Your Favourite Vegan Alternatives

SandwichShortOfAPicnic

SandwichShortOfAPicnic

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I realise a lot of vegans dislike imitation alternatives but a lot of us live in mixed households with varied tastes and dietary restrictions so good substitutes are the best way to maintain peace while reducing animal products in our diets. Especially if everyone dislikes tofu!

My one of my favourite alternatives is Violifes Extra Mature ‘Cheddar’ it is strong and stinky so needs to be used sparingly to pass itself off as the real deal but such a boon to be able to look at cheese recipes again.
So I disagree with the cheese choice in this article!

How to go vegan: our beginner’s guide to everything from essential supplements to meat alternatives

I do like the Oatly whippable though, a lot, I have four cartons in my fridge right now!

Do you use any produce that’s considered an alternative? If so what is it and why does it work for you?
 
badjak said:
Not really
But I really like tempeh.
Not as a replacement for meat, but just a great ingredient by itself

Falafel works the same for me, not as a meat replacement, but just on its own

And I am not a vegetarian nor a vegan :)
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That’s how I’d like to be. Just enjoying the ingredients for what they are when I fancied them!
But the joys of living (especially with others) means if someone has an allergy or really dislikes a particular food then it doesn’t get a look in, that’s when a worthy alternative can be fantastic option.
 
badjak said:
I get you, but 95% of the time I cook for myself only.
So if I cook for a mixed group I have enough satisfying vegetarian/vegan options for the carnivores as well :)
as long as I remember not to use fish sauce
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I can please carnivores easily but not repeatedly day in and day out as they want their steak or pork loin or roast chicken 🤷‍♀️
The last vegan lasagne I made was back in June for 10 people and I was constantly asked if I was sure it was dairy free or vegan because that’s how good some of the alternatives can be if you treat them right.

Of course the main vegan in the group found it hard to accept because it tasted meaty and cheesy so repeatedly asked me if I was sure, that’s one of the reasons that sometimes it’s better not to serve alternatives because if it’s too good the recipient is going to be eating their food filled with doubt!

Especially those vegan burgers that bleed, it’s not something a lot long term dedicated vegans want to see.
 
I've lived the past 50 odd years as a 95.5% vegetarian, and probably vegan in many cases, but I've never, ever eaten a "vegan alternative". I don't really see the point. Why would I want a vegan anchovy, for example, (Yes, I do eat anchovies) if I've never eaten anchovies and don't eat fish? I just make something else.
Not very helpful, really - but using beans/lentils/corn, tofu if you have to, mushroom essence for umami, etc., seems to be the way ahead.
 
karadekoolaid said:
I don't really see the point.
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There are a lot of points to it.
Dietary restriction (SatNat and her cashew cheese) or moral (finding the dairy industry practices abhorrent) to name a couple.
Doesn’t mean you wouldn’t like to taste cheese in your sandwich or ice cream for pud.
 
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SandwichShortOfAPicnic said:
There are a lot of points to it.
Dietary restriction (SatNat and her cashew cheese) or moral (finding the dairy industry practices abhorrent) to name a couple.
Doesn’t mean you wouldn’t like to taste cheese in your sandwich or ice cream for pud.
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No, you missed my point. Vegans (and I hope SatNavSaysStraightOn will correct me if I'm wrong) don't eat any animal products (meat, fish, dairy) nor anything which comes from animals or even insects (honey); am I correct? It's a moral decision, and I'm perfectly fine with that.So why do we have vegan chicken wings and vegan cheese? Chicken is an animal (and I'm not very fond of it, either) and the definition of cheese is "the pressed curds of milk, separated from the whey"; both animal-based. Dietary restriction, IMHO, has nothing to do with it. You don't eat anything with gluten if you're allergic to it, of course, nor would you eat shellfish or peanuts if they cause anaphylactic shock, and strict Hindus don't eat meat, chicken or fish for religious, not dietary restrictions. "Cheese" and "ice cream"are made from dairy, not vegetables, so why do businesses insist on labelling their products with animal-based names? I've seen vegan ice cream, vegan chorizo, vegan steaks... I'm not trying to be contentious, simply objecting to labelling vegan products with meat/fish/animal -based names.
How would meat eaters feel if they went to the butchers and were presented with "Non-vegetarian tenderloins"?
I just think the marketing people have got it all wrong.
 
