Derek Sarno
Derek Sarno is a plant-based chef, cookbook author and Wicked Kitchen co-founder who shares mushroom techniques, comfort food and everyday cooking lessons on YouTube.
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Derek’s happenings, collected from public sources, plus their backstory and Starbook, where fans write.
Known for
Cookbook
Recipe
RecipeOverview
- From
- New England, United States
- Work
- Chef, cookbook author and cooking creator
- Known for
- Wicked Kitchen and mushroom cookery
- Breakout
- Wicked Kitchen’s January 2018 launch at Tesco
- Creative partner
- Chad Sarno, Derek’s younger brother
Mini bio
How it started.
Derek grew up in New England, helping in a family kitchen shaped by an Italian grandmother and a mother who cooked. In a Species Unite interview, Derek described learning through kitchen jobs and mentoring, then building a personal chef service into a catering business in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
A different kitchen.
After running restaurants and starting a farm, Derek spent several years as a chef and gardener at a Tibetan Buddhist monastery in upstate New York. In the PLANTSTRONG interview, Derek described studying compassion and returning to cooking in its vegetarian and vegan kitchen.
Reaching supermarket shelves.
Derek became Senior Global Executive Chef at Whole Foods Market in 2010 and moved to the UK for Tesco in 2017. Wicked Kitchen launched there in January 2018, followed by Tesco Plant Chef in 2019. Tesco announced Derek’s departure in January 2023 after six years leading plant-based innovation.
Sharing the techniques.
Derek co-authored The Wicked Healthy Cookbook with Chad Sarno and David Joachim. Today, the YouTube channel brings that practical teaching into home kitchens, from pressing and searing mushrooms to cooking beans, tofu and dairy-free comfort food. Recent videos also follow visits to farms, Farm Sanctuary and the monastery.
Creditschronological, newest first
Books
- 2018The Wicked Healthy CookbookCo-author with Chad Sarno and David Joachim
Food and retail
- 2019Tesco Plant ChefBrand development as Tesco’s Director of Plant-Based Innovation
- 2018Wicked Kitchen at TescoCo-founder and chef behind the plant-based range
- 2010Whole Foods MarketSenior Global Executive Chef
Awards
Quotes
I’m here to teach, create, and show how incredible plant-based cooking can be.Derek Sarno, official website
Trivia
- Derek’s younger brother Chad is also a chef and a co-author of The Wicked Healthy Cookbook.
- The book includes a foreword by Woody Harrelson.
- Derek calls the mushroom pressing and searing technique the SarnoSear.
- The 2026 Farm Sanctuary video cooks three dishes in one cast iron pan.
Find Derek
Follow Derek for recipes, mushroom techniques and time in the kitchen.
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