The Big Deal | Chef Eddie Garza shares his plant-based recipes and love for healthy food

This week on The Big Deal from LatiNation, we’re thrilled to feature Chef Eddie Garza, a trailblazer in the plant-based culinary scene. Eddie isn’t just a chef; he’s also a cookbook author and the host of Global Bites with Eddie Garza on Jungo+.

Eddie’s journey started in Brownsville, Texas, a Mexican-American border town where health problems like obesity, diabetes, and heart disease are widespread. Like many in his community, Eddie struggled with serious weight issues, hitting 310 pounds by age 21.

Desperate for change, he decided to transition to a plant-based diet—a move that led him to naturally lose over 150 pounds and dramatically improve his health.

“When I went plant-based, it was a very radical change,” Eddie shared. “Five years of trying to figure out how to eat the most unhealthy food on the planet, which I loved, and trying to find a way to make it healthier… 150 pounds later, this is who I am.”

Who Is Chef Eddie Garza?

Eddie’s experience inspired his first book, ¡Salud! Vegan Mexican Cookbook, which features 150 recipes that represent each pound he lost. He focused on recreating the Mexican dishes he grew up loving but in a healthier, plant-based way. A standout recipe is his chickpea-based Mexican chorizo, which offers the same flavor and texture as traditional chorizo but without the cholesterol and fat. “You’re not killing anybody, it’s ecological,” he emphasized.

Over the years, Eddie has become a sought-after speaker, presenting at top universities, culinary schools, and major conferences across the US and Latin America, including SXSW in Austin, Expo en Verde Ser in Mexico City, and the Nexus Summit in Washington, D.C.

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His work has been spotlighted by major media outlets in the United States and abroad, including CNN, ¡HOLA! TV, The Washington Post, People, Real Simple, Telemundo, Univision, MiTú Network, Travel + Leisure, American Express Essentials (Europe), Sin Embargo (Mexico), TV Azteca (Mexico), Canal Nuestra Tele (Colombia), TV Venezuela, GoTV (Honduras), El Tiempo and El Colombiano (Colombia), Daily Mail (UK), and many more.

He’s also cooked for high-profile figures like world boxing champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, television host and model Daisy Fuentes, singer-songwriters Richard Marx and Rob Thomas, Latin American television personalities Marco Antonio Regil, Ximena Córdoba, and Catalina Robayo, actors Kate Mara, Jamie Bell, Cybill Shepherd, Maria Conchita Alonso, Daniella Monet, and Harley Quinn Smith, among others.

Tune in to this episode of The Big Deal to hear Eddie Garza’s inspiring story and learn how he’s helping others discover the joys of plant-based cuisine—without giving up the foods they love!