SandwichShortOfAPicnic said:
There are a lot of points to it.
Dietary restriction (SatNat and her cashew cheese) or moral (finding the dairy industry practices abhorrent) to name a couple.
Doesn’t mean you wouldn’t like to taste cheese in your sandwich or ice cream for pud.
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Yes, exactly. My brother in Houston--his wife is a very ethical person, and she will not use dairy for that same reason. She has a vegan cream cheese she likes called Tofutti I think? She loves bagels with cream cheese. It's easier to find responsibly raised meats than dairy so she's very careful about where she purchases food. My brother is a big ole carnivore but he goes with the flow since she procures and cooks. Her food tastes good and he's not much of a complainer anyway.
 
karadekoolaid said:
No, you missed my point. Vegans (and I hope SatNavSaysStraightOn will correct me if I'm wrong) don't eat any animal products (meat, fish, dairy) nor anything which comes from animals or even insects (honey); am I correct? It's a moral decision, and I'm perfectly fine with that.So why do we have vegan chicken wings and vegan cheese? Chicken is an animal (and I'm not very fond of it, either) and the definition of cheese is "the pressed curds of milk, separated from the whey"; both animal-based. Dietary restriction, IMHO, has nothing to do with it. You don't eat anything with gluten if you're allergic to it, of course, nor would you eat shellfish or peanuts if they cause anaphylactic shock, and strict Hindus don't eat meat, chicken or fish for religious, not dietary restrictions. "Cheese" and "ice cream"are made from dairy, not vegetables, so why do businesses insist on labelling their products with animal-based names? I've seen vegan ice cream, vegan chorizo, vegan steaks... I'm not trying to be contentious, simply objecting to labelling vegan products with meat/fish/animal -based names.
How would meat eaters feel if they went to the butchers and were presented with "Non-vegetarian tenderloins"?
I just think the marketing people have got it all wrong.
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Hmm walk a mile…

They exist because they are missed by people who have preciously eaten them and you can’t find the alternative without it being alluded to in it’s name.
You decide you don’t want to eat meat because you don’t want to kill animals, that doesn’t mean you won’t want a bacon sandwich. So how do you find the alternative when it’s all made of plants (usually soy) and various flavourings.

There’s literally no way of knowing without them using the meat name.
And it’s not like meat eaters mistakenly buy it, it’s always in a separate section.

Without a name letting you know what you’re buying you have no idea what it is.
So for example I want cheddar. I can’t eat cheddar and I can’t find an alternative without them alluding to it in its name, it could be any soy product!

I deliberately said ‘dietary restrictions’ as this does include religious believes and choices, it is a restriction not just a medical need.

Anyway this is way off topic. It’s about your favourite alternative. You don’t use any!
 
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karadekoolaid said:
Vegans (and I hope @SatNavSaysStraightOn will correct me if I'm wrong) don't eat any animal products (meat, fish, dairy) nor anything which comes from animals or even insects (honey); am I correct? It's a moral decision, and I'm perfectly fine with that.So why do we have vegan chicken wings and vegan cheese? Chicken is an animal (and I'm not very fond of it, either) and the definition of cheese is "the pressed curds of milk, separated from the whey"; both animal-based. Dietary restriction, IMHO, has nothing to do with it. You don't eat anything with gluten if you're allergic to it, of course, nor would you eat shellfish or peanuts if they cause anaphylactic shock, and strict Hindus don't eat meat, chicken or fish for religious, not dietary restrictions. "Cheese" and "ice cream"are made from dairy, not vegetables, so why do businesses insist on labelling their products with animal-based names? I've seen vegan ice cream, vegan chorizo, vegan steaks... I'm not trying to be contentious, simply objecting to labelling vegan products with meat/fish/animal -based names.
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I'm perfectly OK with alternatives and the naming of them. My son turned vegan when still living here and I have a lot of experience with vegan cooking. Vegetarian is much easier as dairy is included (cheese!) and eggs. I found that he did want alternatives, in particular cheese and burgers. If you grew up eating these things its difficult to not want those tastes if you decide to be vegan for moral reasons. As SandwichShortOfAPicnic commented, its a lot easier to find such products if they are 'named'.

Anyway, I do have one alternative I particularly like and that is Quorn 'chicken' pieces. Quorn seems to have fallen out of fashion these days but I do still buy it occasionally.
 
Morning Glory said:
I'm perfectly OK with alternatives and the naming of them. My son turned vegan when still living here and I have a lot of experience with vegan cooking. Vegetarian is much easier as dairy is included (cheese!) and eggs. I found that he did want alternatives, in particular cheese and burgers. If you grew up eating these things its difficult to not want those tastes if you decide to be vegan for moral reasons. As SandwichShortOfAPicnic commented, its a lot easier to find such products if they are 'named'.

Anyway, I do have one alternative I particularly like and that is Quorn 'chicken' pieces. Quorn seems to have fallen out of fashion these days but I do still buy it occasionally.
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I really like quorn but I always seem to have stomach ache after eating it, which is super annoying!
 
I was a vegetarian (actually more of a pescatarian) back in my 20s (1980s) for about 2 years. There just weren't lot of options back then. That's about the time Morningstar came out with their veggie burgers, which tasted nothing like meat and that was fine by me. They were a sodium bomb but very tasty. I fried them up in olive oil and ate them plain, no bun, no condiments.
 
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