Dreamy Vegan Food in Cagliari and Southern Sardinia
Updated: Jul 29
Last month, I visited Sardinia for the first time, staying in Geremeas near Cagliari for a very peaceful week by the sea. It was also my first time back in Italy since I taught English there over a decade ago, so naturally I arrived with a very specific list of priorities: Aperol Spritz, and sorbet at least once a day.
Usually twice.
Although this trip was mainly about slowing down, swimming and spending as much time as possible beside the Mediterranean, I was genuinely impressed Sardinia’s vegan food scene.
That being said, there was definitely a difference between finding vegan food and finding vegan food that made me want to book another flight immediately.
Vegan Must-Eats in Sardinia
If I could only eat five things in Southern Sardinia, these would be it. From traditional Sardinian dishes made vegan to the gelato flavour I’m still thinking about, these were the foods that made the trip—and the ones I’d go back for first.
Vegan culurgiones
Vegan seada
Vegan gelato (not a sorbet!)
Loaded vegan focaccia
Local fruit granita (must be on the beach)
Trying traditional Sardinian food at Gintilla
The standout meal of the entire trip was at Gintilla, a vegan restaurant in Cagliari with a variety of dishes to choose from (and you KNOW I made each member of my family order something different so I could taste them all)
Gintilla was exactly what I had hoped to find because it gave me the chance to try traditional Sardinian dishes that had been completely veganised.
The culurgiones were easily one of my favourite things I ate during the trip. They are a traditional stuffed pasta, usually filled with potato, cheese and mint, and they were genuinely amazing.
I also tried chickpea-based cheese and a vegan version of seada, a traditional Sardinian pastry usually made with cheese and citrus flavours.
It was the kind of restaurant where I wanted to order almost everything on the menu because I had never seen vegan versions of most of the dishes before.
My father-in-law, who is very much not vegan, was possibly even more impressed than I was. He made a point of telling the chef that it was the best meal he had eaten during the entire holiday.
Honestly, there is no better vegan restaurant review than a non-vegan announcing that it was their favourite meal of the trip.
Sardus: Vegan focaccia in Villasimius
We spent an afternoon exploring Villasimius, where we found a focacceria called Sardus.
They had a vegan focaccia filled with vegetables and vegan cheese, and it was so delicious. It was fresh, generously filled and exactly the kind of easy Italian lunch I had been hoping to find- because I have such fond memories of eating focaccia from my previous adventures.
Kremet: Vegan gelato has seriously improved
Vegan gelato and sorbet have really upped their game since I last visited Italy a decade ago.
Back then, being vegan usually meant choosing between the fruit sorbets.
And while there were delicious sorbet flavours including mirto, fig and peach (Mirto was a particularly good find because it is made using the local myrtle berry and felt like something I would not easily find outside Sardinia).
Fruit sorbet was no longer the only option!
My favourite gelato of the entire trip was the vegan arachide at Kremet in Cagliari. It had an oat base and tasted like a creamy chocolate peanut-butter gelato, which was every bit as delicious as it sounds.
I also found vegan Nutella-style gelato in Villasimius, so it genuinely felt as though vegan gelato had entered a completely different era.
Chocolate, peanut butter and creamy oat-based gelato?
We have come a very long way from lemon sorbet being the only option.
Vegan Supermarket finds in Sardinia
We stayed in an Airbnb, which gave us the perfect excuse to investigate Sardinian supermarkets properly.
We found several plant-based cheeses, including an almond-based burrata, as well as vegan prosciutto and other meat alternatives.
Being able to put together an Italian-style lunch with fresh bread, vegetables, vegan meats and burrata felt like such a treat.
There were also packaged breakfast pastries and biscuits clearly marked with the VeganOK certification, alongside several other products that appeared to be accidentally vegan after checking the ingredients.
Is southern Sardinia good for vegans?
Outside Cagliari, it was not necessarily difficult to find something vegan to eat. It just was not always the kind of food that made your mouth water.
For example, we went for dinner at Farra Pizzeria, by Aquarium in Torre delle Stelle, Maracalagonis, close to where we were staying in Geremeas.
The rest of my family had interesting sardinian pizzas, I had a cheeseless vegetable pizza.
It was perfectly nice, but it is not the reason I would come back to Sardinia.
Thankfully, there were plenty of other meals that were.
The Southern Sardinia Foodie Landscape
Sardinian food has a strong identity of its own, with traditional dishes including fresh and dried pastas, breads, cheeses and desserts such as culurgiones, fregola, malloreddus and seadas.
Of course, many of those dishes are traditionally made with meat, fish or cheese, which means the most exciting regional food is not always naturally vegan.
This is why Gintilla was such an important part of the trip. It allowed me to experience Sardinian cuisine rather than simply eat generic vegan food while physically located in Sardinia.
In and around the smaller coastal areas, it was generally possible to find something vegan, particularly pizza, pasta, focaccia, granita and sorbet. However, the options were not always especially creative.
Cagliari was where I found the food that I was most excited about, particularly traditional Sardinian dishes that had been veganised.
Villasimius also had some lovely finds, and the supermarkets were much better stocked than I had expected.
Accommodation Considerations: Book the Kitchen
Staying in an Airbnb with a kitchen was one of the best decisions we made.
There were enough vegan products in the supermarkets that breakfast and lunch never felt like an emergency backup plan. We could try local plant-based products, make pasta, put together picnic-style spreads and eat slowly rather than searching for a restaurant three times a day- just for the vegan options to be disappointing (or non-existant in some spots).
For vegans staying outside Cagliari, I would definitely recommend booking accommodation with at least a fridge. A basic kitchen is even better.
Overall Vegan-Friendly Rating: 4/5 (in the coastal towns 3/5)
Sardinia was an absolute treat. I had wanted a peaceful week beside the sea, and that is exactly what I got, but I also came home genuinely excited by so much of what I had eaten.
From vegan culurgiones and seada at Gintilla to vegetable focaccia in Villasimius, almond burrata from the supermarket and the oat-based arachide gelato at Kremet, the vegan food was far more varied than it had been when I lived in Italy a decade ago.
Not every meal was life-changing. Sometimes dinner was still a cheeseless pizza, just like it would have been in 2013.
But other times, I was eating veganised Sardinian food, and choosing between multiple creamy vegan gelato flavours.
And that feels like progress.
Sardinia was relaxed, beautiful and filled with food I am still thinking about.
Yes, I am already wondering when I can go back.
