When you first start out on an alternative diet, it might seem difficult to find ways to adjust all your recipes to a new set of rules. This is especially true if you’ve switched from a traditional diet to a vegan diet. Cutting out basic ingredients like milk or eggs takes some getting used to, but there are tons of substitutes in vegan cooking out there.
In this article, we’ll go through a few different foods that aren’t allowed on the vegan diet and offer some common substitutions.
Meat and Dairy Substitutes in Vegan Cooking
Eggs
There are plenty of options for substitutes in cooking. However, if you’re subbing for an egg, you might have to do some trial and error until you find one you like. Each egg substitute will turn out a slightly different final product in terms of taste and texture.
For vegan cooking, some popular egg alternatives include:
- Flax seed
- Applesauce
- Aquafaba (especially for a vegan meringue)
Milk
If you’ve recently perused your local grocery store, you likely noticed rows of alternative milk options. The choices of non-dairy milk today are vast, giving you plenty of options for subbing out traditional dairy options.
Almond milk, coconut milk and soy milk have risen to the top as the most popular three alternative milk options. They are far from the only three on the market, though. There’s also cashew milk, oat milk, chickpea milk and more!
Keep in mind if you’re baking with milk, a 1:1 sub of non-dairy milk in a traditional recipe likely won’t yield the same result. Try to stick to recipes that already use alternative milk for best results.
Meat
The biggest change when you switch to eating vegan is leaving meat behind. You might think you’ll never experience that delicious taste again, but you will! There are a plethora of different options to get in your protein and even add some meat flavor to your vegan diet.
Your first option is tofu. Tofu is a great substitute for meat because it soaks up the flavor of the spices or marinades you cook it in. Plus you can even shape it to look like a hamburger patty or hunk of steak!
The next option is to use mushrooms instead of meat. Mushrooms are packed with powerful nutrients that can work wonders for your body, plus they have a nice smoky flavor when grilled. After you find your favorite seasoning, you might not even realize you aren’t eating meat!
Lastly, you can check out any of the popular plant-based “meat” brands, such as Beyond Beef, Boca or Morningstar Farms. These are great grabs to keep in your freezer for nights you don’t have anything cooked or just don’t want to spend time in the kitchen.
Switching to a vegan diet might seem overwhelming at first, but once you figure out your favorite substitutes, you’ll be off to the races. Remember to find vegan recipes for the best outcomes when subbing traditional ingredients. Start experimenting today to find substitutes in vegan cooking.
