Best not meat/meat replacement stuff...
Best not meat/meat replacement stuff...
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Discussion

V1nce Fox

Original Poster:

5,508 posts

90 months

Sunday 14th February 2021
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Not a thread to everyone's taste, but thought it might be good to share the best replacement/substitute meat options you can buy.

Stopped eating meat about 2-3 years ago and been on a bit of a quest to get back as many of the meat meals I used to enjoy. I'll kick it off...

Richmond non meat sausages are basically the same as their normal meat sausages. I have no idea how they've done it. Genuine witchcraft.

Tofurkey Maple bacon smoked tempeh (sp) is good in a bacon and egg sammich if you fry it just right. It has the flavour of streaky bacon and the texture isn't rubbish. It's not bacon, but it's surprisingly passable.

Impossible burgers or Beyond burgers are both excellent. Good enough Silent Bob, good enough for me.

Lazy Vegan chicken style pieces: good in a fajita type thing, they're pea protein so have a bit of texture and resistance when you bite them rather than being squares of foam.

Moving Mountains beef tender strips. Again, good texture and flavour, I'm going to have a go at making a beef and ale or possibly stilton pie out of them.


So if anyone else has found something that passes to a reasonable degree for meat, please add it here!

smile







Edited by V1nce Fox on Sunday 14th February 19:59

RC1807

13,469 posts

190 months

Sunday 14th February 2021
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Beyond Meat : sausages and burgers.

Hands down the best.
Our veggie daughter thinks we are cheating her as they're so meat like in texture and flavour.

fatandwheezing

430 posts

180 months

Sunday 14th February 2021
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We've kind of gone the same way without really thinking about it over the last couple of years. We're not veggie, but have reduced meat, particularly beef to not far of zero.

The Richmond sausages are witchcraft as you say. A lot of good mince substitutes around now too. Just need to. Remember not to cook them like meat, as they can turn to mush if overcooked. Whilst I like a bean chilli, sometimes it can be a bit dense, so thinning it out with the fake mince helps.

Interested to know what fish replacements are like - haven't tried any yet.

Murph7355

40,821 posts

278 months

Sunday 14th February 2021
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My OH veggie (pescatarian technically, though isn't eating much fish lately).

I've found the meals better when we don't try to replace the meat.

That said....

- Beyond Meat are very, very good
- Quorn picnic eggs (as a snack, better than meat versions)
- we had an M&S No Beef pie tonight....pea protein based (as I think the Beyond Meat stuff is) and pretty good generally


V1nce Fox

Original Poster:

5,508 posts

90 months

Sunday 14th February 2021
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Moving Mountains hotdogs too. Like proper cinema hotdogs.

Dibble

13,238 posts

262 months

Monday 15th February 2021
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The Fry’s peppered steak pies are very good.

CzechItOut

2,156 posts

213 months

Monday 15th February 2021
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Beyond Meat burgers, as discussed.

Cauldron Lincolnshire and Cumberland sausages. I challenge anyone to tell the difference.

Quorn southern fried chicken burgers.

Quorn steak and gravy pies.

anonymous-user

76 months

Monday 15th February 2021
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As above, Beyond Meat burgers are very good, we don't buy anything else now.

Naked Glory are our go-to sausages, great in a sausage casserole or for a fried/grilled breakfast. Good colour, flavour and texture and even have a 'skin' on them.

We occasionally use the Naked Glory mince as well for bolognese, it looks scarily like beef mince in the tray, though the Mrs has now perfected a bolognese sauce recipe that uses crumbled tofu and chopped aubergine instead and it's very good.

This Isn't Bacon - good smoky flavour (though not as smoky as it first was IMO), don't overcook it - 2 mins max each side on a pan - very good on a BLT sandwich or chopped up in pasta dishes.

Edited by anonymous-user on Monday 15th February 11:05

MrJuice

3,770 posts

178 months

Monday 15th February 2021
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What are people paying for beyond meat burgers and sausages these days and from where?

Costco had burgers and sausages at £20 for a box of ten of either some time back. That felt a bit expensive to me so I didn't buy. Offer came at £15 for ten burgers, bought and thought that was a fair price for a good product. Sausages last bought at £12 I think for ten. Also good value. I think the standard price for both has dropped to around £16 for ten for both now.


RC1807

13,469 posts

190 months

Monday 15th February 2021
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As MrCezhItOut said, Quorn's southern fried burgers are a favourite choice of our daughter.

Also, for chicken substitute, our local Delhaize has one brand, and, honestly, it's extremely difficult to tell it apart from real chicken!

