Skip to Content

30+ Meaty Vegan Recipes

These 30+ Meaty Vegan Recipes are the perfect meals for former meat lovers! You can create mind-blowing dishes with tofu, tempeh, seitan, TVP, and jackfruit!

Meaty Vegan Recipes

I, for one, did not stop eating meat because it didn’t taste good. I stopped because I couldn’t justify killing an animal (or getting one killed on my behalf) for my food.

That’s the reason why I still love to recreate meaty recipes using vegan ingredients. So this post includes my favorite meaty recipes. I’ve grouped the dishes by the main ingredient used:

If you’re looking for fishy recipes, I’ve got a whole other post here: 15+ Vegan Fish & Seafood Recipes

Tofu

Don’t you dare dismiss tofu as a meat alternative before you’ve tried these popcorn-chicken-style nuggets! Here are even more 15+ Easy and Delicious Tofu Recipes.

Tofu Nuggets Popcorn Chicken Style
You’ve never had nuggets like these. These Tofu Nuggets taste more like popcorn chicken than popcorn chicken itself. They are super crispy and flavorful on the outside and squishy, soft on the inside. Insane!

Tempeh

Tempeh is like tofu a soy product. Through culturing and fermentation, whole soybeans are molded into a block. Tempeh is even higher in protein, dietary fiber, and vitamins than tofu thanks to the fermentation and use of whole soybeans. Go here for more 25+ Vegan Tempeh Recipes.

Vegan Tempeh Pizza
This vegan Tempeh pizza with homemade pizza crust, flavorful tomato sauce, vegan cheese, and marinated tempeh crumbles is so good!
Vegan Tempeh Curry
This vegan Tempeh Curry is made with delicious tempeh chunks in a creamy tomato cashew sauce. It’s quick and easy to make! It’s best served with rice and naan.
Vegan Spaghetti Carbonara with smoky tempeh bits
This is my totally unauthentic, but extremely delicious VEGAN carbonara recipe with smoky tempeh bits! It’s real comfort food!
Tempeh Bolognese over spaghetti
This vegan Tempeh Bolognese can be made in 15 minutes! It’s quick, easy, and delicious! Sprinkle it with cashew parmesan.
Vegan Tempeh Bacon in the pan
Real bacon is high in cholesterol and saturated fats! This Vegan Tempeh Bacon is a much healthier plant-based alternative. It’s quick and easy and you can make it in the pan. The tempeh slices are smoky and crispy – perfect for breakfast with some tofu scramble or in wraps, burgers etc.!

Seitan

You can make seitan by washing out flour until all the starches have washed away. But this takes a lot of time. I am using vital wheat gluten instead. This makes it so much faster! You can check out my base recipe for seitan with VWG. And once you’re obsessed with seitan (like I am), here are even more recipes: 15+ Vegan Seitan Recipes.

Seitan Chicken Nuggets
Seitan is the perfect base for making Vegan Chicken Nuggets because it’s super meaty and juicy (at least the seitan I am making)! Who doesn’t love golden, crispy Vegan Nuggets?!
Homemade Vegan Sausages
No need to buy expensive veggie sausages anymore! These Homemade Vegan Sausages are easy to make and delicious. Thanks to two tricks, they are not tough and rubbery like seitan often is.
Vegan Steak
This vegan Seitan Steak is juicy and super easy to make! You can combine all the ingredients in a food processor – so no kneading required! By adding sparkling water and canned chickpeas to the mix, our seitan is softer than many of the tough seitan cutlets you can usually buy in stores. It goes perfectly with roasted potatoes and herb butter.
Vegan Goulash with Homemade Sausages
This Vegan Goulash with Homemade Sausages is the perfect cozy stew for cold and rainy days. It’s very nutritious because of the potatoes and seitan sausages. It’s comfort food at its best.
Vegan Philly Cheesesteak Sandwiches
You’d be surprised how easy it is to recreate a classic Philly Cheesesteak with all-vegan ingredients. In this recipe, the homemade seitan and cheesy sauce harmonize so well you’d want to see them get married. So go and make this vegan Philly Cheesesteak Sandwich now!
Vegan Hot Dogs with Homemade Seitan Sausages
With homemade Seitan Sausages, you can take this classic ballpark snack to the next level. I’ve topped the vegan Hot Dogs very traditionally with ketchup, pickles, and fried onions, but feel free to experiment with adventurous toppings such as guacamole, salsa or chili sin carne.
Seitan Schnitzel - Homemade Seitan coated in breadcrumbs and pan-fried until golden and crispy
Homemade Seitan coated in breadcrumbs and pan-fried until golden and crispy. This is the perfect vegan alternative to traditional Schnitzel. Serve the Seitan Schnitzel with baked potatoes and lingonberry jam and you’ll be in foodie heaven!
Seitan Roast with Bread Stuffing
Don’t want to miss out on an impressing main piece for Thanksgiving? Try this delicious, vegan Seitan Roast stuffed with a bread filling. Surprise your family and friends!

