To ask for your best vegan/vegetarian alternatives?

[JammyRedRooo]

I've been trying to reduce my meat consumption for a while for eco reasons but seeing clips of the Panorama last night about the dairy industry has made me want to reduce my dairy intake as well.

So please share your favourite finds for veggie/vegan alternatives to meat and dairy!

I'll go first - I really like Quorn nuggets as a substitute for chicken nuggets/goujons. I have them in a baguette sometimes with some salad and sweet chilli sauce for a guilt free sandwich.

We were exactly the same as you last year! We really like the Linda McCartney mince and minor figures oat milk is the best by a country mile, creamy and actually tastes of something. Vivera kebab meat is lovely too, I do it in a pita with peppers, onions and sour cream.

And Richmond meat free sausages!

While we limit how often we’d have meat substitutes they can be really convenient for busy days or those times when you want a ‘meat, potato and veg’ type meal.

Quorn Swedish style “meat” balls are really nice, the mince isn’t bad either with a good, rich sauce though I prefer a lentil bolognese.
We also like the escalopes and the peppered steaks are a bit of a guilty pleasure for me.
I’m not mad about their deli style sliced “meats” though ds likes the ham so I get it occasionally for his lunch. The little deli cocktail sausages are lovely!

LMcC mozzarella burgers are the best meat substitute burgers in my opinion. We also like the LMcC sausage rolls.

Tesco and Aldi also have some nice own brand vegetarian/vegan convenience things which are handy to have in the freezer.

This probably reads like we eat tonnes of fake meat stuff . We honestly don’t, its usually once every 7-10 days but I do like to try new, convenience veggie stuff because when I was a vegetarian in the early 90s there was so little available so these days I still get a bit excited about a new discovery.

Naturli organic spread is the closest thing to nice organic butter I've found. They sell it at sainsburys.

Can I also add Quorn red pepper and spinach slices to my guilty pleasures like - they are lovely on fresh crusty bread with crispy salad.

Richmond Meat free sausages - my DC fished the packet out of the recycling to check they were not meat.

I’m not vegan or vegetarian but the Marks and Spencer vegan chicken kievs are very nice.

Almond or coconut milk - Alpro
Butter - Flora Plant (it's fairly new I think)
Cheese - Violife
Mince - Beyond Mince
Fake meat pieces - What the cluck
Fake bacon - Richmond
Fake sausages - Linda McCartney

I have found that some meat replacements are very high in salt so don't have them too often. The vegan cheese options are pretty dismal tbf so be prepared to live a life without cheese. But when you know you aren't affecting those lovely little cows and their babies, it's all worth it

Good luck with your quest and I hope you find something you enjoy.

A question for the BOSH fans, I caught an episode of their TV show a while ago and every recipe seemed to incorporate mushrooms. I can’t eat them, even the smell of them cooking makes me nauseous. I have no other food hates just mushrooms. Will I be wasting my money buying the cookbook or are there plenty of recipes without mushrooms.

@Acrasia

A question for the BOSH fans, I caught an episode of their TV show a while ago and every recipe seemed to incorporate mushrooms. I can’t eat them, even the smell of them cooking makes me nauseous. I have no other food hates just mushrooms. Will I be wasting my money buying the cookbook or are there plenty of recipes without mushrooms.

There are lots of recipes online, bosh recipes too so no need to buy the book. Also, their books are in supermarkets so you can have a look inside.

I think some of their recipes are tasty but most are just ok or a bit bland. They're good for inspiration but then I search for more authentic recipes.

@Acrasia

A question for the BOSH fans, I caught an episode of their TV show a while ago and every recipe seemed to incorporate mushrooms. I can’t eat them, even the smell of them cooking makes me nauseous. I have no other food hates just mushrooms. Will I be wasting my money buying the cookbook or are there plenty of recipes without mushrooms.

Nope, I absolutely hate mushrooms with a passion. You'll definitely find recipes without mushrooms.

Having said that, be open-minded. We cook a couple of vegan recipes that have mushrooms in and they're actually okay. Vegan recipes, to me, seem much better spiced and flavoured than meat-based recipes so the mushroom-y-ness is kind of spiced out. You can't taste them, that's what I mean

The "best vegan/vegetarian alternatives" are meat products. Pork sausages for example are much nicer than Quorn sausages.

Seriously though, avoid all the processed "meat alternative" shite. It's filled with so many processed and artificial ingredients that they are more unhealthy than the traditional meat they are imitating.

Remember too that processed animal alternatives like non-dairy milk are terrible for the environment and, at best, waste a huge amount of water. The good thing about natural dairy is the cows eat the grass which grows out of the ground and 90% of the water used in the process falls from the sky as rain. That's why almond milk is so bad, because it comes from areas where there is little natural rainfall so water that should be used for survival is spent on that instead.

If you must eat non-animal products, make sure that you only consume things that are grown locally - a lot of fruit and vegetables are brought in from overseas so their carbon footprint is horrendous. Ideally you want food grown in your region because there's still a lot of pollution created by transporting food from one part of the country to another.

Baked potatoes are good for a non-meat meal, you can get potatoes grown locally.

@MorningStarling

The "best vegan/vegetarian alternatives" are meat products. Pork sausages for example are much nicer than Quorn sausages.

Seriously though, avoid all the processed "meat alternative" shite. It's filled with so many processed and artificial ingredients that they are more unhealthy than the traditional meat they are imitating.

