New to Vegan Cooking? Top Vegan Ingredient Substitutions

If you are a new vegan or are new to vegan cooking (contrary to popular belief, you don’t have to be vegan to love vegan food!), you may need to learn ingredient substitutions you can use for your old recipes.  There are plenty of products on the market today that you can use to replace animal-based ingredients.  And your old recipes might even taste better!

Here is a list of the most popular vegan cooking substitutions:

Milk

Cow’s milk or goat’s milk is very easy to switch out.  Just use soy milk, rice milk, coconut milk, or almond milk in virtually any recipe, for cereals, or to drink straight from a glass.  Add a few ice cubes in your drinking glass for the best taste.

Cheese

There are a number of non-dairy cheeses today that combine the texture and taste of cheese that so many products failed to do in the past.  Aside from the non-dairy component of these products, vegan cheese is also a healthy option for those who are monitoring their saturated fat intake and for those who need gluten-free products.  The best brands on the market are Teese, Vegan Gourmet and Daiya.

Eggs

Replacing eggs in baking can be challenging, as they bind, leaven and give structure to baked goods.  However it can be done by using tofu, flax seeds, bananas, applesauce and yogurt (soy yogurt, of course).  And with the right seasoning, scrambled tofu has the taste and texture of scrambled eggs.  You can even throw in some vegan bacon bits for a more authentic-tasting breakfast.  Delicious!

Beef or chicken stock

This is pretty easy.  Simply replace beef or chicken stock with vegetable broth or vegetable bouillon cubes.

Butter

There are vegan margarines available that taste and cook like real butter.  Smart Balance is a good brand (read the label though, as not all Smart Balance products are vegan).  You can also use canola, sunflower, olive or corn oil to replace butter.

Yogurt

There are many delicious varieties of soy yogurt, rice yogurt and coconut milk yogurt on the market that come in all different fruit flavors, or plain.

Sour Cream

Although there are vegan sour creams on the market, they can be quite pricey.  It’s best to just make your own using plain soy yogurt.  There are many vegan sour cream recipes online for reference.

Mayonnaise

The best vegan mayonnaise on the market today is Veganaise by Follow Your Heart.  It tastes, smells, looks and feels exactly like egg-based mayo.  And it has half the fat and no cholesterol.

Gelatin

Agar flakes or agar powder will work fine in the place of gelatin, as agar will thicken as it’s heated.  Also, there are vegan fruit gelatin products available at most health food stores.

Honey

Honey can be replaced with agave syrup, corn syrup, malt syrup, light and dark molasses, and brown rice syrup.  Frozen fruit-juice concentrates and concentrated fruit syrups can also work.

Meat

There are so many products that can replace meat on the market today, farm animals across the globe have reason to smile.  These products have gotten the taste, texture, smell, look and feel of meat down to a science.

For instance, there are vegetarian deli slices, vegetarian burgers, veggie meatballs, veggie sausage links and patties, veggie bacon, veggie beef, soy chicken patties and nuggets, and even veggie meatloaf!

Ice Cream

Like yogurt, there are many vegan ice cream and ice cream treats on the market today in all different flavors and varieties.  Most of these ice cream products are made from soy, but a few can be found that are made from almond and/ or coconut milk.