Crispy, light, and easy to make, our vegan tempura recipe uses seasonal vegetables and a plant-based batter to create this truly moreish and mouth-watering restaurant style dish at home. It's an deal side, appetizer, or can make up part of a larger Japanese feast.
What is tempura?
Tempura is a beloved Japanese dish traditionally made with a light batter and deep-fried vegetables or seafood. At home, it’s a simple comfort food - often made with seasonal vegetables and served over rice (tendon), alongside noodles like soba or udon, or packed into bento lunches. It’s common to find ready-made tempura in supermarket deli counters and convenience stores, making it a familiar part of everyday meals. But tempura also has a more refined side: when served at specialty restaurants (tempura-ya) or as part of multi-course kaiseki meals, it becomes an elegant, high-skill dish - especially varieties like shrimp tempura (ebi tempura), which are considered more traditional and celebratory.
Although traditional tempura recipes often include eggs, it's easy to adapt the batter for a plant-based diet. This vegan version maintains the signature crispiness and delicate flavor using just flour, cornstarch, and sparkling water. When done well, it's quite the show-stopper - perfect for celebrations and special occasions - or just a treat. The tempura pairs beautifully with your favorite noodles or sushi, serve it alongside some Avocado Roll or layer it on on top of a bowl of warm Vegan Ramen.
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Ingredients
Serves 4 (side portions, or 2 larger ones) | Prep time 25 mins | Cooking time 25 mins
For the Dipping Sauce (Tentsuyu):
- 1 cup vegan dashi
- 3 tablespoon soy sauce
- 2 tablespoon mirin
- ½ tablespoon sugar
- (Optional) 1 small piece of ginger (1 inch)
- (Optional) 1 slice of spring onion
- 1 inch piece of daikon or regular radish
Vegetables:
- ½ medium sweet potato
- ⅓ medium eggplant (aubergine)
- ½ sheet nori
- 4 stems of tenderstem broccoli
- 1 shiitake mushroom
For the Batter:
- ¾ cup plain flour
- ¼ cup cornstarch
- 250 ml ice-cold sparkling water
- 3–4 ice cubes
For Dusting:
- ¼ cup plain flour
For Frying:
- Approximately 300 ml of neutral oil or enough for a 4 cm depth in your frying pan
Instructions
First, make the dipping sauce (tentsuyu).
- (a) Combine vegan dashi, soy sauce, mirin, sugar, and optional ginger and spring onion in a saucepan.
- (b) Bring to a simmer, stir until sugar dissolves, and set aside to cool.
Then prepare the vegetables.
- Peel and slice the sweet potato into thin disks, roughly ½ cm thick.
- Cut the aubergine into 1 cm rounds.
- Slice the mushroom to 1 cm thickness.
- Cut the nori sheet into 8 small squares, roughly 2 by 2 inches.
- Trim the broccoli stems to fit your frying pan.
- Peel and grate the daikon and/or ginger and thinly slice the spring onion (optional).
Finally, prepare batter, fry and serve!
- Dry whisk plain flour and cornstarch in a mixing bowl. Prepare a separate bowl with plain flour for dusting.
- Add the sparkling water to the flour mix and combine roughly with chopsticks. Lumps are good - do not overmix. Add a few ice cubes to keep the batter cold.
- Heat neutral oil in a deep pan to 180°C (350°F), about 4 cm deep.
- Individually dust each vegetable (except the nori) in plain flour and dip into the batter before gently placing them into the hot oil.
- Fry until crispy all over. The tempura should be light in color.
- Drain on a paper-towel-lined plate.
- Arrange the tempura on a platter and serve alongside your dipping sauce. Enjoy!
Hint: Fry only one or two pieces of veg at a time to prevent overcrowding in the pan, which can lower the oil's temperature. Maintaining a consistent oil temperature ensures your tempura turns out perfectly crispy and light, without becoming overly greasy.
Substitutions
- Vegetables: You can switch out any of the veggies. Of course, it’s always best to use whatever is locally available and in season. We’ve tried zucchini, asparagus, bell pepper, onion and carrot. There are plenty we have not tested - beetroot, turnip, string beans, silverbeet, cabbage, or any of the leafy greens - but don't let this stop you, be as adventurous as you like! You might discover a winner (and please let us know if you do!).
- Dipping Sauce: Swap daikon for regular radish or omit.
- Sparkling Water: Use chilled still water if sparkling isn't available.
Variations
- Spicy: Add ½ to 1 teaspoon of chili powder to the batter.
- Sweet: Use apple, banana or mochi and dust with powdered sugar.
- Extra Crunchy: Add ½ cup of panko crumbs to the batter before coating the veg.
If you’re serving tempura as a main, my go-to is layering it over Vegan Tempura Soba noodles. It’s a solid way to turn it into a full meal - check out the recipe if you want to give it a try.
Equipment
You don’t need anything fancy—just a mixing bowl, a saucepan for the dipping sauce, and a deep frying pan or wok. A thermometer helps for getting the oil to the right temperature, but it’s not essential. Chopsticks or tongs work well for frying and handling the tempura.
