50 Plant Based Swaps That Make Eating Healthier Effortless
Trying to eat more plant based? These 50 simple plant based swaps make it easy to replace dairy, meat and pantry staples with delicious plant based alternatives!
50 Plant Based Swaps That Make Eating Healthier Effortless
If you're trying to consume less animal products, the biggest misconception is that you have to completely change the way you cook.
The truth? Most meals you already love can be made plant-based with a simple ingredient swap.
Over the years I've discovered tons of easy swaps that make plant-based eating feel effortless- whether you're baking cookies, making dinner for your family or just trying to consume less meat and dairy!
Here are 50 plant-based swaps that work beautifully in everyday cooking.
Dairy Swaps
- Milk - soy milk (my personal favorite) or oat milk
- Butter - becel plant based bricks or becel vegan margarine or olive oil
- Heavy Cream - blended silken tofu
- Half & Half - cashew cream
- Sour Cream - plain coconut yogurt
- Cream Cheese - plant-based cream cheese
- Parmesan - nutritional yeast
- Cheese Sauce - blended cashews, water, nutritional yeast, jalepeno brine
- Ice Cream - coconut or cashew based ice cream
- Whipped Cream - coconut whipped cream
Egg Swaps
- Eggs in baking - flax egg (1 tbsp ground flax, 2 tbsp water)
- Eggs in baking - chia egg (1 tbsp ground flax, 2 tbsp water)
- Scrambled eggs - tofu scramble
- Egg wash - plant milk
- Eggs in pancakes - mashed banana
- Eggs in brownies - apple sauce
- Eggs in muffins - ground flax
Meat Swaps
- Ground beef - green lentils
- Ground beef - walnuts & mushrooms
- Chicken - soy curls
- Chicken salad - chickpeas
- Pulled Pork - jackfruit
- Beef Strips - seitan
- Bacon - tempeh bacon
- Taco meat - seasoned lentils
- Burger patties - black beans
- Burger patties - impossible meat, beyond meat, gardein
Pantry Swaps
- Honey - maple syrup
- Chicken broth - vegetable broth
- Mayo - vegan mayo
- Fish Sauce - soy sauce or tamari
- Gelatin - agar agar
Baking Swaps
- Butter - vegan butter
- Milk - plant milk (soy or oat)
- Chocolate Chips - semi-sweet chocolate chips (most are already dairy free)
- Caramel - coconut condensed milk
- Cream filling - coconut cream
- Buttermilk - plant milk + vinegar
Convenience Swaps
- Pizza - Daiya Pizza in assorted flavors
- Mac & Cheese - NotCo x Kraft dairy free or Daiya
- Chicken Nuggets - Impossible or Beyond Meat
- Nacho Cheese - cashew queso
Eating plant-based doesn't mean giving up your favorite foods. Often, it's simply about swapping ingredients you already use for plant-based alternatives that taste just as delicious. If you're looking for some recipes to get you started, check out this blog post where I share a round up of easy recipes!
