Gaz Oakley is a Welsh chef, author, and social media star who turned plant-based cooking into a global movement.
He built fame through cinematic recipe videos, thoughtful talks about food systems, and life in the countryside. He mixes fine-dining skills with simple home cooking and sustainable living ideas.
Stay with this article and explore the full story behind the camera, the gardens, and the bold dishes that shaped his remarkable career.
Who is Gaz Oakley?
Gaz Oakley is a classically trained chef best known for avant-garde vegan cuisine and visually striking cooking videos.
He first earned recognition through social platforms under the Avant-Garde Vegan name, where he presents comfort food re-imagined through plants.
Gaz writes bestselling cookbooks, runs online recipe hubs, sells merchandise, and collaborates with restaurants.
He also promotes gardening, self-sufficiency, fermentation, and organic growing. Gaz often shows how food travels from soil to plate, which adds depth beyond simple recipe content.
He speaks openly about mental health benefits tied to nature and slow living.
Gaz partnered with major chains such as Wagamama and The Vurger Co., which helped introduce plant-based meals to wider audiences.
He now balances online influence with land restoration projects and long-term wellness goals.
Early Life of Gaz Oakley
Gaz Oakley was born on August 8, 1992, in Cardiff, Wales, which makes him British by nationality and proudly Welsh by background.
He identifies as White British, and Welsh culture shaped his accent, humour, and love for local produce from an early age.
He grew up in a close-knit household where food played a daily role in family life.
His father introduced him to cooking at home and often spent time in the kitchen testing recipes and watching chefs on television.
He absorbed flavours, techniques, and curiosity long before professional kitchens entered the picture.
He rarely speaks publicly about his mother, yet family support appears steady and important throughout the early years.
Gaz spent his childhood balancing sport with time near the stove, and he developed a strong interest in rugby, swimming, and physical activity while also returning again and again to cooking projects at home.
He enjoyed experimenting with ingredients, paging through cookbooks, and recreating dishes for family meals.
Gaz keeps details about siblings private, and no confirmed public records describe brothers or sisters, so that part of life remains mostly out of view.
He carried Cardiff pride everywhere, and coastal weather, city markets, and neighbourhood shops helped form early food memories that still surface in recipes today.
Gaz Oakley Ethnicity
Gaz Oakley identifies as White British with Welsh heritage.
He was raised in Cardiff, Wales, and often highlights Welsh culture, landscapes, accents, and local ingredients across cooking videos and countryside projects.
What Nationality is Gaz Oakley?
Gaz Oakley is British by nationality and Welsh by background. He was born and raised in Cardiff, Wales, and continues to live in Wales today.
Gaz Oakley Age
Gaz Oakley is currently 33 years old as of 2026 because he came into the world on August 8, 1992. His zodia sing is Leo.
He reached that age after already building a multi-platform career that includes cookbook publishing, restaurant collaborations, and global travel filming projects.
He continues expanding into land-based work and education initiatives rather than slowing down.
Gaz Oakley Education
Gaz Oakley built education through hands-on kitchen experience rather than long academic programs, and he learned far more from real service than from classrooms.
He entered professional kitchens as a teenager and trained under head chefs who taught discipline, knife skills, sauces, timing, and plating during fast-paced shifts.
Gaz developed confidence through repetition, pressure, and responsibility on busy nights.
He later deepened his knowledge on nutrition, plant-based cooking, sustainability, and food systems through books, documentaries, and self-guided research at home.
Gaz later taught himself filming, editing, branding, and storytelling after launching online channels.
Those skills helped reshape a chef’s background into a modern digital career driven by creativity and technical strength.
Early Years in Restaurant Kitchens
Gaz Oakley began professional life inside busy kitchens in Cardiff while still a teenager.
He worked long shifts in hotels and restaurants where discipline, speed, and consistency ruled every service. Gaz learned how to prep stations, manage pressure, and plate dishes to fine-dining standards.
He dreamed about Michelin-level cooking and European restaurant training, and he pushed himself physically and mentally to keep improving.
Burnout slowly arrived after years of demanding schedules, and he started to question whether the traditional chef lifestyle could last long-term.
Stepping Away and Rethinking Health
Gaz Oakley left restaurant work and accepted a sales role at a builders’ yard, which brought steadier hours and space for personal growth.
