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How To Use Plant-Based Meat

Plant – based products are becoming more and more popular. Grocery stores, restaurants and fast-food chains are now offering more plant-based choices. There are many reasons to choose plant-based meat over regular meat products. Maybe you want to lower cholesterol by eating less saturated fat, increase your fibre intake or reduce your environmental footprint. Whatever the reason, this article will talk about some great plant-based products that are available and how you can use them in your everyday cooking.

Yves Veggie Cuisine has been around for over 20 years, producing a wide variety of plant-based products that are quick and easy to use. They come in many different forms that are similar to how you would find meat products. For example: ground, burger patties, sausages and even deli slices. This makes it easy to incorporate these products into your favourite meals:

• Sauté Yves ground round and add to tomato sauce for a plant-based Bolognese
• Swap out Yves hamburger patties and hot dogs at your next BBQ
• Use Yves veggie pepperoni for a perfectly plant-based pizza
• Give your breakfast a plant-based protein boost by adding Yves veggie bacon or breakfast patties

Most of Yves’ products contain soy or wheat protein and have been fortified with vitamins and minerals. They are a good source of protein, iron and B12, and are low in saturated fat! However, they can be high in salt.

Beyond Meat is the new kid on the block when it comes to plant-based meat products. They too offer plant-based meats in easy-to-use forms such as burger patties, ground round, sausages, meatballs, and breakfast sausages.

• Craving chili? Swap out ground beef with Beyond Beef plant-based ground
• Beyond Meatballs are great smothered in tomato sauce in a meatball sub
• Cook up some beyond sausages then slice them up and stir into a plant-based rice casserole

Beyond Meat boasts about how their products have the same look and texture of meat. Unlike Yves, these products are pea protein based, meaning they contain no gluten or soy. They are an excellent source of protein and vitamin B12. They are slightly higher in saturated fat than the Yves brand products so that is something to keep in mind.

Another great way of adding plant-based proteins to your diet is through pulses. Pulses include foods like chickpeas, lentils, dry peas, and beans! Pulses are a great source of protein and fibre, are low in fat and are good for the environment. They are also important for gut and heart health. Pulses come in a variety of different forms such as dried, canned, or frozen, or in dips and spreads like hummus. You can also find pastas made with lentil, bean or chickpea flour. Pulses can often be used to replace meat in a variety of different recipes:

• Use cooked lentils instead of ground pork as a taco filling
• Mash up some chickpeas and mix with mayo for a plant-based “tuna” salad sandwich
• Replace half or all the meat with red beans in a delicious chili
• Make bean burgers! Blend together 3 cups of cooked black or kidney beans with a ½ package of onion soup mix, ½ cup bread crumbs and 2 eggs. Let it sit in the fridge, form patties and fry in a non-stick frying pan with vegetable oil.