Vegan, plant-based and meatless dishes are on the rise in Latino communities. Many adopt a vegan and/or plant-based food lifestyle for health/diet reasons, for the environment to be more eco-friendly, or for other ethical reasons. Others just want to add more meatless dishes to their daily meals to decrease meat consumption.
However, growing up with traditional Latin food, which is traditionally heavily meat-based, may make it a bit difficult at first to figure out meatless food options and meal ideas. However, there are actually so many delicious meat replacement options to choose from. Use your traditional Latin seasonings, and other herbs and spices, to create delicious meatless dishes.
Below are five meatless food swaps to create your favorite Latin dishes.
© GettyImagesJackfruit
Jackfruit is a tropical tree fruit grown in Africa, Asia, and South America. It has a sweet flavor and tastes very similar to mango and pineapple. However, when cooked, jackfruit actually takes on a meaty flavor, similar to pork. Especially when shredded after cooking, jackfruit mimics the texture of shredded meat. It is a very popular meatless food option which can replace pork in Latin dishes.
Meal Ideas: Jackfruit tacos, jackfruit enchiladas, jackfruit “ropa vieja”, jackfruit “carnitas”, jackfruit tostadas, jackfruit “pulled pork” burgers, jackfruit “guisado” stew.
© GettyImagesBeans
Beans are another popular meatless food option. One of the great nutritional benefits of beans is that one cup has a similar amount of grams of proteins as traditional meat. Some beans like red kidney beans, also have nearly all of the essential amino acids that meat products have.
Meal Ideas: Rice and beans, quinoa and beans, bean soups/stews, bean burgers, bean tacos, bean enchiladas, bean tostadas, bean dips.
© GettyImagesMushrooms
Mushrooms are the most popular meatless food option. Mushrooms have a natural savory and umami flavor, similar to meat. Mushrooms are very filling and are very satisfying. Out of all of the meatless plant-based substitutes, mushrooms are perfect for hearty meats recipes such as burgers and stews.
Meal Ideas: Mushroom “steak”, mushroom “burgers”, mushroom tacos, mushroom enchiladas, mushroom carnitas, mushroom tostadas, mushroom guisado.
© CanvaQuinoa
Quinoa is very versatile with endless recipe ideas. Just like beans, one cup also has a similar amount of grams of proteins as traditional meat and has all of the essential amino acids that meat products have. This makes quinoa a very popular meatless food choice for its nutritional benefits.
Meal Ideas: Quinoa and beans, quinoa bean salad, quinoa soups and stews, quinoa burgers, quinoa tachos, one pan quinoa dishes, quinoa salads.
© GettyImagesWalnuts
Walnuts can be grounded in a food processor as a great meat replacement. Once ground, walnuts have a similar meat crumble texture, like ground meat. They are also high in protein and fat.
Meal Ideas: Walnut “ground meat”, walnut “meatloaf”, walnut “burgers”, walnut tacos, walnut stuffed mushrooms or avocados.
