Nuts, seeds, legumes, grains … Nature offers lots of alternatives to meat. Do you already regularly choose not to eat meat and instead go for a vegetable meat-substitute? There are boundless possibilities to extract protein directly from plants and at the same time eat delicious and varied vegetarian foods. Check out some of the options below.
Seitan originates from Japan and is made from wheat gluten. It is deliciously savoury, extremely versatile, and its structure resembles that of meat. Seitan is made by rinsing and kneading wheat flour dough in water for a long time until a sticky mass remains which for the most part consists of gluten. By cutting the resultant gluten mass into strips and cooking it in a broth with shoyu, ginger and seaweed, you get seitan. Seitan is deliciously spicy. You can bake it, fry it, grill it, or simply warm it up, and so use it in so many dishes such as vegetarian goulash, hash, and sate.
Tempeh originates from Indonesia and just like tofu is a soya bean product, with the difference that it is made from whole soya beans. You can also use tempeh as a meat substitute in vast range of different dishes.
Tempeh is made by adding the spores of a special fungus to cooked and dehulled soya beans. The fungus turns the mix into cake-form and gives it a specific taste. Tempeh is slightly heavier to digest than tofu.
Tofu, also known as bean curd, is a cheese-like meat-substitute made from soya beans. The taste is neutral, so that it fits easily in many dishes and you can tastefully marinate it yourself. To make tofu soya beans are soaked and finely ground into a puree. The puree is cooked and filtered in plenty of water. The soya milk that develops is curdled, resulting in whey and tofu protein. In the final stage the proteins are squeezed into blocks and the superfluous fluid removed.
The compacted tofu is solid and you can cut it into blocks or slices. You can bake, grill, cook, fry or steam it, or serve it in soup. Soft tofu is better suited to mix in dishes. Besides natural tofu, you can also choose different flavours such as smoked, herbal, or saté tofu.
Paneer is the Indian Vedic variant of tofu. This product is made from organic milk. Paneer adds a delicious taste to salads (natural) or to vegetable dishes (when fried or baked). Paneer is the ultimate meat-substitute and is made according to a Vedic recipe.
Wilmersburger is the cheese-substitute that is convincing at every level! In terms of look, taste and consistency Wilmersburger cheese is almost indistinguishable from real cheese. But it is made from purely vegetable ingredients. This makes it also suitable for vegans and other diets. Available in grated form, various types of slices, and in blocks.
The Vegetarische Slager (Vegetarian Butcher) works to replicate a wide range of animal meats in vegetable products. Their ideal is to give meat-lovers the experience that they do not need to miss anything if they give up meat for one of more days. Products are made from purely vegetable ingredients but with the name and taste of meat: chicken pieces, meatballs, hamburgers, sausage rolls, minced meat, tuna, bacon, shawarma, steak, bami-slices, spring rolls, bratwurst, king prawns, as well as those Dutch specialities kroketten (croquettes), bitterballen and frikandel (a kind of skinless sausage).
Taifun are meat-substitutes on the basis of soya, 100% vegetable, vegan, 100% made from organic ingredients and sometimes also gluten-free. Available as burgers, sausages, sandwich fillings or as blocks.
Florentin is a brand oriented on Mediterranean and Eastern foods with a range of organic spreads and snacks.
De Hobbit: ‘Food for Veggienista’. Fine meat-substitutes from a small Belgian company with its roots in macrobiotics. Burgers, small pieces, slices, minced meat, all from organic ingredients and some suitable for vegans.
Wheaty products are world-class pure vegan meat-substitutes. Gyros, doner, kebabs, sausages, steak, medaillons, and more.
Vegetarian handmade specialities. Soto focuses on finger-food: mini-spring rolls, finger meatballs, mini-kroketten (croquettes). Often completely vegetable, so suitable for vegans.