Top 10 Tasty, Healthy, and Sustainable Food Truck Dishes

We asked 10 of our favourite Vancouver food trucks what to order if you want a super sustainable meal on the go

Vancouver’s top food trucks reveal where they source the freshest local ingredients for their most popular dishes

Vancouver is blessed with a kick-ass food truck culture which goes far beyond the usual limp wieners and greasy burgers. VanCity food trucks are bursting with super sustainable flavour. In fact, many of them use seasonal locally sourced ingredients, Ocean Wise seafood and ethically raised meats.

We asked 10 of our favourite food trucks what to order if you want a super sustainable lunch or dinner on the go.

Credit: Erin Ireland

Vij’s Railway Express

“We’re one of the original Ocean Wise food trucks and we’re proud to say our meats are local, hormone-free and antibiotic-free from Two Rivers. Our seared cod with mango sour cream curry uses Ocean Wise cod and is garnished in local pepper, fennel, and local organic Sky Harvest Microgreens. Our butter chicken schnitzel is made with local hormone and antibiotic-free chicken from Two Rivers Meats and SkyHarvest Microgreens. We also use compostable containers and cutlery.”

-Jason Apple, co-owner

Check Vij’s Twitter page for location and hours.

Credit: Erin Ireland

Aussie Pie Guys

“We get our beef through 63 Acres who source from smaller family-owned farms in B.C. such as Miane Creek Livestock in Armstrong. This is used in our Aussie, Trifecta and Shane’s pies. Our pork comes from Gelderman Farms which we use in our Trifecta pie. Our salmon pies use pink salmon from The Fish Counter which comes from Dixon Entrance off Haida Gwaii and is 100 per cent Ocean Wise.

-Matt Fitzhardinge, co-owner

Check online for location and hours.

Credit: Erin Ireland

Tacofino

Tacofino began in Tofino where the ocean is very much a part of our family’s lives. We surf and swim in it and we feed from it, therefore we respectfully choose to also do our best to take care of it. The Ocean Wise program helps us make the right choices when choosing suppliers and products and be a part of a community who understands the importance of the sustainability of the seas resources. We only use line-caught Pacific ling cod in our fish tacos and fish burritos. Our chicken karaage tacos and burritos use poultry from Two Rivers, who raise all their meat locally, hormone and antibiotic free.”

-Jason Sussman, co-owner

Check online for location and hours.

Credit: Erin Ireland

Big Dogs Burger Bus

“We started before the ‘big boom’ of food trucks in Vancouver. Our goal was to bring in fresh, certified organic and all-natural based products from our local farmers and businesses in B.C. – right down to the buns we use with all-natural potato flour with no preservatives and no sugar – just clean, local and made daily. Our burgers are handcrafted daily, ground ‘chuck’, local and certified organic grass fed. Our smokies and hot dogs are grass fed organic as well. It’s nice to know what we are eating.”

-Melissa Morin, co-owner

Check Big Dogs Burger BusTwitter or Facebook for location and hours.

Credit: Sean Neild

Yolk’s

“Very nearly everything that we use is either organic, local or free-range. For instance, our eggs are free-range and cage-free, our pork belly, bacon and ham is all naturally raised, non-medicated and antibiotic free, and our beef short rib comes from grass-fed, local organically raised cows. All of the herbs that we use on our dishes come from my garden, and even our tea and coffee is organic!”

-Steve Ewing, owner

Check online for location and hours.

Credit: Erin Ireland

Le Tigre

“Our culinary philosophy is based on combining local seasonal ingredients with an abundant selection of high quality sustainable seafood and organic meats from B.C. We serve the freshest product we can find every day. Our ‘Best Damn Salmon Chowder’ uses Ocean Wise fish from Skipper Otto’s. Our ‘Miso Awesome Quinoa Salad’ uses local and organic vegetables from the Vancouver Farmers Markets and our popular ‘That Fricken Chicken’ is made with local, non-medicated birds from Maple Hills.”

-Clement Chan, co-owner

Check online for location and hours.

Credit: Erin Ireland

Soho Road Naan Kebab

“When we started Soho Road in 2011 one of our main commitments was to provide the best authentic Indian meals possible using only the freshest, locally sourced (whenever possible), GMO free ingredients. We love to keep it local whenever we can. We source the vegetables for our spicy veg sabji from the local farmers market and the cucumbers, tomatoes and onions for our naan kebab salad from local growers also. We grow our own mint and cilantro for our mint chutney and have local suppliers for our yogurt and milk products too. Coming soon: Soho Road Tiffin Walla which is completely solar-powered and is to be the first zero waste food cart in Vancouver as it will use Tiffin Containers (stainless steel three tier containers with a handle) to serve its food. These reusable containers will be rented or sold for a nominal price to reduce the amount of packaging needed for street food.”

-Sarb Mund, owner

Check out Twitter or Facebook for location and hours.

Credit: Erin Ireland

Culver City Salads

“In the warmer months, we work with Inner City Farms who drop off a weekly CSA (community supported agriculture). It’s always really fun and exciting because we never really know what we’re going to get. It gives us the opportunity to play around and get creative with the ingredients they give us. Like right now we have a creamy purple basil dressing that’s really interesting looking and delicious. I would say that our salads feature the most local organics just because it’s easy to pack a ton of produce into our salads (they feature 10+ ingredients). We work really hard to get our hands on the freshest local organics. We also participate in a lot of the Vancouver Farmers Markets, which gives us the opportunity to trade with the farmers and start the week off with an abundance of amazing fresh produce.”

-Christina Culver, co-owner

Check online for location and hours.

Credit: Erin Ireland

The Pie Hole

“For Food Cart Fest, we only bring our sweet pies and we definitely focus on supporting our local farmers by using B.C. fruit. Plus, it is so delicious and we are so fortunate to live somewhere that produces such an abundance! Some of the fresh local stuff you can find includes strawberries, rhubarb, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, peaches, apricots, nectarines. We are making our bourbon pecan peach pie this year that is amazing and a new sangria pie with local strawberries, peaches, nectarines, and apricots and a sweet B.C. Riesling white wine.  Our blueberry goat cheese basil is an absolute favourite for clients, and personally I love the freshness and combination of flavors in our blackberry rhubarb ginger pie. And there will always be the classics like strawberry rhubarb and blueberry.”

-Jenell Parsons, owner

Find The Pie Hole at Food Cart Fest every Sunday all summer or check online to find a Pie Hole retailer near you.

Credit: Erin Ireland

The Kaboom Box

“Our philosophy is geared towards helping maintain our way of life for future generations of Canadians. We are very proud to use sustainable Ocean Wise seafood because of one main reason… we love seafood. And knowing that a majority of our customers do too, it is important for us to make sure that we keep our consumption under control. We love our planet and the life that lives on it, so we refuse to serve anything that is not free-range. We make sure also to use biodegradable and compostable containers in order to not add more waste to our already hurting planet. By doing the little things, we can help stop the slow death of our lands and maintain its beauty. As true Canadians, we must be the ones to lead by example when it comes to keeping our forests green, keeping our oceans blue and respecting all life.”

-Bruce Balino, co-owner

Check online for location and hours.