From vegoutmag.com
By Adam Kelton
Start small. Try one swap a week. Get curious. Experiment like a home cook with a new ingredient
Let’s be real. Not everyone is ready to jump into a fully vegan lifestyle.
I’m not vegan myself. I love a good steak, a perfectly seared scallop, and the kind of buttery pastry that melts before you take your second bite.
But I also spend a lot of time around food, kitchens, and people who care deeply about what they eat and where it comes from. And something I’ve learned over the years is that you don’t need to commit to an all or nothing lifestyle for your choices to matter.
Sometimes small changes make a surprisingly big impact. On your health. On the environment. And honestly, on your cooking skills too.
If you’re curious about eating a little more plant based without giving up the foods you love, here are seven easy swaps that deliver way more change than you’d expect.
Let’s get into it.
1) Swap dairy milk for oat or soy milk
Milk is one of the easiest places to make a meaningful shift.
You don’t need to swear off ice cream forever or throw out every cheese in your fridge. Just switching your daily milk can cut your environmental impact dramatically.
Oat and soy milks are two of the most consistent performers. They foam well in coffee, work beautifully in smoothies, and play nicely in baking.
When I worked in luxury F&B, I saw oat milk become the default request for cappuccinos because it gave that creamy, velvety texture without overpowering the coffee.
Try it in small ways. Your morning latte. A bowl of cereal. Pancakes on a lazy Sunday.
You might be surprised how quickly your taste buds adapt.
2) Swap beef mince for lentils or plant based ground
Here’s a question I ask people all the time. Are you craving the flavour of beef, or the comfort of a hearty, savoury dish?
Because those are not the same thing.
Lentils make an incredible replacement for ground beef in dishes like tacos, chili, Bolognese, or shepherd’s pie. They absorb flavour beautifully and offer the same hearty texture once seasoned properly.
And if you still want something closer to meat, plant based grounds have come a long way. I once blind tasted one at a restaurant and didn’t realize it wasn’t beef until the chef told me.
Start with meals where the sauce does the talking. You’ll barely notice the difference, but your health and footprint will.
3) Swap butter for olive oil in your everyday cooking
This one surprised me when I first tried it.
As someone who spent years around chefs, butter used to feel sacred. But once you start experimenting with good quality olive oil, especially for roasts, sautés, and everyday stove work, it becomes a game changer.
Olive oil is heart healthy, flavourful, and incredibly versatile. Plus, it handles vegetables, grains, and proteins with ease.
Of course, bake your croissants with butter. Life is too short not to. But in your daily cooking, olive oil delivers a lighter, cleaner richness that works with almost any dish.
Even better, it encourages you to use more herbs, spices, and aromatics to deepen flavour, which naturally makes your cooking more interesting.
4) Swap heavy cream in sauces for coconut milk or cashew cream
If you love creamy dishes but want something lighter and plant forward, this one is perfect.
Coconut milk works beautifully in curries, soups, and marinades. It gives body without feeling overly indulgent. Cashew cream, on the other hand, is one of those things you try once and wonder why you never used it before.
You soak cashews, blend them with a little water, and suddenly you have a neutral, silky base that transforms pastas, sauces, and even desserts.
I learned this from a chef friend who said cashew cream became one of their secret ingredients because it allowed them to create rich, elegant dishes without weighing everything down.
Try it in Alfredo. Seriously. You won’t look back.
5) Swap eggs in baking for flax eggs or applesauce
If you’re not a vegan baker, this one might sound strange, but hear me out.
Many baking recipes don’t rely on eggs for flavour. They’re mostly used for structure, moisture, or binding. And flax eggs (ground flaxseed plus water) do that job surprisingly well.
Applesauce works beautifully too, especially in muffins, banana bread, and cakes where moisture is essential.
I learned about egg alternatives while testing recipes for a friend’s café. The vegan chocolate loaf became one of their best selling items, and no one knew there were no eggs in it unless they asked.
It’s not about making everything egg free. It’s about having a few simple swaps that open up new possibilities.
6) Swap chicken broth for vegetable broth in soups and grains
This is the easiest swap on the entire list, and the impact is bigger than you think.
Vegetable broth has come a long way. It’s no longer the watery, bland base it used to be. There are deeply flavoured, roasted varieties that make risotto, soups, stews, quinoa, couscous, and rice taste incredible.
Most people couldn’t tell the difference in a blind tasting, especially in dishes with herbs, garlic, wine, or tomatoes.
Even better, vegetable broth is lighter and allows other ingredients to shine.
This small change cuts down your consumption of animal products without altering your routine at all.
7) Finally, swap one meat meal a week for a plant focused one
This is often the swap that creates the most change overall.
I’m not saying ditch your favourite steakhouse or vow to never grill chicken again. But choosing just one meal a week to explore something plant based opens the door to creativity and discovery.
You can try a chickpea curry, a mushroom stir fry, a hearty grain bowl, or even a well built veggie burger.
I once read in a food sustainability book that if every person in a country swapped just one meat based meal per week for a plant based one, the environmental impact would be equivalent to taking millions of cars off the road.
That stuck with me. Small decisions become big waves when they’re repeated.
And honestly, it is fun to explore new dishes without the pressure of changing your whole lifestyle.
Conclusion
You don’t need to go all in on a plant based lifestyle to make choices that matter.
You don’t need to give up the foods you love or pretend you don’t enjoy a good ribeye. You can still appreciate flavours, textures, and techniques while making thoughtful swaps that support your health and the planet.
Start small. Try one swap a week. Get curious. Experiment like a home cook with a new ingredient.
And most of all, don’t treat this like a diet or a moral checklist. Treat it like an upgrade to your cooking, your habits, and your awareness.
Sometimes the biggest changes start with the smallest ingredients.
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