How to Eat Less Meat

Published on Monday, January 4, 2010, by Roxanne Webber / Edit Post

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THE PREVAILING NOTION these days is that cutting down on the amount of meat on your plate makes good sense. Some people believe it’s healthier, others are cutting back because of the environmental impact of meat production, while still others have ethical objections to the way livestock is raised. Whatever your reason, we’ve created “de-meatified” recipes for some classic dishes. We also interviewed a range of experts to get tips on maximizing flavor, richness, and texture in unmeaty dishes—because no matter why you’re cooking vegetarian, you want to come out with a good meal. Click to discover some principles to keep in mind when de-meatifying »
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This is not a hamburger.
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  • The truth is that there are lots of delicious ways to cook meatless, and veggie is both far cheaper and vastly healthier.

    But, and this is huge, meat mikes life easy and pleasant FOR THE COOK! Assuming that there are no vegetarians in the group, the simplest meat meals - roast chicken, pot roast - take almost no time and make everyone happy. I can make fabulous vegan meals, but it takes thought...+READ

    The truth is that there are lots of delicious ways to cook meatless, and veggie is both far cheaper and vastly healthier.

    But, and this is huge, meat mikes life easy and pleasant FOR THE COOK! Assuming that there are no vegetarians in the group, the simplest meat meals - roast chicken, pot roast - take almost no time and make everyone happy. I can make fabulous vegan meals, but it takes thought and a lot of time.-COLLAPSE

  • I eat meat but not a lot and land only

  • I eat some meats .. no commercial poultry and no commercial fish. I'd eat them if I caught the fish myself and knew the person raising/killing the free range bird. I do eat shrimp about 5x/year though. I refuse to eat veal .. THAT is just nuts and makes me think of the poor babies.

  • I think Nina Planck's book "Real Food: What to Eat and Why" contains some fascinating and persuasive information regarding the meat debate. The bad rep that meat has gotten is not because of the meat itself but the way most meat is raised today. I don't believe a truly healthy diet can be achieved without at least some pasture-raised/grass fed meats and dairy. Not the nutritionally deficient and...+READ

    I think Nina Planck's book "Real Food: What to Eat and Why" contains some fascinating and persuasive information regarding the meat debate. The bad rep that meat has gotten is not because of the meat itself but the way most meat is raised today. I don't believe a truly healthy diet can be achieved without at least some pasture-raised/grass fed meats and dairy. Not the nutritionally deficient and processed nonfat dairy, but the full fat raw dairy which is superior in countless ways.-COLLAPSE

  • Ditching the meat? Terrible idea. I was an overweight vegetarian for years with terrible blood work numbers, despite following a "sensible" "healthy" high fiber, whole grain diet and exercising every darn day. Since getting off the vegetarian wagon and learning to eat Paleo/Primal i.e. Plenty of MEAT - I've lost weight, my blood work is fantastic and I look, feel and perform better than I ever...+READ

    Ditching the meat? Terrible idea. I was an overweight vegetarian for years with terrible blood work numbers, despite following a "sensible" "healthy" high fiber, whole grain diet and exercising every darn day. Since getting off the vegetarian wagon and learning to eat Paleo/Primal i.e. Plenty of MEAT - I've lost weight, my blood work is fantastic and I look, feel and perform better than I ever did.
    Rather than an article on going on an insulin raising, meatless diet, an article on the benefits of eating grass fed, sustainably raised animals would be more in tune with having a positive effect on your readers health.
    Peas,
    Eriko-COLLAPSE

  • I open my email to find a CHOW article with the header "Eating Healthy Means Ditching The Meat". What a dumbass title and what an ignorant statement.

  • Seriously, if you want to eat less meat, just eat less of it. You don't have to go to ridiculous lengths to try to imitate something you're trying to avoid. I've experimented with all kinds of bean and veggie burgers over the years to try to create a more rounded diet all the family will like, but success has been spotty at best. I'm not a vegetarian, I just want to eat less meat and improve our...+READ

    Seriously, if you want to eat less meat, just eat less of it. You don't have to go to ridiculous lengths to try to imitate something you're trying to avoid. I've experimented with all kinds of bean and veggie burgers over the years to try to create a more rounded diet all the family will like, but success has been spotty at best. I'm not a vegetarian, I just want to eat less meat and improve our nutritional content with more fiber and more variety. In the end, the best veggie burger I've ever made has about 1/4 meat in the mix! My carnivore kids even prefer them now to all-meat burgers. 'Veggie' doesn't have to mean 'vegetarian'.-COLLAPSE

  • I just posted a spring soup that is great and I prefer the meatless version, popular in Tuscany and it's ancient, so as all ancient tastes - healthy and green! perfect for whoever is on the calorie watch!

  • This is vegetarian torture. Ersatz meat. Who needs it. I went meatless years ago by substituting healthful fin fish and occasional shell fish instead of the red stuff. I like my vegetables to be treated with a light hand so they still taste fresh and flavorful. Cut the high fat milk products and cream sauces to a minimum, too. Sure, there is nothing like a terrific steak, but if you limit your...+READ

    This is vegetarian torture. Ersatz meat. Who needs it. I went meatless years ago by substituting healthful fin fish and occasional shell fish instead of the red stuff. I like my vegetables to be treated with a light hand so they still taste fresh and flavorful. Cut the high fat milk products and cream sauces to a minimum, too. Sure, there is nothing like a terrific steak, but if you limit your red meat intake to 1-2 x per month and then only eat it when the quality and occasion are worthy of the high calories and fat content.-COLLAPSE

  • You don't have to jump completely off the meat wagon if all you want you do is eat less of it. If I make a stir fry, it might use just 3 tbsp of ground meat for an entire dish for 4 people.

