Simply Vegan Baking & Cooking – 9 Great Substitutes

Easy vegan baking and cooking – 9 great substitutes

Alexandra Wiesinger Published on December 2, 2019

Veganism has become increasingly popular in recent years, and cooking and baking with vegan alternatives to animal products is gaining more and more attention. But you don't have to be vegan to enjoy plant-based substitutes. Having one or two vegan days a week not only has health benefits, such as a lower risk of diabetes, but is also good for the planet.

At first glance, vegan cooking and baking can seem quite complicated and laborious. But that's not the case, which is why we're presenting the 9 best vegan alternatives for cooking and baking in today's blog post. With our tips, you'll be able to whip up a plant-based and healthy breakfast in no time.

Vegan breakfast from Verival

The 9 best vegan substitutes for animal products

1. Agave syrup instead of honey

Many vegans avoid honey because it is produced by bees and is therefore strictly speaking an animal product. A delicious and equally sweet alternative to honey is agave syrup. Agave syrup is, as the name suggests, extracted from agave and is even sweeter than sugar. You should therefore use agave syrup sparingly. Agave syrup is particularly good for sweetening your morning warm oatmeal, yogurt with muesli or crunchy, and for baking various desserts.

2. Apple sauce, avocado, and flaxseed as an egg alternative

When baking, you can easily use apple sauce or another fruit puree as a binding agent instead of eggs. This is a very simple alternative and requires no preparation time. As a rule of thumb, one tablespoon of apple sauce replaces one egg. In savory recipes, you can also use a little avocado as a substitute for eggs. For bread or savory baked goods, you can also mix one tablespoon of flaxseed with three tablespoons of water to substitute one egg.

3. Plant-based drinks instead of cow's milk

You can easily replace animal milk for baking or cooking with plant-based sources. Whether oat drink, almond drink, cashew drink, hazelnut drink, or rice drink, there are many different varieties that you can use for cooking or baking. Here we show you various recipes for how you can easily make plant-based drinks yourself in just a few minutes.

How to make your own plant-based milk

4. Plant-based oil instead of butter

To substitute butter in baking and cooking, you can use margarine or vegetable oil, such as canola oil or coconut oil. For about 100 g of butter, you should use about 75-80 ml of oil. A real insider tip for replacing butter is to use vegan yogurt such as soy yogurt and semolina. Mix about 120 g of yogurt with a tablespoon of semolina and let the mixture stand for a short time so that the semolina can swell. This amount can replace about 100 g of butter. However, we would advise against substituting more than 100 g of fat with this semolina-yogurt mixture, as the mixture could become somewhat rubbery.

5. Plant-based yogurt alternatives instead of animal yogurt

To replace various animal-based yogurt varieties, you can easily turn to vegan options. There is now a wide range of plant-based yogurt varieties available, such as coconut yogurt, soy yogurt, and almond- and lupine-based yogurt. There's sure to be something for everyone!

6. Yeast flakes instead of cheese

Yeast flakes have a slightly cheesy taste and can therefore be easily used as a cheese substitute in vegan cooking. Yeast flakes are pressed “flakes” made from yeast.

What's more, these little flakes are also rich in many valuable nutrients such as vitamins B1, B2, B5, B6, and folic acid. Yeast flakes also contain a lot of protein in the form of easily digestible amino acids. Yeast flakes can be easily used to make a cheese sauce, for example.

With a purely plant-based diet, it is difficult or impossible to get enough of some nutrients. The most critical nutrient is vitamin B12. Other potentially critical nutrients in a vegan diet include protein or essential amino acids and long-chain n-3 fatty acids, as well as other vitamins (riboflavin, vitamin D) and minerals (calcium, iron, iodine, zinc, selenium).

7. Agar agar instead of gelatin

Gelatin, which is obtained from animal connective tissue and bones, is often used to gel cakes. A good plant-based gelling agent that is perfect for baking is agar agar, which is obtained from dried seaweed. Agar agar can be used in both sweet and savory dishes, making it a perfect plant-based alternative to animal gelatin for your next vegan cake or pie.

8. Coconut milk instead of cream

Recipes for soups or rice dishes often call for cream, crème fraîche, or similar ingredients. A delicious vegan alternative is coconut milk. With a consistency similar to cream, this plant-based alternative can be used to make creamy sauces for dishes or soups. You can also use coconut milk in sweet dishes, such as a base for overnight oats.

9. Tofu, seitan, and more instead of meat

For vegan dishes, you can simply replace meat with lots of vegetables. You can also incorporate tofu, seitan, and tempeh into your dishes as meat substitutes. These vegan meat alternatives are just as high in protein as their animal counterparts: 100 g of seitan contains 35 g of protein.

So you see, it's not that difficult to cook and bake vegan, as there are plenty of plant-based substitutes for animal products. You can also easily make your breakfast recipes plant-based with these simple tips and alternatives.

We would love to hear from you on Instagram about which vegan alternatives you didn't know about before. 🌱 Have fun trying them out! You can easily and conveniently buy porridge or granola in our shop and enjoy them at home.