Although it’s good to eat ‘natural foods’ (like lentils), most people like the taste of meat. But in a country of 60 million people, there is not enough land for everyone to eat free-range. So if you (don’t agree with factory-farming, it’s necessary for everyone to eat plant-based for at least of the time. This recipe for celeriac steak (The Veg Space) uses a less common vegetable (that tastes like nutty celery). Serve with mashed potato and vegan gravy.
If your council does not collect plastic packaging, recycle at supermarket bag bins. Read up on keeping people & pets safe in the kitchen (many vegan meats are unsafe near animal friends, due to onion, garlic, spices etc).
why try vegan beef, steak or mince?
Obviously, the kindest option for cows is not to eat them, and there are many good vegan steak brands on the market these days. If you do eat real beef, Compassion in World Farming says that the only way (if you eat meat) to buy more ethical beef (or lamb) is to look for the words ‘organic, ‘grass-fed’ or ‘access to pasture’ on the packaging, meaning the animals have been reared outdoors, with access to pasture. Labels like ‘RSPCA-assured’ are not as stringent. And Red Tractor simply means the meat adheres to minimum legislation (with a few welfare add-ons) but does not address issues like tethering of dairy cows or confinement of sows during farrowing.
where to buy good vegan steak & mince
Oumph (Sweden) makes good faux meats, made with European-grown sustainable soy. Nearby in Finland, one company even makes ‘beef’ from oats!
Vivera Steaks are simple to prepare, just fry for 10 minutes. Good with new potatoes and salad or vegetables. The same company also makes vegan mince, ideal for a spaghetti bolognese.
Sgaia (Scotland) sells vegan steaks made from ‘wheat-meat’ (enjoyed by Buddhists in Asia for thousands of years). This company was created by two Italian foodies, so everything tastes good! It’s easy to cook with and cold cuts are good in sandwiches. Once open, keep in an airtight container in the fridge, and eat within a few days. Not for gluten intolerance or allergies.
a homemade vegan steak bake (not Gregg’s!)
The problem now in England is that we tend to live our lives by marketing. Every single ‘vegan steak bake’ on sale (Gregg’s, Gingsters, Quorn, Aldi) contains palm oil. Which most vegans these days don’t eat. Make your own vegan steak bakes (School Night Vegan) and make your own pastry (to avoid palm oil).
Most people are aware that the palm oil industry is responsible for destroying habitats of orangutans and other endangered creatures. Greenpeace says the term ‘sustainable palm oil’ is just a self-policed term with no legal backbone. They say the phrase is ‘as useful as a chocolate teapot’. Palm oil is used (over local rapeseed oil that supports our farmers) because it’s cheap. It also travels thousands of miles to get here (and saturated fat is bad for our hearts).
what on earth is redefined ‘vegan’ steak?
You may have heard of 3-D printed meat, which sounds like cells (Frankenstein-style) of meat going through a photocopier. In fact, it’s a very exciting development as unlike ‘cultured meat’ (which still uses animal cells), this is a plant-based invention that uses clean technology to make ‘real meat’ but without meat! Don’t eat raw.
The most realistic way to stop animals being slaughtered (and also good for pet food), it’s being used already by top chefs who say it’s the same quality without the cruelty. This is so like-for-like that it even has fibrous cells and muscles. It tastes just the same, and cuts the same with a knife and fork.
The main brand is Israel’s Redefine Meat that offer steaks and meat pies, along with other products that are already being sold in pubs and restaurants. Chef Marco Pierre White not only uses it in his restaurants, but eats it himself a few times a week. And it’s recently gone on sale at online supermarket Ocado.
3D meat is also being used to produce some ‘meat pet foods’. Note this is not the same as ‘3D or 4D meat from ‘downed, dying, diseased or dead’ animals’ to create more profits for companies producing cheap pet foods. Read more on how to find better brands of pet food.
The company says that replacing one monthly beef steak with Redefine Meat could save the annual equivalent drinking water of China and India combined (or weekly, the same as an entire year’s drinking water for the global population). And as making beef uses 60% of agricultural land, replacing one meal with Redefine Meat would free up land 1.5 times the size of Spain (or 13% of Amazon rainforest). And remove the same Co2 emissions as 86 million family-sized cars.
Now sold in a dozen countries (including steakhouses and artisan butchers), most items are made with soy and wheat, along with beetroot (for the ‘blood’), yeast extract, coconut fat and rapeseed oil. The range includes beef flank and mince and premium burger patties along with sausages and lamb. Many pubs are now serving it for vegan roast dinners.
Tender is a similar company that shapes plant-based ingredients to ‘shape into muscle fibres’ to mimic steak, burgers, sausages, pork, chicken breast and crab meat, promising eaters they would never know the difference.
vegan ‘beef’ brands from abroad (to inspire)
These brands are rarely sold here (and it’s best to eat local). But sometimes it’s good to look beyond our borders, to see what international friends are up to, over the water. These vegan ‘beef, steak & mince’ food brands offer superior ‘meats’ made with natural ingredients, that taste like the real thing. They are very successful companies, food for thought for similar ideas back here!
Abbot’s Butcher (US) is a family company in California that makes popular plant-based mince (high in protein due to yellow peas and flavoured with herbs, spice and vinegars). These plant-based meals emit far fewer emissions and save water over real meat. The ‘ground beef’ is made with onion, thyme and porcini mushrooms (the company also makes faux chicken and chorizo).
Sons of Butchers (Ireland) are fourth-generation butchers who went from herds to herbs! The range includes faux mince, burgers, meatballs and sausages. And recently-launched vegan cheese (nozzarella and chedda cheats!)
Sunfed Bull-Free Beef (New Zealand) is hugely popular, along with its steak, boar-free bacon and chicken-free chicken! Made with natural high-protein ingredients, these are great in all your favourite recipes.
Veef (Australia) was devised by an award-winning chefs to create plant-based ‘beef’ steaks, along with veef brisket and pulled veef. The company also makes a ‘vegan roast chicken’ and chicken mushroom burgers.
