The 20 BEST Cooking Hacks for a Tastier Meatless Monday

What’s the secret to making delicious plant-based meals? Funny you should ask. In honor of our twentieth anniversary, we’re sharing our twenty favorite cooking hacks for a tastier Meatless Monday!    

Over the years, we’ve read through thousands of plant-based recipes, and through this process, we’ve uncovered some seriously clever techniques and shortcuts to help improve the taste, texture, and nutritional quality of your Meatless Monday cooking, as well as find suitable plant-based alternatives for popular animal products, like meat, eggs, and dairy.  

Some of these hacks have existed for a while, like turning chickpea water (aquafaba) into egg whites or adding a spoonful of peanut butter to chili, but there’s certainly a handful that will catch you off guard, like refrigerating coconut milk for easy whipped cream or freezing a block of tofu. This Monday, find out how to make your life easier with our twenty BEST cooking hacks for tastier plant-based meals. 

Add a Spoonful of Peanut Butter to Chili

It might sound crazy, but the secret to many award-winning chili recipes is a heaping amount of smooth, creamy peanut butter. The subtle hint of sweet paired with the peanut’s inherent nuttiness is enough to balance out the spice and acidic-tang of vegetarian chili.

Bake with “Eggs” from Plants

Chicken eggs are an integral component of many recipes, especially for pastries and baked goods, but you can recreate the taste and functionality of eggs using only plant-based ingredients. Whether it’s using banana, flax and chia seeds, tofu, or a vegan egg replacement, the alternatives to eggs are endless.

Blend Cauliflower for an All-Purpose “Cream” Sauce

Add richness, depth, and creaminess to any dish with this magic, all-purpose cauliflower sauce. To make this simple sauce, boil cauliflower spears until tender. While boiling, sauté sliced garlic in olive oil until fragrant. Drain the cauliflower and scrape all of the garlic-infused oil into a blender and blend until smooth.

Create Your Own Nut Milks and Creams

Sure, you can buy the store-bought stuff, but making your own nut milk (and nut creams) is easy when you know the proper ratios. For nut milks, use a 3:1 ratio, such as 3-cups water to 1-cup nuts. Blend water and nuts (soaked overnight) together in a high-speed blender, strain and serve. Add vanilla for flavored milk or try Vanilla and Bean’s cashew milk recipe. To make nut creams, start with a 2:1 ratio of nuts to water, such as 1-cup nuts to ½ cup water. For a thinner cream, add more water as needed 1 tablespoon at a time to thin it out. Check out Detoxinista’s cashew cream recipe. Use your newly created nut-milk to bring moisture to these yummy vegan chunky monkey overnight oats.

Customize a Creamy Tofu Herb Dip

Tofu comes in all types and textures, with each variety good for a different culinary application. Blend soft silken tofu together with salt and fresh herbs — basil, parsley, chive, cilantro, rosemary — for a quick and easy dip for crudité. Add some avocado or a splash of citrus to round out the flavor.

Embrace Chickpea Flour for Batters and Omelets

Gluten-free and naturally protein-packed, chickpea flour is a great addition to your pantry. Besides being a flavorful flour alternative, chickpea flour is especially suited to being used in batters and fried foods. Mix it together with some seltzer or nut milk, and use to coat French toast, fishless filets, or tofu “wings” for a crispy crust. Chickpea flour also makes wonderful plant-based omelets with the addition of black salt.

Experiment with Chicken-Free Poultry Seasoning

You can capture the salty, garlicky flavor of roast chicken without any poultry required. Creating a poultry seasoning is easy and a great way to tap into your spice rack. We recommend using a combination of dried sage, thyme, marjoram, rosemary, black pepper and nutmeg (remember to go easy on the last three), but you can customize the mix to your liking.

Freeze Bananas for Nice Cream

Frozen banana soft serve will change the way you think about dessert. Simply peel a few bananas, throw them in the freezer, and blend them up with some frozen fruit the next day. Maybe add a splash of lemon juice, nut butter, or a sprinkle of maple syrup if so inclined.

