With which vegan alternatives you can most easily replace animal products vegan? Which products can be easily substituted at home? What vegan alternatives or vegan ready-made products are already available? What is vegan cheese actually made from? What is a vegan substitute for meat? Can you bake without gelatine, butter and sour cream? What do vegans put on their bread instead of sausage and cheese? Are there vegan alternatives for this too?
Many people who are interested in veganism or perhaps already follow a vegan diet have these and other questions. I can promise you one thing straight away: vegan nutrition is easier than ever these days. There is now a vegan substitute for almost everything and I'm going to introduce you to them today!
Table of contents
- Replace meat vegan
- Replace sausage vegan
- Replace dairy products vegan
- Replace milk vegan
- Replace buttermilk vegan
- Replace butter vegan
- Replace cream vegan
- Replace sour cream vegan
- Replace cheese with vegan cheese
- Replace eggs vegan
- Replace gelatin vegan
- Replace honey vegan
- Replacing sweets vegan
- Replace chocolate vegan
1. how to replace meat vegan?
There are now a large number of vegan substitutes for meat in particular, making it easier than ever to replace meat with vegan products. Vegan alternatives for meat usually consist of soy, tofu, seitan, lupin protein, beans, chickpeas or tempeh. Products made from jackfruit, such as vegan pulled pork, are particularly popular at the moment.
For many people, especially at the beginning of a dietary change, it is easier if they can continue to eat familiar dishes but prepare them with other foods. This is why vegan schnitzel, meatballs made from beans, soy gyros strips, minced meat substitutes and seitan steaks are becoming increasingly popular. To the vegan barbecue you can use soy sausages, tofu, seitan steaks, tofu and more. Vegan sausages are also available for classic snacks.
Unfortunately, these products are often packaged in plastic. Occasionally you can find tofu in a jar. In large cities, there are Asian stores that make their own tofu and sell it unpackaged. You can simply go there with your Stainless steel lunch box Or another can come by and have them give you the tofu.
For me personally, it is more important to eat vegan than completely plastic-free. That's why I occasionally eat products packaged in plastic, such as tempeh. However, as I avoid ready-made vegan products, it's still very easy for me to shop with very little plastic. Being vegan and low in plastic works really well for me now.
2. how to replace sausage vegan?
Substituting vegan sausage is now also super easy. There are vegan cold cuts that are equivalent to lyonnaise, salami, chorizo, ham and others. There is also whole chorizo, for example. Most vegan sausages are made from seitan or tofu.
Most supermarkets offer vegan sausages, although the selection in large supermarkets or online stores is of course even greater. In some large cities, you even have the option of shopping in purely vegan supermarkets. Here you will find countless vegan alternatives for sausage.
As I now tend to eat hummus or vegetable spreads, I am replacing sausage, cheese, butter and margarine. I'm also trying to eat less gluten-containing products at the moment and therefore eat much less bread than usual. As a result, I naturally need fewer cheese and sausage alternatives.
By making homemade hummus and vegetable spreads from a jar, I can also avoid the plastic problem, as vegan cold cuts (as well as animal cold cuts) are always packaged in plastic.
3. vegan alternatives for dairy products
For many people, it seems impossible at first glance to replace dairy products with vegan products. But in fact, there are vegan alternatives for everything these days.
Milk still has the reputation of being very healthy, although studies increasingly show a link between the consumption of milk and civilization diseases such as diabetes type 2, acne, obesity, osteoporosis and cancer.
Adults are generally lactose intolerant as they do not need breast milk (cow's milk is also breast milk) for nutritional reasons. From around the age of 5, people no longer produce the lactase enzymes needed to digest milk or lactose. Due to a mutation in the lactase gene, some people also produce lactase in adulthood.
With regard to the environment, it is also beneficial to consume more vegan products. Soy yogurt, for example, requires less water to produce than normal yogurt. And the CO² emissions of dairy products are usually higher than those of plant-based alternatives. You can find out more about this in the article Nutrition, environment & climate and the contributions "Vegetarianism Statistics." and "Veganism Statistics".
Now I'll show you vegan alternatives that you can use to replace dairy vegan.
4. how to replace milk vegan?
Milk is now particularly easy to replace. There are numerous plant-based milk drinks made from soy, almonds, rice, oats, coconut, cashews or macadamia nuts. These drinks are lactose-free and contain less cholesterol and unsaturated fatty acids than cow's or sheep's milk.
Another vegan alternative is to simply make your own plant-based milk. Making vegan milk yourself is also no problem at all. You can find out more here in the article Make your own macadamia milk.
5. how to replace butter vegan?
Margarine is an easy vegan substitute for butter. However, some margarines contain hydrogenated fats and the animal products whey and fish oil. You should avoid hydrogenated fats as they promote high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes and heart disease.
