Beef Alternatives

Seasonings & Sauces

Some of the ingredients in this section provide colour, flavor, nutrition, and many provide a combination of these.

Umami

Umami is the flavor associated with meat, but is found naturally in many plants and plant-based products including tomatoes, mushrooms, soy sauce, marmite, and more.

The Video below demonstrates how cheap and simple ingredients like TVP can be for making your own meat alternatives.

The recipe below puts nuts in a blender to create minced meat, then cooks them in a skillet with meaty flavors. This meat can be used in any dish that doesn't need a binder.

Extra Flavor

Colour

A lot of the ingredients that go into vegan beef alternatives are pretty pale, but the following ingredients add both umami and some dark colour to give the impression of the real thing.

Ground Meat

DIY 

Brands

Burgers

Chili

Chili can be made easily from scratch by using store-bought vegan meat grounds (in the ground meat section or in the frozen aisle's vegetarian doors), or by making DIY ground meat from ingredients like TVP. 

Companies like Gardein and Amy's make canned chili with "meat" and beans or without beans. 

There are also packets of chili or chili mix with instructions to add certain fresh vegetables and/or herbs, but the packaging of these doesn't appear to be something that can easily be recycled.

Jerky

Jerky can easily be made at home with strips of mushrooms and other non-animal ingredients. If dry enough, it can store for months (maybe longer) in glass jars. You can easily use a dehydrator and all the same settings plus ingredients of a meat-based recipe with oyster mushrooms, portabella, and even lion's mane.

A growing number of companies are now offering a variety of flavors, textures, and spice levels of pre-packaged jerky which we have found is perfect for traveling, hiking, biking, and camping.

Some brands we've enjoyed so far include:

Both of the brands above are gluten-free!

Sausages

Breakfast Sausages & Patties

Breakfast sausages and patties are usually found in the meat aisle, the frozen aisle's vegetarian doors, and sometimes in the tofu section.

They can also be made at home using fairly common ingredients like mushroom, beans, and grains. Rarer grains like quinoa may be sold with other bagged grains, or sometimes in the baking aisle.

Hot Dogs

These usually have wheat, but they can come gluten-free (usually pea- or soy-based), and some companies/recipes make them from carrots.

Lightlife offers very realistic hot dogs in small and "jumbo" sizes. They are perfect with your regular toppins like ketchup, mustard, and relish which are all vegan. If you like mayo with your hot dogs, there are a number of good vegan brands, or you can even make your own. 

This is one of the few brands we have found that are gluten-free, but some store-brands have also created their own allergy-safe versions.

Pepperoni

Some companies make pepperoni with pork, beef, or a combination of meats. Vegan companies have been creating pepperoni for a while, but most appear to have wheat in the recipe. 

For those that can't eat wheat, Daiya offers a pepperoni pizza and meatless meat lover's pizza which is gluten and soy free. The recipe in this section is gluten-free, and is essentially a block of tofu with spices. It's very easy to make, and you can reduce the amount of paprika or other strong spices if you find them too strong or are cooking for children.

Soyrizo

A growing number of grocery shops offer soyrizo, usually alongside their tofu and vegan cheeses.

This is soy-based meat with sauce, and needs to be cooked up until the liquid condences. Add veggies, scrambled vegan egg, and whatever else you'd usually mix with soyrizo. 

Steak Strips

Several companies make steak strips, and some are working on full sized steaks. You can find these in the Vegetarian/Vegan/Plant-Based section of the frozen aisle in a growing number of popular groceries.

Grants & Funding

International