6 Vegan Junk Foods Get a Makeover

A vegan diet is often promoted as the healthiest diet. However, things are a bit more nuanced than that and ‘vegan’ is a very broad umbrella term for many different types of food. Just because an item doesn’t contain any animal products doesn’t mean it’s good for you. Of course, if you’re ditching meat and dairy you’ll likely be health-ier as vegan alternatives are not linked to cancer and other diseases, but that’s no guarantee you’ll be as healthy as you could be. So, here are six ways you can give vegan junk food a healthy makeover.

1. Burgers and hot dogs

Who doesn’t salivate when thinking about a nice juicy burger, dripping in vegan mayo and covered in melted cheeze? There’s a reason why a slab of protein sandwiched between two pieces of white bread has become so popular… it’s delicious. However, many vegan burgers and sausages contain heaps of salt and fat. They are still better for you than beef or pork but that’s not saying much if you eat them all the time!

For a healthier alternative, look for burgers made from tofu, tempeh, seitan and grains like quinoa and brown rice. Garnish them with tomato and leafy greens such as spinach and rocket and enjoy with a fresh wholemeal bun.

2. Chips/fries

A burger or hotdog isn’t complete without a side of fries. Although there’s nothing wrong with potatoes, most of the time this versatile tuber is deep-fried in oil and dripping in fat. To add insult to injury, we then give them a good coating of salt.

However, if we opt for potato wedges instead of fries we can satisfy the carb craving in a healthier way. Potato wedges are usually baked rather than fried so they’ve been swimming in less oil. Sweet potato wedges are even better. A medium sized potato delivers three grams of protein and covers between 10 and 20 per cent of your daily B vitamin needs, (except for B12). It provides so much beta-carotene that it almost fully covers your daily vitamin A needs and supplies about 50 per cent of your daily vitamin C requirement! As if that wasn’t enough, the same serving size contributes to your calcium intake (slightly) and your magnesium, potassium and manganese intake (greatly).

3. Pizza

What’s wrong with a “vegan feast” pizza you may ask? Well, the base could be made with refined white flour, with tablespoons of sugar and salt. If it’s loaded with vegan cheeze made with coconut oil, it will also be high in saturated fat – good for your taste buds, bad for your heart!

But luckily for us pizza lovers, it’s not hard to create a healthy pizza. Firstly, look for pizzas made with thin wholemeal or sourdough bases. A sprinkling of vegan cheeze won’t hurt but even better would be to use, or find one with, homemade cashew cheeze. Then add as many colourful vegetables as you like.

4. Ice cream Milkshakes

You’ll have a hard time convincing me that anything tastes better than a milkshake made of crushed Oreos and dairy-free ice cream. Unfortunately, the sugar content is off the charts.

The good news is, it is possible to make something equally as good with much healthier ingredients.

A creamy, ice-cream texture can be recreated by blending frozen bananas with some dairy-free milk of your choice. If you want to make ‘nice cream’ just reduce the amount of milk so that the banana stays thicker. Then add some cocoa powder, cacao nibs, a dribble of date syrup, and a plentiful scoop of peanut butter for a Snickers flavour. If you fancy something fruity, just add some raspberries and vanilla essence for a raspberry ripple effect. The options are endless!

5. Cake

There is absolutely time for cake. But it’s probably not every day at 11am. Vegan or not, most cakes are extremely high in refined sugar, and many found on supermarket shelves use artificial colouring, flavouring and preservatives (those bought from independent bakeries may not be so bad). Even vegan-friendly cakes can be high in saturated fat if the recipe uses coconut oil.

Admittedly, it’s somewhat harder to replace cake with a healthier alternative than it is with the other items on this list but it is possible. If you have access to a kitchen and enjoy baking, there are countless sugar-free cake recipes online. More and more independent vegan bakeries are popping up, which can make celebration cakes to order and cater for very specific dietary requirements. Vegan festivals are usually a good place to find raw and reduced-sugar cakes too.

6. Sweets and Biscuits

There are an ever-increasingly variety of accidentally vegan and deliberately vegan sweets and biscuits on our supermarket shelves these days. And while it’s good to have the choice (and to appease trick or treaters), it’s not so good for our health. If you’re using vegan gummy bears to fuel your ultra-marathon, please go ahead but if you’re using them to get through the afternoon at your desk, there’s probably a better alternative.

Fortunately, as the unhealthy options expand, so do the healthy ones – and some have existed for decades. You can’t beat good ole dried fruit such as figs and apricots, high in vitamin A, and strawberries, rich in vitamin C and the important mineral manganese. Dried strawberries are probably the closest you’ll get to a healthy Haribo! Other options include trail mix and raw fruit and nut snacks like Nakd bars, which come in many different flavours.

Instead of diving for another Digestive, you can try making the Vegan Recipe Club’s reduced-sugar Fast & Healthy Cereal Bars or Banana Cardamom & Coconut Biscuits.

We all love some junk food from time to time – and as long your overall dietary pattern is a healthy one, it won’t do any harm. But if burgers, pizzas and shakes have become your daily driver, you may want to consider giving your diet a makeover. The more you explore healthy eating, the more you realise that it doesn’t have to involve any deprivation. In fact, you’ll start to see the healthy option as the most appealing one.