To preserve your health, vary your diet or reduce your carbon footprint, reducing your meat consumption is an increasingly common approach. The main fear often remains protein intake.
However, many vegetarian alternatives are both delicious and particularly rich in nutrients. Update with dietician Claire Trommenschlager.
The winning combinations: eggs, legumes and starchy foods
To compose a complete meal without meat, the basics of vegetarian eating remain essential. Eggs are a very simple first option to integrate. “Two eggs already represent 12 g of protein. If you add more lentils and legumes to your plate, you quickly reach 25 grams of protein. explains our expert.
Moreover, to optimize amino acid intake, the combination of starchy foods and legumes is ideal.
Tofu, tempeh, PST: allies when you really want to increase protein
Among the most concentrated plant sources, soy and its derivatives occupy a special place.
“The richest sources of plant proteins are soy and its derivatives, therefore tofu and tempeh. Tofu has on average 15 g of protein per 100 g. You can put 100 g to 150 g of tofu on your plate and that will make a total of 15-20 g of protein. To be supplemented with starchy foods” adds the dietitian.
Another very economical and concentrated alternative: textured soy proteins (TSP). “The dry product has 50% protein. Once rehydrated, if we eat 100 to 150 g, we again reach 20 g of protein, so we easily reach 25 g with the portion of starchy foods.
To vary the pleasures, seitan is also an excellent option. “Seitan is wheat gluten, which resembles meat when cooked. You can buy it ready-made or you can make it yourself.”
Skyr, cottage cheese… the little additions that add to the bill
In addition, dairy products provide a touch of deliciousness and additional proteins, although you need to watch the lipids. “Cheese provides a little protein and also a little fat, to be consumed in moderation, therefore, for pleasure. Skyr and cottage cheese are also options to complete a low-protein meal..
And for vegans, plant-based versions of skyr also exist on the market.
The starchy foods section has also been enriched with protein pastas or breads. “With this type of product, we reach 20 grams of protein per 100 grams of raw starchy foods on the plate. If we still add legumes, a pasta salad with chickpeas or lentils for example, we easily reach 25 grams”
notes the dietician.
Vegetable steaks and pancakes: pay attention to what is hidden behind the label
As for ready-to-use meat substitutes (patties, plant-based steaks), they are practical but require careful reading of the labels.
“You have to check the compositions, check that there are not too many additives, not too much added fat. To do this, there is a fairly easy tip: read the labels! There should not be more protein than fat in the finished product. And more proteins than carbohydrates too, otherwise the product is more like a starch” she concludes.
The good news: reaching 25 g of protein without meat does not require changing your diet. A few well-chosen combinations can be enough to transform a simple vegetarian plate into a truly satisfying and protein-packed meal.