I’m not vegan, but I’m trying to reduce my meat consumption. Unfortunately I really like snacking on pepperoni sticks - I like to tough, chewy texture and the spicyness. When I search for vegan pepperoni substitutes I can only find things intended for making pizza etc. Any suggestions for vegan snacks similar to pepperoni sticks?
A lot of Asian grocery stores have chewy mushroom snacks of different flavors but similar texture to jerky, and tofu snacks that might give you the same kick.
I love marinated spiced mushrooms, they gave a very full, firm, crunch/chewy texture.
Tofu curds come in like a billion different flavors too, and while not as similar in texture to pep sticks, they’re still a good bite and there’s probably a flavor you’ll like.
There are vegan jerkies, and you can make your own easily with online recipes, even adding pepperoni spices.
If you’re ever in the EU, you might find this brand:
Can’t vouch for them though, I have never tried them. But as you can see, there’s a spicy variant (piri piri) too.
That looks perfect, if I weren’t in Canada.
There’s some humour in a geographical restriction comment from someone with a username of a very flight-capable bird :P
They have a great taste, but they are much more soft and less chewy than the “original”. Tasty but not exactly a drop-in replacement for some.
Beyond has vegan jerky. I have never come across vegan pepperoni sticks, however I would not mind trying them if they exist. I too have one found vegan pepperoni slices.
These guys deliver to Canada, I avoid Amazon but they sell them there as well. You can even get the sampler packs. They are cheaper then actual jerky
Sauce stach did a potato starch pepperoni that I have had on my list for a while.
Maybe try searching for vegan jerky. These are basically pepperoni flavored jerky
You should go vegan, if you realise hurting animals for food is wrong then it’s a bit weird to have an allowed level. Imagine that in other contexts, like an allowed amount of bar fights or something.
Anyway you can make jerky from mushrooms, I favour hydrating dried shittake mushrooms in a marinade and then drying them again. In Asian groceries you might also find these delicious oily and spicy tofu sticks. They’re pretty chewy and spicy.
I would recommend asking at groceries for a vegan/vegetarian (sometimes understood as the same thing sometimes not, depending on cultural background) chewy spicy snack and try what they recommend.
I tried to just downvote and ignore you, but I’ll give you my perspective instead.
Nature is cruel - lots and lots of animals survive by eating other animals. We are just animals that have evolved to, in most cases, be at the top of the food chain. As a species we have used our brains to abuse this position over the last several hundred years. Slowly (very slowly) we, as a species, are realising that this is wrong and are starting to use our brains to move away from animal consumption. I applaud those of you that have made a commitment to be the leading edge of this change, but I’m not there.
That’s such a cop out. Arguments from nature can be used to justify anything and they’re just ridiculous puppet shows anyway, nature is many things but you have moral agency.
If a rapist mounts that defense? a whaler? someone who runs a puppy mill? someone who beats their children or spouse? an abusive boss etc what would you say to them?
It is dishonest to yourself and cruel to others to behave in a way you know is wrong because it is, as of yet, still socially permissible to do so. It’s like being a homophobe in the 2000s waiting for gay marriage to be legal before they’ll stop shouting slurs at couples they pass.
edit: also none of us are great moral crusaders. People realised this shit thousands of yeare ago, probably much earlier too but we don’t have records. People did this when it required sacrifice. Going vegan is easy now, there’s a wealth of information on how to eat well — both from a hedonic and health perspective, can find off the shelf products most places, it’s easy to find plant based options eating out in most places, workplaces and events tend to be accomodating. Literally the worst consequence is seeing people online post stupid stuff.
I am a human garbage fire, I can be lazy, I can be selfish, I can be abrasive and impatient, I phone it in at work sometimes or tell small lies to get my way/exaggerate difficulty to avoid work. If you think you have to be some paragon of morality to go vegan you have an incredibly warped view of the average vegan and your own capabilities. It is literally the moral baseline and down there with not snatching shiny objects.