The ingredient palm oil is also highly controversial, as large areas of rainforest are cut down for the production of palm oil.
I myself get along meanwhile without margarine and butter, since I increasingly use vegan spreads like Hummus or vegetable spreads. These spreads are often available in jars or are easy to make yourself.
When baking, frying and cooking, you can simply use a vegetable oil as a vegan alternative to replace or at least reduce the amount of butter or margarine. Alternatively, you can often use an avocado, as avocados have a high fat content.
Another great substitute for butter and margarine is nut butter. Of course, you need to consider whether you want to make a savory or sweet dish and choose a suitable nut butter accordingly.
6. how to replace buttermilk vegan?
Making your own vegan buttermilk is totally easy: Mix 200 ml of vegan milk, e.g. Almond milkwith 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar. I don't know of a commercial vegan alternative for buttermilk.
7. how to replace cream vegan?
Replacing cream with vegan cream is also very easy. Almost all supermarkets now sell oat or soy-based cream substitutes. However, if you want to avoid packaging waste, the following vegan alternative is a good choice.
You can use a Cashew cream easy to make yourself. The high fat content of nuts acts as a flavor carrier, just like cream. However, the fats in nuts are far healthier than the fats in cream. Nut butter also provides the same creamy consistency as cream.
If you don't have time to make your own cashew cream, you can simply use ready-made almond paste, cashew paste, peanut paste or any other nut paste.
8. how to replace sour cream vegan?
Sour cream, also known as sour cream, is often used for desserts or sauces. Sour cream is characterized by its slightly sour taste.
Vegan sour cream substitutes are already available in some organic food stores and well-stocked supermarkets.
If you don't have this sour cream substitute to hand and want to make it easy, you can simply use vegan quark and a little lemon juice. Depending on the consistency, you may need to thicken the mixture a little.
How you can make vegan cashew sour cream yourself, you can find in the post Make cashew cream yourself.
9. how can you replace cheese vegan?
Vegan cheese can now be found in almost all supermarkets. However, if you want a larger selection, you should look online. Plant-based cheese is usually based on nuts or coconut oil.
You can already find a large selection of vegan cheeses in well-stocked supermarkets, including
- Vegan cream cheese,
- Vegan Mozzarella,
- Sliced cheese,
- Parmesan,
- Camembert and
- Processed cheese
may contain.
In special vegan supermarkets, you can often also find vegan fondue cheese, vegan feta and other cheese specialties, as well as a larger selection of cheeses, of course.
Yeast flakes are also very suitable as a cheese substitute due to their cheesy taste and smell. If possible, yeast flakes should not be heated, as they are quite sensitive and contain a lot of vitamins and healthy enzymes. It is best to simply sprinkle the yeast flakes over a ready-made dish or salad.
I also often use a mixture of almond paste, water, salt and pepper for gratinating. Simply mix the almond paste with warm water until it has the desired consistency and then season with salt and pepper.
10. how to replace eggs vegan?
Eggs are easy to replace, especially when baking. You can also achieve the binding effect of the egg with half a ripe banana or 1 tablespoon of linseed mixed with 3 tablespoons of water.
A classic scrambled egg can be made from tofu, for example. Seasoning is particularly important here. With a little turmeric, you can get the yellow color of the scrambled eggs very well. The spice Kala Namaka sulphur salt, gives the tofu the classic egg flavor. Add a little pepper, chives and onion and you have a delicious scrambled egg.
I also have good news for all friends of fried eggs. With the classic egg replacement product MyEy, you can easily conjure up a fried egg. The manufacturer offers a VollEy, EyWeiss and a EyYellow. First fry some of the EyWeiss in a fried egg dish and then place a little of the EyGelb on top. Again, I recommend the sulfur salt Kala Namak for the taste.
11. how to replace gelatin vegan?
The best-known vegan alternatives to replace gelatine are agar-agar or pectin. Agar-agar is a tasteless product made from seaweed. Pectin is made from fruit. With agar-agar and pectin, you must ensure that both are used warm. Otherwise they are used in the same way as gelatine.
One of the best-known products containing gelatine is probably gummy bears. There are now vegan pectin bears or bears with beeswax for vegetarians.
12. how to replace honey vegan?
Many people are probably wondering why vegans should avoid honey. Here is a brief explanation of why honey is not vegan either. Bees often fall ill or die during the production of honey, as honey deprives them of their actual food and replaces it with sugar water. The sugar water contains fewer healthy substances, which weakens the bees' immune system. Abroad, the queen bee is often deliberately killed and replaced with a younger, more productive queen. However, as bees are essential for our ecosystem, it is important for all of us to protect bees.
To replace honey vegan, I usually use Date syrupas dates are a great source of minerals. You can get date syrup in a jar here. Otherwise, maple syrup, agave syrup or homemade dandelion "honey" are also suitable vegan alternatives to honey.
