Make your transition to plant-based eating easy with simple swaps! You won’t miss the meat if you have these substitutions on hand AND know how to use them. I know, it can be tricky to get started. Trust me here, these 10 easy food substitutions for plant-based eating are just that … easy! It’s super easy to figure out what to take OFF your shopping list. I’m here to help you figure out what to put ON your shopping list.
Knowing how to easily replace animal-based ingredients with plant-based ingredients will save you time and money but most of all will save you stress! Once you get the hang of it, you will find it is pretty straight forward. It is a great time to be vegetarian with so many new plant-based products and ample amounts of resources for veganizing any recipe.
If you want to make your plant-based habits stick, my best advice is to ease into it. Going cold turkey is super hard until you get the hang of it! Start slowly with these 10 Easy Food Substitutions For Plant-Based Eating.
Tara’s Tuesday Tips:
10 Easy Food Substitutions For Plant-Based Eating
Simply put, plant-based means not eating foods that contain animal products (meat, milk, eggs, or honey). Eating this way has been proven to help with weight loss, prevent and even reverse diabetes, heart disease, and other chronic conditions. In addition, a plant-based diet is so much better for the planet!
So … you know What A Plant-Based Diet Is and you want to Eat More Plants. Next, figure out If Your Body Is Telling You To Go Plant Based. No matter what your reason is to decrease the amount of animal products you consume, this list is your new BFF.
Substitute “Fake” Meat For Meat
I’m going to get the obvious one out of the way. When you embark on your plant-based journey, you might miss meat and that is ok! There has never a better time in plant-based history to go shopping for a meat substitute! From chicken to ground beef and even fish! Get crazy + creative by walking down the frozen food section of any grocery store. You will find everything you need to replace your usual meat product with a “fake meat” product. Check your labels for eggs and processed junk that sneak into some of these! Check out my The Fake Meat Guide!
Replace Milk With Dairy-Free “Milk”
First on my list was the most obvious. Second on my list is the easiest. The options are endless. Above all, readily available anywhere and everywhere. Including in your morning coffee at your favorite coffee shop. Oat milk is my favorite dairy-free option because it is very high in soluble fiber, calcium + vitamin D. Above all, oat milk has NONE of the saturated fat and a fraction of the calories found in dairy milk.
Turn your oats at home into milk! Full how-to here. Easy + quick. Great substitute in a recipe or over cereal, oats, or muesli. Check out my guide to milk alternatives here for other options. Put oat milk on your shopping list. I use Oatly! Milk substitutes have never been more readily available!! They are everywhere! This is by far one of the easiest food substitutions for plant-based eating.
One Of The Most Important Food Substitutions
For Plant-Based Eating: SALAD DRESSING!
I am like a broken record with this one. Reading salad dressing labels is exhausting. Be careful! LOTS of animal products make their way into those cute (admittedly irresistible) jars and bottles. This is a swap I feel VERY passionate about. Too many ingredients, too much sugar, way too much fat and oils and random things you just don’t need. Vegetarian or not, ditch the store-bought dressings. Still not sure? Check out my Guide to Oil-Free Salad Dressings.
Alternatively, you could make a super simple, creamy plant-based salad dressing by using an avocado or unsweetened coconut yogurt. Hummus works too! So, add silken tofu, a can of chickpeas, an avocado, dry spices, and lemon juice to your shopping list.
Nutritional Yeast In Place of Cheese
A vegan, gluten-free, sugar-free, fat-free food product that has a cheesy, savory, nutty flavor. Nutritional Yeast is extremely versatile and can be used in your everyday cooking from snacks to soups to pastas and even tofu. When you are looking for easy food substitutions for plant-based eating, go grab yourself some nooch! It makes things taste like cheese! Trust me! It’s not hard to find, you can buy it on Amazon or Target or in any grocery store! Still not sure? Check this out: Nutritional Yeast 101.
Nice Cream Instead of Ice Cream
Another one of my favorites. Bananas + fruit + a hint of unrefined sugar if you like. Heavy cream + milk are animal products and need to come off the shopping list if you are trying to adopt a plant-based lifestyle. Nice cream has no heavy cream, no milk, no refined sugar. YUM! Not sure how to make Nice Cream? Check out my recipe here. Put bananas + your favorite fruit on your shopping list, maybe some nuts and dairy-free chocolate chips too!
Swap Hummus For Mayo
I LOVE HUMMUS! When compared to mayo do I really need to go there? Mayonnaise is made of oil + eggs + vinegar making it 90 calories + 10 grams of saturated fat in 1 tbsp! Oh my! As compared to hummus made of chickpeas + lemon + garlic + tahini making it only 70 calories + 2.5 grams of unsaturated fat PLUS 4 grams of protein + 2 grams of fiber.
