If you're vegetarian, vegan or just cutting down on meat, there are lots of tricks to make you feel like you’re still eating hearty meat dishes that are completely vegetarian. From tuna made from chickpeas to barbecue ribs made from corn, we share the best hacks for reducing your meat consumption without compromising on taste.
Lentils are an amazing swap to make if you’re trying to reduce your meat intake. The pulses are extremely versatile, and there are lots of varieties with different colours, tastes and textures. For example, green lentils are quite firm in texture, while red and yellow lentils can be cooked down to be soft and mushy in a stew or soup. Lentils are also packed with protein, fibre, potassium and iron, making them a worthy swap for meat nutritionally. They can be purchased canned and ready to use, or dried in bags, which require soaking for a few hours before use.
One of the easiest ways lentils can be used as an effective swap for meat is in lieu of minced beef. For patties or meatballs, where you need your lentils to hold their shape, blitz up green or puy lentils with flour to bind them together before shaping as required. When you want your lentils to be a little mushy, such as in a bolognese or chilli sauce, cook down red lentils with plenty of water. The trick is to be extra generous with your seasoning.
Mushrooms are also a great minced meat substitution. Finely chop your choice of mushroom until it creates a paste. This works best in a bolognese, where the rich, savoury flavour of the mushroom is a great replacement for minced beef. Try using just one type of mushroom though, such as chestnut or button.
Of course, there are plenty of plant-based alternatives available in supermarkets and they're often very realistic. The trick is to use a little extra oil in the pan when cooking to replace the natural fats you’d find in beef mince.
This stir-fry can be made vegetarian by simply switching the meat for any minced beef alternative, whether you use lentils or keep it simple with a store-bought alternative. Stir-fries are by their nature simple and quick to make, and this one is packed with tasty Chinese-inspired flavours.
Tofu is another great alternative for minced meat. It's commonly used in Mexican restaurant chain Chipotle's Vegan Sofritas, where pressed tofu is crumbled up and combined with seasonings to emulate a meat sauce, and this can be done for any sort of minced meat sauce recipe. When making meat in different sauces, the seasoning is often the most important thing rather than your choice of protein.
Packed with protein, tofu can be cut into small blocks and used in curries and stir-fries, or just seasoned and served with rice or salads. It also comes in many forms that vary in firmness. If you want a super-soft textured tofu, commonly used in broth-type soups such as miso, go for silken tofu. However, if you want something for frying, opt for a firmer variety. Supermarkets tend to stock both types, but Asian supermarkets typically offer a greater variety.
Chilli con carne is a warming and hearty favourite. This recipe calls for chunks of beef rather than finely ground mince, making it the perfect recipe to try when subbing in tofu instead of meat. Keep your crumbles nice and chunky by using a firmer tofu instead of silken. With pumpkin chunks, beans and rich, dark chocolate, we promise you'll love the veggie option as much as the original.
Usually made with chicken or lamb, this tasty vegan take on a traditional tandoori dish uses plenty of spices, peas, onions and garlic to create a dry-ish marinade. The recipe uses tofu instead of meat which, when seasoned correctly, is just as delicious, and filled with just as much protein.
Goa might be known for its fish curries, but this tasty recipe uses tofu instead. The tofu is marinated before being combined with a homemade masala sauce made up of coconut milk, tamarind and an impressive combination of spices. Garnished with chilli and coriander, it can be eaten alone or with a serving of rice and naan bread.
Sweet and sour is a classic Chinese takeaway favourite, and you can easily make the dish veggie. This homemade sweet and sour tofu recipe uses ketchup, agave syrup and plenty of chilli to form the classic sweet and sour glaze. Best of all, it only needs 10 minutes in the pan, making it a perfect vegetarian midweek meal.
Did you know that chickpeas can be used as an alternative to tuna in sandwich fillings? This is known as chickpea tuna, or 'chuna'. Just mash up your chickpeas roughly with a fork and add whatever toppings you normally would to a tuna salad (such as mayonnaise, sweetcorn and red onions). When mashed, the chickpeas take on a texture like that of tuna mayo. To further emulate the fishy flavour, try adding a small amount of nori (a type of seaweed).
This is everything you need to know about cooking with chickpeas
Chickpeas are a great source of protein, so swap them in for the meat usually found in popular curry or stir-fry dishes. Bought in cans, these legumes are super-cheap and will last a long time in your cupboard. Of course, the texture and taste are different from that of meat. In a curry or stew, however, the point is to let the sauce and its spices take the limelight, making chickpeas a cheap and tasty veggie swap.
This chicken almond curry has a long list of spices, which create a fragrant and flavourful sauce. Given that the sauce is the main event in this recipe, this is the perfect dish to switch out chicken for chickpeas. The flavours will be just as delicious, only with a meat-free protein.
