A plant-based lifestyle can be super beneficial for your health, wallet, and the environment. For me, decreasing consumption of animal products stemmed from a desire to lessen my carbon footprint. It started off as meatless Mondays, and now we're down to "meat Wednesdays". Wild how much can change over the course of a year!
Making the switch to a plant-based diet definitely required an adjustment period. The adjustment wasn't necessarily about getting used to the food (I honestly never loved meat that much, so the transition felt pretty natural), but rather playing around with ingredients I've never used before.
Here are my top 11 recommended kitchen staples when transitioning to a plant-based or vegan diet.
Tofu. Are you surprised? Probably not. Tofu is so much more than just a white, flavorless, brick. It's a blank canvas and perfect for everything from subbing meat to creating creamy sauces and smoothies.
Beans and lentils. Another widely-used protein source in plant-based recipes. You can purchase canned, or to save some cash and emissions, dried (simply simmer them for 45 minutes to 2 hours depending on the type of bean).
Nutritional yeast. This has to have been the scariest ingredient to start using. First off, the name does it no favors. Nutritional - like a supplement? Yeast - like....yeast? How can it possibly be good? When I say I now buy this in the biggest bags I can find, I'm not lying. It has such a wonderful, cheesy flavor profile. It's a staple when making "cheese" sauces, or just anytime a dish needs some pizzaz. Not to mention, it contains B-12, which can be difficult to come by in a plant-based diet.
Nuts: specifically cashews and walnuts. Walnuts are great for faux-meat recipes, while cashews (unsalted, raw) are a great base for any creamy sauce.
Vegan butter. Vegan butter shook me. The smell and taste are SO similar to dairy. It melts differently, but the flavor is there (which is all I cared about, honestly). No need to get fancy with it - Country Crock Plant Butter is an inexpensive, delicious option.
Plain vegan yogurt. There are a lot of vegan yogurt options out there made of every type of nut and seed you can imagine. I'm personally not a coconut yogurt girl, but cashew yogurt has my heart. Try out a few varieties and you've got yourself a staple for snacks, breakfasts, smoothies, and sauces!
Nori sheets or seaweed. For a little taste of the sea. I love adding them to "clam" chowders or asian-style soups for a pop of ocean with each bite. I've also heard of marinating tofu with seaweed for a salmon alternative, and it's definitely on my to-cook list!
Aquafaba. Aquafaba is the liquid that we normally pour out of a can of chickpeas. It has a ton of uses including egg substitute, and can even be whipped up into meringue!
Flax meal. Flax egg is another common vegan substitute. One flax egg = 1tbsp flax meal + 3tbsp water. Let it rest for at least 5 minutes to thicken, and viola. Boom. You've got yourself a 1:1 egg substitute.
Mushrooms. Mushrooms have a tougher, slightly chewy texture, that makes them great meat replacements. There are so many types of mushrooms!
Milk. Last but not least, plant-based milks. Again, made from every nut and seed you can imagine. I'm an oat gal, myself. Bonus tip: Making plant-milks is easy, cheap, and takes just a few minutes.
For the sake of your mind and wallet, start slow. Experiment with a few new recipes, and a few meatless days a week. Slow, steady progress is the best way to ensure long-standing success. Plus, the learning process is both fun and tasty.
Happy feasting!
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