To ask which vegetarian/meatless products are a hit/miss?

[MissContrary]

Especially at Tescos. Can you still cook things like the mince in the slow cooker?

My husband, the avid meat eater who regularly bemoans vegetarians (much to my annoyance) has been abducted by aliens and replaced with a husband who wants to eat less meat due to the environmental impact

Iceland 'No Bull' burgers are the best veggie burger I have ever had.

I second this, Iceland No Bull burgers are gorgeous (and vegan too.)
Linda McCartney sausages seem to be an acquired taste and gets moans in this household, but Quorn sausages are "meaty" and enjoyed even by the meat eaters.
Try to ditch the meat substitutes some days too, and have stuff like big mushrooms for a meaty texture in say curries or have lentils for bulking out stews/casseroles/bolognese instead of meat.

The quorn frozen vegetarian bacon was a surprise. Looks like a shoe insole but tastes of smokey bacon crisps.

Oh, yes. Tastes OK, it'll do in a butty,or as a veggie pigs in blanket but IT'S NOT BACON! lol.

People are quite right saying why not just cook vegetarian food but your OP did ask for meaty substitutes. I thoroughly recommend this book - recipes are easy and tasty.

www.amazon.co.uk/Fresh-India-Delicious-Vegetarian-Recipes/dp/0241200423/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?keywords=indian+vegetarian+cookbook&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&tag=mumsnetforum-21&ie=UTF8&qid=1536194786&sr=8-1

Especially at Tescos. Can you still cook things like the mince in the slow cooker?

Yes,you can. Just put it to cook on the low setting.

Tesco vegetarian range is great - pesnut and avocado burgers are nice, as are the beetroot and quinoa ones if they still do them (haven't been able to find them the last couple of times). The sweet potato falafel, the aubergine bites which come with a little sachet of sweet chilli sauce, lentil and mushroom balls and mini veggie sausage rolls are all great - and often on 3 for £4. All in the frozen section.

Aldi and Iceland also amazing lately in their vegan and vegetarian ranges.

Tinned jackfruit used to make a pulled pork style dish is fantastic - serve in tacos or with rice etc. It’s the best vegetarian ‘meaty’ dish I’ve come across.

We’re a bit obsessed with Clive’s Nut Roast at the moment. So good with some roasted carrots and parsnips and a few greens.

Most fake meat is disgusting, but quorn mince makes a nice chilli or shepherds pie.

Falafels are delicious.

Even my meat obsessed DH loves Haloumi. Tesco does one with flecks of chilli in that is really good - griddle slices of it to lay over a stir fry or batter and deep fry it (like no-fish and chips) etc

Mushrooms can be quite meaty. Lots of lovely recipes; my own favourite is a blue cheese and portobello mushroom savoury crumble.

Eggs are good - make a massive frittata or a quiche or something.

Pressed post too soon - nut roast! You can buy them or make your own and mix it up, eg blue cheese and walnut; cheddar and cashew nut.

Tempeh is revolting. Like dog food but worse.

Tofu is ok - but I can't make it taste nice without adding too much salt/soy than is good for me.

I don't like any of the pretend meats, so I have experimented with vegetables. Mushroom mince is brilliant in a spaghetti bol.

I have recently discovered pearl barley - it's a great, versatile and filling base.

I have a Thermomix - which is brilliant for whipping up vegetarian sausage rolls, veggie chillie, mushroom stroganoff...

These are lovely:
www.ocado.com/webshop/product/GoodLife-Cauliflower--Mature-Cheddar-Sausages-Frozen/271626011?ULP_CAMPAIGN_ID=52&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI_Kyk46ml3QIVrbftCh0nhwTJEAQYAiABEgKMEfD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds&dclid=CNv9qeippd0CFVWPGwodpHkGeA

Linda McCartney stuff is really good.

I'd second that. I recently tried her new scampi bites, taste just like I remember fish fingers to taste like. My mum hated them (Meat eater.) and didn't agree with me, re taste, but I liked them. She also has new meatballs out. I liked them too, would go very well with a bolognaise. I'm trying her chicken and leek pies next week. I hope they taste nice!

Cauldron sausages are really good. Quorn can be hard to digest.