  • What about um... protein?
    mmooshil- I'm allergic to peanuts, which essentially rules out all nuts. I've found that eggplant and sweet potatoes are great substitutes for a main meat, and learned that you can get a ton of protein from yogurt and other diary products. One of my favorite non--nut or soy veg. dinners is roasting chopped sweet potatoes in curry powder, and serving with a greek yogurt/...+READ

    What about um... protein?
    mmooshil- I'm allergic to peanuts, which essentially rules out all nuts. I've found that eggplant and sweet potatoes are great substitutes for a main meat, and learned that you can get a ton of protein from yogurt and other diary products. One of my favorite non--nut or soy veg. dinners is roasting chopped sweet potatoes in curry powder, and serving with a greek yogurt/ lemon juice/cilantro sauce. I usually eat this over brown rice with some dried fruit and coconut thrown it . Also good are spicy stir-fried eggplant dishes or roasted eggplant spears over the same rice.-COLLAPSE

  • going against the tide here... I thought it was a sad article. Like it was written for people who don't like vegetables and want them to taste more like meat.

    And not one word about how to get complete proteins when eating no meat.

  • My husband and I recently vowed to start eating less meat. Thanks for these great tips!

  • For purposes of cutting back on meat consumption, I'd like to request a bacon exemption. ;)

  • To paraphrase Michael Pollan:

    Eat food.
    Too much of it.
    Mostly animals.

  • Environmental or religious concerns--okay--I'm about as concerned about the environment as one can be. But I find it laughable that some people think a vegetarian diet even remotely approaches healthiness.

  • "smokiness without bacon" is a bit of a misnomer. not all bacon is smoked so bacon doesn't automatically add smokiness.

  • Gelatin is also important for mouthfeel, especially in soup. Agar is a vegetarian substitute.

  • Here's a sample recipe for cashew cream sauce. It's pretty versatile. You can add maple syrup to make it sweet and use it on desserts, or go savory by adding pesto or herbs.

    In my experience straining isn't necessary, but don't try to do this with your immersion blender.

    http://www.talronnen.com/recipes/cashew-cream/

  • I love some of these ideas, but am allergic to so many vegetarian friendly foods: soy, peanuts and most legumes except chick peas and black beans, tree nuts, sunflower seeds/oil to name a few! (These allergies have been diagnosed in the past two years; I ate these foods all the time prior to diagnosis and have seen remarkable improvement in my symptoms/reactions since giving them up.) If anyone...+READ

    I love some of these ideas, but am allergic to so many vegetarian friendly foods: soy, peanuts and most legumes except chick peas and black beans, tree nuts, sunflower seeds/oil to name a few! (These allergies have been diagnosed in the past two years; I ate these foods all the time prior to diagnosis and have seen remarkable improvement in my symptoms/reactions since giving them up.) If anyone has any tips or ideas for someone like me, I'd love to hear them.-COLLAPSE

  • Great article! I'd like to nominate tahini as a great bacon or sidemeat substitute. Tomato & tahini on toast is my go-to summer breakfast. For now, check out the recipe for Tasty Tahini Collards, a traditional Southern collards recipe without meat:

    http://cookforgood.com/tasty_tahini_collards_recipe.html

  • Great article. I own a small restaurant in Winter Haven Florida called Cafe Latte, Florida is needless to say NOT a veggie friendly state. So since we offer lots of veggie items we had to really zip up the flavor in order to distract them of the missing meat. Also by giving the dish a really great name they are easily distracted. To get umami flavor we made our own seasoned olive oils with all...+READ

    Great article. I own a small restaurant in Winter Haven Florida called Cafe Latte, Florida is needless to say NOT a veggie friendly state. So since we offer lots of veggie items we had to really zip up the flavor in order to distract them of the missing meat. Also by giving the dish a really great name they are easily distracted. To get umami flavor we made our own seasoned olive oils with all the garlic and herbs and spices already in them and use those to cook everything. The extra virgin olive oil gives them the fat and the garlic and spices gives them a full mouth experience. Now after 15 years a lot of my meateaters actually prefer my Big Texan BBQ "Steak" Burger (Vegan) or my Roasted Tomato Feta Spinach Artichoke Pizza (Vegetarian). You want to go meatless, it's definitely all in the flavor!-COLLAPSE

  • There are some great tips here, but who decided that posting links to such common sauces as marinara and curry, while leaving out any sort of guidance regarding the "creamy nut sauces" that are only briefly mentioned on the last page, would be a good idea? It says "You can make them by soaking nuts such as cashews or almonds overnight and puréeing them with some seasonings" but with the price of...+READ

    There are some great tips here, but who decided that posting links to such common sauces as marinara and curry, while leaving out any sort of guidance regarding the "creamy nut sauces" that are only briefly mentioned on the last page, would be a good idea? It says "You can make them by soaking nuts such as cashews or almonds overnight and puréeing them with some seasonings" but with the price of nuts these days, I need a little more help than that vague instruction.-COLLAPSE

  • This article is really interesting and helpful - thanks! However, it might be worth noting when the foods mentioned aren't actually vegetarian. I know the article doesn't specifically aim itself at people who are aiming to go veggie/vegan, just people who want to cut down on meat, but it's still probably best to point out things like the fact that Parmigiano-Reggiano isn't suitable for...+READ

    This article is really interesting and helpful - thanks! However, it might be worth noting when the foods mentioned aren't actually vegetarian. I know the article doesn't specifically aim itself at people who are aiming to go veggie/vegan, just people who want to cut down on meat, but it's still probably best to point out things like the fact that Parmigiano-Reggiano isn't suitable for vegetarians because it contains rennet, in case anyone uses this article to help them in their strictly vegetarian (rather than just reduced-meat) cooking.-COLLAPSE

  • These are excellent tips for anyone to pay attention to, regardless of their dietary concerns.