Food is the first worry for many vegetarian families going to Bali. The good news is that rice, tofu, tempeh and vegetables are on almost every menu.
The catch is in the sauces. This guide lists the dishes that are, or can be, vegetarian. It shows what to watch for, and the words to use when you order.
How Balinese food works
Bali is mostly Hindu. Rice is the staple. It comes with vegetables, meat and seafood on the side.
Most Balinese Hindus do not eat beef. Pork, though, is a big part of the island's cooking. Babi guling, a whole pig roasted on a spit, is a classic Balinese dish.
Coconut runs through it all. It is grated over vegetables, pressed into oil for sambal and cooked into sweets.
So the menu has many vegetables, but they often share a plate or a sauce with meat or fish. That is the thing to manage.
Gado-gado
Gado-gado is the dish most vegetarians reach for first. It is a salad of blanched greens, such as cabbage, spinach and bean sprouts, with boiled potato.
Fried tofu and tempeh go on top, with a peanut sauce made from peanuts, palm sugar, chilli and tamarind.
Two things to ask about. It usually comes with a sliced boiled egg. And the peanut sauce often has terasi, a dried shrimp paste.
Tipat cantok
This is a Balinese cousin of gado-gado. Boiled vegetables, such as long beans, bean sprouts and water spinach, come with tofu and a rice cake called ketupat.
It is dressed in peanut sauce, mild or hot, with fried shallots and sweet soy sauce on top.
The name tells you how it is made. Tipat is the rice cake. Cantok means grinding the sauce in a mortar.
It is a common street food, and it is known as one of the few Balinese dishes that are vegetarian. Still, ask about the sauce.
Tempeh and tofu
Tempeh is a firm cake of fermented soybeans. It comes from Java. Tofu is called tahu.
Look for tempe goreng, which is sliced and fried with garlic and coriander. Tempe bacem is braised in coconut water and palm sugar, then fried. Tempe mendoan is dipped in spiced batter and fried crisp.
Tempe penyet is fried tempeh crushed with sambal. Ask which sambal it is, since some are made with shrimp paste.
Tempe kering is crisp, sweet and spicy, tossed with chilli and palm sugar. Tumis tempe is stir-fried with vegetables. Kripik tempe are thin, crisp fried tempeh chips, sold as a snack.
Nasi campur, the mixed plate
Nasi campur means mixed rice. It is a mound of rice with small portions of several sides.
In Bali the sides can include fried tofu, tempeh, a vegetable curry and corn, next to the meat. Vegetarian plates exist. Ask for the vegetable sides only, and say no fish and no egg.
Jukut urab is worth asking for by name. It is mixed vegetables tossed with grated coconut. Lawar is usually made with meat, but some cooks make a vegetarian lawar.
Nasi goreng and mie goreng
Fried rice and fried noodles are often sold side by side at warungs, the small local eateries. Both can be made vegetarian, but only if you ask.
Nasi goreng is seasoned with sweet soy sauce, shallots, garlic, tamarind, chilli and ground shrimp paste. Fish sauce is common too. Egg goes in the rice or sits fried on top.
Mie goreng is fried yellow noodles, usually cooked with egg and chicken, meat or seafood.
Ask for no meat, no egg and no terasi. Then skip the crackers on the side. They are often prawn crackers.
Sambal and sweets
Sambal is the chilli relish on every table. Sambal matah is a raw one, made from shallots, garlic, chilli, lime and lemongrass in coconut oil. Sambal terasi is made with shrimp paste. Ask which one you are getting.
Balinese sweets are a happy surprise for vegetarians. Klepon, called jaje klepon in Bali, are green rice-flour balls with melted palm sugar inside, rolled in grated coconut.
Laklak are small pancakes with grated coconut and palm sugar. Bubuh injin is black sticky rice with coconut and palm sugar.
What to watch for
Terasi, or shrimp paste, is the big one. It hides in peanut sauces, fried rice and some sambals.
It even turns up in dishes that look fully vegetable. Sayur asem, a sour vegetable soup with tamarind, is often flavoured with it.
Fish sauce is a common seasoning. Egg turns up in fried rice, noodles and gado-gado. Prawn crackers come on the side of many plates.
Pork is the main meat in Balinese cooking. If you do not eat it at all, say so clearly.
No phrase is a full guarantee. If your diet is strict, eat where the menu marks vegetarian dishes, and ask every time.
Eating with children
Children who eat only vegetarian food need a little planning in Bali, not a lot.
Plain rice, fried tofu and tempeh are easy first meals. Klepon is a traditional market snack in Bali. Kripik tempe chips are another easy snack.
Pack snacks from home for the long days. The Nusa Penida trip and the Batur sunrise each take about 11 hours.
Hotel breakfasts are the easiest meal of the day. Make it a big one before a long drive.
How to ask in Indonesian
"Saya vegetarian" means "I'm a vegetarian". It uses the English word. The Indonesian word is vegetaris.
Tanpa means without. Daging means meat, so "tanpa daging" is "without meat". But daging is also used loosely for beef. So name the other things too.
Ikan is fish. Udang is prawn. Ayam is chicken. Telur is egg. So "tanpa telur" is without egg, and "tanpa terasi" is without shrimp paste.
"Saya tidak makan babi" means "I don't eat pork". Sayuran means vegetables. And "terima kasih" is thank you.
A quick list to take with you
Good places to start: gado-gado without egg or terasi, tipat cantok, tempeh, fried tofu, jukut urab and vegetarian lawar.
Ask to change: nasi goreng, mie goreng and nasi campur. Ask for no meat, no egg and no terasi.
Sweet and simple: klepon, laklak and bubuh injin.
Check every time: any sambal, any peanut sauce, any soup, and the crackers on the side.
Screenshot this list on your phone. Show it at the counter along with the phrases.
Indian food in Bali
Indian restaurants do exist in Bali's main tourist areas, such as Kuta, Seminyak and Ubud. Many have a separate vegetarian menu.
We do not name them here, because places open and close. Ask us when you book, and we will tell you which ones are near your hotels.
Many families mix the two. Local food at lunch, out on the road. An Indian dinner near the hotel at night.
Hotel breakfasts help too. On our honeymoon package, the Kuta resort's breakfast includes Indian options.
Meals on our trips
Our Bali 6N/7D package includes breakfast every day from Day 2. Lunch is included on the Nusa Penida day and on the rafting day.
Tell us your diet when you book. We pass it on for the included meals. See our veg-friendly trips for how we plan around food.
For what to do between meals, read 10 things to do in Bali with family. For the full route, see our Bali itinerary for 6 and 7 days.
The Bali travel guide covers visas, weather and getting there. When you are ready, tell us your dates on Plan My Trip.
