Meat substitutes?

Question

I was in tesco the other day looking for meat substitutes and all I could find were vegetarian products. No vegan because they mostly all had egg whites in them. I did get these nut cutlet burgers in the end but I will need more of a range. Where do you people buy your from?

Answer 1

I had the exact same problem when I turned vegan... I had a freezer full of quorn which I had to give away because it was vegetarian but not vegan.

I found some great products from www.goodnessdirect.co.uk They mark everything as vegetarian, vegan, dairy free, gluten free etc. so it's easy picking vegan food. If you do buy from there try the real-eat sausages... they're cheap and taste amazing. Also I would empty your freezer first and order as much as possible to save on delivery and packing costs... they charge an extra £3 for a freezer or refrigerator packing box.

You should be able to find anything you're looking for on a vegan diet there and I think it's the cheapest store too... holland and barret charge ridiculous prices! Good luck :o)

Answer 2

When I lived in the city and it was easy to do, I got a lot of tofu from China town. You can get it at Tesco usually, but it's not as tasty. If you can, go to your nearest China town, or a Chinese shop, they often have quite a variety of tofu there- the very soft white stuff that you just eat with a bit of soy and some sesame seed, then the harder stuff, which goes in stir frys/stews/etc, and you can sometimes get it in little biscuit forms, and those go well in sandwiches.

The other meat substitute I use, more than tofu now, is Quorn and Quorn products. If your local Tesco doesn't do them, order it from Tesco online, or go to other supermarkets, you're sure to find it in one of them. Or does quorn contain egg? I thought it was all vegan... of course, I eat eggs as well, drink milk, that sort of thing, so I never checked. I'm pretty sure that the tofu is completely free of animal products though... but to be 100% sure, you would need to speak/read Chinese... which I can do after a fashion, none of the tofu's I've seen had overt meat products, but they could always slip them in stealthily I suppose, and just call it 'colouring B46' or something. Enough to drive you paranoid it is.

Answer 3

annoying isn't it that they go to all the trouble of making a meat substitute and then put eggs in it. Tofu is your best bet. also soz mix if you are making sausages burger or a "meat"loaf type thing. The vegi deli range is really good for vegan meat free stuff but doesn't tend to be kept by supermarkets more the independent shops. we have a corner shop that does fantastic vegan food in Brighton (Buckingham road), a small chain of food shops called taj and infinity foods all of which keep a pretty large range of vegan and veggi foods.

ps i notice a lot of people suggested quorn but it also contains eggs so not vegan friendly

Answer 4

HI,
if you're serious about buying vegan then you could also consider the company that you're buying from and what other interests/ activities they may have.
If this is the case then you may wish to avoid supermarkets altogether!
I do about 99% of my food shopping at local shops/ wholefood shops (we have great one in Sheffield!- but I'm sure there's one close to where you are) and also go to the wholefood wholesale place to stock up in bulk!

In reply to your specific question, the vast majority of processed meat substitutes will either be explicitly non-vegan (like Quorn that has egg in it) or sneakily non-vegan (like Linda McCartney (sp?) sausages that have an animal by-product in the carrier used in the flavouring)... so you're probably going as un-processed as possible to avoid sneaky animal residues!

My advice would be:
1) Go to a wholefood shop and ask about fake sausages/ burgers etc. they'll most likely stock a couple of vegan varieties.
2) go for tofu if you want something that behaves a little bit like meat ie you can marinade, stir fry, grill, roast etc,
3) why not try a whole range of nuts, pulses, grains, beans and peas to get your protein fix, it'll increase your cooking creativity too!

Hope this helps!

Answer 5

Quorn isn't going to work for you, as it has eggs in it.

www.vegweb.com not only lists vegetarian and veg-friendly restaurants all over the world, but also natural foods stores. You might want to check there to see if there is a natural foods store in your area. They are more likely to carry vegan meat analogues. I buy most of my stuff at the local Whole Foods or online.

Answer 6

I would personally make it without the substitute but the fake meats really aren't that bad. I'm assuming you are talking about fake ground beef? I've had the boca crumbles and they are awesome. I haven't tried any other brand though. Also, tofurky sandwich slices taste just like turkey to me. Is Been a while since I've had real turkey but my friend tried it once and she said it was extremely close to the turkey taste. Yves veggie dogs are good. Tofurky sausage is disgusting, you might like it though so you can try and see. Good luck!

Answer 7

I really don't know what the deal is with meat substitutes.

I don't know why you would become vegetarian/vegan then go out of your way to eat things that look and taste like meat.

I dont mind like a vegie patty or something like that but the stuff thats made up to look or taste seems just as disgusting as meat, not to mention processed.

Answer 8

Yuo need to find the independent healthfood shops. In the UK, most towns over 5,000 people have one.

H&B sell some stuff but not the full ranges, independent shops are better. Seiten based products can be really nice, particularly the "smoked" ones.

If you tell us approx where you are we might have some shop names for you. For example, in Shropshire, you have about 10 shops to choose from.

Answer 9

We have a garden with vegetables planted in it. We get our food from there. In case we're tired of vegetables for a while, we buy vege-meat from the supermarket. Vegemeat is made from soya beans and tastes like meat.

Answer 10

My ex was a veggie, he used to buy mostly tofu (bean curd) and TVP (texturised vegetable protein), he used to get it from the local healthfood shop but I think they sell tofu in sainsburys. The larger tesco's have tvp too, its with the organic stuff.