60+ Vegan Recipes for Meat Lovers (2024)

Whether you're a vegan wanting to veganize some of your favourite pre-veg recipes or a vegan cooking for omnivores, in this roundup of vegan recipes for meat lovers there's sure to be something for everyone!

For the majority of us, we did not become vegan simply because we don’t like the taste of meat. I’m sure at some point a non-veg has questioned judged you about why fake meat products (or even recipes that emulate typically meat-based dishes) exist, implying that you’re some kind of hypocrite and irrational buffoon for wanting to eat them. The real morons are the ones whose brains are ruled by their stomachs, seemingly blocking them from the capacity of logical and critical thought and reasoning (rant over).

Just because you’ve given up meat doesn’t mean that you don’t crave a killer burger, chili, nuggets or wings from time to time. For most of us, those are the foods that we grew up on and would still be eating today if it wasn’t for all that animal cruelty, environmental destruction and chronic disease that caused you to go plant-based in the first place.

Perhaps you’re like many other vegans living with non-vegan family members and can’t bring yourself to cook meat for them. Or you simply don’t have time to be cooking two separate meals. Perhaps you’re having some “meat-and-potatoes-type” friends or family over for dinner and you’re stumped as to what to serve them.

If you’re looking for recipes that are “meaty” and satisfying for all of you while at the same time being cruelty free, then look no further! I’ve compiled this HUGE list of vegan recipes for meat lovers that will be sure to satisfy your every craving and impress even the most die-hard meat-and-potatoes guy (or girl).

About the Vegan Recipes for Meat Lovers

In keeping with the philosophy of this blog, I’ve chosen recipes that do not make use of packaged and processed vegan meat substitutes. It’s easy enough to go to the store and get a package of Gardein ground beef crumble and throw it into tomato sauce for a veggie Bolognese. You don’t need a recipe for that!

The recipes here use whole foods like mushrooms, lentils, beans and other vegetables to replace the meat in traditional meat-heavy dishes. For an even more meaty texture, some of these recipes call for tofu or seitan. You might consider seitan to be a processed meat substitute, but I don’t. You don’t have to buy packaged, pre-made seitan because it can be made at home. Read on.

How to Make Seitan

This post may contain affiliate links which help offset the cost of running this blog with no additional cost to you.

Seitan is a great (maybe the best) meat substitute when you’re after not only the flavour but also the chewy, meaty texture of your favourite vegan meat dishes.

There are two ways to make seitan at home. The easier way is to get a package of vital wheat gluten, either from a supermarket, health food store or online and mix it with your flavour ingredients into a dough. Many of the seitan-based recipes in this recipe roundup include instructions for making seitan with vital wheat gluten. Or you can check out this basic seitan recipe.

The second way to make seitan is by washing white or whole wheat flour until you’re left with just the gluten. This is more labour and time intensive but a good, cheaper alternative if you can’t get your hands on vital wheat gluten. This recipe for homemade seitan with flour gives a good basic overview of the process. Keep in mind that you can also add the appropriate spices, herbs and other seasonings for your recipe to the dough to give it the meaty flavour that you’re after.

Now, on to the vegan recipes for meat lovers!