Meat Substitutes

earlnabby

ashleyconleche wrote: »

I am currently switching to a vegetarian diet, and am looking for some suggestions for meat substitutes. I am more than willing to try new foods, but am so scared of meat substitutes!

What are your favorites?

I use the Morningstar Farms veggie crumbles in place of ground beef. Be aware though that many of the meat substituents like veggie burgers and veggie crumbles are high in sodium.

ashleyconleche

@cjsacto Thank you!

orangegato

cjsacto wrote: »

I've recently started making seitan (wheat meat) every week and using it in my sandwiches for lunch. You won't want seitan if you're gluten free but it is VERY easy to make (high gluten flour + water + spices) and high in protein. You can buy seitan, too, but it's pricey and again high in sodium. Maybe try it once before making it to see if you like it. It's got a chewy, meat-like texture.

ETA: seitan is not a high carb food even though it's made from flour. One cup of the flour gives me six servings that each have 81 cal, 15g protein, 3g carbs, less than 1g fat.

I would like to try making Seitan. Is there a favorite recipe you can point me towards?

janejellyroll

ashleyconleche wrote: »

My end goal is to not have to eat anything processed or "fake". I am only looking for meat substitutes as I adjust to new protein sources (I have always been a meat eater). I'm struggling a little bit to meet my protein needs, but I'm getting there.

Some processed foods can be a great addition to a vegetarian/vegan diet though, I don't know if an end goal of eliminating them from your life will really add much healthwise. I love to eat canned tomatoes (especially in the winter, when fresh aren't very good), canned beans are so fast and easy, pasta is a great way to tie different ingredients together, things like hot sauce and mustard add fantastic flavor to meals, etc.

Do you *need* to eat any of these things? No. But I don't know what benefits one gets from eliminating a food simply because it has undergone some processing. And it can make meal planning and meeting nutritional needs much harder, especially when you're already eliminating meat.

cjsacto

orangegato wrote: »

cjsacto wrote: »

I've recently started making seitan (wheat meat) every week and using it in my sandwiches for lunch. You won't want seitan if you're gluten free but it is VERY easy to make (high gluten flour + water + spices) and high in protein. You can buy seitan, too, but it's pricey and again high in sodium. Maybe try it once before making it to see if you like it. It's got a chewy, meat-like texture.

ETA: seitan is not a high carb food even though it's made from flour. One cup of the flour gives me six servings that each have 81 cal, 15g protein, 3g carbs, less than 1g fat.

I would like to try making Seitan. Is there a favorite recipe you can point me towards?

@orangegato I was surprised how easy it is! It cooks for quite a while but prep is just a few minutes. I actually use the one on the back of the package for Bob's Red Mill Vital Wheat Gluten and experiment with different spices and baking vs. boiling. (I use a little less water than it calls for.) I realized after I posted my comment that someone else had posted a recipe for seitan on this same thread they highly recommended. Check out post from @HeidiMightyRawr earlier in this thread.

orangegato

oh missed that. Thanks

rainingribbons

I second using lentils, mushrooms, or beans as substitutes for meat. Lentils are super easy to work with, you can use them whole or smash them and mix them with other food items to create something new! I've made "meatballs" before, and on the holidays I make a vegetarian lentil-loaf so that I have a main dish for dinner as well. Beans you pretty much use the same way, you can eat them whole or smash them up to make other goodies (veggie-burgers are my personal favorite to make!).

ashleyconleche

I'm finding myself using mushrooms a lot! I'm going to start experimenting with beans and lentils as well

Fitnessgirl0913

I like the gardein meatless meatballs. I pair it with edamame pasta and marinara. I have not tried any other meatless meats yet but I am looking into exploring more from gardein.