Mumsnet users share their thoughts on meat free options

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Whether you’re thinking of reducing your meat consumption for environmental or health reasons, or if you or a member of your family is vegetarian or vegan, the use of meat free options is on the rise. With this in mind, The Meatless Farm would like to hear your thoughts on reducing meat intake and meat-free options.

Here’s what The Meatless Farm has to say: “With an estimated 22m flexitarians in the UK seeking to reduce their meat consumption, there is an increased appetite for healthy, protein-rich alternatives. After years of research, the team behind Meatless Farm have created a range of products that not only deliver on nutrition, they also taste delicious.”

Are you considering reducing your family’s meat intake? What do you think about meat-free products? Perhaps you’re already including meat free products in your family meals? What influences your choice when it comes to meat free options?

All who post on the thread below will be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win a £300 voucher for the store of their choice (from a list).

Thanks and good luck!

MNHQ

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We're going meat-free twice a week for health and finance reasons. I've loved exploring different recipes and products like Linda McCartney and Quorn, so I'd always be interested in different meat substitute products.

Big meat eaters here. Adult DS went vegetarian a couple of years ago. He's a student so when he's home I generally cook meat free.
I don't like heavily processed fake meat products though. I suspect they are often unhealthy and full of salt and additives. I'd rather use lentil, beans and nuts.

Lifelong vegan here raising vegan children.

We do a lot of cooking from scratch including making our own seitan. But we always have a packet of your mince on tje fridge. I'm making a lasagne with this one tomorrow. There has never been an easier time to try cutting back on animal consumption. Vegan products are so readily available and the standard is now so high compared to quorns shocking vegan offerings.

Totally meat free household! Myself & baby by choice & my husband is allergic to red meat so it makes life easier to only cook one meal.
But due to his allergy we do eat a lot of 'pretend meat' to try & recreate meals that he misses but personally I'm not a huge fan.

I eat a mostly vegetarian diet. However, have followed a vegan diet in the past but have yet found a good (and tasty) cheese substitute.

As a family we are consciously reducing our meat intake. For ethical, health and financial reasons.

We use a few meat substitutes, such as mince, burgers and sausages. There's lots of different brands available which make it easy to do.

I used to be vegan, but now I am less strict and will eat fish on occasions. At home we have vegan meals most of the time and I cook meat for my children about twice a week.

I prefer making meals without meat subs, primarily as I find most of them pretty bland. Frys products seem to taste the best, but they don't fit in with many of the meals we make.

If I was too choose a meat substitute, my primary concerns would be taste, health and cost.

Although we won't be reducing the amount of meat we eat, we do eat meat free meals regularly anyway, and always have Quorn products in the freezer as basic staples, just because we enjoy them and like variety in our food.

I think the rise of meat free options is fantastic. However I don't really understand meat substitutes and have never enjoyed anyone I've tasted.

I really enjoy meat free meals. However if I want meat like meals I will eat meat instead. If I want to avoid meat I will eat vegetables, pulses, grains, nuts.

I have been pescatarian for most of my life and am giving Veganuary a go for the first time, successfully so far. My family are omnivores but eat lots of veggie meals using quorn/soya or just beans/grains and veg, and these are acceptable to the whole family. However 'alternatives' to meat products such as grills, facon, nuggets, burgers etc, they would always have the meat version. Overall I think it is becoming more acceptable to eat less meat.

I really bloody hate fake meat like quorn, but we've started replacing a lot of meat dishes with veg. Mushroom asparagus risotto instead of chicken, veg pasta bake instead of bolognese etc.

We are meat eaters but are reducing our intake by adding pulses and extra vegetables to meals rather than using meat.
We’ve tried quorn but have found that it really doesn’t agree with us (stomach cramps and worse) I also find the concept of highly manufactured meat alternatives a bit weird, we try to eat as much minimally processed food and I cook most things from scratch . I can’t reconcile how something that has been grown in a lab to resemble meat is any healthier for us or better for the environment...

Always happy to try a new vegan product.

I just could not become vegetarian, I love meat especially red and bloody. Going to the butcher makes me salivate. I only buy organic and high welfare as I'm more concerned about antibiotics and synthetic hormones given to animals than I am about the methane produced by livestock. While my children are young I would like them to eat a mixed diet with meat included, they are both great vegetable eaters and always ask for salad.

I have no plans to become flexitarian but aim to continue with the diet I already have, which includes plenty of plant based matter. I'm more concerned about sugar in our diets than meat.

Also with anaemia so high in women, I think everyone needs to consider protein carefully. I think the current trend towards vegan ism is just another fad.

Keen to try more veggie food though and have heard of meatless butchers in the Netherlands, but just can't give up meat generally.

I personally really enjoy meat free meals. During my last pregnancy I went off meat totally and found so many meat free alternative meals which I really enjoyed.

The rest of the family aren't so keen. They don't insist on meat every day but they wouldn't be happy to stop eating meat.