TVP

TVP stands for Textured Vegetable Protein, often also called soy meat, soya chunks/granule/slices. It is made out of defatted soy flour, which is extruded into shapes (such as granules, flakes, chunks, slices, strips, nuggets,…). Also, check out my guide on TVP (including 10 TVP recipes).

Soy Protein Burger
Skip expensive store-bought burger patties, and make your own Soy Protein Vegan Burgers with soy granule!
Vegan TVP Meatballs with Spaghetti
These high-protein vegan Meatballs are made with soy granule. They are flavorful, easy to make, and freezer-friendly!
Vegan Lahmacun - Turkish Pizza
Lahmacun is a Turkish Pizza topped with minced meat, onions, garlic, tomato, red pepper, and parsley. This is my vegan version of the dish!
Vegan Chicken Tacos with a Cilantro Coconut Sauce | ElephantasticVegan.com
These Vegan Chicken Tacos are made with soy strips, and served in homemade tortillas with salad, avocado, tomatoes, and a Cilantro Coconut Sauce. So good!
Vegan Schnitzel
Vegan Schnitzel– a veganized version of a classic Wiener Schnitzel. Textured vegetable protein makes the perfect base for our schnitzel because it has an excellent meat-like texture.
Vegan Bacon Bits made with TVP
These Vegan Bacon Bits are made using TVP (soy granule). You can enjoy them in tacos, burritos, salads, sprinkled over pasta, pretty much anything that needs that extra flavor and crunch!
Vegan Fried TVP Chicken
This vegan Fried TVP Chicken is made by wrapping TVP slices in rice paper, dipping them in egg replacement and flour, and lastly pan-frying them until golden and crispy.
Spaghetti with vegan bolognese sauce, cashew parmesan and salad
Soy granule is the perfect alternative for the traditional meaty Bolognese sauce! This vegan Spaghetti Bolognese is quick to make, tastes like the real deal and no one would think it’s vegan!
Vegan "Chicken" Garlic Slaw Burger | ElephantasticVegan.com
You will love this recipe for a vegan Chicken Garlic Slaw Burger made with homemade pretzel buns, garlic slaw, and seasoned TVP “chicken-style” slices! Delicious!
Superbowl of Chili | ElephantasticVegan.com
If you want a meaty vegan chili, TVP soy granules are the way to go! This Chili con TVP convinces even the most stubborn meat-eaters! It’s perfect for parties because it can be prepared ahead and it’s a real crowd-pleaser! 
Vegan Lasagna with Nooch Cheese
You don’t have to miss out on lasagna when going vegan! This vegan lasagna with nooch (nutritional yeast) cheese tastes just like the real thing. Soy granule makes it super “meaty”.
Vegan Gyros with Soya Chunks
You can make really easy and delicious vegan gyros using soya chunks. It’s perfect for a gyros platter with rice and yogurt sauce or in wraps!
Vegan Butter Chicken with Soy Curls served basmati rice and naan
Did you know you can make a delicious vegan Butter Chicken with soy curls? It’s super rich and creamy! Serve it with fluffy Garlic Naan and basmati rice for the complete Indian-inspired feast!

Jackfruit

The most important thing to note when working with jackfruit is, that you get the right kind! Most recipes use young green jackfruit in brine or jackfruit in water. The first time I bought jackfruit, I bought it in syrup, of course, I couldn’t use it for any of the savory recipes I’ve had planned – learn from my mistakes! :)

Here are more, 10+ Vegan Jackfruit Recipes You’ll Love!

Vegan Jackfruit Curry
Delicious shredded jackfruit in a creamy tomato cashew sauce. Serve this vegan Jackfruit Curry with basmati rice and homemade naan!
Teriyaki Jackfruit Sushi Bowl | ElephantasticVegan.com
Recipe for a vegan Teriyaki Jackfruit Sushi Bowl. Pulled jackfruit slathered in teriyaki sauce is the perfect key component for this plant-based rice bowl.
BBQ Pulled Jackfruit Wrap
Recipe for a vegan Pulled Jackfruit Wrap in homemade soft, thick wheat tortillas. Easy to make, super flavorful and delicious. Smothered in BBQ sauce!

Don’t forget to bookmark or pin this page, so you’ll always have amazing meaty vegan recipes at hand!

Is there a meaty recipe you want to see a vegan version of? Let me know!

Affiliate Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, which means I may earn referral fees if you make a purchase through my link. While clicking these links won't cost you any extra money, they will help me keep this site up and running!