludable
https://www.facebook.com/AntoniosMedellin
Kinua’s
https://www.facebook.com/kinuasvegetarianfastfood
Vita Integral (vegetarian and health shop)
https://www.facebook.com/VitaIntegralMercadoSaludable
There is also a new vegetarian buffet near Exito de Colombia. Very tasty!
Flor de Loto
Mon-Sat 11:00am-3:00pm
Address::calle49 #65A-38
tel:4364894 (Medellin)
Also… Lenteja Express in Poblado and Laureles. It is a bit expensive for my liking but they do have amazing burgers!
Definitely Prana!!!
Could live off that place. Super tasty, filling and cheap.
Best in Medellin in my opinion
See the happycow.com web site for even more places in Medellin, along with reviews
Hi Dave, thanks for your page!
There’s a new place in downtown, is very near from Govinda’s (hare krishna restaurant), its a VEGAN restaurant called LOS ROBOTS, the place is really interesting in many ways, and the food is delicious and the most important: vegan!!
Here is the adress: Carrera 52 (Carabobo) # 51 – 42 | Centro Comercial Veracruz – Zona de Comidas – piso 3, Medellín.
http://restaurantelosrobots.com.co/about-us/
GO VEG!
Where can you get sweet potatoes??
I didn’t go because it was only open 12-5 but there’s a place in a belen called el vegano andante. There’s also Mundoverde in the unicentro