Juice: Beyond Meat here, burgers and large bratwursts are about €6 for 2!

RC1807

13,469 posts

190 months

Thursday 18th February 2021
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If you can find this stuff, it’s amazingly like chicken for taste and texture, so much so, veggie daughter won’t eat it as it’s too realistic!



(Foreign language labelling as it’s sold in Delhaize.)

ozzuk

1,383 posts

149 months

Saturday 20th February 2021
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MrJuice said:
What are people paying for beyond meat burgers and sausages these days and from where?

Costco had burgers and sausages at £20 for a box of ten of either some time back. That felt a bit expensive to me so I didn't buy. Offer came at £15 for ten burgers, bought and thought that was a fair price for a good product. Sausages last bought at £12 I think for ten. Also good value. I think the standard price for both has dropped to around £16 for ten for both now.
Tesco's sell Beyond meat burgers and the meat free richmond sausages. I'm a massive carnivore - meat virtually every day, bought in bulk from a local farm and musclefoods but prompted by this thread I'm trying meat free stuff (always wanted to due to animal angle, but too used to it). We have the beyond burgers to eat this evening, had the quorn chicken nuggets last night, and the richmond meat free sausages this morning.

The sausages taste exactly the same - really is witchcraft! The downside, richmond sausages are pretty poor (very poor). They were my sausage of choice until the last few years when I upped my budget and bought better, now they taste bland. However, given the health benefits, animal and environment benefits I will be replacing my weekend breakfast with these, odd cheat aside.

Edit: just checked the meat richmond sausages online - 42% meat and they are already using a meat free substitute - so not difficult to see how they've done it. The ones I usually buy are 80% so not a fair comparison. Sticking with it though!

Edited by ozzuk on Saturday 20th February 11:59

MrJuice

3,770 posts

178 months

Saturday 20th February 2021
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I eat meat and enjoy making beef burgers from raw ingredients

Anyone done similar with a veggie burger? If so, recipe? I've seen Joe Wicks do a few but they have lentils and don't look massively appealing tbh

V1nce Fox

Original Poster:

5,508 posts

90 months

Saturday 20th February 2021
quotequote all
ozzuk said:
Tesco's sell Beyond meat burgers and the meat free richmond sausages. I'm a massive carnivore - meat virtually every day, bought in bulk from a local farm and musclefoods but prompted by this thread I'm trying meat free stuff (always wanted to due to animal angle, but too used to it). We have the beyond burgers to eat this evening, had the quorn chicken nuggets last night, and the richmond meat free sausages this morning.

The sausages taste exactly the same - really is witchcraft! The downside, richmond sausages are pretty poor (very poor). They were my sausage of choice until the last few years when I upped my budget and bought better, now they taste bland. However, given the health benefits, animal and environment benefits I will be replacing my weekend breakfast with these, odd cheat aside.

Edit: just checked the meat richmond sausages online - 42% meat and they are already using a meat free substitute - so not difficult to see how they've done it. The ones I usually buy are 80% so not a fair comparison. Sticking with it though!

Edited by ozzuk on Saturday 20th February 11:59
Beyond burgers are really, really good.

As I moved from meat (massive meat eater, changed due to animal angle, not really health) I've realised any cut of actual meat you'll struggle to match the texture of, so steak, proper bacon, etc. Chicken breast can be kind of fobbed off if it's in sauces, etc and any processed stuff like burgers and sausages are totally doable now.

Jerky one as well: Primal Strips. I tend to have the Hot and Spicy one. Again, it's not jerky but you'll be surprised how not crappy it is.

ozzuk

1,383 posts

149 months

Sunday 21st February 2021
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V1nce Fox said:
Beyond burgers are really, really good.

As I moved from meat (massive meat eater, changed due to animal angle, not really health) I've realised any cut of actual meat you'll struggle to match the texture of, so steak, proper bacon, etc. Chicken breast can be kind of fobbed off if it's in sauces, etc and any processed stuff like burgers and sausages are totally doable now.

Jerky one as well: Primal Strips. I tend to have the Hot and Spicy one. Again, it's not jerky but you'll be surprised how not crappy it is.
Have to agree - tried the burger last night and it was really good! My partner, who doesn't eat meat, was actually finding it difficult to process because it was so much like meat. I don't think I've had any 'meat' meals this weekend, which is unheard of.

TinyMonster

171 posts

60 months

Sunday 7th March 2021
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You can knock up a pretty decent kebab with the Vivera Shawarma. We also use it for burritos, which works well.