Vegan Substitutes - Replacing Animal Ingredients With Vegan Ingredients
If you’re new to a plant based diet or to being vegan, at first you may struggle finding substitutions to use when cooking or for the products you use every day.
Heres some substitutes for you to use in the kitchen. Be sure to try them all and see what you like and dislike. Get creative and try making some of your favourite dishes vegan by substituting the animal products with vegan alternatives.
Milk
Milk is a pretty easy product to substitute, you just need to find out what works well for what and what ones you like. For example I prefer almond milk in my coffee but I prefer hemp milk in some recipes. Almond milk is the one I would definitely recommend trying first because its just so good!
Almond Milk
Oat Milk
Soy Milk
Hemp Milk
You can find all of these in most supermarkets. My Favourite brand for nut milk and Hemp milk is called Ulu Hye and my favourite brand to mix with coffee is Milk Lab.
Cheese
I originally found this super hard, I used to be a big lover of cheese before I went vegan. Now a days, you can find vegan alternatives to so many different types of cheese. For an easy substitution that provides some great health benefits, I recommend using nutritional yeast, I tend to sprinkle this on top of my pastas.
My favourite brand of vegan cheese is called Sprout and Kernel, I love their classic and pepper corn cheese. Supermarkets in Australia also have Bio Cheese, which I find good for melting on pizzas or pastas. Another great brand to try for a dairy free cheese is Daiya foods.
Butter
Firstly, be sure to check the labels when out shopping for vegan butter as most people think all Margarines are vegan however not all of them are. Nuttelex is a great vegan alternative to butter and is available at Coles and Woolies in Australia and tastes exactly like margarine. Depending on what you’re whipping up in the kitchen, you can also use coconut oil. Coconut oil is an essential in my cupboards, you can use it in your hair, on your skin, but for in the kitchen I tend to use it in most of my baked goods, for greasing pans or for roasting/sauteeing vegetables etc.
Eggs
When baking I usually use flax seeds (3 tbsp water mixed with 1 tbsp of Flax seeds) or nut butters as a replacement depending on what I am making. Flax seed is great as they are also nutritious. Other alternatives you can use are; certain flours (depends on what you’re making, mashed banana and applesauce. For the banana I usually use 1 banana to 1 egg and for the apple sauce, usually 3-4 tablespoons will replace 1 egg.
Protein Powder
There are a few brands out there that now offer vegan protein powder in a variety of flavours. My favourite brand is Tropeaka, all their products are vegan and are amazing. I definitely recommend trying the salted caramel flavour.
Ice-Cream
Now this has become very easy to find and pretty much they are all delicious. There are so many amazing brands. If you live in Australia Messina and Gelatissimo both have vegan ice-cream flavours. If you’re shopping at a supermarket, Ben and Jerrys, Over The Moo and Halo Top all have amazing vegan options!
Yoghurt
There are several types of vegan yogurts on the market, that are great substitutes to dairy yogurt that work well in recipes and taste just as delicious as ordinary yogurt. Coyo is an awesome alternative and is nice and thick with loads of different flavours.
Chocolate
Now if going vegan meant giving up chocolate, I reckon most people couldn’t do it. Luckily there are some amazing vegan chocolate brands such as:
Or if you love making chocolate baked goods there are many non dairy chocolate products and cocao powders that can be used. You can find these in your local health stores, in the natural/health food aisles in most supermarkets or online.
Honey
Honey is used a lot in baking, but luckily there are plenty of replacements for honey that are vegan and work just as well whilst still being delicious. Try substituting honey for either Agave Nectar, Maple Syrup or Rice Malt Syrup.
Cream
I personally don’t use cream too often, but you can substitute it with coconut cream or if baking you can use blended soaked cashews.
Meat
Personally I don’t products that taste similar to meat or have the same texture, but if you do there are so many products on the market that are vegan alternatives like veggie sausages and burgers, veggie chicken and meatballs etc. You can also find many recipes that use these products or to make your own substitutes like a nut roast to have instead of meat in a roast dinner.
To replace meat in my meals I tend to stick to using; Falafels, Tofu, Tempeh, mushrooms or just stick to having chickpeas, beans or eggplant. Something I have found recently that I am loving is jackfruit, yes you read that right, a fruit. The flavours are great and can be used when you want to be slightly creative in the kitchen.
Can you guys recommend any other good vegan substitutes for me to try using in the kitchen?
