Going Vegan is Easy with these Simple Alternatives

Going vegan means not only giving up meat and fish as vegetarians do, but removing all animal ingredients from your diet and lifestyle – including leather and beauty products. That means no cheese, no milk, no honey, no beeswax. Well, unless you can find alternatives! Thankfully more and more people are switching to a vegan diet which means more and more alternatives are becoming available, here are just a few.

Meat

There are so many meat alternatives available – surely you’ll have heard of Quorn who have produced a wide range of vegetarian meat alternatives and are introducing a vegan range. You can also find vegan meat alternatives in the Linda McCartney range, although not everything is vegan.

You can get meat alternatives from us too like mock duck, or if you are looking for something that isn’t pretending to be meat, then go for a nut roast or some tofu. We also have delicious sausage and burger mixes so you can make them (almost) from scratch, we now even have a vegan chorizo!

Eggs

There have been egg replacers to use in baking for a long time such as No Egg from Orgran. Now we have VeganEgg, a plant-based egg alternative that has the taste and texture of the real thing. That means you can enjoy delicious vegan omelettes, quiches and scrambled ‘eggs’, and since I’ve tried them I can honestly say it’s amazing. I have yet to use it to bake but I’ve had scrambled VeganEgg and an omelette made with the egg replacer and both were just as tasty as the real thing!

Milk

You’ve probably seen the vast amount of non-dairy milks available in the supermarket. Almond, Soy, Hazelnut and Coconut milks are becoming household staples, there are man smoothie recipes that call for almond milk since it is much healthier than cow’s milk but still has a great taste. My personal favourite is hemp milk, it’s great in tea and poured over cereal, although I’ve never really drank milk on its own so I can’t really say how it relates to regular cow’s milk on its own.

We all know that dairy is not the healthiest option, we should all be eating butter, cheese, yoghurt and drinking milk in moderation because dairy isn’t necessarily healthy although it does contain some vital nutrients – however you can get these nutrients from plant and nut milks too so you wouldn’t be missing out on anything if you switched.

Leather

And it’s not only your diet that changes when you become vegan, you’ll have to think about the clothes and accessories you buy too. Vegans to don’t wear leather, wool or silk, or anything else made from materials derived from animals. Luckily there are alternative materials available and you can now buy beautiful vegan leather shoes and bags – you can even buy vegan Dr. Martens now!

It wasn’t long ago that vegan shoes were synonymous with the word ‘unfashionable’, but Wills Vegan Shoes has completely changed that. Choose from everyday smart brogues, sturdy work boots, casual flats or stylish heels – there is something to suit every style and all the shoe are vegan, durable and ethically made.

I have to confess, I’m crazy for bags (not as crazy as I am for shoes though…) I probably have enough to at least use a different one every day, and since I’ve discovered Matt & Nat that obsession is just getting worse. Their colours and designs are so stylish, and you can hardly tell that they aren’t real leather! Not only are they made from a durable alternative, the lining of each bag is also made from 100% recycled bottles! I now have 4 Matt & Nat bags, along with a purse that I’ve used every day for the past three years and it’s still as good as new!


Going vegan really isn’t as difficult as it’s made out to be, and not only is it better for you it’s also much better for the plant. Switch to some of these vegan alternatives little by little and you’ll be there in no time!