I’m vegan, as is my eldest daughter and have another who is vegetarian, so we use meat free products in every meal! My partner is a meat eater and even he now prefers vegan mince in his Bolognese and enjoys vegan sausages once in a while too. The taste and cost is always important but the most important thing to me is not eating animals. My eldest especially loves the taste of meat so loves all the vegan alternatives. For health and environmental reasons I’d like my partner to eat less meat and more alternatives, hopefully with a wider range of options becoming more mainstream and easier to find he will.

ex veggie myself, and have def reduced meat consumption in the house for ethical and financial reasons. i will only eat free range preferably organic meat which is hard to find, so often go without. dc1 wont eat much meat either (picky eater - too young to be ethical!).

i do use products like quorn and soya mince for easy added protein in dishes, though also use lentils/ pulses a lot. One area i find difficult is sandwiches ets when out. Tescos recently didnt have anything vegan in their selection.

i like the idea of being vegan but would find this harder and worry about cutting so much out of dcs diet. though the hospital canteen where i work has recently introduced a vegan range (e.g. vegan cheese in paninis) which are lovely so would be happy to swap if alternatives ate readily available

Are you considering reducing your family’s meat intake?

We are a "protein heavy" family - ie protein is a big part of our diets. We are happy to substitute so long as get enough of the P.

What do you think about meat-free products?

Not sure why people eat "meat-free" products that basically try to taste and be like real meat.

Often these products have a lot of fat and additives as far as I have found.
Having said that we do like the Quorn mince

Perhaps you’re already including meat free products in your family meals?
Only Quorn Mince. Tried the ham and it wasn't great.

What influences your choice when it comes to meat free options?
Number of additives. Fat content (low). Amount of protein per 100g

As a lifelong vegetarian, no meat, fish or eggs, I buy a lot of meat-free products and love the fact I have such a range and choice available to me now, because when I was growing up in the 70s it was a very different story.

I didn't like meat or fish as a very small child and consequently my diet consisted of what others were having without the meat. Sunday roast would comprise the vegetables with tomato ketchup and that was it! As one of five children, I was the only vegetarian in the family, and there was just no provision for me to eat differently to the others. I ate what they did minus the meat or fish. Luckily I did / do eat dairy and love cheese, so this provided the protein element for much of my diet.

Likewise at school I was the only vegetarian as far as I know. I don't recall anyone else back then and I was looked on as a bit of an oddity / fussy eater! Every day for school dinner I would have the vegetables plus a 'baked egg' which was a small cup sized tin with mashed potato in the bottom with an egg broken on top and baked in
the oven. Nine times out of ten the egg wouldn't be cooked properly, and the white would be all liquid and the result was that I went completely off eggs and have been unable to eat them ever since.

So my diet was limited for many years but thankfully things have improved so much with the huge range of veggie products now on offer. My kids are both meat and fish eaters, but my daughter in particular is happy to eat veggie bacon (in fact she prefers it to real bacon) and I often make spaghetti bolognaie or cottage pie with quorn mince which they both enjoy.

Some brands are better / tastier than others and over the years it has been a case of trial and error .. but I have found several products I like and buy regularly. Always on the look out for new things to try so will definitely be checking out some of the Meatless Farm products.

We are avid meat eaters in our family but it is expensive as we only buy organic/free range. I would definitely be interested in trying some of these products depending on how processed they are. The problem I often find with meat replacement foods is that they can be full of additives and starches which I want to avoid.

I'm a lifelong vegetarian and as of 2018 as a family we are 3/4 vegetarian. Two of us are trying to be vegan and have dropped eggs and switched to soya milk.

My DD is vegan for ethical reasons and likes the meat substitutes as she wants the taste without thinking that she is eating body parts. Most important for her is the taste. And not too high in fat and salt which can be tricky.

I don't actually like meat. Never have. So meat substitutes aren't for me. I'll have bean burgers or sausage shaped vegetable products but I don't want them to look or taste like meat. I've eaten eg Quorn products at friends' houses but find it a bit indigestible.

Are you considering reducing your family’s meat intake?
We have considerably reduced our meat intake in the last year. We both only have one meal a day with meat normally lunch.

What do you think about meat-free products?
I have concerns about them looking like a meat product as some of them have a lot less protein than the meat they are emulating. However, as a one off they are fine.

Perhaps you’re already including meat free products in your family meals?
We have tried a few, jackfruit being a recent favourite of supermarkets but not really a favourite of ours except the fishless cakes by M&S.
What influences your choice when it comes to meat free options?
The nutritional value in the first instance and then taste and lastly whether DS will eat and enjoy it.

We've started reducing our meat intake, and have been surprised as how good the substitutes are. For instance meatless chicken nuggets and hot dog sausages actually taste better than the meat versions in my opinion! In terms of influence, cost is a big one but it's also how they look-do they look appetising? Some meat free products try a bit too hard to replicate the look of an actual steak etc - I'd rather it just look yummy rather than try to copy the look of a product it's not.

I'm a vegan, as are our kids aged 10 and 8. None of us are keen on products which closely resemble meat, although totally understand why they might appeal to others. We mainly substitute beans, lentils, chickpeas , tofu, tempeh etc for meat in traditionally meat based dishes eg beans in chili, chickpeas in curry, tofu in stir fries, lentils in spaghetti bog . I'm really keen to avoid heavily processed food, but we do eat ready made veggie sausages and burgers occasionally.

Are you considering reducing your family’s meat intake?
We already are. My youngest is a vegetarian, and we eat meat free as a family a few times a week as a result.

What do you think about meat-free products?
I think they are great. I really prefer them over the processed choices, so usually opt for things like the Quorn hotdogs or Heck Veggie Balls over the meat version for the little ones.

Perhaps you’re already including meat free products in your family meals?
Yes, usually mince for spaghetti sauces etc.

What influences your choice when it comes to meat free options?
Taste, ingredients and price, in that order.