I tested out some fake meats for Veganuary and was surprised

Many advocates of vegetarianism say that eating meat harms health, wastes resources, and creates pollution.

Activists often argue that killing animals for food is cruel and unethical since non-animal food sources are abundant.

However, I just love meat. But for this one month in January, I decided to give ‘Veganuary’ a go after a nudge from PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) to broaden my horizons and try and give new things a go.

As I say, I love meat, so are there any decent replicates out there that can give me the gout I so dearly crave?

Vegan steaks

Steak is arguably one of my favourite go to’s in any restaurant. Yes, you can call me boring, but when there’s nothing else on the menu that tickles my fancy, then I’m sorry, but it’s a steak for me.

For a while now I’ve been fascinated by the concept of ‘vegan steaks’, simply how could they hold a candle to the real thing? Well, they could.

Here are 5 of the best vegan steaks I found that are currently on the markey:

Veggie sausages

You can find several different ranges of vegetarian/vegan sausages in your local supermarket, so for once I didn’t have to go scouring from store to store.

This is what I found:

(From left to right) Heck, Tesco, M&S, Linda McCartney and Richmond (Image: Newsquest)

M&S

4/10

“M&S Plant Kitchen offers a wide selection of flavour-packed, plant-based products that are totally delicious. Each product is made of 100% plant-based, vegan-friendly ingredients,” their online store states.

I was bitterly disappointed, as usually M&S offers the creme de la creme, but this sausage failed to hit the spot in every way: taste, appearance and price. It looked the worst out of the pan in my opinion and the flavour was quite bitter if anything.

Richmond

7/10

I’d heard great things about Richmond and its vegetarian sausages so was looking forward to this one. I wasn’t disappointed.

It was perhaps the smallest sausage out of the pan but made up for that in taste. I’d have a few of these on a butty no problem, a bit of brown sauce and it’d make a perfectly good bit of lunch or snack.

The first sausage to genuinely taste meatlike, I’d put it to you to try and taste the difference yourself.

Linda McCartney

5/10

Linda McCartney is arguably the face of vegetarianism. Her name is synonymous with animal rights and meatless foods, but how do her sausages taste?

Like Richmond, I’d heard great things and was looking forward to this one the most, however, I wasn’t too much of a fan.

It looked odd for starters, not too dissimilar from a shish kebab in some weird way. As I took my first bite the texture felt crumbly, not juicy in the slightest.

Tesco

1/10

Tesco’s offering was the biggest and looked the best. I would have preferred, however, to have tucked into the packaging.

Upon the first bite, I was met with a flavour that will take some time to forget but for none of the right reasons. Although it was the cheapest sausage it seemed artificial beyond belief.

A Pride of Britain to anyone who eats this ‘for ethical reasons’, hats off.

Heck

9/10

Well, well, well. I’d never heard of Heck before but, well, heck.

This was genuinely delicious and took me by complete surprise. It had that sausage (cough cough it was actually branded as a chipolata) quality, was flavoursome, juicy and I even went back for seconds.

I would 100% recommend this brand even if you are, like me, an avid meat eater and vegan sceptic. If you’ve been debating going vegetarian for a while, I genuinely do think there are some decent meatless options out there (and some not-so-decent), and they tend to be cheaper than pork sausages.

So whether you want to save the next pig, or just want to save a bit of money, consider giving these a go.