He devoted evenings to weight training and fitness routines, and diet choices became a central focus.
Gaz noticed digestive discomfort and fatigue, which triggered deeper research into nutrition and lifestyle habits.
He started questioning heavy meat-based meals and explored alternatives that promised better long-term health.
Discovering Veganism
Gaz Oakley moved toward plant-based living after hearing musician Jme speak about veganism during radio interviews.
He later watched talks by activist Gary Yourofsky, which created a powerful shift in thinking around animals, the environment, and personal well-being.
Gaz changed his diet almost overnight and returned to the kitchen with renewed excitement.
He spent hours testing ingredients, recreating nostalgic comfort foods through plants, and hosting dinners for friends who doubted vegan cooking could taste indulgent.
Launching the Avant-Garde Vegan Platforms
Gaz Oakley opened an Instagram account in February 2016 and started posting polished food photography and behind-the-scenes cooking shots.
The visuals stood out instantly because plating looked restaurant-ready and cinematic.
He later launched a YouTube channel that featured dramatic lighting, music, slow-motion cuts, and carefully structured storytelling.
He soon left the sales job and committed fully to digital content creation and food activism.
Audience numbers grew rapidly, especially during the COVID lockdown periods when home cooking surged across the world.
Cookbook Breakthroughs
Gaz Oakley expanded beyond screens through cookbook publishing.
Titles such as Vegan 100, Vegan Christmas, Plants Only Kitchen, Plants Only Holidays, and Plant to Plate placed recipes into home kitchens worldwide.
He combined classical techniques with approachable instructions, which attracted both longtime vegans and curious newcomers.
Bestseller lists and industry praise followed, strengthening authority in the culinary space.
Restaurant Collaborations and Industry Impact
Gaz Oakley partnered with major restaurant brands, including Wagamama and The Vurger Co. He helped develop menu items that introduced bold plant-based flavours to mainstream diners.
These collaborations expanded reach beyond social platforms and proved vegan food could succeed in high-volume commercial kitchens.
Food magazines and industry outlets later highlighted creative influence and technical skills.
Moving to the Welsh Countryside
Gaz Oakley relocated from London to rural Wales during the pandemic years, and that decision reshaped professional direction.
He built vegetable gardens, adopted rescued chickens, and explored organic growing and permaculture systems.
Filming shifted toward harvest-to-plate recipes, fermentation projects, and outdoor cooking scenes.
He also began speaking more openly about mental well-being and the grounding effect of working close to nature.
Long-Term Vision and Future Projects
Gaz Oakley continues expanding beyond recipes alone.
He plans to create wellness retreats on rewilded land where visitors can learn how to grow produce, forage hedgerows, cook plant-forward meals, and reconnect with natural rhythms.
He views education, sustainability, and slow living as central pillars for the next stage of work.
Career goals now stretch toward land stewardship, community learning, and reshaping how people think about food systems on a deeper level.
Gaz Oakley Recipe
Gaz Oakley creates recipes that blend restaurant-level technique with comforting, everyday meals made entirely from plants.
He focuses on bold flavours, layered textures, and eye-catching presentation, which means dishes often feature crispy coatings, silky purées, rich gravies, and slow-cooked vegetables.
He uses methods such as roasting, fermenting, smoking, pickling, and long reductions to build depth without animal products.
Classic favourites like roasts, burgers, curries, pies, and desserts often appear in re-imagined vegan form.
Gaz also designs many recipes around seasonal produce grown at home.
He turns garden harvests into soups, stews, breads, preserves, traybakes, and celebratory feasts while explaining how soil health and composting affect flavour.
He breaks complex dishes into clear steps so home cooks can follow along easily, and he often explains why certain ingredients or techniques matter.
Sauces receive special attention, especially nut creams, mushroom stocks, miso glazes, and vegetable reductions.
Gaz publishes these recipes through cookbooks, websites, newsletters, and cinematic YouTube videos.
Each platform adds new ideas, substitutions, and plating tips for different skill levels. He treats recipes as a way to inspire people rather than rigid rules to follow.
He also keeps evolving style through outdoor cooking, global flavours, and ingredients grown just steps from the kitchen door.