Storage
Tempura is best eaten fresh—it’s at its crispiest right after frying. It doesn’t store well, as it tends to go soggy. If you do have leftovers, you can reheat them in the oven or air fryer, but the texture won’t be quite the same. Avoid microwaving.
Tips for making perfect Japanese tempura
Keep the batter cold
Cold batter = crispier tempura. It’s that simple. Use ice-cold sparkling water and throw in a few ice cubes to keep the temperature down while you work. If the batter warms up, it starts to absorb more oil and you lose that light crunch. You can use ice-cold still water and get good results, but if you’ve got sparkling water, use it—it helps the batter stay light and gives you that extra bit of crispiness.
Don’t overmix the batter
Resist the urge to get it smooth—lumps are your friend here. Overmixing activates the gluten, which makes the batter heavy and chewy. Just stir it loosely with chopsticks until everything’s barely combined.
Preheat the oil properly
Tempura needs hot oil—180°C is the sweet spot. If it’s too cool, the batter soaks up oil and goes soggy. If it’s too hot, it browns too fast. Use a thermometer if you can. No thermometer? Drop a bit of batter in—if it sizzles and floats straight away, you’re good to go.
FAQ
Vegan tempura uses a simple batter made from plain flour, cornstarch, and ice-cold sparkling (or still) water—no eggs or dairy involved. It’s light, crisp, and lets the veggies shine. We also use neutral oil for frying and serve it with a vegan dipping sauce made from dashi, soy sauce, and mirin.
Traditional tempura batter often includes eggs, and the dipping sauce is usually made with bonito (fish flakes). We’ve swapped those out for plant-based alternatives—no eggs in the batter, and our vegan dashi keeps the dipping sauce fully animal-free.
Nothing fancy needed—just skip them. You don’t need a replacement because the combination of flour, starch, and cold water gives the batter all the structure it needs. Keep it cold and lumpy, and you’ll get that classic tempura crunch without the egg.
Yes! Just use a gluten-free all-purpose flour blend in place of plain flour, and make sure your soy sauce (or tamari) is certified gluten-free. That’s it—easy swap.
Use a neutral oil with a high smoke point like vegetable, sunflower, or canola. You don’t want anything too heavy or strongly flavoured—tempura should taste clean and crisp, not greasy.
Yes, as long as you strain out any bits of batter or veg first. Store it in a sealed container once cooled, and reuse up to 2–3 times. If it smells off or starts to darken too much, it’s time to let it go.
Related
Looking for other vegan Japanese recipes? Try these:
- 5 minute Kinpira Gobo Recipe
- Onigiri Vegan Recipe
- Yaki Onigiri (Grilled Rice Balls)
- Uramaki with vegan caviar
Pairing
Here are some dishes to serve with your vegan tempura:
- Gyoza with Shitake Mushrooms and Vegetables
- Vegan Beef Donburi
- 6 Minute Ramen Noodles
- Sweet Potato Katsu Curry
Vegan Tempura Recipe
Ingredients
For the Dipping Sauce (Tentsuyu):
- 1 cup vegan dashi
- 3 tablespoon soy sauce
- 2 tablespoon mirin
- ½ tablespoon sugar
- Optional 1 small piece of ginger (1 inch)
- Optional 1 slice of spring onion
- 1 inch piece of daikon or regular radish
Vegetables:
- ½ medium sweet potato
- ⅓ medium eggplant aubergine
- ½ sheet nori
- 4 stems of tenderstem broccoli
- 1 shiitake mushroom
For the Batter:
- ¾ cup plain flour
- ¼ cup cornstarch
- 250 ml ice-cold sparkling water
- 3 –4 ice cubes
For Dusting:
- ¼ cup plain flour
For Frying:
- Approximately 300 ml of neutral oil or enough for a 4 cm depth in your frying pan
Instructions
First, make the dipping sauce (tentsuyu).
- Combine vegan dashi, soy sauce, mirin, sugar, and optional ginger and spring onion in a saucepan. Bring to a simmer, stir until sugar dissolves, and set aside to cool.
Then prepare the vegetables.
- Peel and slice the sweet potato into thin disks, roughly ½ cm thick.
- Cut the aubergine into 1 cm rounds.
- Slice the mushroom to 1 cm thickness.
- Cut the nori sheet into 8 small squares, roughly 2 by 2 inches.
- Trim the broccoli stems to fit your frying pan.
- Peel and grate the daikon and/or ginger and thinly slice the spring onion (optional).
Finally, prepare batter, fry and serve!
- Dry whisk plain flour and cornstarch in a mixing bowl. Prepare a separate bowl with plain flour for dusting.
- Add the sparkling water to the flour mix and combine roughly with chopsticks. Lumps are good - do not overmix. Add a few ice cubes to keep the batter cold.
- Heat neutral oil in a deep pan to 180°C (350°F), about 4 cm deep.
- Individually dust each vegetable (except the nori) in plain flour and dip into the batter before gently placing them into the hot oil.
- Fry until crispy all over. The tempura should be light in color.
- Drain on a paper-towel-lined plate.
- Arrange the tempura on a platter and serve alongside your dipping sauce. Enjoy!
Notes
- Fry only one or two pieces of veg at a time.
- Keep the batter cold.
- Don’t overmix the batter.
- Preheat the oil properly.
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