Your sandwich can still have that creamy + flavorful taste, try it! Start with my recipe for Cilantro Jalapeno Hummus (Oil-Free!). Put a can of chickpeas + a jar of tahini on your shopping list right now!
Put Plant-Based Butter on Your Shopping List
There are SO MANY plant-based butters in grocery stores now! Find them right next to the dairy butters. My favorite is Miyoko’s Creamery. Tastes like butter and even acts like butter in baking + cooking. Other options are coconut oil or avocado oil. I’m not a huge fan of adding oils but when easing into a plant-based lifestyle, but these options are a real life-saver. I use dairy-free butter in my Vegan Buckwheat Chocolate Chip Cookies and Vegan Chai Sugar Cookies.
Take Gelatin Off Your Shopping List
Sorry but gelatin is an animal product and therefore not plant-based. Marshmallows and those wiggly, colorful candy and jellies we all love get their texture from the bones, hooves, ligaments, and tendons of animals. Gross. Wait! Don’t give up! Your candy-eating days are not over. There are substitutions but this one is a bit time consuming. You need to scan the labels of any gel-like product you intend to eat and look for gelatin in the ingredient list. My Halloween Survival Guide will help get you started. Most gelatin-free candies now are labeled plant-based or vegan.
Make “Cheesy” Sauce With
Cauliflower or Cashews or Potatoes
Cashew or cauliflower cream is incredibly creamy! It is amazing how well these work in alfredo sauce or queso. Potatoes work too! Seriously I want to call it cheesy magic. On my list of easy food substitutions for plant-based eating, this is one of the most popular amongst plant-based eaters!
Simply soak cashews in hot water and blend them. You can then use this as a replacement for heavy cream or sour cream in recipes. I go into more detail in these recipes where I use cashews instead of cheese: Easiest Vegan Broccoli Cheddar Soup, Roasted Jalapeno Blender Queso (Dairy Free + Easy!) or here where I use cauliflower to make an “alfredo” sauce for pasta. In this Vegan Potato Cheese Sauce, I make an incredibly delicious cheese sauce out of potatoes! Put cashews, cauliflower, and potatoes on your shopping list!
Swap Eggs For …
I have a lot to say about egg replacements 😊 because we do not eat eggs. I am an egg-replacement expert 🥇. Here are my easy plant-based food substitutions for eggs:
- Flax: 1 tbsp ground flax + 3 tbsp water = 1 egg
- Chia Seeds: 1 tbsp chia seeds + 1/3 cup water = 1 egg (good for density + nutty flavor)
- Bananas: ½ mashed banana = 1 egg (adds sweetness and texture). Try it out in this Easy Blender Waffles Recipe.
- Applesauce: ¼ cup unsweetened applesauce = 1 egg (adds thick moisture but does not make your recipe fluffy)
- Commercial egg substitutes: Follow Your Heart Vegan Egg, Ener-G Egg Substitute, Bob’s Red Mill Egg Replacer Gluten- Free. Try it out in this Peanut Butter Banana Bread Recipe.
- Craving scrambled eggs but don’t have eggs? Use Tofu: Try it out in this Easy Tofu Scramble Recipe.
- Vinegar & Baking Soda: 1 tsp baking soda + 1 tbsp vinegar = 1 egg
- Yogurt: ¼ cup plain yogurt = 1 egg
- Arrowroot Powder: 1 tbsp arrowroot + 3 tbsp water = 1 egg
- Aquafaba: 3tbsp aquafaba + 1 egg. Liquid from canned chickpeas, replaces egg whites. Adds a light fluffy texture to your baked goods. Best recipe here for Aqua Faba Vegan Meringue.
Food For Thought:
Old Ways Won’t Open New Doors
Change is difficult. Very difficult. So, start small. You don’t have to finish reading this and commit to going vegan, or switch to a completely whole food, plant-based diet. However, if you have finished reading this and realize it’s time to reset something in your life, remember your old ways need to change to open the new door. Consider giving up just one or two of your old animal-based eating habits. These 10 easy food substitutions for plant-based eating are just that … easy!
Try just one or two at first! Perhaps start by making sure your breakfast is always plant-based (super easy one, try oats!). Another idea is to pick two days of the week and on those days, you make a dinner without any animal products. One small change might ignite another small change and before you know it your old ways are changing, and you are on your way to letting food be your medicine. So happy you are here! Make these substitutions and see how easy (and yummy) plant-based eating can be.
All the best,
Tara 💚
Recipes sound really good..