Vegetarian cuisine is based on food that meets vegetarian standards by not including meat and animal tissue products (such as gelatin or animal-derived rennet). Lacto-ovo vegetarianism (the most common type of vegetarianism in the Western world) includes eggs and dairy products (such as milk and cheese without rennet). Lacto vegetarianism includes dairy products but not eggs, and ovo vegetarianism encompasses eggs but not dairy products. The strictest form of vegetarianism is veganism, which excludes all animal products, including dairy, honey, and some refined sugars if filtered and whitened with bone char. There are also partial vegetarians, such as pescetarians who eat fish but avoid other types of meat.

There are a wide range of possible vegetarian foods, including some developed to particularly suit a vegetarian/vegan diet, either by filling the culinary niche where recipes would otherwise have meat, or by ensuring healthy intake of protein, B12 vitamin, and other nutrients.

• Cereals, grains, fungi especially edible mushrooms, seaweed, fruits, vegetables, legumes and nuts.
• Soy products, including tofu and tempeh, which are common additional protein sources
• Textured vegetable protein (TVP), made from defatted soy flour, often included in chili and burger recipes in place of ground meat.
• Meat analogues, which mimic the taste, texture, and appearance of meat and are often used in recipes that traditionally contained meat.
• Eggs and dairy product analogues in vegan cuisine (such as aquafaba, plant cream or plant milk).