How can you substitute for red meat in a diet?

Answer 1

There are many delicious and nutritious substitutes for red meat. One favorite is Seitan, sometimes known as wheat-meat. It is made from the gluten (the protein) portion of wheat. When seasoned and prepared properly, it can mimic the flavors and textures of many meats. There are also many comercially available meat substitutes for red meat. Products like Gardein's imitation beef patties are so realistic you will swear that you were eating the real thing!

Answer 2

It depends on whether you want to substitute the nutritional value of meat (generally, protein and fat), or if you are looking for something that has a meat-like texture. For nutritional purposes, any non-animal proteins can be used, but it is necessary to be careful about getting a complete set of amino acids in your vegan diet if you are eating a plant-based diet. Some plants lack essential amino acids, the building blocks of proteins. For example, most plants lack lysine, but if you eat beans (legumes) you are able to get plenty of lysine because they are rich in this amino acid. However, beans lack sufficient levels of methionine, so you have to be careful to get a good source of methionine. Luckily, grains like wheat and oats are rich in methionine, and so matching beans and grains gives you a "complete protein". This "protein combining" doesn't have to happen at the same meal, and there is no exact ratio that is recommended. Variety seems to be the critical aspect of a healthy vegan diet, since lots of nuts, fruits, and vegetables are rich in methionine, and many vegan packaged foods are made of soy products (soy is a type of bean, so lacks sufficient methionine on its own).

For purposes of finding vegan products that have meat-like textures, you can look for processed foods such as TVP (texturized vegetable protein) flakes, fermented soy products like tofu and tempeh, or seitan ("wheat meat"). You can search the freezer section of your grocery store for faux chicken mcnuggets, tofu-hotdogs, etc. Most of these foods are highly processed, and might be high in sodium and/or fat, as well as chemical preservatives. The whole foods that you might use to substitute for meat nutritionally might be a better bet healthwise.