What are meat alternatives?

What’s in plant-based meat?

Plant-based meat companies across the world are constantly innovating to create a product that tastes, looks and feels like real meat.

Meat is made up of a few main components: protein, fat, and water. While different plant-based meat brands use different ingredients, many of them aim to recreate this core structure in their products.

Some common ingredients to fill the protein quota in alternative meats include:

• Rice proteins

• Soy protein

• Pea and mungbean

• Potato protein

• Hemp

• Mycoprotein (a product derived from fungi)

In order to mimic real meat, fat is added to bind the food together and offer an authentic ‘meaty’ flavour. For the fat component, many meat alternatives are prepared using:

• Coconut oil

• Vegetable oils such as sunflower or canola oil

• Cocoa butter

Beetroot is used in some plant-based products such as burgers - both for its taste, and also because the red beet juice brings a similar ‘bleeding’ to that of red meat when it’s cooked on a grill or barbeque.

Pretty impressive, huh?

How is plant-based meat made?

Though it varies, most production methods include intense heating and cooling phases. This alters the protein makeup of the food, and also contributes to it having that convincing meat-like texture.

You can find plant-based meat products in a few different sections of your local Woolworths supermarket:

• In the chilled section, next to the meat

• In the Macro wholefoods section, alongside tofu products

• In the frozen section, and

• In the canned section

• In the new ‘plant-based’ section, keep a look out for green signage!

How are meat alternatives cooked?

At Woolworths, we offer a variety of meat alternatives that can be prepared and enjoyed in different ways. The way these products cook can depend on a number of factors, including what they’re made of, which meat they’re meant to supplement, and how they’re stored.

For the most part however, plant-based meats will cook, smell and taste just like their animal-based counterparts – which makes the switch simple and easy.

Try a tasty meat alternative in your favourite pasta, stir-fry or pie recipe. Or else, throw a couple plant-based prawns on the BBQ – the results may surprise you!

The big question: does it taste like meat?

We think plant-based options are delicious – but opinions are divided over whether they taste like real meat or not. Many say that they do. But some say that while the meat-like texture of products is on point, the actual flavour can vary.

The best way to find out is to try cooking some yourself, and find the brands and products you like the most. A good place to start is cooking some of the meat dishes you love, substituting the meat for a plant-based option.

For example, plant-based mince can be substituted for beef mince to make a delicious vegetarian spaghetti bolognese. You’ll be surprised at the meat substitutes you can use, in dishes that the whole family (or your guests) will love!

Remember: While plant-based meat can bring extra fun and variation to your dishes, there are many other widely available plant-based protein options such as legumes, beans, whole grains, nuts and seeds, and tofu.

If you’re thinking about incorporating more plant-based foods into your diet, you can find a number of tasty plant-based meat and vegan products at Woolworths. Find out more about our range here.