Easy vegan food swaps

Are you trying to cut back on animal products, or are you just curious about a more plant-based diet? Whatever your reasons, we have selected some easy vegan food swaps so you can experience how easy and yummy plant-based options are!

Vegan food swaps and tips:

1. Very important if you want to try a more plant-based diet; eat more legumes. Legumes, like chickpeas, lentils and beans, are a good source of protein and also provide fiber, important minerals and B-vitamins.
2. Swap your eggs for flax or chia ‘eggs’ in baking recipes (think pancakes, muffins, cookies). For flax eggs, mix 1 tablespoon of flax meal (just put flax seeds in the food processor or blender) with 3 tablespoons of water; for chia eggs, mix 1 tablespoon of chia seeds with 3 tablespoons of water. Let it sit for about 15 minutes before using.
3. One of the easiest vegan food swaps is to add nuts and seeds; especially hemp seeds are a great source of protein. They also provide important other nutrients such as good fats, fiber, minerals and vitamins.
4. Milk is an easy product to swap; try plant-based milk like almond milk, rice milk or oat milk. There are many options available in organic food shops! Look for unsweetened versions (always check the ingredient list; there are some ‘almond milks’ consisting of 2% almonds and 98% crap) or make nut or seed milk yourself; what about hemp milk, hazelnut milk or sunflower seed milk?
5. Quinoa is called (pseudo) 'super-grain' for a reason; it is high in protein and gluten free. Quinoa contains all nine of the essential amino acids, which makes it a complete protein and a great meat substitute.
6. Leafy greens like spinach and kale, and green veggies like broccoli are also packed with protein and contain B-vitamins as well as other important nutrients. For example, broccoli contains more protein per calorie than a steak! So you better drink that green smoothie ;)
7. Skip the processed soy foods. Unprocessed soy products are a great and maybe even necessary addition to a vegan lifestyle, but there are a lot of creepy soy stories, so try to skip the faux meat. Also, there are a lot of other unwanted ingredients in processed foods, so it's better to skip them anyway. Moderation is key, also in a vegan lifestyle!

Do you have some other tips or additional vegan food swaps? Let us know in the comments.