One of the trickiest parts of being vegan is meal prep. Especially when you’re starting, you’’ll have to spend a lot of time preparing, going to the grocery store, and making fresh foods.
You also need to figure out how to navigate being social– going to restaurants, cookouts, office parties, etc. Not surprisingly, a good fridge plays an essential role in the vegan lifestyle and journey.
In this article, we are reviewing some of the top refrigerators for the vegan diet. Primarily, we provide various refrigerators that help optimize your organization, allowing you to quickly find and store your food items and fresh produce to make quick and easy meals.
Factors To Consider
I should start by saying there really isn’t such a thing as a “vegan refrigerator.” The good news is that there are refrigerators optimized for vegan living. The options in this article consider three aspects: organization, efficiency, and capacity.
Did You Know?
In a study from 2021, it was shown that eating vegan can cost an average of 40% less than meals including meat and fish. The cooking time of an average vegan meal is 1/3 less than the typical omnivore meal.
Top Refrigerators For Vegans
We’ve organized our favorite refrigerators based on characteristics, starting with our top pick, followed by options for best organization, capacity, efficiency, smart features, and a mini fridge suggestion.
Top Pick: SMETA 36-inch French Door Refrigerator Full Size
The SMETA side-by-side fridge has a total capacity of 26.3 cu.ft, including a freezer capacity of 9.6 cu.ft. It has french doors, an integrated water filter, an ice maker, humidity-controlled crispers, and a deli drawer.
This model features an air-cooled circulation system that helps keep your fresh food fresh.
The refrigerating and freezing compartments are linked in parallel by double circulation, and the containers are finely separated to prevent smells from mixing through your foods.
One of this product’s distinguishing features is its large capacity. The freezer has a capacity of 6.61 cu. Ft., while the refrigerator has a capacity of 15.89 cu. Ft. As a result, you will have plenty of space to store your fruits, veggies, drinks, and leftovers.
Another noteworthy characteristic of this device is its automatic temperature control. It has a double-flow cooling system. As a result, you will have very cool temperatures.
What’s more, the temperature alarm feature notifies you when the temperature exceeds the set limit.
This unit’s door tray further optimizes the space. Sauce or drink bottles may be stored there. Furthermore, the drawer container will neatly arrange your food.
I think of this option as a very well-rounded fridge. It’s not as flashy as some of the other refrigerators below, but it’s absolutely a top pick in the space.
Top Choice For Organization: Smad Counter-depth French Door Refrigerator
The Smad Counter-depth French door refrigerator is our pick for organization.
It is one of the best refrigerators available today, especially for vegans.
This 22.5 cu. Ft. French door refrigerator is ideal for storing vegetables and fruits while making your kitchen more accessible. It also comes with a counter-depth design to take your user experience to the next level.
This refrigerator’s full-width drawer will make it easier to find items. It has separately regulated crisper drawers to help you organize your food appropriately.
Another exciting feature of this vegan refrigerator is the innovative electronic temperature control. It will monitor minor temperature fluctuations, and it can modify the cooling system in response to temperature fluctuations.
Energy Efficiency Option: Whirlpool 21 cu. Ft. Side-by-Side Refrigerator Built-in and Standard in Monochromatic Stainless Steel
In my personal experience, there are several reasons to be a vegan, whether you are morally opposed to eating other animals and their byproducts or trying to be healthier and live longer.
Others are more interested in the benefits of vegan living on the environment, as not eating meat is a wonderful way to lower your carbon footprint.
If you want to be energy conscious when purchasing electrical appliances, you’ve come to the right place. It’s good to start by looking for an Energy Star rating, which is a government-backed energy efficiency symbol. One our my favorite refrigerators with an Energy Star rating is this Whirlpool option.
This refrigerator, with an ice and water dispenser, allows you to get ice and water without opening the door, and the LED lighting ensures that your food looks as wonderful as it tastes.
Additional objects may be stored on each shelf with wall-to-wall frameless glass shelves, which provide more storage options. Move these bins anywhere in the door for more loading flexibility when needed.
Regarding its efficiency, this Energy Star-certified product outperforms regulatory regulations, allowing you to save money on your electricity costs.
It comes with a fresh filtered water and ice dispenser that can be used without opening the door. It also has hidden door hinges, giving this fridge a seamless appearance.
Like many of our other top options, it actively performs checks on the freezer and adjusts to provide an optimal temperature.
And while it might seem like a small thing, when you switch on the dispenser night-light, you can easily find water and ice at night.
Largest Total Capacity Option: GE Profile PVD28BYNFS 36″
If you’re looking for the best refrigerator in terms of overall space, look no further than this beauty from GE. With a total capacity of 27.9 cubic feet, you’ll have plenty of room to meal prep and keep leftovers. This is important if you need to grab something quickly that you can take with you.
Among its many features, the option includes door-in-door storage, adjustable temperature drawer, dual-evaporators, turbo cool and freeze, Integrated dispenser with sensor, hands-free autofill, fingerprint-resistant stainless steel, LED Lighting, in-the-door ice maker, soft-close vegetable drawer, a removable bin caddy, and advanced water filtration.
