Meat Chicken Fish Egg Alternatives

what to use instead of...

ground meat alternative - mushrooms are a wonderful alternative for ground meat in pasta dishes especially. Chop mushrooms finely and add to any recipe and save on calories. Wild mushrooms are also a source of one of the only food-based sources of Vitamin D and a little research will reveal that button mushrooms, placed in the sun for a short time, can also absorb Vitamin D and pass it on to you. It would still be wise to take a supplement, at least in the winter months depending on your location.

ground meat in burgers alternative - mushrooms can still help here, however, black beans are the most well known and are definitely tasty and full of nutrition. I have a wonderful bean burger recipe and will link it here soon. The same recipe works for meatloaf or meatballs too.

chicken strips alternative - tofu... I know many people are not fond of tofu and yet it has come a long way in the past few years and it is possible to buy with many flavours already infused. Try it at least once. Seitan or tempeh are also alternatives and we did try them a few years ago. Thing is that we really don't miss chicken so we rarely try to duplicate it.

chicken wing alternative - cauliflower rules here!! Sounds weird and yet it works very well. We have enjoyed them a few times and found that we enjoyed them more when we used water (or half water) as the base instead of a plant based milk. Here is a link to a simple and oil-free recipe from High Carb Hannah.

bacon alternative - ready to laugh? Carrots! yup, believe it or not, if you really really hafta have some bacon there are lots of recipes available online and as most of them involve added oils we have not tried them as, once again, we haven't missed bacon badly enough to try it.

smoked salmon alternative - same answer as "bacon". Carrots.... again, not something that I have tried as we are just too busy eating carrots the regular way.

egg alternatives - aquafaba... ha... have you even heard of this before? LOL there are actually a few different options for eggs in recipes for baking and aquafaba is the newest one and it works so well that it can even be used for meringues. Aquafaba is the liquid you find in the can when you purchase chick peas (or other beans). Another alternative is flax meal and those two are the ones I use the most. 3 tablespoons of aquafaba is equivalent to one egg and 1 tablespoon of flax meal in 3 tablespoons of water (soaked in fridge for 15 minutes) is also equivalent to one egg. Applesauce can be used too (I use applesauce in place of oil) and ripe banana or silken tofu can also be a substitute. How about Deviled Eggs? do you miss them? I keep meaning to try this recipe, however, we ate deviled eggs so rarely, in the past, that I just never seem to get around to it so, once again, I will pass you off to a video of High Carb Hannah and her Deviled Potatoes mmmmmm.

tuna alternative - this is another PSA (public service annoucement) as we have not "had to have" tuna from a can, however, I hear that 'jack fruit' makes a great flaked tuna alternative. When we go on the road and want a sandwich for eating in the car I usually make bean burgers and put them in a pita pocket with veggies and/or avocado, mustard etc or stick with the tried and true PB&J.

protein alternatives - nuts, nut butters, beans, grains, greens, vegetables. We get most of our protein from nuts, seeds, all types of beans and our favourite steel cut oats and whole wheat breads and pastas. Have you ever heard of anyone dying from a lack of protein or have you heard of protein deficiency? It is unlikely that you have and yet so many people worry that if they eat a plant-based diet they will suddenly become weak from a lack of protein. If you have 5 minutes, here is a link to a great video, about this topic, from Dr Greger.

  • Alternative Summary
  • mushrooms or beans for ground beef/burgers/meatballs/meatloaf
  • tofu, seitan or tempeh for chicken strips
  • cauliflower for chicken wings
  • carrots for bacon or smoked salmon
  • aquafaba or flax meal for eggs
  • jack fruit for tuna

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