Gaz Oakley Books
Gaz Oakley published several bestselling plant-based cookbooks:
- Vegan 100
- Vegan Christmas
- Plants Only Kitchen
- Plants Only Holidays
- Plant to Plate
Each book blends comfort classics, seasonal produce, and fine-dining techniques.
Where does Gaz Oakley Live Now?
Gaz Oakley lives in the Welsh countryside in Wales, United Kingdom.
After time in London, Gaz and fiancée Teigan relocated to a rural homestead in Wales.
They now grow food, raise their daughter, and create content centred on nature, cooking, and self-sufficiency.
Is Gaz Oakley Still Vegan?
Yes, Gaz Oakley remains fully vegan. He continues to promote plant-based cooking, sustainable eating, and animal welfare across his content and daily life.
Gaz Oakley Wife and Baby
Gaz Oakley is engaged to his long-term partner, Teigan Mae, and they are planning their future together. He is not married at this time.
Many fans casually describe her as his wife because of their shared home, child, and deeply intertwined daily life, yet both continue to refer to each other publicly as fiancés.
Teigan works as a holistic wellness and lifestyle creator, and she regularly appears in Gaz content across Instagram and YouTube.
She shares gardening routines, seasonal cooking, motherhood reflections, and homestead life in rural Wales.
Gaz often credits Teigan as emotional support during major life changes, especially during the intense transition into parenthood and the move toward a slower, nature-focused lifestyle.
Their partnership centres on sustainability, self-sufficiency, and raising a family close to the land rather than chasing city-based careers.
Gaz and Teigan welcomed a baby daughter named Willow Mabli in July 2025 through a planned home birth that took place in their kitchen by candlelight.
He shared heartfelt messages online about witnessing the labour, praising Teigan strength, and feeling overwhelmed with gratitude after becoming a father.
He described the experience as life-altering and spoke openly about how parenthood reshaped priorities, work rhythms, and future goals.
Gaz often refers to Willow Mabli as a “little nature girl,” and he expresses excitement about raising her among gardens, animals, and open countryside rather than busy urban spaces.
Family life now sits at the centre of daily routines, and Gaz adjusts filming schedules around parenting responsibilities.
He also speaks openly about how fatherhood reshaped views on food, land care, and future plans for the homestead they are building together.
Gaz Oakley Net Worth
Gaz Oakley has an estimated net worth of $3 million USD as of 2026. He earns income from cookbook royalties, YouTube ads, and Instagram sponsorships.
He also makes money through restaurant collaborations, merchandise sales, recipe platforms, and speaking engagements.
His online stores sell aprons, hoodies, hats, kitchen tools, and signed books.
Property investments connected to countryside land projects likely add long-term value, though exact figures remain private.
He reinvests heavily into filming equipment, garden infrastructure, land restoration, and educational ventures rather than luxury displays.
Financial stability allows him to pursue ambitious sustainability projects and future retreat plans.
Gaz Oakley Height and Weight
Gaz Oakley stands about 5 feet 10 inches tall, which equals roughly 178 centimetres or 1.78 meters. He weighs close to 75 kilograms, or around 165 pounds.
Gaz maintains an athletic build shaped by gym training and outdoor farm labour. He usually wears short brown hair and trimmed facial hair.
He favours aprons, boots, knit jumpers, and countryside jackets that blend chef style with rural practicality.
Social Media Presence
Gaz Oakley runs active platforms across Instagram, YouTube, newsletters, and recipe websites.
His Instagram account now has more than 1.7 million followers who enjoy polished food photos, garden harvests, and behind-the-scenes moments from daily life.
Gaz YouTube channel shares cinematic cooking episodes, travel series filmed overseas, and thoughtful updates about land projects.
His mailing lists also keep fans informed about new books, seasonal recipes, and upcoming ventures.
Conclusion
And now the journey reaches the closing stretch of this long profile.
Gaz Oakley proves that early passion, bold career shifts, and curiosity about health can grow into something far bigger than restaurant kitchens alone.
He inspires through gardening, activism, creativity, and business sense, and he keeps exploring new ways to connect people with food and nature.
Share thoughts, favourite recipes, or hopes for future projects in the comment section below and keep watching what unfolds next.
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