Chicken Alternatives
Introduction
There are a number of reasons to avoid eating meat, including chicken. These include environmental reasons such as deforestation and water pollution, health reasons from heart disease to infection diseases, and ethical concerns as science continues to discover how intelligent and emotional these birds actually are.
Click the Chickens button to learn about the impacts and issues surrounding both backyard chickens and industrial chicken farms.
Seasonings
Mushroom Seasoning Brands like Po Lo Ku and Imperial Taste can be found in Asian markets if you live outside Asia. This seasoning adds a lovely chicken-like umami to soups, sauces, and chick'n or fishy recipes. They also tend to have vitamin D!
Garlic Salt can be substituted or combined with the above to enhance the flavor.
Not Chicken Bullion and similar products exist which generally include spices like salt, and herbs including garlic which are generally associated with chicken recipes.
Alternatives to Chicken
If you want to make chick'n alternatives from scratch, the following are some of the most convincing alternatives we've found.
Firm - Extra Firm - Super Firm Tofu
Some of the best recipes we've tried include tofu which is high in protein and has a mild flavor, meaning it can easily be flavored like anything including chicken, fish, beef, and pork.
Mushrooms
Hand-shredded mushrooms such as Lion's Main and King Oysters also make good chicken pieces as far as texture and flavor go. Go easy on the oil, and let the mushrooms get a little crispy around the edges for the best effect.
Mushrooms tend to be a lot lower on protein than tofu or chicken, so it's a good idea to find alternative ways to include protein with ingredients like peas or legume-based pastas to even things out. Blending a block of silken tofu can create a thick and creamy sauce that's packed with protein or you can use soy milk to make high-protein alfredo sauce.
Drumsticks
Like Meat offers two flavors of boneless drumsticks that come with sauces like BBQ and Buffalo Sauce. These are also good plain if you forget the sauce or want to save the sauce for other recipes.
Fillets
Gardein: Lightly Seasoned Chick’n Scallopini are gluten-free and come out crispier if you add a little corn flour. If using them to make a chick'n pot pie, crisping them up in a frying pan fire, before adding to the filling will improve their overall texture.
Holiday Roasts
The Turkey recipe below takes a particularly long time to make because you cook it, let it set and then glaze and roast it again. I like to make sure I start about 2-3 days ahead to ensure each stage has plenty of time to cook and set.
The amount of oil suggested for the glaze is absolutely insane. You can probably reduce the oil to around 1-2 tbsp to avoid overly oily results.
This roast can be altered in various ways, including switching up between chickpeas and other white or pale beans.
Nuggets
Like Meat offers a wide variety of chicken replacements, including gluten-free nuggets.
Brands Worth Trying
Like Meat offers a wide variety of chicken replacements, including nuggets and boneless drumsticks that come with sauces like BBQ and Buffalo Sauce. So far every flavor we have tried has had a satisfying texture and taste!
Gardein: Chick'n & Turkey Alternatives Most of these are not gluten-free.
Grants & Funding
International
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EA Animal Welfare Fund "The Animal Welfare Fund supports advocacy, research, and movement-building work aimed at improving the wellbeing of nonhuman animals, primarily farmed and wild animals. This includes corporate and policy advocacy, research, and the promotion of alternative products."