If you're allergic to soybeans or want to reduce your consumption of soy for other reasons, foods like tofu, miso, and soy sauce are out. A soy-free diet can be even harder if you're a vegetarian or vegan. Check out this list of soy alternatives and leave your own suggestions in the comments.
• Edamame Substitutes: Green peas and fresh fava and lima beans are good substitutes.
• Miso Substitutes: Miso is traditionally made from fermented soybeans, but chickpea versions can be found from South River Miso Company and Miso Master, and South River also makes an adzuki bean miso. If you have the patience to wait a year, you can also go the DIY fermentation route (Sandor Katz is a good resource).
• Tofu and Tempeh Substitutes: Unfortunately there's no true substitute for these products, but depending on the dish you may be able to use ingredients like mushrooms (puffballs are especially tofu-like), chickpeas and other beans, or seitan that has made without soy sauce. Ricotta cheese, sour cream, and yogurt can sometimes work in place of silken tofu.
• Soy Milk Substitutes: Other milk alternatives like rice and almond milk tend to be much lower in protein, although many of them do have other nutritional benefits. If it's protein you're after, consider goat's milk, hemp milk (which contains 10 essential amino acids), or homemade quinoa milk.
• Soy Sauce Substitutes: Soy sauce, shoyu, tamari, and Bragg Liquid Aminos are all made from soybeans. Instead, try coconut aminos made from coconut tree sap. For additional ideas, see this post.
• Textured Vegetable Protein (TVP) Substitutes: This soy protein is often used as a substitute for ground meats. Similar textures can be achieved by using hamburger, quinoa, or coarse bulgur.
Did we miss anything? Share your suggestions and experiences in the comments.
Related: Help Me Find a Good Soy-Free Substitute for Soy Sauce
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I'm allergic to soy, but I find I'm generally ok with miso and soy sauce because they've been fermented and used in small amounts. As for a tofu substitute, I know that Matthew Kenney has a recipe for a raw foods tofu. I haven't tried it yet, but I hope to!
Thanks. I can't eat soy, and found vegetarian fair often tricky because of it. Sadly, I love the taste in different dishes, but it sure doesn't love me.
Good info for those with allergies.
I want to say though, I'm a bit exhausted by the "not eating X" movement in food. I'm all for skipping heavily processed horrors, but having recently been lectured on the problems with monoculture when I expressed a preference for almond milk, I'm just over it. I can't do more. I can't afford to a lot of the time, and I don't have the time to grow all my own food. After reading an essay on how Earth Balance is killing chimpanzees I just threw up my hands. I'm just going to look for the joy in cooking and eating.
Quorn makes soy-free fake meats (including a 'ground beef' style that is similar to cooked TVP) that are made from mycoproteins (fungus protein). In the US they are in the frozen food section, near the Morningstar.
Beef and chicken make awesome substitutes for tofu. Cow milk is a great substitute for soy milk.
Earth Balance is killing chimpanzees? I'm an accessory to monkey murder? Please explain!
Am I the only one who finds this a bit ... well, strange? I appreciate that an intolerance to soy can be quite problematic if you're vegan. But most of the substitute suggestions here are non-vegan? And substituting hamburger for TVP and ricotta for seitan seems a bit like substituting for substitutes by going back to a non-vegan or non-vegetarian alternative? It's not like the majority of people has forgotten how to cook without any necessary or chosen dietary restrictions - or have I got that wrong?
Don't misunderstand me, I've got nothing against choosing not to consume certain things, that's within everyone's good right and I've eliminated things from my diet too. I just don't really get this article?
I must say I'm of a similar opinion as MaryWynn...I long ago threw up my hands & decided to just look for the joy in cooking and eating while making every effort to maintain a healthy diet. And superdewa's comment near sent me over the edge...
"Beef and chicken make awesome substitutes for tofu. Cow milk is a great substitute for soy milk."
And no, robin_baby, you're not the only one who finds this a bit strange. Substituting for substitutes. Seems we've come full circle. Allergies & food sensitivities are serious business. All the rest is just so much nonsense. As is this post (sorry Emily).
@Mere-made This is the article: http://loveallbeings.org/blog/earth-balance-is-not-vegan/
I'm not a huge fan of margarine, but I'm trying to be a sometime-vegan so I wanted to find out more. The article came up when I googled "how is earth balance made?" after it was suggested as a butter substitute in several articles.
I'm an environmental activist and I try to live my convictions as much as I can. I won't stop being a contentious consumer, but articles like the one I shared, or the discussion about soy linked in this post, have me at the end of my tether.
my partner is allergic to soy and dairy. so this is helpful! we also find maggi sauce is a pretty good substitute for soy sauce. closest thing to it.