Pork Alternatives
Seasonings
Bacon Salt tastes a lot like bacon and is great on foods like tofu, potatoes, mushroom soup, potato soup, and popcorn.
Mushroom Seasoning is great for a simple umami
Garlic Salt can also work alone, but it'll work even better when combined with mushroom seasoning.
Bacon
The best bacon alternatives we've tried so far (from best to "good enough") were:
DIY Recipes
Mushroom
Tempeh
Tofu
Brand / Pre-Made
Bac'n Bits are found with the meat-based bacon pieces you can often find in the salad topping section of the sauce isle, usually alongside other crunchy toppings like croutons.
Tempeh preflavored to taste like bacon.
Sausages
Impossible Sausages This brand offers
Fat brat-type sausages usually in the meat isle with other ground beef and sausages. These are great fried up in a pan with some canola or vegan butter and eaten with some veggies and mashed potatoes. You can also take them out of the pan once they are cooked on the outside and chop them into coins, then fry them on each side before throwing them into pasta, spaghetti, egg foo yung, or whatever feels right.
Breakfast patties, usually in the frozen isle's vegan section. These are nice to just snack on, in sandwiches or really however.
Those gross/soft tubes of "uncooked meat" - I hate touching this because it feels so much like real meat and the spices stick to my hands as I'm trying to wash the grease off. That said this stuff is great for making DIY sausages, sausage rolls, pasta bakes, and I'm betting it'd work for vegan or vegetarian scotch eggs.
Lightlife Dogs are soy-based, gluten-free, and high in potassium. They come in small and jumbo sizes, but both taste the same.
Snacks
Bacon-Flavored Popcorn
Pop corn bags are known to have dangerous chemicals (in fact popcorn bags are one of the most notorious pathways for PFAS to enter our bodies), but you can easily buy plain, un-popped corn which is usually sold with the bagged types. These are super easy to cook for a big movie night. When I first went vegan, the guys I shared movie night with poked fun at me for going meat free, and they kinda teased me for making popcorn from scratch. I threw in one handful of corn per person into a pot with a glass lid, used enough vegan ghee, butter, or margarine to cover the bottom of the pot in a thin layer, plus a little knob extra, then I would heat them up on about medium. When the first 1-3 pieces popped, I'd turn the heat down by about 2 numbers to avoid burning the pieces at the bottom.
When the popping sound died down I would turn off the heat, and pour the corn into a big bowl. Then I'd add some more butter to the pot (don't bother turning the heat back on), until it melted, and then drizzled this over the corn.
I'd throw the corn back into the pot for a moment with the lid on just to give it a really good shake, then add some bacon salt to taste and shake it some more. Dump the popcorn back into the bowl before it gets soggy, and enjoy.
The guys often complained that I hadn't made enough, and even sheepishly requested that I make them some more before the end of the night.
I hope you love this super easy recipe as much as they did :3
Grants & Funding
International
Beyond Animal "Where investors and vegan businesses meet" "Using technology, for online funding, networking and business services, to accelerate the transition to an economy free of animal exploitation. Our vision: a kinder, cleaner, healthier world."
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."