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.

Agree that you rapidly get into eating more vegetables and pulses, rather than looking for meat substitutes. I make a great ragu with red lentils, mushrooms and walnuts. But since that’s not what you asked:

Agree M&S vegan kievs are good. Alpro soy yoghurt is great. Tofoo does good tofu (sub for chicken in curries). For vegan burgers I just recommend picking something different each time. They all have a bit of a weird synthetic taste, which I go off rapidly. I can happily eat the Richmond sausages regularly though - somehow the sausages are better than the burgers.

@scottishnames do you know where the vast, vast majority of the soy grown goes?

I’m not vegan but I don’t eat dairy (and am trying to be totally vegan - but can’t give up properly free range eggs amongst a few other things!).

I do make my own cheese and recommend ‘The Vegan Pantry’ and ‘Artisan vegan cheese’ both by Miyoko Schinner. Although my vegan cheese sauce for mac’n’cheese and cream cheese dips go down well, it is really difficult to replicate cheddar or Parmesan. Although I’m not keen on processed food I do quite like the violife?, the vegan cheese brand.

Also as mentioned above, naturli is great for baking!

I made this vegan version of Olive Garden's Chicken Gnocchi Soup. We loved it. I doubled the gnocchi and left out the chickpeas, because I didn't have any.

midwestfoodieblog.com/vegan-chickpea-gnocchi-soup/

We eat meat but as DD's veggie in university holidays it's mostly vegetarian menus - I use a lot of beans, canned mixed beans are my go to

My favourites:

Burgers - Linda McCartney quarter pounder cheese burgers are lush.
Mince- sainsburys own - but pretty much anything but quorn!
Chicken style - quorn fillets
Sausages - I don’t really like any! But Linda McCartney are my least favourite!
Tofu - tofoo

@scottishnames

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!

Most soya is used to feed animals.

The thing is, it is easier for newly vegans to simply replace the meat with pretend meat versions. Then look at veganising meals and then realising that actually meat and animal products are hugely limiting and a plant based diet is absolutely awesome (and I am someone who is a massive foodie and was reluctant and thought that my meals would be severely hindered). Vegan food is absolutely incredible when you try it. Full of flavour, veg, pulses, herbs, spices, nuts - seriously it is amazing. And when you start getting into vegan food you realise how bloody boring animal product meals have been all your life. And also, just how many meals can be veganised without it impacting the flavour or texture. I even make vegan pavlova with canned chickpea 'juice' and it is exactly the same as meringue made with egg. I make eggless tempura that tastes exactly the same. I make bao buns, English breakfasts, tofu scramble, indian, thai, vietnamese, spanish, iranian, turkish, african, south american meals that are so incredibly tasty - all vegan. Honestly, I've never had as much fun and as much flavour than since going vegan. Try it

@Beowulfa

Being vegetarian/vegan doesn't mean you have to buy weird fake meat products. They are often highly processed (very salty) and expensive.

Just eat more veg. Bean chillis don't need artificial mince. Crunchy veg stir fries don't need pretend chicken strips. Hearty root veg stews don't need anything else.

The River Cottage Veg Everyday is a good start.

I really enjoy some of the fake meats. Soya mince isnt artificial.

Noones forcing you to put chickn strips in your crunchy stirfry or your hearty root veg stew.
No need to be so judgy over other peoples completely normal food choices

As someone who was brought up veggie & hardly ever eats/cooks meat, Quorn is mostly my go to for their chicken pieces & mince. The thing I've generally found over nearly 40yrs is that a lot of meat substitutes get the texture right, but they don't have much flavour so I usually cook things the day before so they can absorb the taste of the sauce/marinade.

I still can't find a decent veggie sausage, but for some reason veggie hot dogs are quite nice!

lentils instead of mince

usually we have beans, and seeds instead of processed stuff but sometime buy stuff for a treat.

so in a stir fry will add edamame beans, bean sprouts, bolognaise and chilli is lentils, stews are various beans, we like black beans, butter beans and kidney beans. curry we add chickpeas. for white sauces you can use soya milk. (unsweetened) this works in cauliflower cheese too. for dd.

I’m vegan but I tend to just eat lots of veg, beans, lentils, nuts as I don’t like to eat too much that’s processed. I drink oat milk, I don’t like the other replacements.

Things I have tried that are good and meat eating family members also like are,

Dr Oetker Vegan Margherita Pomodori Pizza
Richmond rashers
Strong Roots products especially cauliflower hash browns
Hellman’s vegan mayo
Wicked kitchen chicken style slices
Wicked kitchen fresh pasta
Alpro yogurts
Soulful food (sold at Tesco but can buy direct) do one pot stews and soups which are nice and quick
Violife soft cheese

My children are vegetarian and like Quorn Roast, Quorn Sausage Patties and Linda McCartney Sausage rolls and Sausages. They also eat vegan Ben and Jerry’s and Alpro ice cream.

I eat mainly a vegan diet as animal protein doesn't agree with me and I am allergic to egg (even the may contain egg products effect me).

I find Linda mc cartney Lincolnshire sausages the best.
I haven't found any fake chicken that works for me, I don't like the texture.
White rabbit vegan pizzas are really nice ( foccacine too).

Ive started to try and use more veg in my cooking as my husband and son are eating more plant based foods.
I made a really good vegan cottage pie the other week, substituting lentils for mince.

M&S Plant Kitchen No Chicken Southern Fried Tenders are delicious and made with pea protein (so ideal for people avoiding soya).

Yes (in answer to above) Brazil. And North America. Hardly places to be celebrated for sustainable farming. And China.

I agree that most soya is used for animal feed. But I think you misunderstand. As a vegetarian for decades, who often cooks vegan recipes, I was saying that we should eat more natural foods - beans, lentils etc etc - not over-processed soy-based substitutes.

Mimijin Further to the above, I think we're on the same side. I don't eat - never have - fake meat, fake cheese, fake all sorts of things. I can't stand Quorn. I cook real veg-based dishes. I make cakes with olive oil. I was trying to say that we don't need fakes or alternatives. Just a decent cookery book or two, or websites/newspaper articles from cooks sympathetic to vegetarian ideals.