by Keridwyn Deller

A friend of mine recently posted that her kiddo has become a pescatarian. As she’s already a very busy mama, she asked her friends for easy, quick meal suggestions. I started typing up a list for her and realized there may be more than one person I know who would like to see this list! So here you go, a late-night done-is-better-than-perfect blog post on my favorite meat substitutes. (This post isn’t sponsored, though if it was, you’d still be getting my honest opinions.)

Quick and easy are my favorite words when it comes to cooking at home. We don’t really cook with meat for a few reasons, so have discovered favorites when exploring meat alternatives. While you don’t have to include meat-replacements to make a meal delicious, I wanted to share some of my favorite fake-meat products with y’all.

Ground meat substitute (taco night):

Morningstar crumbles are my favorites. #1: Morningstar Veggie Grillers crumbles. These are best if you want to add your own seasoning. #2: Morningstar Veggie Chorizo crumbles. A nice flavor – great if you don’t want to bother with seasoning. #3: Impossible burger ground beef. This one generally costs more and it’s similar enough to the morningstar crumbles, so I usually only get it when it’s on sale. You’ll need to season it. I think you could legit convince a meat eater this is actually meat (when seasoned) and it’s kind of trippy that it looks raw before it’s fully cooked.

Great burger substitute:

Morningstar for the win! We like the Grillers (seems most like a burger on the grill in look and taste) but actually find ourselves eating the “Spicy Black Bean” burgers more often which are so tasty just microwaved – super quick meal. I don’t find these spicy at all (and don’t have a high tolerance for spice). Note: the black bean burgers are just as tasty microwaved as cooked in a skillet, but are too delicate for a bbq grill, in my experience.

Breakfast sausage patties:

We make egg breakfast sandwiches one day a week and love using Morningstar breakfast patties. We microwave them and they taste great. We have tried original sausage patties and maple sausage patties and like them both. I like the original best but sometimes having variety is nice.

Breakfast sausage links:

Beyond Breakfast Sausage links. Yummy. These look like the real thing. Very tasty. Just tried these for first time recently when my niece grilled them up at my mom’s house. I liked them better than the meat option that was served!

Dinner sausage (like a brat replacement):

Beyond Sausage Hot Italian Sausage.  Cook them on stovetop – eat with mustard or other condiments like a bratwurst, put in a hotdog bun, or cut up in red sauce and pasta, etc. They are tasty enough to just eat on their own. It’s surprising they call these “hot” – I don’t find it spicy at all, just a nice flavor. We haven’t tried the plain kind because we wouldn’t want it less flavorful than these.

Breaded Cutlets

For something akin to a breaded chicken cutlet, I like the Quorn cutlets. Heat them up in the microwave and serve with a veggie or salad side. Great for a super quick meal. The pesto ones are our fav, the sharp cheese ones are fine if pesto isn’t in stock. We pair this with a quick salad on nights we have only a few minutes to put dinner together.

Nuggets:

I’m not a big nugget person any more so haven’t tried many brands, but the Quorn ones were just fine, no complaints.

Snacks:

Morningstar has some fun snacks. Nothing in particular in their snack section has wow’ed me, but it’s nice to have some variety and I could see kids and teens in particular liking them.

Stir Fry “Chicken”:

We love the Quorn meatless pieces for stir fry instead of chicken. Add a bag or two of trader joe’s stir fry veggies (and some rice if you’d like) and you are set! We sometimes use these for a “chicken” taco too. They take on seasoning well. If the store is out of these, we’ll get the meatless filets (not breaded) by Quorn and cut them up.

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So there you have it! What meat substitute options do YOU love that are not on my list? If you use any of these products in different ways, chime in!

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