A rich Thai green curry is a takeaway favourite, with fragrant lemongrass and ginger as well as plenty of colourful vegetables. It's a meal that's about celebrating flavourful ingredients, so why not swap the chicken in this recipe for chickpeas to make it fully veggie? Don't forget to omit the fish sauce (you can buy vegan alternatives in most supermarkets).
Banana blossom is a large purple flower that grows at the end of a bunch of bananas, and its flesh has a flaky consistency like that of grilled fish. It’s usually sold in cans and the most common way to eat it is battered or fried. It can also be used to make fish cakes or flaked on salads. Again, use nori for seasoning to give it that fishy flavour.
This fish cake recipe calls for any white fish, which can easily be swapped out for banana blossom. You can omit the fish sauce too, making the dish completely vegetarian. Thanks to the generous seasoning, the difference in taste is negligible.
Fish and chips are a classic, quintessentially British favourite; battered fish fillets and chunky chips with tangy tartare sauce is the ultimate comfort food. Try this recipe for fish and chips, but swap the fish fillets for banana blossom to make it a vegetarian version.
Cauliflower is an increasingly common alternative to chicken wings. Simply chop your cauliflower head into individual florets before seasoning and frying (or baking in the oven) until tender. As is the case with most plant-based alternatives, the seasoning and toppings are super-important, so be generous and use your favourite dipping sauces too.
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This is a wings recipe where the chicken can easily be swapped out for cauliflower florets. The seasoning uses gochujang, which is a spicy Korean chilli paste, as well as fresh herb butter and lime, giving the wings plenty of flavour. You won’t even notice that it’s cauliflower under all that delicious seasoning.
Get the recipe for chicken wings with gochujang, lime and herb butter here
Veggie burgers are a great way to embrace vegetarian food; where you don’t have to disguise the taste of the vegetables as you might have to with other plant-based alternatives. You can use any number of plant-based proteins to make your burger patties, such as lentils, chickpeas or plant-based mince.
This vegetarian recipe replaces a traditional beef patty with grilled portobello mushrooms, which are known for their juiciness. The portobello mushroom is stacked with sliced tomatoes marinated with rice vinegar, soy sauce, sugar, onion, chilli and ginger, before being topped with steamed spinach. The Asian-inspired flavours used in the recipe make for a truly tasty burger.
Get the recipe for spinach, tomato and mushroom burgers here
This is a vegan burger where the patty is made up of chestnut mushrooms, black beans, peanut butter and a wide variety of seasonings, which are blitzed up with flour to bind the mixture together. Once a paste is formed, use your hands to form patties, then pop them on the grill or barbecue to cook. The burgers are packed with protein from the black beans, and have a rich umami flavour because of the mushrooms.
Get the recipe for chipotle, mushroom and black bean burgers here
Jackfruit is widely available, usually found in the canned food section. It has quite a mild flavour, so its texture is what makes this fruit unique. It lends itself spectacularly to emulating the texture of pulled or shredded meat – think pulled pork sliders or crispy duck pancakes. When loaded up with plenty of seasoning, it’s really hard to tell the difference.
One recipe where meat can be substituted with jackfruit is in this slow-cooked pulled pork recipe. The sauce is completely plant-based, so just chuck everything in your slow cooker and let the jackfruit marinate for a simple, midweek dinner. The recipe calls for the main to be served with coleslaw, but if you want the meal to be completely plant based, swap it for a vegan coleslaw.
Another suggestion for using jackfruit is in these pulled pork tacos. With plenty of spices used alongside orange juice in the marinade, your jackfruit will be juicy and tender. These tacos are perfect to serve up for guests' fajita-style, where everyone can build their own as they like them. Serve with tangy homemade pickle.
This one is a bit different, but bear with us. By cutting down an ear of corn vertically, it’s easy to create 'spears' of corn, giving the satisfaction of eating 'off the bone' – but it's completely vegetarian. Here's one of our favourite rib recipes to try with corn rather than ribs.
This recipe for sweet sticky ribs is inspired by traditional Chinese cuisine, using fragrant ginger and spring onion alongside hot chillies, Shaoxing wine and five-spice. Skip the oyster sauce and use the glaze recipe step-by-step on your spears of corn, you have yourself vegan ribs.
Sometimes, vegetables are at their best when they’re just left to be vegetables. When cutting down your meat consumption, it can be more manageable to use plant-based replacements, but vegetables are just as delicious without having to do much to them. For example, this vegetarian recipe for toad in the hole uses hearty root vegetables, such as carrots, beetroots and parsnips, in lieu of sausages. With minimal seasoning, the vegetables are left to shine just as they are.
Familiarising yourself with common vegan swaps and ingredients will help you whip up meals without thinking. This round-up of the best vegan ingredients has all the information you need to easily make the change and become more confident using products you've never used before.