"Honestly: Do you think vegan food is as tasty as the food you ate before?"

[Korn]

Sometimes people ask if it's possible to make as good food without animal products as it is with. For people who are used to put butter, milk, cream, cheese etc. in their meals it's a very natural question to ask, because they simply don't know without having tried other ways of getting the results they want. What do you think?

[Love]

No!It is NOT as tasty... ;) it's infinitely tastier ;)
With love from Love.XXX.

[Miel Miette]

Honestly? It's about the same.

[veganblue]

Took me awhile to think about. I said 'as tasty' but then all those other things have strong taste but I see it in a very negative light now. Is the food I eat now bland? No way! It is certainly tasty but in a good way and I enjoy it more in a wholistic sense than merely eating.

[chakra]

I cannot honestly say that vegan fare tastes better, but it definitely feels better.

[Gorilla]

it's hard for me to say whether vegan food is tastier than non-vegan food, as i haven't eaten meat for over 12 years, barely remember what it tastes like, and i think my tastebuds have changed since going vegan so that things i used to like eating e.g. cheese would probably taste disgusting to me now.

there are some vegan foods i don't enjoy, such as vegan cheese, seitan, tempeh, mostly 'substitutes' really. it took me a while to get used to soya milk, i used to hate it but i never really liked cows' milk much so i wouldn't say that was tastier either ;) but i really enjoy the food i eat now, i eat a lot less processed food and it tastes so much fresher and healthier. :)

[Kim[ba]]

Considering that pretty much all animal products are falvoured with plant based seasonings, I have to say I don't think there's a big difference. You can put steak sauce on tofu, seitan, veggie burger, etc and it will "taste like steak" but really it's that omni's are trying to make steak taste like veggies.

[feline01]

I truly do think my food tastes better now. I eat much less processed foods, more whole foods and there most certainly a difference in taste. Even vegan sweets are better to me, a slice of vegan cake is not as greasy and heavy as non-vegan desserts used to taste to me. There are certain vegan foods that I'll never jump for joy over like tempeh (ugh) and soymilk (it's ok) but there were loads of non-vegan foods I didn't like either. I doubt I will ever give up missing cheese though. Vegan cheeses can be decent but nothing like dairy cheese. I know I can have dairy cheese but I truly don't want it and the concept makes me ill.

[Tash]

It's gotta be better.. Guilt sucks all the flavor out...............

[DeathOfDecadence]

i think it is better, but part of that is also because i didnt eat so many different diverse foods before being vegan.

[Kiva Dancer]

The vegan food I'm eating is much, much better than what I ate as an omni. IMO, there's no comparison between the two. Vegan food is better.

[FR]

Vegan food is waaaaaaay better.

[Tofu Monster]

surely this all depends on your culinary abilities. or in my case, lack of. i'm so crap at cooking. there's so much variety of good food out there for us vegans - which we know but others totally don't realise - but i just don't know where to start with 95% per cent of it so i miss out on so much good stuff. i'm sure if i was a skilled cook, or maybe just more imaginative, i'd be much more confident in saying that vegan food tastes way better - i just haven't tasted so much of it yet. :(

[Leigh]

I voted that I think it's about the same. Eating out isn't as much fun as it used to be, more for the cheese aspect than meat, but at home I eat a much more varied diet than I used to and I've been introduced to some new flavours. To me, that kind of balances it out. It certainly does feel better, physically and emotionally, though :)

[Leigh]

Tofu, I've never been particularly interested in cooking, so I usually will only make the most basic things but they can still be yum! I have a chick pea curry recipe that is so easy it's almost a joke.... I could post it if you're interested. It's got lots of yummy spices in it. I realise it's only one thing, but it might just be another thing to add to your repertoire ;)

[Tofu Monster]

Tofu, I've never been particularly interested in cooking, so I usually will only make the most basic things but they can still be yum! I have a chick pea curry recipe that is so easy it's almost a joke.... I could post it if you're interested. It's got lots of yummy spices in it. I realise it's only one thing, but it might just be another thing to add to your repertoire ;)

yeah please do! there's actually a tinned chick pea curry i eat a lot, especially at work (it's called 'thai temple curry' if anyone's heard of it) but if there's a good and simple one i could make at home that would be great! i love chick peas!

