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Soya-free vegan foods

Although many ready-made vegan food products contain soya, eating a soya-free plant-based diet is entirely possible. This is good news for the unlucky few who are unable to eat soya! Listed below are some alternatives to the well used soya bean.

These products can be found in some supermarkets, health food stores, Holland & Barrett, or from www.goodnessdirect.co.uk. Soya-free products can also be purchased from Dietary Needs Direct: www.dietaryneedsdirect.co.uk.

Please note: Ingredients may change so please double-check the packaging.

Allergy sufferers: The products listed below are all made without the use of soya as an ingredient. However, if you are allergic to soya, check the manufacturer’s cross-contamination information if this is a concern for you.

Source of protein/meat replacement:

Lentils; beans e.g. kidney beans, aduki beans (but not soya beans, obviously!); and chick peas are good nutritious and easily available staples to use in the vegan kitchen.
Grains such as quinoa (pronounced ‘keen-wa’), amaranth and buckwheat, which are all gluten-free and complete proteins. They can be used in a similar way to rice or couscous. Wild rice and millet are also good protein sources.
Seitan – made from wheat gluten, seitan is a low fat and high protein meat substitute. Most brands contain soya (soy sauce or tamari) but you can make your own - see the recipe below.
Nuts and seeds are nutritious, tasty and versatile for both sweet and savoury dishes.
Wholegrain foods such as wholemeal bread, pasta and brown rice make a useful contribution to protein intake.
Meat alternative products:

Redwood’s Vegideli Meat Free Southern Fried Chicken Style Pieces and Chicken Style Burgers are soya-free.
Products such as bean burgers and nut cutlets are more likely to be soya-free than ‘meat-style’ products

Non-dairy Milk:

Rice, oat, almond, coconut, hazelnut, quinoa and hemp milks are alternatives to soya milk. NB If fortified versions are not available, ensure you get sufficient B12 from a supplement such as Veg1 (available from The Vegan Society).

Ice Cream:

B’Nice Rice Cream, strawberry and vanilla flavours only: Distributed by Beanie's Health Foods (Wholesale) Ltd., 23 Brunel Way, Segensworth East Industrial Estate, Fareham, PO15 5SD, Tel: (01489) 574593, Fax: (01489) 582003, www.beanieshealthfoods.co.uk

Booja Booja Stuff in a Tub www.boojabooja.com 01508 558888

Margarine:

Pure (Sunflower), Biona Extra Virgin Olive Oil Margarine, Suma Sunflower Spread.
Avocado, tahini (sesame paste) and nut butters make tasty and nutritious alternatives to margarine for spreading on sandwiches and toast.
Use vegetable oils (olive, rapeseed, sunflower etc) when cooking and baking. Drizzle a little olive oil onto crusty bread instead of margarine.

Cheese:

The Vegusto range of cheeses are soya-free and gluten-free http://www.vegusto.com/
Redwood Foods make a soya-free variety of Cheezly (also gluten-free): www.redwoodfoods.co.uk (01536) 400557.
There are also plenty of recipes for home made ‘cheeses’. Take a look at The Uncheese Cookbook and The Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook by Jo Stepaniak for lots of ‘cheezy’ recipes. The Ultimate Cookbook contains a handy soya-free index with recipes including Gooda Cheez, Classic Quiche and Chedda Fondu.

Cream:

Nut cream – see recipe below
Oatly (oat cream) http://www.oatly.com/

Yoghurt:

Redwood Foods 'Wot No Dairy?' yoghurts are soya-free and gluten-free. www.redwoodfoods.co.uk

Recipes

Raw food recipes are soya-free and include plenty of creative alternatives to dairy products. Check out www.fresh-network.com for information on recipe books etc. There are lots of raw recipes on the web e.g. http://www.living-foods.com/recipes/

Almond and Cashew Cream
Banana Ice Cream
Chilli
Chocolate Cake
Hungarian Stew with Potato Dumplings
Melty White Cheeze
Parmazano Sprinkles
Seitan

Become A Vegan

Soya-free vegan foods

Further Reading:

Recipes

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