Make or Buy Plant-Based Steak & Mince

Steak and mince are popular foods, often served as part of dishes like spaghetti bolognese or shepherd’s pie. But in a country of 60 million people, we don’t have enough land for everyone to eat free-range. So even if you eat meat, most of the time it’s going to be factory-farmed, unless stated otherwise.

In fact, cows near the end of their lives are ‘fattened up’ by cramming them into pens so they can’t exercise off any calories. It’s heart-breaking if you’ve ever accidentally come across this, while out walking near a farm.

This ‘vegan steakhouse dinner’ (Exploring Vegan) uses ready-made vegan steak, served with baby potatoes and asparagus, balsamic vinegar, Dijon mustard, oregano and vegan honee.

Before cooking, read up on food safety for people and pets (don’t feed leftovers to pets, garden birds and wildfowl – due to salt, onion, garlic, spices, mushrooms etc).

Red meats are hard to digest and very high in saturated fat. Steak and mince are not good foods to eat for anyone with issues like heart disease or high cholesterol. And red meats are also linked to certain cancers.

The benefits of real steak and mince (protein and flavour) can easily be replicated both in recipes and artisan food products. Some say they are ‘not natural’. But neither is steak before it’s been seasoned. So you may as well do the same with plants. Far kinder, healthier and no factory farms involved.

‘Easy Ingredient’ Vegan Steak Recipes

The most realistic vegan steaks are made with seitan (below). But as this ingredient is not easy to find in shops, you may wish to start with vegetable steaks!

Portobello mushrooms (Veggie Desserts) offers a similar taste and mouth-fee. The marinade is based on soy sauce, with onion, garlic, salt, pepper and liquid smoke (optional but gives a more ‘steaky flavour’).

These portobello steaks (Ela Vegan) use similar marinade ingredients, but adds balsamic vinegar over liquid smoke, for a more Italian style and rich deep flavour.

Celeriac steak (The Veg Space) uses a vegetable that tastes like nutty celery, made with mustard, soy sauce and maple syrup. As this does not have protein, Kate likes to serve this with butter bean mash.

Homemade Vegan ‘Seitan Steaks’

Elephantastic Vegan is a simple recipe made with vital wheat gluten flour (the flour is washed with water to remove the starch). The steaks are marinated, grilled and served with vegan herb butter, roast potatoes and BBQ sauce.

This vegan seitan steak (It Doesn’t Taste Like Chicken) is another simple recipe to try. Marinated with soy sauce, mustard and vegan Worcestershire sauce, then sweetened with maple syrup.

Sam is so expert at making vegan meats, she even has an online course: Seitan School will stop food waste, as you will no longer be throwing out rubbery seitan steak attempts!

Unfortunately in the world world, there are a lot of unappetising named foods: nutritional yeast, tempeh, quinoa and seitan. If I could rebrand I totally would. But what can you do? Sam Turnbull

Where to Buy Vegan Steak and Mince

Most of these vegan steak companies are from Europe, where the ‘sustainable soya’ issue is big, so in most cases the soy is from Europe, and never from rainforests. If you’re vegan for allergy reasons, check each package as a few may share manufacturing plants, so may not be suitable. 

Most councils now recycle soft plastic packaging. If not, pop it in the supermarket plastic packaging bin, next time you’re passing.

Vivera is a Dutch company that makes plant-based steak and mince. High in iron and vitamin B12, you’ll find this brand in most major supermarkets (it’s sold in 27,000 supermarkets across Europe). Just heat the steaks in a little oil in a pan, and they’re ready in around 12 minutes.

Nice with a fresh green salad for a low-carb high-protein meal. Made from wheat and soy protein. The same company also make plant-based mince for all your veggie recipes.

planted.steak is a Swiss food product in classic, Mexican or paprika flavours. Made from sustainable soy  and pea proteins alongside rapeseed oil, it’s high in protein, low in saturated fat and packed with iron and vitamin B12.

Juicy Marbles uses natural ingredients (secret recipe!) to create gourmet plant-based steaks and joints, you seriously would not know the difference. Also available for food service, they are also super-easy to cook.

Redefine is one of the new lab-created meat companies, this brand is eaten and served by chef Marco Pierre White. It’s like ‘real meat’, but created with plant-based non-GM wheat and soy protein, alongside beetroot and yeast extract. Available for food service.

Magpye Vegan Steak Pies (with no palm oil)

Magpye is an amazing company in Northumberland, where a couple make vegan pies (without palm oil) then fill them with vegan steak and chicken, and sometimes vegan steak and blue cheese!

Every single ‘vegan steak bale’ on sale in shops contains palm oil. You can make your own vegan steak bakes (with homemade pastry to avoid palm oil).

Inspiration from Abroad: Vegan Steak and Mince

• Abbott’s ground ‘beef’ is made from pea protein, an earthy umami flavour of porcini mushrooms with onion and thyme. Simply heated in a pan or air-fryer, it’s ideal for shepherd’s pie, spaghetti bolognese or simple stuffed peppers.
• Sons of Butchers Mince Cheat (Ireland) is from fourth-generation butchers who went from herds to herbs! It also makes burgers, meatballs and sausages!