If you’re vegan conscious or just starting out, you’ve probably had to either ditch all your favourite recipes or substitute some ingredients using trial and error – neither of which are ideal. I know it all too well and have learnt a lot over time about what works and what definitely doesn’t. So, to help those of you out there who are in the same position I was, I’ve come up with a list of substitutes for non-vegan ingredients that I think are the best in terms of similarity in taste and texture.
For baking, the ingredients below are found in almost every recipe – this is what I use instead:
• Butter – This can be easily substituted with plant based butter and is usually found in the same aisle; you honestly could not tell a difference.
• Eggs – Eggs serve as a binder in baking which is why, per egg needed, I use 1tbsp of milled flax seeds with 2tbsp of water and let it sit for a couple of minutes before adding to any recipe; you could always use things like bananas or apple sauce but they change the end result quite a bit.
• Milk – Any plant milk can be used instead of dairy milk. Personally, cashew and oat milk are my go-tos – they have a subtle taste and go with almost anything.
• Cream – If your local supermarket doesn’t do dairy-free cream, or if you don’t want the taste of coconut that comes from coconut cream, just blend soaked cashews with cold water for a couple of minutes and voila you have cashew cream fit for any recipe.
Cooking on the other hand can be a little more tricky, and after three years I still don’t have all the answers, but these are some things I DO know how to swap:
• Minced meat – Ever since discovering TVP (textured vegetable protein), I’ve been able to cook so many more dishes that I used to love. Instructions are on the packet or online, but all you have to do is add water and flavour it the way you want, then make everything from lasagna to shepherd’s pie, bolognaise and burgers.
• Cheese – There are two options here: if you want a cheesy flavour, nutritional yeast is the perfect ingredient to use, but if you want to make a pizza or grilled cheese sandwich, most supermarkets offer dairy-free cheese.
• Chicken – With chicken you could still use TVP, but supermarkets sometimes have mock meats made of either soy or wheat gluten (also known as seitan) which are perfect if you’re looking for something that resembles chicken strips.
• Scrambled eggs – I cannot live without scrambled tofu for breakfast. Crumbling up a medium firm tofu block into whatever scrambled egg recipe is surprisingly a lot like the real thing.
Hopefully, this will be enough to get you started in your vegan cooking endeavors and, if you want to get in touch, you can send me a message on Instagram @bylahan I’d love to hear any feedback and answer questions.
