Cooking with Benefits

Incorporating more plant-forward dishes into your meal plan is easy, as long as you're stocked with the key ingredients. Make your pantry more plant friendly with these switches, but remember, subbing a plant product for an animal product means a different – though still tasty – flavor profile. Don't expect tempeh to taste like chicken; do, however, expect it to be a deliciously different kind of meal. There are many more proteins out there that you can experiment with, but this handy guide can get you started!

Instead of this...	Try this...	Why that?
Chicken	Eggplant	Use eggplant as a substitute for chicken in chicken parmesan!
Beef	Portobello Mushrooms	The meaty texture and umami flavor makes a tasty stand-in for burgers and more.
Pork	Jackfruit	This slightly sweet fruit is a light and savory substitute in pulled pork dishes.
Seafood	Various	For seafood, it can really come down to how you season your substitute (try Old Bay, seaweed or lemon).
Any Meat	Faux Meats	Tempeh, seitan and tofu are tasty, versatile protein substitutes for any meat, depending on the desired texture and the dish.
Any Meat	Lentils, Beans, Legumes	These OG plant-forward proteins work in recipes from chili to burgers to vegan 'tuna' salad.
Butter	Coconut Oil	Slightly sweet and nutty with about the same smoke point.
Cow/Dairy Milk	Soy Milk	There are many great options for a milk substitute, but we love soy milk for a more nutritionally-equivalent option.
Cow/Dairy Milk	Cashew Milk	Due to it's natural sweetness, it makes for an adequate substitute when baking dessert.
Egg	Baking Soda	To replace 1 egg as a leavening agent in baking recipes, mix 2 teaspoons baking soda with 2 tablespoons warm water.
Egg	Flaxseeds	Great for use in recipes that call for eggs to be used as a binder. To replace 1 egg as a binding agent in recipes, mix 1 tablespoon ground flaxseed with 3 tablespoons water.
Egg	Applesauce	To replace 1 egg for moisture in baking recipes, substitute with 1/4 cup applesauce.