Vegan Substitutions: Easy Alternatives to Animal Products

Not every animal product has a great plant based alternative (e.g. collagen).

However, most animal products that you cook with or wear have decent alternatives at the very least.

I’ve compiled a list of the most common and useful alternatives that you may need.

Common Substitutions a Vegan Might Need

The table below is sorted in alphabetical order. It has links to more detailed guides for each product so that you can see only the ones that are useful to you.

Most are for cooking ingredients naturally, but it’s nice to have an alternative for things like wool and beeswax as well.

If I’m missing alternatives for a product that you’re really struggling with, let me know and I’ll add it to the table.

Animal Product	Resource(s)
Agar Agar	The 3 Best Agar Agar Powder Substitutes
Beeswax	Here are good vegan alternatives to beeswax.
Butter	See my general post of the 4 Best Vegan Butter Substitutes for Baking. And if you’re really in a pinch, see this guide to using coconut oil as a butter substitute
Chocolate Chips	There are quite a few vegan chocolate chip brands, but expect to pay a bit more.
Coconut Cream	There’s only one vegan substitute for coconut cream that whips up, which is aquafaba. You can make aquafaba from beans other than chickpeas if you’re in a pinch.
Cream	I’ve written a detailed guide to the best vegan substitute for heavy cream.
Eggs	Best Vegan Alternatives for Eggs (Breakfast and Baking)
Eggs for Breading	The Best Vegan Egg Substitute for Breading
Evaporated Milk	The 4 Best Vegan Substitutes for Evaporated Milk
Oyster Sauce	3 Vegan Alternatives to Oyster Sauce
Seafood	A Complete Guide to Vegan Seafood and Fish Substitutes
Sour Cream	The Best Vegan Alternatives to Sour Cream
Wool	See my general list of vegan wool alternatives, or more specifically, vegan alternatives to wool blankets, and vegan wool hate alternatives
Worcestershire Sauce	The 3 Best Vegan Alternatives to Worcestershire Sauce

If you have any questions, just let me know.