Freeze Tofu for Better Texture and Flavor

If you’ve cooked with tofu before, you know that it can be pretty watery, depending on the firmness. Freezing tofu causes the ice crystals to expand, which, when thawed and pressed, results in a layered and pleasantly spongy texture that is more capable of absorbing flavors and sauces. Frozen-and-thawed tofu is drier and crisps up much better when cooked in a sauté pan or roasted in the oven, like in this recipe for pistachio crusted tofu.

Get an “Eggy” Flavor with Black Salt

Black salt, or kala namak, is actually pink in color and a rather underutilized ingredient. The flavor of black salt can be described as savory or umami, but it’s the salt’s sulfurous aroma that makes it a useful way to capture the scent and taste of eggs. It makes this tofu scramble taste like the ‘real’ thing.

Keep Dried Mushrooms in Your Pantry

Dried mushrooms are great to have on hand to make a quick flavorful broth or add extra umami to your dishes. Dried mushrooms are great in soups, stews, curries, noodles, beans, or this vegan mushroom Bourguignon. The possibilities are endless and they keep forever, making these ingredients excellent pantry staples.

Make Your Own Plant Parmesan “Cheese”

Parmesan elevates anything from pastas and risottos to soup and roasted vegetables. Recreate the sharp umami flavor of Parmesan with a combination of nutritional yeast, walnuts (or cashews), salt, and garlic powder. Give the mixture a couple of pulses in the food processor and you’re good to go.

Massage Kale for Tender Salads

Kale needs some TLC to become, well, tender. To break down the tough fibers, rip the leaves off the rib (or stem), add to a bowl, coat with some olive oil, and knead them (as if you would bread dough) for around four minutes. Add them to a Mediterranean salad for a quick weeknight meal.

Press Tofu for a ‘Meatier’ Texture

Removing the moisture from tofu allows it to get nice and crispy, an important step if you’re baking, pan frying, or cooking up Jamaican jerk tofu tacos. To properly press tofu, line a plate with paper towels or clean kitchen towel and place the block of tofu on top. Place another layer of paper towel on the tofu block and apply something heavy — book, cutting board, pan — on top. Let it “press” for at least 20 minutes, replace the paper towels and let it rest for another 10 minutes for an extra meaty texture.

Refrigerate Coconut Milk for Easy Whipped Cream

Simple, easy, and decadent, refrigerating (not freezing) a can of full-fat coconut cream overnight results in a thick and creamy whipped topping for desserts, waffles, or coffee. Whip coconut cream (not liquid) with a hand-mixer or stand mixer until light, fluffy peaks form. Add some vanilla extract and powdered sugar for some extra flavor and sweetness.

Save that Chickpea Water for Aquafaba “Egg Whites”

When life gives you chickpea water, make egg whites. When whipped with an electric mixer, chickpea water — also known as aquafaba — gets light and fluffy, making it an ideal substitute for egg whites. Use it to make plant-based chocolate mousse or meringues.

Stock up on Sauces

Keep your meals interesting by keeping a stock of sauces in your pantry and refrigerator. A dash of hot sauce, a sprinkle chimichurri, or a tablespoon of tahini can go a long way in adding heat, brightness, or umami to any vegetable, grain, or plant-based meat. Need some inspiration? Check out our list of must-have sauces.

Substitute Beans in Place of Meat

You can use beans to recreate plant-based versions of your favorite foods by incorporating different spice blends, like jerk seasoning, Creole seasoning, or an Italian blend. Transforming the texture and form of the bean through roasting, mashing, and pureeing can also achieve a consistency that’s more similar to whatever meat dish you’re attempting to replicate. Try swapping out the meat in these protein-packed chili nachos, black bean burgers, and this recipe for Cajun-style red beans with quinoa and walnut “meat”.

Take Advantage of Your Microwave

When used properly, the microwave can save you time, effort, and dirty dishes. These handy devices are really good at rapidly heating foods, thawing frozen foods, and melting ingredients like chocolate or butter, but their quick-cooking ability and low water usage can also help preserve the nutrient content of vegetables by preventing the vitamins and minerals from leaching out into the water. Try using your microwave to make tasty chili, French toast, or vegan mac and cheese.

Use Avocado in Place of Butter

With a one-to-one ratio, you can use avocado to replace butter in most baked goods and desserts. And while avocado won’t impart a noticeable flavor, you can also avoid butter by using a non-dairy butter substitute (also a one-to-one ratio).