This Is What Usha Vance Typically Eats In A Day

The second lady of the United States, Usha Vance, is an Indian American whose parents are from the Andhra Pradesh region. She grew up in San Diego, California, but her Indian culture influenced her growing up — it's why she still follows a vegetarian diet today. She introduced her husband, JD Vance, as a "meat-and-potatoes kind of guy" at the Republican National Convention in July 2024, per the Los Angeles Times,  but said he learned how to cook traditional Indian cuisine from her mother. So, what do the Vances eat every day?

Usha spoke to NDTV during a recent trip to India about the traditional Indian dishes that her family enjoys. She said JD likes making chana masala, a chickpea curry cooked in a tomato and onion base with spices like chili powder, fresh chilis, coriander, and a spice blend called garam masala. She also mentioned dosas, a savory Indian crepe made with a fermented lentil and rice batter.

"I think it looks exactly like what you might imagine. Sometimes it's very simple, and it's sambar and rice and some sort of koora. Sometimes it's a little more complicated — my mom pulls out all the stops and makes palao or a few other dishes. But it's a vegetarian household, so that usually defines it," Usha said, describing a typical meal in her home on NDTV.

Usha Vance tries to stay out of the spotlight, but spoke about her life and how she and her husband, JD Vance, are raising their three children in a June 2025 conversation on Meghan McCain's podcast "Citizen McCain." Religion is important in the Vance household, but JD is Catholic and Usha is Hindu. Her vegetarian diet is common among Hindu followers, but her kids  — Ewan, Vivek, and Mirabel — eat meat and might not follow her faith (via Newsweek). Usha told McCain that she's "not intending to convert," although they send their three children to Catholic school and their eldest son, Ewan, chose to be baptized Catholic. "They have plenty of access to Hindu tradition — from books that we give them to things that we show them to the visit recently to India and some of the religious elements of that visit," she added.

When McCain asked her about her family size, Usha said that hers is perfect for her, but acknowledged (via the Washingtonian) that "obviously, people want to have different family sizes for different reasons." It's a departure from her husband's quote in a 2021 Tucker Carlson interview (via NPR) that women who don't have kids are "a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they've made and so they want to make the rest of the country miserable, too."