Your best vegan loaf recipe

June 24, 2018 6:05 AM

Looking for a great recipe for a vegan meat loaf. Not looking for your awesome Google skills. Please — only recipes you've personally tried and loved and only recipes that are vegan — unless you've made it vegan and it's still turned out great. Online and cookbook recipes are fine — I can get most vegan cookbooks at the library. Looking for something that is good hot or cold and holds together for sandwiches. No vegan fake foods (yogurt, cheese, Earth Balance). Low or no oil a plus, but great taste a necessity. Thanks!
posted by FencingGal to Food & Drink (11 answers total)

Best answer: I used to love this Cashew Mushroom Roast when I was a vegetarian.
posted by kittydelsol at 6:26 AM on June 24, 2018 [4 favorites]

Best answer: I am not vegan, I do not like lentils or mushrooms, but this recipe turned out so well that I joyfully devoured it.
posted by VioletU at 7:19 AM on June 24, 2018 [2 favorites]

Best answer: I don't have a specific recipe for you, but i started running a new vegan black bean patty at a restaurant where i work that might work for you. Peel and cut yuca into managable sized chunks. Boil until tender, drain, then chill. Once it is cooled, throw it in a food processor and chop it until it breaks down completely. Use that as the binder for your loaf or patties. I add sauteed vegetables, cooked, drained and slightly smashed black beans, and seasonings like cumin and garlic to mine. Because the yuca is starchy amd sticky, it holds things together really well. Since i was going for something gluten free as well, i haven't tried it with any sort of breadcrumb or oats, but i imagine that would help make for a firmer loaf as well. The main key for keeping it all stuck together is to make sure you are not adding too many wet things to the yuca. If you are using all fully cooked ingredients (i.e. your vegetables are already sauteed) your cooking time for the loaf or patty is just how long it takes to get it warm throughout.
posted by August Fury at 7:39 AM on June 24, 2018 [5 favorites]

Best answer: I clipped this recipe from a 1989 issue of Vegetarian Times magazine, and it is still my go-to recipe for Vegan Meat Loaf:

28oz firm tofu, drained and mashed
1 2/3 cups rolled oats
3/4 cup whole wheat bread crumbs
1/3 cup ketchup
5 tbs low-sodium soy sauce
2 tbs mustard
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp black pepper

Mix tofu, oats, and bread crumbs together. Then mix in the rest of the ingredients. Press mixture into a lightly oiled loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees for an hour. Let cool for 15 minutes then loosen sides gently with a spatula, and invert over a serving platter to remove.

It's great hot or cold, and holds up wonderfully for sandwiches.

I have also substituted the mustard and spices for other ingredients (curry paste, gochujang sauce, etc.) and it adapts beautifully! Enjoy!
posted by Hanuman1960 at 7:41 AM on June 24, 2018 [8 favorites]

Best answer: This lentil-walnut loaf recipe from Oh She Glows turned out pretty well and was delicious both hot and cold.
posted by piamater at 8:20 AM on June 24, 2018

Best answer: I am a huge fan of Amy's Veggie Loaf, but I've used this copy cat recipe to make a larger batch. It tastes exactly the same, so if you like the Amy's version, you'll love this:

Veggie Loaf Dinner
Makes 4-6 servings

Veggie loaf
1 small leek, white and some of the green part, chopped
4 fresh shiitake mushrooms, chopped
1 small carrot, chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
1/4 cup broccoli florets, chopped
1/4 cup petite green peas
2 cups cooked and seasoned lentils
2 handfuls panko breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons tomato paste
Sea salt and pepper to taste
Oil to grease pan

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a large mixing bowl, mash the lentils. Add in the rest of the ingredients and salt and pepper to taste. Mix well.

In a well-oiled 8.5 x 8.5 inch square baking pan, pour in the lentil mixture and pack into the pan, tightly pressing into the bottom. Bake for about 30 – 40 minutes until browned and pulling away from the edges. Allow to cool completely before removing from the pan.

(Note: I pour premade vegan gravy on it after it's cooked)
posted by oxfordcomma at 9:51 AM on June 24, 2018 [5 favorites]

Thanks for this question, fencinggal. Because of it, I decided to make the ohsheglows recipe. I couldn't find canned lentils so I cooked dry in my instant pot. It is delicious!!!
posted by bookworm4125 at 7:38 PM on June 24, 2018

Best answer: I've made this Falafel Mushroom Loaf many times. It is tasty and dense and scales up well. The only two things I'd change / add to it is:

- I have made it chopping the mushrooms by hand and by using the food processor. I kind of like the by hand method more although it is obviously moree of a pain. I like the chunkiness of it.
- Try and squeeze out some fo the water from the mushrooms after they're cut up as it helps make it denser.

https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/falafel-mushroom-loaf
posted by Wink Ricketts at 7:39 PM on June 24, 2018 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: Wink Ricketts, did you have a substitute for the egg in that? I am totally comfortable substituting eggs in baking, but I'm not sure what to do with a loaf like that.
posted by FencingGal at 7:18 AM on June 25, 2018

Best answer: The flax substitute trick actually works okay in other vegan loaf recipes I've made, and I suspect it'd work in the recipe Wink Ricketts linked above. This walnut almond loaf (which is very tasty, but doesn't meet your no-vegan-cheese requirement) uses 5 (!) flax eggs, and it holds together just fine while being delicious, so I'm pretty confident the same technique would work in the falafel loaf, which only needs one.
posted by halation at 8:53 AM on June 25, 2018

Response by poster: Thanks everyone. I made the Oh She Glows recipe last night and had it for sandwiches today. It is indeed excellent, and I look forward to trying the others.
posted by FencingGal at 4:17 PM on June 25, 2018 [2 favorites]