{"id":4568,"date":"2022-09-09T12:12:09","date_gmt":"2022-09-09T12:12:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.veganfriendly.org.uk\/?post_type=health&p=4568"},"modified":"2022-09-09T12:15:39","modified_gmt":"2022-09-09T12:15:39","slug":"high-protein-vegan-salads","status":"publish","type":"health","link":"https:\/\/www.veganfriendly.org.uk\/health-fitness\/high-protein-vegan-salads\/","title":{"rendered":"High Protein Vegan Salads"},"content":{"rendered":"
We have a lot of information about nutrition on this site, including about losing weight on a vegan diet<\/a>. A vegan diet will not automatically make you lean, nor make those unwanted pounds simply drop off. However, a well-balanced vegan diet is a great way to achieve those goals, and it is very healthy in general and, of course, it is better for the planet<\/a>. Perhaps most importantly of all, it is better for all the animals who are not being farmed, harmed and ultimately killed.<\/p>\n If you are wanting to lose weight, gain muscle, or just eat a healthy and delicious meal, then a high protein vegan salad is often a good starting point. Pack the salad with lots of deep-fried croutons and high-fat ingredients like nuts and avocado, then douse it in an oil-rich dressing and it might not exactly be the perfect meal for weight loss. However, that might not be your aim anyway.<\/p>\n As we don\u2019t the specific reasons you might be interested in making a vegan salad that is packed with protein we won\u2019t delve too much into the wider nutritional value of our suggestions. You might have your own personal aims with regards to how much fat and carbs you want such a dish to include and of course everyone will have their own likes and dislikes too.<\/p>\n In this piece, therefore, we will focus on the basics of how to create a vegan salad that tastes good and is loaded with brilliant vegan protein<\/a>. We will explain what we think are a few basics of constructing a brilliant salad, and also how you can make sure the end product is giving you a nice protein kick too.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Most people have at least some notion of how to make a salad, even if it might not be something to get Yotam Ottolenghi too excited. However, chopping up a few tomatoes, carrots and peppers might give you a salad but it will give you very little protein. So, how do you go about getting that desired protein into the dish?<\/p>\n Once again, people will have different goals, different requirements and ultimately very different bodies. Someone who is nine stone but overweight and inactive, and who wants to shed a few pounds, will have very different protein needs than a 14-stone bodybuilder who is trying to gain muscle mass.<\/p>\n The former might be looking for a salad to contain 15g to 25g of protein, whilst the latter might be seeking a figure closer to 40g or even more. We discuss elsewhere on the site how much protein you should be eating and how those looking to build strength and muscle might want to use vegan protein powders<\/a> or protein bars<\/a>.<\/p>\n However, many nutritional experts agree that for most people a serving of around 20g to 30g of protein is a good amount to have with each meal. As such, that is the sort of level we will be looking at here.<\/p>\n Almost all food contains at least some protein \u2013 even a carrot contains around a gram of the macronutrient. However, to up your intake to the levels discussed, there are certainly some foods you should focus on when it comes to high-protein vegan salads. Broadly speaking the following are the key groups that are perfect for a salad and will give a very nice hit of protein:<\/p>\n There can be some crossover between these groups, for example wheat is a grain, but also the basis for seitan, a meat substitute, and of course bread. Equally legume is a broad term that applies to around 20,000 different species, with many of these having several varieties as well. Some of the foods we list as veg are technically legumes, such as peas, as are peanuts, which most people would classify as nuts. Anyway, there is no need to get bogged down in any of this: just add the following foods to your salads and a world of high-protein vegan salads awaits!<\/p>\n Non-vegans looking to add protein to a salad will probably take the simple route of adding chicken, prawns or some other animal product. A beef salad would certainly give you plenty of protein but a cow salad is not something a vegan is going to eat. Thankfully there are loads<\/em> of vegan meat substitutes<\/a> that also deliver high levels of protein and often have less fat.<\/p>\n You can choose from seitan, tofu, tempeh, natto, Quorn\u2019s vegan range (and a host of similar products from other companies), textured vegetable protein and many more. In addition, lab-grown meat may be commercially available in the UK in the near future. Many of these products have protein levels that are comparable to traditional meat.<\/p>\n Seitan, for example, has around 25g of protein per 100g (depending on how exactly it is made), so just a few slices of that would get your salad over the line in terms of the 20g to 30g benchmark we outlined. Tofu has around 10g per 100g, tempeh 20g, whilst a portion of two vegan Quorn fillets yields over 18g of protein.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A legume is technically any member of the Fabaceae family but for the non-botanists, you can think of pretty much any bean, lentil or pulse. Almost without exception legumes are nutritional powerhouses, packed with fibre, good amounts of vegan protein and a wide range of minerals. In other words: eat more legumes!<\/p>\n From a salad perspective some work better than others but really you can incorporate any that you like. Let\u2019s take a look at the nutrition provided by three different types of legumes:<\/p>\n As you can see, 100g of any of these three legumes, and indeed most members of the family, will provide you with around 10g of protein. 80g would be one of your five a day so 100g is a decent amount to add to a salad and will probably provide around a quarter of the recommended 30g a day of fibre too. Given average fibre intake in the UK is a meagre 15g a day, this is a brilliant addition to a vegan salad.<\/p>\nHow Much Protein Should I Add?<\/h2>\n
Different Requirements for Different People<\/h3>\n
From 15g to 40g!<\/h4>\n
High Protein Vegan Foods to Add to Salads<\/h2>\n
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Meat Substitutes<\/h3>\n
Legumes<\/h3>\n
\n\n
\n \nEdamame Beans 100g<\/th>\n Chickpeas 100g<\/th>\n Brown Lentils 100g<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n \n 12g protein<\/td>\n 8.9g protein<\/td>\n 9g protein<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n 5.2g fibre<\/td>\n 7.6g fibre<\/td>\n 7.9g fibre<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n 121 calories<\/td>\n 164 calories<\/td>\n 116 calories<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Vitamins A and C, iron and calcium<\/td>\n Iron, magnesium, vitamin B6<\/td>\n Iron, B vitamins, copper, zinc<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n