[Hasha]

It's the same. Actually, taste doesn't count for an awful lot with me. For me, taste is really a matter of habit. For example, when I first started drinking soy milk, I thought it tasted terrible. Now, I'm drowning in it. :D So yeah. I like what I'm used to. Which means that if I want to change my eating habits, I can. Just give me a little time, and I'll love the new stuff. (As long as it's not salty or greasy; but that's not a matter of taste, that stuff actually makes me feel sick.)

[Leigh]

Tinned chick pea curry?? :eek: Poor Tofu! :p I'm at work right now, so I'm going to write myself a note right now so I'll remember to bring the recipe with me to post tomorrow ;)

[Hasha]

By the way, when I said that it's the same as before, I wasn't comparing it to meat. Meat has been out of my life for over five years now and I really don't see it as food anymore, just as a dead animal. :( I was comparing vegan food that I eat now to the foods containing dairy and eggs that I used to eat.

[phillip888]

Hmm, I didn't learn how to prepare my own food very well until I went vegetarian in my early twenties anyway, but when I went vegan I did notice a big change in taste. The thing I find with vegan based and especially raw food, is that there is no longer a delicate balance between the right and wrong way to prepare things. I can prepare twenty dishes that I create on the spot, and they all turn out great. It just seams so easy to make vegan food, cooked or raw. I even accidentally made a vegan cheese loaf recently. It was awesome.

Food in vegan restaurants though, is almost always better than anything I've eaten in a mainstream restaurant.

Oh, and the thing about dead animals spiced with plants, true true, about the only thing that stuff has going for it is the fatty taste people seem to think is 'good'. Maybe my tastes just became more sophisticated when I started eating a variety of foods... I can't stand the thought of eating a hamburger now, even if it was made from cloned tissue, convincing soy, god, etc... I just wouldn't be interested. Give me a falafel burger with tahini sauce, lettuce, tomato, mushroom, and onion however... mmmmm...

[englishvegoboi]

Ok I am not totally vegan yet, I phased out eggs a long time ago but I still use a bit of whey powder in my smoothies. However that will stop once I finish the pack.

I think that giving up non-vegan food is much like giving up sugar in tea. It may be uncomfortable for a short time but it eventually reaches the stage whereby sweet tasting tea is undrinkable (at least in my case).

When I converted to soy yoghurt it took a bit of getting used to but I now really enjoy it. I tried some cows milk yoghurt a few days ago and it no longer tasted right. The same is true with cows milk; soya milk tastes a lot better to me. As for eggs, the smell of them alone is enough to put me off my lunch. I am looking forward to my final transition to veganism.

[Imapeach]

After the amazing vegan lasagne I had for dinner last night at my favourite cafe... It'd be hard for me to say vegan food is any less tastier than omni food. Also, the portions are generally much bigger as you *need* to eat more to get the same energy intake :D Well that's what i tell myself anyways... I never had to use a doggy-bag before I became vegan! And thinking back on my favourite foods to eat even when i was an omnivore, they were still all plant-based foods anyway!

[Spiral]

It's gotta be better.. Guilt sucks all the flavor out...............
Couldn't agree more :)

From a young age I disliked the taste of meat, and the thought of pizza covered in fatty cheese - yuck!.

[John]

All I can say is that I never enjoyed the taste of food as much as I do now. I know that no omni could believe that, but it's true.

[Kiva Dancer]

I'm so glad I don't have to arse with internal tempratures or resting things at the end of cooking so the blood (they call it "the juice" :eek: ) can sink back into the fibres. I always hated that part as an omni so I'm really glad I could leave it behind as a vego.