The Vegan Meat Cookbook

by Miyoko Schinner

100+ hearty, succulent, people-pleasing meals featuring vegan meat, from comfort food classics and speedy weeknight dinners to global flavors and showstoppers, plus recipes for DIY vegan meats and cheeses.
 
“When vegan cheese queen Miyoko Schinner pens a new cookbook, you don’t walk to your nearest bookstore. You run. . . . Get ready for your weeknight dinners to never be the same.” — VegNews

From the Impossible Burger and Beyond Meat to MorningStar Farms, Boca Burgers, and more, plant-based meats are a growing trend for those who want to help the planet, animals, and their health but don’t want to give up the meaty flavors they love. In The Vegan Meat Cookbook, bestselling author Miyoko Schinner guides you through the maze of products available on store shelves and offers straightforward guidance on how to best use them in everything from Sausage Calzones with Roasted Fennel and Preserved Lemon to Hominy and Carne Asada Enchiladas with Creamy Green Sauce. Dig in to a satisfying vegan meal of Weeknight Shepherd’s Pie with Bratwurst and Buttery Potatoes or Meaty, Smoky Chili. Wow your guests with Coq au Vin, Linguine with Lemon-Garlic Scallops and Herbs, or Lettuce Wraps with Spicy Garlic Prawns.

For those interested in making their own vegan meats and cheese from scratch, there are recipes for Juicy Chicken, King Trumpet Mushroom Bacon, Easy Buffalo Mozzarella, Miyoko’s famous Unturkey, and many more that you’ll never find in stores. Whether you’re cutting back on meat for your health, the environment, animal welfare, or affordability, The Vegan Meat Cookbook will satisfy the cravings of flexitarians, vegans, vegetarians, and even carnivores.

Genres: Cookbooks, Vegan, Nonfiction, Cooking, Food, Health

256 pages, Hardcover

First published May 11, 2021

Reviews

[Peacegal · Rating 5 out of 5]

We now have two cookbooks in our library sharing this same title, and that makes me happy. Although Schinner's cookbook is decidedly "fancier" and requires greater skill in the kitchen than the other book (which was more useful to me personally,) I appreciate any materials that help everyday people create their favorite dishes with the wide variety of animal-free meats and dairy products out on the market today.

This book is filled with gorgeous color photos and a nice presentation--(sheet-pan roasted Beyond Sausage with veggies; woah! why didn't I think of that?) The little paragraphs telling sweet, touching, and often humorous stories of the rescued residents of Schinner's farm animal sanctuary, Rancho Compassion, were a unique touch subtly reminding readers that there are other individuals who have an interest in the food choices we make, as well.

Miyoko Schinner is truly a rockstar; she's created decadent plant-based butter and cheeses (yay for Margherita pizza!), and is now proving just as adept in the world of cookbooks.

[Jenna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Can we all collectively agree to stop using the term "clean food?" Unless you're telling me that you've just washed a carrot, the phrase is nonsensical and judgmental. (Otherwise, this is an ok cookbook.)

[James · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not a big fan of the premade meat substitutes, they tend to have a high salt content and funky ingredients. If you are trying to convince your carnivore friends that you can eat tasty vegan equivalents of their meat favorites, this book may be useful, but I don't have that problem.

[Sarah]

This is just a book of basic recipes that call for beyond meat or impossible burger. Boring.

[Ashley Chew · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are so many great recipes in this book. And it is so much more than vegan meats. I know some people were disappointed that the book relies heavily on store bought vegan meats instead of a whole book on making your own. But for almost every recipe there is a suggested option to use one of the meat recipes in the back of the book. As someone who doesn’t eat a lot of vegan meats I wasn’t sure if I would like this book or not but once I saw how many different & delicious looking recipes there were I was sold. You could easily substitute the vegan meats in this book for Miyokos version or even with tofu, tempeh, Seitan, or just more veggies. Which I totally plan to do. Seriously if your someone who has been vegan for 11 years like myself or someone who cooks frequently it is easy to use your creativity to substitute the store bought meat in the book if that isn’t your thing. I just loved that with or without using meats you still get amazing recipes that had thought and flavor put into them.

[Aja Marsh · Rating 5 out of 5]

honestly, this book is so jam-packed it's a bit overwhelming. and for someone who hasn't eaten certain kinds of meat most of my life, and other types not at all for many years, i can't say i am the target audience for most of this book, but i love the ideas in here, and i'm excited to revisit it and think it can be a great resource for anyone looking to reduce or eliminate their animal foods intake and/or plant-based/vegan folks who want to shake things up (or cook for meat-eating friends/family).

[S.M. · Rating 3 out of 5]

The bulk of these recipes, aside from most of the basics DIY at the back of the book (these should have been first) are very fancy and very fussy. Almost all of them require a dozen or more ingredients, and since I prefer simplicity I'm not about to make anything out of this book. That's not to say I wouldn't eat everything featured here, I just don't want to be the one making it. Best for people who really truly love to cook.

[Misha · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is not for vegetarians or vegans, really. I don’t want a succulent fake meat. She uses that word a LOT in her intro. I might want to learn how to make the fake meats myself, the last chapter, but Schinner expects you to mostly buy them. I would rather more fake-meat making with tips in subbing in the recipes I already have or see. Oh well.

[Cecilia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This cookbook is amazing. I gave up meat not because I don’t like the taste but because I don’t like the cruelty, so this is the perfect cookbook for people who want the meaty taste of their favorite dishes while avoiding the abuse and murder of animals 🥳

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mostly advice on how to use commercial meat substitutes in classic recipes. It has a small section on making our own meat substitutes. I tried a few things, but many of her most interesting recipes rely on ingredients, like yuba, that I don't have ready access too.

[Pinky · Rating 5 out of 5]

Want to try the Pambazos, Bouillabaisse, and the Albondigas recipes.

[Danni · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good information and delicious recipes.

[Lydia Kass · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent. Many recipes utilizing Seitan and Tempeh.

[C.A. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unfortunately, I'll probably never make anything out of here as I'm not really a big faux meat chef (I think I've been meat free to long to be interested in a mock sausage fry up these days) but omg this cookbook looked fabulous! I've been wondering where the vegan cookbooks of this caliber are hiding? I'm sick of the "one pot, 20 minute vegan dishes" cookbooks where everything is just a rice bowl or buffalo cauliflower (don't get me wrong, I love buffalo cauliflower!); I want the gorgeous, artful, culinary experience that is this book. Miyoko is a patron saint of the vegan movement, in my opinion. She's an actual chef who gets food, not a blogger turned cookbook writer.

[Judi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Guess I misunderstood-I thought this was a book to create plant-meat, not use commercially prepared products.
I’ll stick with Miyoko’s cheese making for now.