Being a vegetarian or vegan doesn’t mean you can never again make any recipes that call for things like beef broth, eggs, or gelatin. Most animal products can be replaced with vegetarian- and vegan-friendly ingredients.
Note that these alternatives are chosen mainly for their ability to simulate a similar property or consistency as the animal ingredient. Some of them will give the recipe a different flavor, so experiment to see what works best.
| Animal ingredient | Veggie alternatives |
| Butter | Vegan butter, margarine, olive oil |
| Buttermilk | Cultured cashew buttermilk, curdled Soy milk (1 c soy milk + 2 T lemon juice or white vinegar) |
| Cheese | Mock cheese, nutritional yeast |
| Cheese sauce | Vegan cheese sauce |
| Chèvre | Almond chèvre |
| Chicken | Chicken-style seitan |
| Cottage cheese | Tofu cottage cheese, crumbled tofu |
| Cream | Cashew cream |
| Cream cheese | Tofu cream cheese |
| Eggs | Flax eggs, puréed tofu, mashed banana, egg replacer |
| Feta | Almond feta, Tofu feta |
| Gelatin | agar, arrowroot, corn starch, guar gum, xanthan gum |
| Honey | maple syrup, agave syrup, molasses, sucanat |
| Lard | Shortening, vegan butter, olive oil, vegetable oil |
| Mayonnaise | Flaxseed mayonnaise, Tofu mayonnaise |
| Meat | tofu, seitan, tempeh, beans, textured vegetable protein (TVP), eggplant, portobello mushrooms |
| Meat/Chicken stock | Vegetable stock, bean cooking liquid, garlic broth, water/wine with soy sauce (1-2 T soy sauce per cup of liquid) |
| Milk | Soy milk, Cashew milk, Coconut milk, rice milk |
| Milk chocolate | dark chocolate, carob |
| Parmesan | Mock parmesan cheese, nutritional yeast |
| Protein sources | nuts, beans, tofu, tempeh, (TVP) |
| Ricotta cheese | Cashew-tofu ricotta |
| Sour cream | Tofu-cashew sour cream |
| Sugar | Natural sugar, sucanat, fruit juice |
| Yogurt | Cashew yogurt |