We present alternatives to soy: soy milk, soy cream, soy flour, soy sauce, soy yogurt, and of course, tofu. Because not everyone can or wants to eat soy products, e.g., B. with a soy allergy. You can easily make many soy alternatives yourself at home with just a few ingredients.
These Alternatives To Soy Exist
Because the soybean is so incredibly versatile, there is an endless number of products made from it. We have already listed most of the above. This is wonderful for everyone who can tolerate soy well. But who z. B. has a soy allergy or cannot or does not want to eat soy for other reasons. Many people, especially vegan recipes, ask themselves what might be a suitable alternative to soy.
We present soy-free but still purely plant-based alternatives to all soy products known to us. All these alternatives are, of course – just like soy products – lactose-free and cholesterol-free and are therefore also suitable for people with lactose intolerance or with cholesterol problems.
The Primary And Secondary Soy Allergy
Soy products are not particularly suitable for people with soy allergies. However, a distinction is made between a primary soy allergy and a secondary soy allergy. A secondary soy allergy is also called a pollen-associated soy allergy. It is a cross allergy that can develop in people who are allergic to birch pollen.
Since soy protein is the problem, these people can often tolerate products low in soy protein or declared as soy protein-free, e.g., B. low protein soybean oil or soy lecithin. Sometimes those affected can also eat small amounts of other soy products without causing a reaction, although this varies significantly from person to person.
On the other hand, a primary soy allergy is a food allergy that is much rarer than a secondary soy allergy. In immediate soy allergies, not even traces of the food in question are usually tolerated. Therefore, those affected usually carry an emergency kit with them, as it can never be ruled out that there may not be traces of soy in some other food.
Alternative To Soy Milk
Alternatives to soy milk are now even available in regular supermarkets. Therefore, these drinks are now called drinks in stores. However, we can still call the drinks milk since we do not sell any complementary products.
Instead of soy milk, you can use the following alternatives and, if necessary, make it yourself:
- Oat milk (do it yourself)
- Rice milk (do it yourself)
- Spelled milk (do it yourself)
- Coconut milk
- Buckwheat milk
- Millet milk
- Almond milk (do it yourself)
Mixtures have also been around for a long time, e.g., B. rice-coconut milk, oat-almond milk, or rice-hazelnut milk. Allos also offers an oat barista milk that can be frothed and is suitable for coffee specialties. However, these alternatives to soy drinks are relatively low in protein and only contain around 1 percent protein, rice milk only 0.5 percent.
In comparison, soy drinks contain 3.6 percent protein (cow’s milk approx. 3.3 percent). Only buckwheat milk provides 1.6 percent protein. A relative novelty is lupine milk, which includes 2 percent protein. So don’t think that the alternatives for soy milk also have the same nutritional profile. If you expected their protein content, you would have to make your diet richer in protein elsewhere.
Alternative To Soy Yogurt
Coconut milk, almonds, and cashews are also good alternatives to soy yogurt. These yogurts are already available in stores. However, the qualities vary, so you may have to try a little until you find your favorite soy-free yogurt. In the organic supermarket, there are usually higher-quality variants than in the conventional supermarket. Of course, there is no “yoghurt” on the packaging of these products, as this – just like soy milk – is forbidden.
Therefore, you will find names such as yogurt alternative or, in the case of lupine yogurt, yogurt. However, please pay attention to the ingredients here, too, because they are often full of additives, especially in conventional retail stores, as it is not easy to imitate the usual yogurt consistency. Sugar is also often used. Here you will find information about vegan yogurts and here the recipe for homemade almond yogurt.
As already explained with soy milk, the alternatives for soy yogurt have different nutritional values than soy yogurt or cow’s milk yogurt. So they are not so rich in protein and sometimes fattier. But of course, you can also add some oat flakes or a vegan protein powder and fruit to your yogurt to increase the protein content.
Alternative To Soy Flour (Especially As An Egg Substitute)
Soy flour is a popular binder and also a good substitute for eggs. An alternative to soy flour as an egg substitute is z. B. a mixture of corn grits and locust bean gum. Here you can find the recipe for this vegan egg substitute. You can find more options for soy-free egg substitutes here, e.g., B. chia gel, applesauce, linseed, arrowroot starch, or chickpea flour.
Alternative To Soy Sauce
Soy sauce is a very strong-tasting fermented seasoning sauce made from soybeans. There are two variants in particular: Shoyu and Tamari. Shoyu tastes milder than Tamari. Whole wheat is used in addition to soybeans to make Shoyu, Tamari is a pure soy sauce, i.e., wheat-free and gluten-free.
In the following, we describe alternatives to soy sauce and sauces that are often referred to as soy sauce alternatives but are not suitable for many people (e.g., because they are not vegan, not gluten-free, etc.).
Coconut Sauce
One of the best alternatives to soy sauces is the soy-free and gluten-free amino coconut seasoning sauce, made from coconut blossom nectar. It tastes spicy with a slightly sweet note. Its salt content is only half that of soy sauces, but its natural sugar content is very high, so it should be used sparingly.
Maggi Wort
The legendary Maggi seasoning could be an excellent alternative to soy sauce in terms of taste. It is vegan and only contains wheat protein as a supplier of the flavoring amino acids (so it is not gluten-free). However, flavor enhancers (monosodium glutamate, disodium inosinate) and flavors are added, so we would not recommend the Maggi seasoning. The salt content of the Maggi sauce is also 18 percent, which is around a third higher than that of soy sauce.
Alternative To Tofu
Tofu is made in a similar way to cheese. You add a coagulant (usually nigari (magnesium chloride)) to the soy milk and then press the solid components (the protein fragments) into small blocks of tofu. What remains is the soy whey, which has recently been used (2021) to make soap.
Natural tofu is relatively tasteless. But THAT is precisely one of the main advantages of tofu. Because now it can be prepared according to your mood – whether heartily seasoned and fried or sweetened as an ingredient for cakes and desserts. Depending on the desired use, the appropriate alternative must then be sought.
Unripe Jackfruit
The jackfruit is a tropical fruit with a chicken-like consistency in unripe and cooked form and has therefore been on the market for several years as a meat substitute (in cans, jars, or vacuum-packed). So you can also use the unripe jackfruit as an alternative to tofu, for example, if you had mashed the tofu and used it as a filling or if you had diced the tofu to make a ragout to prepare ( jackfruit ragout with onion sauce ).
Perhaps you have already made some shredded tofu. It works just as well with the jackfruit as it does here in our Chili sin Carne. Here you will find more delicious recipes with jackfruit (enter “jackfruit” in the search field).
Alternative For Cream Cheese Made From Soy
There is delicious cream cheese made from soy (with and without herbs or with peppercorns). According to our recipe for cream cheese, vegan and soy-free cream cheese is best made yourself, e.g., B. according to our recipe for cream cheese. It consists of cashew nuts, almond drink, agar-agar, lactic acid powder, oil, lemon juice, and spices. You can then refine this basic recipe with herbs, garlic, pepper, etc., as you wish.
Alternative For Tempeh
Tempeh consists of cooked soybeans that have been inoculated with a noble mold that covers the beans with a white mesh – similar to Camembert. An alternative to tempeh is Lupeh from Alberts. For Lupe, no soybeans are inoculated with the noble mold, but simply lupine seeds. The result can be used just like tempeh, e.gB. be cut into slices and fried, as in our curry with pumpkin and tempeh or our recipe fried tempeh with beans in gravy or breaded and fried.
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