MANILA, Philippines – No meat? No problem! Whether it’s the season of Lent or if you’re just looking for more plant-based options for your home, the possibilities are endless. With more and more meat-free alternatives coming up in the market, it’s no longer hard to enjoy #MeatlessMondays in your household or adopt a plant-based diet anymore.

Thankfully, a lot of corporations and local businesses have been making vegan and vegetarian “meats” extra tasty for the general public, with many of them almost mimicking the flavor profile and texture of the actual thing, sans any meat, animal by-products, and even cholesterol. Here are a few plant-based brands to check out at your nearest supermarket, grocery, deli, or online store.

UnMeat

Century Pacific Foods came ready to play with the 2021 release of UnMeat, the company’s first 100% plant-based line of textural meat-free alternatives. Everything they offer is affordable, tasty, and a staple in my freezer – try out UnMeat’s burger patties, giniling, nuggets, tapa, tocino, luncheon meat, Hungarian sausage, cutlets, skinless longganisa, and corned beef for vegan versions of your favorite comfort food dishes. The UnPizza Lovers Pizza is a delicious dairy-free pizza that’s one of the best frozen pizzas I’ve had – it comes in sausage and margherita flavors.

UnMeat’s frozen goods make use of just 10 ingredients to produce their non-GMO products, which include a proprietary blend of soy protein, vegetable oil, vinegar, salt, wheat, starch, spices, and natural flavors, with no preservatives, trans fat, and cholesterol.

UnMeat is available in most groceries, Lazada, Shopee, and Century Fresh and Frozen Mart.

Veega

In 2020, San Miguel Foods launched Veega, its first meat-free product line made from plant-based protein that’s easy to prepare and versatile to work with. Veega’s offerings are extensive: there’s giniling, meat-free balls, nuggets, hotdog, burger patty, tapa, tocino, bulgogi, spicy soy garlic balls, and more. Most are made from mushrooms, soy, and wheat, without any preservatives. Note that some items are only vegetarian-friendly because they contain egg whites.

You can find Veega in supermarkets, Shopee, or Lazada.

Beyond! Meat

The Los Angeles-based plant-based corporation supplies its best-selling vegan items to the Philippines via Healthy Options, Meat Depot, delis, and Wholemart Philippines, among other local suppliers.

Beyond! Meat is known for its gluten-free, soy-free beef crumbles, bratwurst sausage, hot Italian sausage, chicken tenders, sausage, burger patty, and meatballs. They’re made from natural extracts like beet juice and apple extract, potato starch, cocoa butter, coconut oil, canola oil, and plant protein from peas, mung beans, faba beans, and brown rice.

OmniPork

Hong Kong-based company Green Monday’s OmniPork arrived in the Philippines in 2020 to introduce the tasty, meat-free, and spot-on luncheon meat alternative, as well as a mince version and strips, and even a plant-based OmniTuna!

OmniPork is made from a protein blend of soy and gluten, as well as coconut oil, potato starch, yeast extract, and natural flavors and colors. OmniPork is available to order online via Wholemart Philippines and FrozenMNL.

Cosmic

Poblacion and Kapitolyo’s well-known vegan joint Cosmic doesn’t just serve hearty and flavorful plant-based Filipino meals in-store – the frozen, ready-to-cook goods are just as satisfying to enjoy at home.

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The best-selling item (and my personal favorite) is Cosmic’s bagnet (especially paired with the kare-kare), which feels and tastes almost like the real thing, but guilt-free, cholesterol-free, but still oh-so-crispy and “fatty.” All you have to do is fry it! The BBQ isaw is another favorite of mine.

Cosmic also has frozen, ready-to-eat, lutong bahay meals like sisig, coco adobo, caldereta, longganisa, burger patties, lumpiang shanghai, un-pork siomai, tocino, and tapa. You can order via Cosmic’s website.

Shirley’s Just Vegan

Makati City-based shop Shirley’s Just Vegan is all about meat-free substitutes that are packed with flavor and texture. My personal favorite is the crunchy plant-based chicharon, which just needs to be fried or air-fried. The chewy inihaw na liempo is also a good ulam, marinated in and served with a Pinoy-style barbecue sauce.

Other good options to try are the vegan shawarma rice, garlic pepper “beaf,” and Korean chickun shots. You can order them freshly-cooked or frozen via Facebook.

The Vegetarian Kitchen

Quezon City home kitchen The Vegetarian Kitchen (TVK) makes a mean Pinoy-style barbecue on a stick that looks and tastes just like the chargrilled Filipino party staple. TVK uses soy protein for a chewy, firm, and malaman bite that easily absorbs the savory-sweet marinade it’s generously coated in.

TVK also has other take-home vegan products, like chik’n nuggets, daing na vangus, tocino, quinoa siomai, longganisa, Korean bulgogi, bacon bits, gourmet tuyo flakes, and miso bagoong. Plus, don’t sleep on TVK’s moist vegetarian fruitcake during the holiday season! You can place your orders online.

Good Food Vegetarian

Good Food Vegetarian offers weekly vegan meal plans and a la carte meals, as well as frozen vegan products, like embutido, curry, corned beef, empanada, menudo, tocino, sisig, caldereta, dinakdakan, Korean BBQ, bistek, siomai, calamares, siopao, and more. I particularly enjoyed the gyoza-like dumplings, tapa, and jackfruit chick-un!

GFV’s products can be ordered from different vegan food suppliers around Metro Manila, but you can also directly order from Facebook.

Origreens

For a variety of local vegan brands all under one roof, Origreens is the place to order from! The plant-based grocery store based in Cavite offers same-day delivery within Metro Manila and houses several local businesses and an array of vegan meats, meals, canned goods, snacks, pastries, and more. 

Origreens’ extensive pricelist includes its own products, plus items from Vutcher, Nanda’s, Good Food Vegetarian, UnMeat, RaiKen PH, Vegetari Healthy Bites, Bahay Kubo Kitchen, PlantLab Manila, Jack’s Produce, Wild Thyme, Vegefoods, and more. You can order through Facebook or via Instagram.

Latasia Fusion

For vegan-friendly fried chick’un that packs texture, flavor, and an addictive breading, plus a mushroom gravy that you’d want to pour over your rice, Latasia Fusion has it. This local vegan kitchen’s KindTakaw fried chick’un comes in 3 flavors: original KFC-style, hot and spicy, and garlic parmesan. 

You can place your orders via Facebook. – Rappler.com