How to Make 'Queer Eye' Season 6's Vegan Recipes, From Cauliflower Steaks to Rainbow Carrots (2024)

The newest season of Queer Eye, which premiered on Netflix on Dec. 31, 2021, features two heroes on opposite ends of the vegan spectrum: One, a vegetable-skeptic beef farmer who eats steak every day; the other, an owner of an animal rescue ranch who follows a plant-based diet. But in their respective episodes, the Fab 5’s food and wine expert Antoni Porowski showed each hero how to make vegetable-forward meals that they both loved.

If you're interested in cooking Queer Eye’s recipes for cauliflower steak, colorful carrots, and a protein-packed, plant-based smoothie, keep reading for how to make these delicious dishes, and to learn more about Safe In Austin, the animal sanctuary showcased in Season 6.

'Queer Eye' featured Safe In Austin, a rescue ranch for animals — and people.

The seventh episode of Season 6 of Queer Eye, called “Snow White of Central Texas,” followed a hero named Jamie, the founder of Safe In Austin. The Texas-based sanctuary regularly rescues neglected, abused, and special needs animals, rehabilitates them, and either adopts them out or keeps them at the ranch as their forever home.

According to Safe In Austin’s website, once animals are mentally and physically healthy, they are then occasionally introduced to visitors “with similar backgrounds,” whether they have Autism, selective mutism, or any other reason that they’d benefit from animal therapy.

In honor of her passion for and work with animals, Jamie (along with her daughter) eats a plant-based diet, even though her sons aren’t there yet, as she tells Antoni in the episode. However, Jamie is busy taking care of animals 24/7, and almost never gets a moment to herself, so she tends to rely on takeout for meals. She tells Antoni that she has “maybe never” made a meal from scratch in her life. So, Antoni teaches her a simple vegan recipe with minimal prep time.

Here’s the recipe for braised cauliflower steaks from 'Queer Eye.'

Antoni did not share measurements in the episode, and Netflix did not immediately respond to Green Matters’ request for the details. So, here is our interpretation of how to best recreate the braised cauliflower steaks — make sure to taste along the way, since the measurements aren’t exact.

Keep an eye on the oven, and remove the cauliflower steaks when they seem ready — 10 minutes might be all it takes (and there should still be a decent amount of vegetable broth in the pan when you remove it). Then, plate the steaks by topping them with the vinaigrette and fresh cilantro leaves.

Here’s the carrot recipe from 'Queer Eye' Season 6.

In Season 6, Episode 3, “No More Bull,” viewers meet a beef rancher named Josh, who is under the false impression that vegetables are boring and tasteless. To change his mind, Antoni teaches Josh a recipe for glazed rainbow carrots. After taking a bite, Josh exclaims, “That might be the best carrot I’ve ever had in my life.”

How to make Antoni's plant-based protein shake from 'Queer Eye.'

In Episode 8, titled "Gimme Shelter," we meet Chris, a humanitarian who has dedicated his life to advocating for people in need through his homelessness service nonprofit foundation, TOOF. In the episode, Chris is also recovering from a gastric bypass surgery, which he says means he needs to nourish himself with multiple small, protein-rich meals every day.

So, Antoni encourages Chris to swap out the whey powder for pea protein, which he says has the same amount of protein. Antoni also notes that he often starts off his days with this exact smoothie. Again, there are no measurements for this one, so just measure with your heart.