High-Protein, No Meat: The 7 Vegan Butcher Shops People Are Flocking To

As recently as 2015, the term “vegan butcher shop” was an unheard of oxymoron. Today, with dozens popping up throughout the world, the phrase doesn’t raise an eyebrow. These cleaver-slinging vegan entrepreneurs have proven that you can make meat from plants, and they’re changing the definition of butcher shop for good.

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What is a vegan butcher?

Until recently, the words “vegan” and “butcher” weren’t often seen side-by-side. Veganism entails leading a cruelty-free lifestyle, and this means refraining from the consumption of animal-based foods and products. The word “butcher,” on the contrary, refers to someone who makes a living cutting up and selling animal meat.

The Herbivorous Butcher

While the term “vegan butcher” may sound like a contradiction, a vegan butcher creates plant-based meat alternatives. Instead of animal flesh, vegan butchers use ingredients such as seitan, tofu, and soy to create plant-based meats. 

RELATED: Make Lunch Easy With Vegan Deli Slices

The rise of vegan butcher shops

In January 2016, sibling duo Kale and Aubry Walch made history when they opened The Herbivorous Butcher in Minneapolis, MN—the first vegan butcher shop in the US.

The team appeared on hit Food Network show Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives the same year they opened, pleasantly shocking celebrity chef host Guy Fieri with their vegan turkey and dill havarti sandwich made with housemade turkey slices. “I’d eat it all day long,” Fieri said in the episode. 

Since then, plant-based butcher shops have continued popping up around the country and throughout the world.

Vegan butcher shops

From California to New York, here are the best vegan butcher shops (listed in no particular order) that have the meats. 

The Herbivorous Butcher

1 The Herbivorous Butcher

Minneapolis, MN

Many attribute the sister-and-brother duo behind The Herbivorous Butcher for pioneering the plant-based butcher movement. Kale and Aubry Walch opened up shop in 2016 with an extensive menu of deli meats, cheeses, steaks, sausages, and ribs. Today, they’re shipping their products nationwide and educating the mainstream audience about what vegan eating can be. Plus, the siblings are keeping busy with another venture, vegan chicken shop Herbie Butcher’s Fried Chicken.
FIND IT HERE

The Butcher’s Son

2 The Butcher’s Son

Berkeley, CA 

Like The Herbivorous Butcher, The Butcher’s Son is way more than a vegan meat shop. This college town deli serves a full menu for lunch and brunch in addition to an extensive and mouthwatering bakery menu. However, if you’re there just for the meat, they’ve got you covered with a rotating selection of items such as packaged barbecue pork, maple turkey slices, lemon garlic herb chicken, and sliced roast beef. 
FIND IT HERE

A Vegan And Her

3Maciel’s Plant-Based Butcher & Deli 

Los Angeles, CA

The city’s first full-service plant-based butcher and deli, Maciel’s serves more than just salami, bacon, and pastrami. Founder Maciel Bañales Luna draws from her Mexican heritage to create Mexican-style ribs and chorizo, successfully winning over Angelenos in the process. Don’t miss the shop’s extensive sandwich menu either, which boasts pastrami French dip, chicken pesto, and more. 
FIND IT HERE

Grass Fed

4 Grass Fed

Rochester, NY

This vegan butchery got its start when its founders were gripped with an insatiable craving for a breakfast sandwich complete with the perfect meaty sausage. New vegans at the time, Rob Nipe and Nora Rubel took to the kitchen to develop the perfect plant-based meat. And the rest is, as they say, history. Today they’re whipping up a rotating selection of deli slices, pâté, gyro meat, brats, and everything in between right in the heart of Rochester, NY. Plus, they’re certified Kosher to boot. 
FIND IT HERE

Providence Vegan Deli

5Providence Vegan Deli

Providence, RI

At Providence Vegan Deli, everything starts with seitan made fresh in-house each day. The team turns out Italian-style deli slices, savory roasts, and its signature “sham”—a lightly sweet ham alternative made from white beans, oat milk, and spices. If you’ve ever been skeptical of seitan, this is the kind of place that might win you over.Find it here

LUHV Vegan Deli

6LUHV Vegan Deli

Philadelphia, PA

Tucked inside Reading Terminal Market, LUHV Vegan Deli is serving up all the deli classics—just without the meat. Everything is made from scratch, from the seitan cold cuts to the smoky bacon and pork-style fillings. Go big with a cheesesteak piled high with peppers and onions, or grab a Cubano layered with housemade ham and pork.
FIND IT HERE

The BeHive

7The BeHive

Nashville, TN & Austin, TX

What started as a small operation supplying seitan to local restaurants has grown into one of the South’s most recognizable vegan butcher brands. The BeHive built its reputation on housemade meats crafted from vital wheat gluten, with a lineup that spans deli slices, pepperoni, chorizo, and wings. At its retail locations in Nashville and Austin, those same products take center stage in stacked sandwiches and comfort food classics like roast beef bacon cheddar subs and barbecue chicken ranch kale bowls.
FIND IT HERE