Veganism in Slovenia

In recent years, the vegan culture has been growing rapidly in Slovenia.  In 2012 the founding of the Slovenian vegan Society made a big change for vegans. It started offering professional help on topics like ecology and specialized nutrition education, as well as support about animal rights and animal care.  A lot of information is available in Slovenian in flyers and books. Being vegan is becoming more common.

Vegan Food

Today, all main food stores carry vegan products, often in specially dedicated sections. There is also a growing number of specialized (web) stores selling and delivering vegan food. Finding a restaurant with vegan options is not difficult. Most towns have at least one and Ljubljana has several dozen.

Slovenian traditional cuisine is very diverse, with 24 distinctive gastronomic regions. But finding traditional Slovenian dishes that are  vegan is almost impossible. This is rooted very deep in the local tradition. Even a simple vegetable soup can start with sautéing the onion in melted lard. Therefore, it is really important to ask the restaurant staff about the cooking process and ingredients used from the start of cooking the dish. see LOCAL FOOD page.

Do not despair, many meat restaurants will be happy to prepare a vegan meal upon request. Also, since the EU passed a law to identify allergens in dishes, all restaurants menus should have marked which allergens are present, this is a way to know if a dish includes eggs or dairy.  Spot the younger restaurant staff as they will be more likely to speak good English and help you request a vegan dish.