Compared to many other refrigerators, this GE model is known for being incredibly quiet.
Its “quick access” function also provides good energy efficiency for such a large refrigerator.
Smartest Refrigerator: Samsung (SMART HUB) RF27T5501SR/AA 27 cu. Ft. French Door Refrigerator
If you’ve ever looked at your refrigerator and thought, gee, I wish it was more like a cellphone, we have a good option for you.
The Samsung Family Hub refrigerator allows you to look inside your refrigerator through a screen, manage your family’s schedules, stream music, check who’s at the front door, and much more, all from the convenience of your refrigerator.
Samsung’s Family Hub keeps you in touch with your loved ones. From the fridge, you can share photos, listen to music and movies, find recipes, and control your smart devices and Alexa.
With the built-in SmartThings Hub, you can control your appliances and intelligent gadgets via the smart home feature. Use Alexa for voice control, change your temperature, and see who’s at the front door with Ring.
If you’ve ever wanted to make your refrigerator more exciting, you may stream your favorite music applications or mirror content from your compatible Samsung TV or smartphone. With Samsung TV Plus, you can watch free live TV and keep up with your social media updates.
Sharing photos and videos and writing handwritten notes is also possible. Keep track of and sync family calendars from the fridge.
What I enjoy best about this device is how it may assist you with your cooking. You may use your phone to view what’s inside your fridge or swipe or tap the screen. Furthermore, SmartThings Cooking can remotely prepare your oven and offers immediate access to food ideas.
If that isn’t enough ‘1984’ for you, the hopping List allows you to order groceries directly from the shop. This is the future, and it’s crazy.
You might be looking at this description and thinking– how is this refrigerator remotely considered a vegan option?
I included this product because of the way it can optimize your time. I’ve said it a few times in this article, but prep and planning are significant parts of the vegan life.
If you’re out at the grocery store and want to ensure you have enough coconut milk, you can pull out the app and look into your fridge via the cameras. This can be the perfect way to help you organize your delicious recipes for the week.
Mini Fridge Option: Midea Compact Refrigerator
If you’re working with a small space, consider the double-door Midea Compact Refrigerator, which has 3.1 Cu. Ft. This is an excellent choice for keeping your vegan fridge staples for small apartments or dorm living. It’s also one of the least expensive models if you’re trying to stay on a budget.
Small refrigerators likely won’t be a great option if you have more than one family member, but a small appliance can work if you don’t have much space – or as an extra fridge when you need more room.
While not as complex as other options listed here, this minifridge works well, keeping the freezer and fridge sections at optimal temperature. It even comes with an ice cube tray.
The best thing about smaller refrigerators is the price. It’s typically under $200, which is far more affordable than the more extensive fridge options. It can be a great way to store your vegan cooking for the next day.
Honorable Mention: Kenmore Black Cubic Feet Door 25 Cu. Ft Side Refrigerator
The Kenmore black cubic feet door refrigerator has several unique features that exceed your expectations.
This vegan refrigerator has 15.46 cubic feet of space and is designed to keep food fresh.
It includes 9.11 cubic feet of freezer storage for keeping meals. It also has significant door space to hold larger food items.
It includes a side-by-side fridge and freezer that measures 25 cubic feet. The large capacity allows you to store an abundance of fresh and frozen items.
The bottom plastic crisper drawer is equipped with humidity control. This helps keep your produce fresh even longer.
How To Organize Food In Your Vegan Refrigerator
I will be the first to say that I thought that organizing your food in a specific way wasn’t necessary. But pro tip– getting your fridge in a practical order can help you use this appliance.
The standard order that refrigerator producers recommend is as follows:
- Top Shelf – Ready-to-eat foods, including staple foods, ready meals, and anything packaged or sealed in containers.
- Middle – Leftovers. This is a good place for you to grab and go. And keeping these foods in a single location will help you remember to eat them – and not let them rot in the back.
- Salad drawer – This is typically where you keep your greens, veggies, and other fresh foods. Since you won’t be using the bottom shelf for meat, I recommend putting your greens and herbs in the salad drawer.
- Bottom Shelf – The bottom shelf can be where you keep your larger veggies and fruits (pineapples, tomatoes, squash, etc.).
Other Kitchen Appliances Every Vegan Should Own
While the fridge is the heart of the kitchen, other appliances will make your life easier. If you’ve been a vegan for a bit, you likely know that it’s surprisingly easy to be an unhealthy vegan. The sheer amount of vegan junk food at the store has caused many a vegan to fall off the healthy bandwagon.
Because of this, set yourself up for success with a kitchen that can quickly whip up healthy vegan meals. Some staples I suggest are a stand mixer (or hand mixer), a high-speed blender, and a quality wok (I love a good stir fry).
Conclusion
Whether you’re a lifelong vegan or starting the journey for the first time, having the right refrigerators is a good place to start. Use this guide to get started on your search for finding the best vegan refrigerator for you.