Doing Veganuary? Don’t know where to start?
You should also check out my Recipe section
DAIRY REPLACEMENTS
- Vegetable Spread: Flora Freedom (recommended!), Pure Sunflower/Soya, Suma, Vitalite, Biona etc.
- Dairy Free Cheese: Vegusto/Tofutti/Sheese/Violife etc.
- Plant Milks: Soy/Rice/Almond/Oat/Hemp/Coconut etc.
- Yoghurts: Nush/COYO/Alpro/Soy etc.
- Dairy Free Ice Creams: Booja Booja/Swedish Glace/Ben & Jerry’s Dairy Free/Cornetto Vegan/Magnum Vegan/Northern Bloc (Vegan ones)/ etc.
PROTEIN
- Tofu: Extra firm for cooking or silken for sauces and desserts.
- Seitan: Meat replacement made from wheat gluten – great ‘meaty’ texture.
- Peas: Garden peas (frozen or canned).
- Beans: (Dried and/or canned) – kidney beans, black beans, pinto beans.
- Chickpeas: These are good as a healthy savoury snack, or sprinkled on to your dinner to add a little crunch.
- Seeds: Sunflower, pumpkin, sesame, chia, flax etc. Seeds are packed full of good stuff!
- Nuts: Almonds, cashews, walnuts, brazils, pine nuts.
- Nut butters: Peanut butter, almond butter, cashew butter, hazelnut butter etc.
- Lentils: Puy, red, brown and green – in dry form or packed ready to throw straight into sauces/curries. A wonderful ‘meat’ substitute in Bolognaise, Shepherd’s Pie, Lasagne etc.
- Miso: Traditional Japanese seasoning – eat as a soup or use as a flavouring
- Tideford Organics: Everything they make is now vegan, from delicious soups to sauces, pesto and vegan gravy.
- Tamari/Soy Sauces: Tamari is a thicker, less salty, fermented soy sauce with less wheat than soy sauce
- Tempeh: Similar to tofu in that it is made from fermented soy beans, but less popular in Western countries. Firmer than tofu with a stronger flavour. Great to marinate.
- Fry’s: All vegan frozen product range, including burgers, sausages, chicken-style strips and nuggets. Recommended!
- Linda McCartney: A number of vegan products, including many sausages, sausage rolls and country pies.
- Granose: A great range of vegan products. Packed in dry form you simply mix with water and make up yourself.
- VBites: Range of vegan deli products.
- Pulsin: Most of their protein bars and protein powders are vegan
GRAINS/DRY
- Brown or wild rice: More nutritious than white rice.
- Quinoa: Great source of protein. Wash well before cooking.
- Oats and millet: Excellent choices for a hearty breakfast.
- Whole-wheat couscous
- Whole or multi-grain pastas
- Whole grain / sprouted bread and tortillas
- Polenta
- Chickpea Flour: Used frequently in Indian cooking, this flour is really versatile. You can make pancakes, bhajis and even ‘omelettes’ with it. It is also gluten-free.
COOKING
- Agar agar: Vegan substitute for gelatine.
- Nutritional yeast “Nooch”: A lovely cheesy flavour, great for Vit B12.
- Vegetable stock: (Cubes/powder) Go for the low sodium option.
- Vegetable bouillon
- Pink Himalayan Salt
- Tomato paste/puree
- Oils: Extra Virgin Olive Oil is the best for cooking, but there’s a range of vegetable oils at your disposal – including rapeseed and sunflower
- Herbs and Spices: All useful to flavour protein and make dishes more exciting. My favs include: Turmeric to colour food and make “egg”, paprika, garlic powder, Cajun Pepper, onion powder, Mixed Herbs & Cumin.
BAKING
- Egg Replacer
- Flax seeds (Good source of Omega 3 – can sprinkle on breakfast cereal or smoothie). Can also replace eggs
- Chia seeds: Great replacement for eggs – one chia ‘egg’ equals 1 tablespoon of seed to 2 tablespoons of water.
- Coconut oil: Good for replacing butter.
- Agave nectar: Great honey replacement.
- Maple syrup: Great honey replacement.
- Blackstrap molasses: Fantastic source of iron.
- Pastry
CONDIMENTS AND SAUCES
- Egg-Free Mayonnaise: Granovita/Plamil/Hellmans (vegan one)/ Sacla (free from) etc.
- Mustard: Most mustard is vegan – Dijon, Hot English, American etc.
- Tomato Sauce/Ketchup
- HP Sauce
- Hot Sauce: Tabasco etc.
- Sriracha
- Tamarind
- Sweet Chilli
- Soy Sauce
SNACKS
- Dried fruit
- Flax crackers
- Hummus
- Ten Acre Crisps
- Pulsin bars
- Ten Acre Popcorn
- Dark chocolate
- Nuts and seeds
- Nakd Bars
FRUIT AND VEGETABLES
- Kale: A vegan superfood! (along with other cruciferous vegetables) An excellent source of calcium and other vitamins and minerals.
- Bell peppers: Great raw dipped in hummus or in a stir fry. (Buy organic when possible.)
- Sweet potato: A fantastic source of vitamin A.
- Mushrooms: Get your B vitamins here!
- Berries: Strawberries, blueberries and raspberries (Again, buy these organic when possible.)
- Avocados: One of the good fats!
Let me know what you think in the comments or tweet me @veganbabelife
Thanks for reading!
