Fish-free tuna, cashew yoghurt: The alternative foods for vegans

BEING vegan means you have to pass on bacon, tuna and cheese, right? Apparently not. Take a look at the more unusual meat, dairy and fish-free food alternatives on offer for vegans.

FAKE fish, cashewgurt, mylk and even bee-free honey are just some of the wacky alternative foods aimed at vegans.

The foods are often based on the real thing and try to match the texture and taste — but contain no dairy, meat or animal by-products.

With the growing popularity of the vegan diet more companies are taking up the challenge of creating animal-free alternatives.

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Vegan supermarket options: burgers, chipotle sausage, cheese and milk.

FISHLESS TUNA

A tin of vegetarian, fishless tuna. Retails for $5.05

You read that correctly, you can buy fishless “tuna” for sandwiches and salads.

Advertised as “looking and tasting” like tuna it is made from water, textured soy flour, yeast extract and “natural flavour”.

The fishy food is vegan, egg-free and kosher, but isn’t good for those with soy allergies.

It’s a bit more expensive than the real thing too, at around $5 a tin.

And there’s no need to miss out on the fish sauce that makes so many Asian dishes sing either — an alternative made from soy and vegetable seasoning is also on the market, retailing for around $8 a bottle.

ROAST “CHICK’N”

Treat yourself to a plate of roast “Chick'n”.

The brand famous for “tofurky” has another faux-poultry product in the form of a lightly seasoned slow roasted “chick’n”.

Advertised as a “fresh and versatile flavour” that shreds like the real thing, the chicken alternative can apparently be steamed, seared or even eaten cold.

Made of organic tofu (of course), wheat gluten water and a range of other colours and flavours that make it taste just like chicken.

CASHEWGURT & NON-DAIRY DAIRY

Dairy-free ‘Cashewgurt’.

For vegans and those who can’t eat dairy, non-yoghurt made from cashews is organic, kosher, lactose-free and has no gluten or soy.

It also comes in a range of flavours like plain, blueberry, cherry and coconut.

And while there are plenty of non-dairy cheese options, what better for your meat-free spag bol than vegan parmesan?

Angel Food makes a powdered parmesan alternative from coconut flour, sunflower oil, salt, yeast extract and citric acid.

VEGAN ‘HONEY’

Vegan honey is not made by bees.

The ‘honey alternative’ can be made with fruit juice or rice syrup.

The bee-free product can be made from a variety of alternative ingredients including apple juice concentrate.

Other alternatives don’t contain fruit concentrates but are manufactured from other sweeteners including brown rice syrup.

The product has come under fire from some bodies for claiming to be “honey”, with one state’s food authority investigating whether bee-free honey products comply with their laws.

MYLK

Cashew nut mylk.

Milk alternatives are so popular and ubiquitous they’ve become mainstream and heaven help the cafe that doesn’t offer a dairy-free alternative.

There’s the standard soy milk, almond and coconut.

But there’s also hazelnut, cashew and oat milk alternatives for those who want to change up their morning coffee routine.

COCONUT BACON

Vegan bacon made from coconut.

Love the taste of bacon but don’t want to eat the wonderful, magical animal?

Now you don’t have to with this plant-based alternative.

Made from slow-dried coconut, the product is completely baconless and is flavoured with organic evaporated coconut nectar, cumin, sweet Spanish paprika, raw unpasteurised apple cider vinegar, thyme, organic high-oleic sunflower oil and natural wood smoke.

For 60g you can expect to pay $8.45 from vegan specialist sellers like crueltyfreeshop.com.au.

Originally published as Fish-free tuna, cashew yoghurt: The alternative foods for vegans