Meat substitutes

[bazza white]

Any recommendations and cooking tips. Im not going vegan but cutting down due to diet and would like to cut down longer term to and go better quality when I do eat meat.

I tried Quorn mince the the other day in a chilli and it was pretty good, possibly save adding the quorn until later in the cooking process next time. Tried a chicken substitute years ago in a stirfry and it was disgusting, turned to mush.

[Ice_blue_tvr]

Beyond meat.. Excellent flavour.. I'll happily eat a BM burger instead of a beef one.. Pretty much as fatty as a beef patty though, but with additional sodium.. So beware..

I can't fully recall, by there are some Linda McCartney mozzarella burgers which taste similar to beef too.. Love them too..

Turkey mince, though obviously still meat, actually tastes decent when cooked right.. Far nicer than the quorn stuff.. A lot healthier than lamb/beef mince..

[QuartzDad]

I'm the only one in the house who still eats meat, which means I very rarely eat meat...

Plant Pioneers meat free mince, we prefer it to Quorn.

What The Cluck fake chicken. It's pretty good.

Linda McCartney's Vegetarian Shredded Hoisin Duck (which is vegan), very good indeed. With pancakes, onion etc. it's difficult to tell.

Beyond Burgers, not cheap but pretty close to the real thing.

Viv era plant bacon is good in carbonaras etc.

Linda McCartney's meatballs for spaghetti and meatballs.

Richmond's meat-free sausages are also good.

[sherman]

Dont overcook them. Under if anything. Most meat substitutes fall apart or turn to rubber with too much cooking.

Try cooking straightvfrom frozen rather than defrosted.

[yellowbentines]

We use the Naked Glory mince in Bolognese and Chilli (though not much in the Chilli, bulk that with a variety of beans instead) - doesn't go mushy like Quorn mince, decent protein count and low in fat. Their frozen sausages are also decent cooked in the oven, nice firm texture and good flavour.

Also try 'This Isn't Chicken' - only needs fried off for a few minutes, again high protein and low fat. Awesome with some pasta, pesto, sundried toms and spinach for a quick, filling and healthy meal.

As above Beyond Meat Burgers are very good - fresh or frozen, I can't tell the difference.

Unfortunately as Veganism(?) gains popularity so does the range of processed ste available, making it just as easy to cut out meat and be a fat unhealthy slob - we find we need to look harder and read the ingredients as some meat alternatives and vegan products are pretty nasty!

[zygalski]

I did a chilli con carne with future mince & the wife really liked it.
I used some beef stock though...

[Nemophilist]

We don’t eat a lot of meat but also don’t bother with meat alternatives

The non meat days we have either prawns, sea bass, sardines or for dishes like bolognaise, chilli or lasagne we just put in lentils/beans/chickpeas and more veg

I’m sure it’s tastier that way than the meat free alternatives

[SlimJim16v]

QuartzDad said:

Linda McCartney's Vegetarian Shredded Hoisin Duck (which is vegan), very good indeed. With pancakes, onion etc. it's difficult to tell.

Linda McCartney's meatballs for spaghetti and meatballs.

Yes, the duck is great, so good we're trying to think of other ways to use it, maybe duck donner. The meatballs though taste OK, are a bit solid.

Cauldron sausages are very good.
Miami Classic Burgers are quite good.
Quorn burgers are quite good.
Quorn chicken pieces are good in a curry or Chinese.
Quorn chicken fillets are quite good.

It's trial and error.

[FunkyNige]

Nemophilist said:

We don’t eat a lot of meat but also don’t bother with meat alternatives

The non meat days we have either prawns, sea bass, sardines or for dishes like bolognaise, chilli or lasagne we just put in lentils/beans/chickpeas and more veg

I’m sure it’s tastier that way than the meat free alternatives

My wife’s a veggie so most of our home dinners are veggie and I’m trying to get away from the meat substitutes. I’ve also found lentils to be a great alternative to mince (the tins, I can’t be bothered with soaking), then add more vegetables like celery and carrots to bulk it all up.
Then beans for stews and chickpeas for curries.

[21TonyK]

Personally I would avoid anything by Quorn. All just tastes of onion and its about as processed and engineered as food gets. Stick to vegetables and pulses and look at TVP as a meat alternative. Seitan is a relatively simple DIY option with loads of info online how to make 101 meat alternatives with it. I (used to) make a mean vegan pepperoni and a decent "fennel & por(c)" sausage.

[ZedLeg]

I was genuinely amazed with the Richmond sausages, I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s just the same sausages they’ve always made and they’ve stopped lying about the meat content

It’s not bacon and It’s not chicken are pretty good.

I like the Morrison’s own brand chorizo style sausages but my partner hates them.

The only time we ever use mince is for mapo tofu and the vivera one is great for it. Also vivara shawarma is my junk food saviour.

As tony says it’s worth making your own seitan if you can be bothered. Really versatile and a great protein source.

[otolith]

The Richmond sausages are indeed indistinguishably disgusting from the “meat” ones.

I would rather eat something from a traditionally vegetarian culture. All the fake meat I have tried has either been unconvincing or an accurate facsimile of crap meat.

[Puggit]

QuartzDad said:

I'm the only one in the house who still eats meat, which means I very rarely eat meat...

Same here - and agree with your sentiments, there's a lot of decent meat replacement stuff out there (if you avoid Quorn and Tofu!).

[ambuletz]

as a substitute for a greasy doner this stuff isn't too bad in a pitta, some salad and condiments

[Murph7355]

bazza white said:

Any recommendations and cooking tips. Im not going vegan but cutting down due to diet and would like to cut down longer term to and go better quality when I do eat meat.

I tried Quorn mince the the other day in a chilli and it was pretty good, possibly save adding the quorn until later in the cooking process next time. Tried a chicken substitute years ago in a stirfry and it was disgusting, turned to mush.

I wouldn't try to replace it.

Work your meals around simply not having meat and then have a good piece of meat as a treat when you do decide to have it.

You will, in all likelihood, regularly be thinking to yourself "I wish this was the real thing" and it will work against you trying to give it up.

My OH's a veggie, and for convenience we did Hello Fresh for a while a couple of years ago, going with the veggie box option. The recipes were top notch to the extent where you simply don't miss meat when eating them (their recipes are available online).

[cml24]

ambuletz said:

as a substitute for a greasy doner this stuff isn't too bad in a pitta, some salad and condiments

I was going to post this. Its pretty good really. I fried it up until it went a bit crispy on the edges.

[otolith]

[Nemophilist]

otolith said:

excellent algorithm at work there

[twing]

Chile con carne with mushrooms instead of beef - https://www.bosh.tv/recipes/ultimate-chilli
If you cook it exactly as per the recipe it's incredible, the layers of flavour really are good

[Murph7355]

Nemophilist said:

otolith said:

excellent algorithm at work there

If you're going to have meat, a bit of Wagyu's probably a good way to do it!