Remember too that processed animal alternatives like non-dairy milk are terrible for the environment and, at best, waste a huge amount of water. The good thing about natural dairy is the cows eat the grass which grows out of the ground and 90% of the water used in the process falls from the sky as rain. That's why almond milk is so bad, because it comes from areas where there is little natural rainfall so water that should be used for survival is spent on that instead.

If you must eat non-animal products, make sure that you only consume things that are grown locally - a lot of fruit and vegetables are brought in from overseas so their carbon footprint is horrendous. Ideally you want food grown in your region because there's still a lot of pollution created by transporting food from one part of the country to another.

Baked potatoes are good for a non-meat meal, you can get potatoes grown locally.

This is all rubbish. Aside from green house gases, most plants are grown to feed the animals we eat. If we all stopped eating animal products it would have a huge significant impact on our planet.

Processed stuff isn't as healthy as non processed stuff but vegan processed stuff is still healthier than non vegan processed stuff.

And don't worry about consuming locally or non locally produced food. Even taking that into account it is better to eat plant based.

Wow thanks everyone these are great! I'd forgotten about a couple that I have actually had before and enjoyed.

Best choc I've found is Nomo and Rhythm 108.
Echo PP who said Oatly barista for milk.
Tesco Soya Fromage Frais are delish
Smoked Applewood Cheese.
The vegan Philadelphia isn't bad.
Scrambled tofu is actually a lovely substitute for scrambled eggs.

Don't mind me writing down a load of ideas from this thread

I'm not a huge fan of the direct meat alternatives (Quorn etc.) purely on a taste basis, but they are easy and convenient (although sometimes just as expensive as buying meat).

I use stuff like thickly sliced cauliflower as a substitute for sliced meat/steaks etc. and find it works very well, especially paired with a nice thick sauce. My main tip is to roast all your veggies if you can! Adds so much more flavour.

I really like the Coconut Collaborative's puddings and yoghurts, and they have some lovely recipes. One of my favourite veggie recipe books is this one which has some great ideas in.

Thanks @Momijin I shall have a look online, unfortunately I’m in Germany so can’t have a look at a physical copy. I should hopefully be back for a visit soon though, so I might do that if I’m still not sure.

Hmmm @KStockHERO maybe, but I do try them every so often because I really wish I did like them, they are a really versatile ingredient. No luck so far though. Stupid tastebuds!!

I don't tend to use meat substitutes as they are too meaty.

In bolognaise I use french puy lentils. Works well with cottage pie and lasagne.

I use chickpeas in curries, or lentils in daal.

Tofu and tempeh are nice in their own right in stir fries and things like that.

Oat milk is nice - nicer than cows milk.

For cheese substitutes the only ones i like are by Honestly Tasty - a blue cheese like Rocquefort, Shamembert and a Bree. They don't have coconut in them. There is also a feta type cheese called Fetamorphosis which is lovely.

I much prefer red lentil bolognese than a meat one. If I'm making vegetarian I'll only buy Tofoo tofu, naked and smoked. I don't like pretend meat things.

There are loads of recipes on the internet to make your own vegan cheeses. I don’t mind supermarket vegan cheese on pizza etc but it is highly processed so like to make my own. Unfortunately most recipes contain lemon juice or nuts which I don’t eat but there is a nice chickpea flour cheese recipe.

Richmond meat free sausages
Linda McCartney sausage rolls & 1/4 lb burgers
Birds Green Cuisine chicken style nuggets

We eat a lot of cauliflower on meat free days. It’s lovely sliced thickly or in florets rubbed with spices/oil then roasted. We have it with Indian spices for curry, Chinese 5 spice for sweet & sour, lemon & herb rub to serve with mash & veg. Daal with chunks of roasted squash or sweet potato is nice. We have lentils in bolognese/cottage pie, sweet potato, pepper & blackbeans to make Mexican style stew for burritos, mushrooms or squash for fajitas, roasted pepper & courgette with sauce made from tinned tomato for pasta.
We get Richmond and Tesco plant chef sausages, which also work well to make stew/pasta sauce & the kids like Quorn Dinosaurs (I think they are pretty horrible but in fairness very similar to Turkey dinosaurs).
Plant milk wise coconut (With coconut oil) works well for making flatbreads, hot chocolate & pancakes, OH thinks oat is best for tea/coffee, hazelnut lovely for scones and porridge.
We’ve largely stopped having cow’s milk & meat/fish/poultry but we still eat a fair bit of cheese & egg. We go for locally sourced free range meat when we go have it.

Momijin and you're pretending that the soya used in so make ghastly 'fake' meats is not grown on land where the Amazon rainforets used to be? Soya has just as bad an eco impact as meat, in many places.
www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/feb/10/loophole-allowing-for-deforestation-on-soya-farms-in-brazils-amazon

Or that the palm oils used in so many mock meat products were not grown in SE Asian rainforests, once the home of oran utangs and many threatened species?

I'v been a vegetarian for decades and simply do not see the need for fake meat/cheese products. We used to manage for decades without them. Mostly they taste foul and are just another way of encouaging us to eat really unhealthy over-processed food. Mock takeaways, FFS!

I don't eat meat substitutes like quorn. I don't like meat so don't want a substitute.
I really recommend Hello Fresh veggie meals. They are nutritious and tasty and will introduce you to vegetarian cooking

A cashew nut stir fry is MUCH nicer than a chicken stir fry in my opinion (and I'm not a veggie!)