Meat and Dairy Substitutes
The title alone would scare anyone off, right? Thankfully, it’s 2021 and the meat and dairy substitute industry has made amazing strides in the last twenty years. “Anything you can make, I can make vegan” is a common quote I see posted by other vegans. It’s crazy the leaps we have made to finally have realistic tasting and smelling meat and cheese alternatives. With products like the Impossible Burger, Beyond Meat, Follow Your Heart, and Daiya, there is no way you can’t find something you like. There is some controversy over the Impossible Burger because they did animal testing while creating the burger. Yes, this is terrible, and I don’t agree with using animals for any type of testing, but the damage is done and in turn, they have created a product that can save millions of animal’s lives. To me, the Impossible burger is the most realistic meat substitute that tastes, looks, cooks, and feels like real meat. Anyone against giving up hamburgers, would never miss anything with the IB. That could change the lifestyle choices of millions of people, thus saving billions of animals from slaughter. The end justifies the means here in my eyes, but I digress.
I was lucky enough to become vegan in the Twin Cities where they have a bomb brother/sister owned plant based “butcher shop”. Herbivorous Butcher in Minneapolis makes some the best meat and cheeses subs I’ve ever had. They make a sliced turkey and Havarti dill cheese sub sandwich I love and get every time I am there. They make everything in house and sell an awesome variety of other vegan products from other companies, so I always leave with so many goodies. They do sell their stuff in certain specialty grocery stores in some major cities and online, so I would look into them if I were you. They also ship nationwide in the US. 😊
Below I have listed my favorite brands of meat and dairy substitutes as well as reviews of some popular brands I am not a huge fan of.
Favorite Meat Substitutes
1. Impossible Burger- The most realistic tasting of all I’ve had but I know some people are against eating it. To me, if it means we can get non-vegans to try it and stop eating cow meat, think of all the animals we can save in the future. Not to mention the environmental effects this has too.
2. Beyond Meat- I have had their burger patties and sausage links and they are good. They burgers have an odd smell to them that I can’t shake and they give me heartburn, so I don’t buy them anymore. The sausages are all great though and have the real snap of a normal sausage. I have not had any of their chicken products though, so I can’t speak for those.
3. Gardein- The best chicken alternative line I have had. They make breaded chicken sliders that rival any regular chicken sandwich. They make lots of other great meat alternatives, but I usually buy their chicken. Their breakfast sausage patties are okay, not my favorite thing.
4. Herbivorous Butcher- Legit anything they make is great. Deli slices that taste better than the real thing, everything you need to make a charcuterie tray that everyone will devour, and everything else you could want at a butcher shop.
5. Field Roast-They make a large variety of meat subs and everything I have had has been good. They have some mini corndogs I have been looking to try because who doesn’t love a good corn dog? They have more recently started making their own line of Chao, vegan cheeses and they are also all amazing. I will talk about those on the cheese list.
6. Trader Joes-They have a lot of great meat replacements that I like. Their High Protein veggie burgers also go great crumbled up in tacos if you are tired of eating them like normal. Orange Chickenless Chicken tenders, regular Chickenless chicken tenders, and their meatless meatballs are all some of my go-to’s when I need my fix for any of these.
7. Sweet Earth-They have a lot of great items including a huge line of frozen meals I love. Their seitan bacon is good and an easy go to for salads or BLTs.
8. Boca and Amy’s vegan burger and chicken patties-Be careful with the sodium on some, but all their burgers (beef and chicken) are really good and make for a quick and easy dinner.
9. Morning Star- A lot of their items are vegetarian and not vegan, but what they do have is good. Make sure you look for the Vegan sticker on the front of the package.
10. LightLife- They are another company that has a large variety of great products, but my favorite of theirs is the breakfast sausage. I use it to make my biscuits and gravy recipe and every non-vegan I’ve had try them, can’t tell they are vegan.
11. Tofu-Great substitute for scrambled eggs or as a protein topper on a salad. Non-GMO and Organic Tofu is best and not unhealthy. There are several studies and articles discussing the misconceptions around tofu and soy.
12. Tempeh- Another soy-based protein that has a harder texture to it and makes for a great replacement for bacon.
13. Trader Joe’s Canned Jack Fruit- Makes for great pulled pork if you treat it right and let it go low, and slow in a crock pot.
Favorite Dairy Substitutes
** I will lead by saying I am weird about warm/melted vegan cheese. The taste, smell, and look changes when the cheese is cooked, therefore my recommendations below are based off taste when cold.
1. Chao by Field Roast- All the flavors I have had are good.
2. Daiya- All their items are very popular, and one of the most common brands used in restaurants. I am not a fan of their shredded cheese, but the blocks and slices of cheese are much better. The block of cheddar cheese tastes just like the real thing to me.
3. Follow Your Heart- Another popular brand, but I only like their shredded and grated parmesan cheese. Kelly’s Croutons is a very small company that makes the best garlic parmesan as well as great croutons too. I prefer their parm to Follow Your Heart, but FYH is a lot easier to find in regular stores.
4. Treeline- They make a line of artisanal hard and soft cheeses that are all amazing. Great for charcuterie trays or anything along those lines.
5. Kite Hill- Love their cream cheese and use it for other things past bagels. Their yogurt (Greek style and regular) is amazing too.
6. Miyoko’s Kitchen- I love everything they make especially the mozzarella.
7. Earth Balance- Not cheese, but I use them for my butter substitute. They have a handful of choices including Soy Free if you need that. They also make vegan baking butter sticks which makes it super easy to bake without dairy.
8. So Delicious- They have several items in their product line, but I like their yogurt and ice cream.
9. Violife- Everything they make is amazing, especially their block of parmesan cheese. Shredded up it tastes exactly like the real thing and I’m in love.
10. Trader Joes- Their cashew mozzarella shreds are amazing, as well as their cream cheese. I am not a fan of their sliced cheddar because it has a weird taste to it. Be careful not to buy their lactose free cheese, they say Lactose Free on the front and still have milk in it.
11. AddJoi- This is the only brand of milk I use now because of convenience, cost, sustainability, and taste. If you use the link here, you can get 10% off your order at checkout. You’ll see me talk about this brand a lot in my recipes, I legit use it for everything.
** All of these are a great way to get your meat and dairy fix, but everything in moderation is important. I used these more to help with my cravings when I made my switch but have since limited my intake. They do a lot to make these products taste like your favorite foods, and that comes with adding ingredients that may not be the healthiest. There are a lot of great WFBP recipes out there to make all these items at home if you are interested. I have some great cookbook suggestions on my Links and Resources page.