When making desserts, I usually just use whole Dates and mix them with the other ingredients. Dates are also a great snack between meals, which is why I always order them in bulk from amazon.
13. how can you replace sweets vegan?
There is already a vegan version of many sweets. As mentioned above, there are pectin bears that do not contain gelatine or beeswax. There is also vegan chocolate, which is usually made from rice milk. There are also some sweets that happen to be vegan without being produced specifically for the vegan market.
13a. Surprisingly vegan sweets
Surprisingly, many sweets are already vegan, such as
- Oreos,
- most potato chips,
- Dark chocolate,
- Haribo Pasta Frutta,
- Haribo Jelly Beans,
- Skittles (except the red ones),
- Ritter Sport Marzipan and
- Take 2 Soft.
That's why you don't have to replace all sweets with vegan ones.
13b. Reduce cravings for sweets
Of course, it can also be good for your health to reduce your craving for sweets. You can achieve this by...
- Drink enough water every day
- Avoid soft drinks and store-bought fruit juices
- Buy as few unhealthy sweets as possible - "out of sight, out of mind"
- Brush your teeth early in the evening and manipulate yourself to stop eating sweets
- Satisfy your sweet tooth with dried fruit such as Dates, figs, pineapple stills
- Eat enough healthy fatty foods such as avocado or nuts, as these reduce cravings
13c. How to replace chocolate vegan?
Vegan chocolate is now available from many manufacturers. Most vegan chocolate consists of cocoa butter and vegan milk. As far as taste is concerned, I think the chocolates from iChoc are very good, but unfortunately they are not packaged completely plastic-free. Of course, you can also simply eat dark chocolate, as this is usually vegan.
The ingredient "cocoa butter" often confuses consumers as they are not sure whether cocoa butter is vegan. Cocoa butter is obtained from the fat of the cocoa tree and is therefore purely plant-based and suitable for vegans.
I personally like to add these cocoa nibs to desserts. The cocoa nibs taste chocolaty with a slightly bitter cocoa note. They are a little too bitter for me to eat on their own, but they are a great chocolatey addition to smoothies, chocolate milk or muesli. Cocoa nibs also contain lots of antioxidants and more calcium than milk.
You can also get a good chocolaty taste in smoothies or milk with Cocoa powder. Care should be taken to buy cocoa powder that is as natural and minimally processed as possible, without added sugar. Cocoa powder contains blood pressure-lowering flavonols and some minerals such as magnesium, potassium, iron, copper, chromium, zinc and manganese, but also many calories, which is why you should not overdo it with cocoa powder.
Vegan alternatives for chocolate are therefore easy to find.
13d. Preparing vegan desserts
Many desserts that you know are easy to prepare vegan. It is often sufficient to use plant-based milk instead of cow's milk. If eggs are also used in desserts, you can simply replace them as mentioned above.
This way you can for example simply
- Rice pudding with Coconut milk prepare vegan
- Prepare pancakes vegan with vegetable milk and bananas
- Prepare pudding with vegan milk instead of cow's milk
13e. Vegan ice cream
Many types of fruit ice cream are already vegan. Classic sorbets, e.g. made from lemon, mango or strawberry, are vegan. If you go out for ice cream, you can simply ask and you will be surprised how many ice cream varieties are already vegan. There is often even a vegan dark chocolate ice cream. So there are also many vegan alternatives in ice cream parlors.
Of course, you can also easily make your own ice cream if you have an ice cream maker or a high-performance blender. All you often need to do is blend a few frozen bananas with a few dates or date syrup and a little plant-based milk.
Most supermarkets now also sell vegan ice cream. There are manufacturers who specialize in vegan ice cream and also vegan ice cream from other manufacturers. Ben & Jerry's now also sells vegan ice cream in Germany, namely the three varieties: Chocolate Fudge Brownie, Chunky Monkey and Peanut Butter & Cookies.
Vegan alternatives for animal products are quickly found
Many products like Vegetable milk or vegetable cream you can make yourself. Then you know exactly what's in it and avoid harmful substances. Homemade also means fresh and with as little waste as possible.
Vegan alternatives are generally more environmentally friendly, as they require far fewer resources to produce than animal products. You can find out more about this in my article on Nutrition & Environment. Unfortunately, some vegan substitute products are packaged in plastic, although it has to be said that even non-vegan chocolate, sausage and cheese are usually packaged in plastic.
From an ethical and moral point of view, it always makes sense to avoid animal products, as animals are exploited and killed both on organic farms and in factory farming.
It also makes sense for your health to eat more plant-based products, as they contain better fatty acids, less cholesterol and less cancer-promoting methionine and are less acidic for your body than animal products. Vegan alternatives therefore offer a number of advantages.
All the best,
P.S.: Look at you nevertheless also still my best tips for vegan living an.