I like the Linda McCartney sausages. The frozen ones. I tried her country pies and thought they were vile. The cheese and leek plaits are very nice though.

I agree with cauldron sausages, definately the best for me. The Lincolnshire style ones in particular.

If you fancy trying tofu or tempeh, then I second definately getting the smoked variety. I personally enjoy it cut into thin slices and fried as I bacon alternative.

Also go down the tinned bean aisle and buy a tin of every kind of beans, googling recipes for them and experimenting with them. They are so versitile and the basis of loads of burgers, sausages, falafel, stews, stirgeys, etc.... personally my tried and tested faves are... Aduki beans I find are a really good mince substitute. I first started using them when making «Red Dragon Pie» thinlyspread.co.uk/meat-free-monday-red-dragon-pie/ , and i’ll Found they work well in lots of mince type dishes. They also make a good chilli with kidney beans and barley/red quinoa. Cannellini beans are great in risottos are pastas. Chick pea are the food of the gods, amazing in curries, hummus and loads more. Kidney beans are great for many things, I like making my own retried beans.

Tofu is delicious but only prepared and cooked the right way.

Buy firm tofu not silken. Take it out of the packet and put it on a plate. Put another plate on top and two cans of beans. Leave for half an hour then pour the water away.

Your tofu is now ready to fry if you want - don't dry fry or try being healthy, you need a decent coating of oil. It will go crispy and delicious.

My favourite way to have tofu is marinated. I make a marinade of vinegar, lemon juice, olive oil, salt, garlic powder, dried herbs and I use nutritional yeast but you can use soya sauce or miso or even marmite. Chop the tofu into bitesize pieces and marinate for 24 hours in the fridge. After that cover with oil and it keeps for ages. Use in salad or fried in stir fries or whatever

Meat substitutes I like:
Quorn mince

• Cauldron sausages
• Quorn savoury eggs
• Quorn meatballs

Not trying to be fake ‘meat’ but good main things:

• Ikea veggie balls (I make a super delish veggie ball thing but ikea’s are just so easy)
• Taifun tofu (olive, smoked, basil) - slice and fry to get a bit crispy.

I use slices of the olive one as a veggie burger with hummus and a roasted red pepper, the smoked almond one is great to top stir fry’s and the basil one great in any Italian kind of thing.

• Other brands of extra firm tofu - but you need to press and marinade and either fry or bake to get crispy. I don’t like deep frying so usually bake, google crispy baked tofu for ideas.

• Lots if vegetables
• Lots of beans beans beans
• Lots if pulses

If you stay away from English or French style food you’ll find a lot more ‘naturally’ veggie food.

You can also freeze extra firm tofu which changes the texture to make it firmer. To save time on the whole pressing thing I often cut into cubes and freeze, then the morning I want to use it get it out of the freezer and chuck over the marinade and then when I come home from work the tofu is defrosted and tasty with it’s marknade.

"Linda McCartney stuff is really good.

I'd second that."

I'll third that. DD is vegetarian and is becoming a really good cook. We don't often eat meat substitutes, but if we do the LM range has a wide variety of products. DD especialy like the sausages and the mozzarella burgers. He meat loving boyfriend likes them as well.

For veggie meals we particularly like Jamie Oliver's vegan shepherd's pie recipe. Again, this wows confirmed meat eaters.

Google the Hairy Bikers Shaksuka recipe OP. It's our meat free Monday supper. It's quick to make, can be spiced spittle or as much as you want, and is filling.

Also good....bake some cherry tomatoes in oil, garlic and seasoning until they start to split. I add a red pepper if I'm short on tomatoes. Cook some spinach and ricotta tortellini or other such stuffed pasta, and add to the tomatoes, along with some mozzarella balls. Return to oven til the cheese has melted. Yum.

Gah, as little, not spittle. I do not spit into my cooking, neither do I drool into it.

Tesco sell Oomph pieces which seem to me to be like meat

When cooking I skip the meat substitute and use things like beans, lentils, lots of veg etc.
For 'quick dinner' days, Asda have their own veggie range, which is far superior to Quorn or any of the other supermarkets. Their nacho burger is amazing.

Linda McCartney's red onion and rosemary sausages are lovely. DD prefers them over meat ones.

Linda McCartney pulled pork burgers are good