I love beef, but as a food source it is decidedly problematic: even aside from the ethical concerns of eating animals at all, farmed cattle are environmental disasters on hooves, and red meat just isn't that good for you.
Unfortunately nothing quite romances my tastebuds the way beef does. I find myself straying away from my half-hearted exclusive relationships with wholesome chicken chicken breast and vegetarian options and having mouthwatering but unhealthy affairs with beef. Perhaps achieving a similar gustatory experience with non-beef foods will help me cut down on my beef cravings, so I'm here for some help. How can I break up with beef but not the beefiness?
I'm looking for suggestions for how to prepare other foods so that they substantially reproduce the flavors and meaty qualities that set beef apart. Substitutes can be other meats, preferably those both healthier and less environmentally harmful to raise, as well as vegetarian options.
My ultimate personal target for this question is the transcendental experience of eating a medium-rare loin cut (e.g., tenderloin, NY strip, or sirloin), i.e., beef-flavorful, umami, lean, smooth-textured, and tender– but still with a little substance to sink my teeth into (the mignon can even be too soft for my preference).
However, I hope this post can be broader than that and cover beef products in general, in order to be helpful for a range of dishes, recipe adaptations, and stricter dietary substitutions.* For that reason, for each suggestion please try to identify specifically what characteristics of beef your substitution achieves and why. Food science is welcome!
How can I reproduce beefiness, especially flavor and texture, with other foods?
*For those interested, check out some of the many related questions out there:
How to reproduce meat flavor? (vegetarian)
How can I reproduce "gamey" flavor?
Substituting different cuts of beef for each other ("Beef parts interchangeability")
Best Answer
If you are loving cows in particular, because they are nice and give us milk, you could substitute some other hooved animal.
I cannot really tell the difference between farmed bison and beef. You can get bison meat in a lot of grocery stores now.
Venison or elk can be ordered from specialty groceries and also have that serious meat taste. Or maybe you know a hunter? Or maybe you can become a hunter! There are too many deer in a lot of places and it is a waste to just have them get hit by cars. Some localities are practically begging hunters to come and help with the excess deer.
Goaty goaty goat meat is arguably the most environmentally sound big quadruped meat. Goat curry Jamaican style is awesome and now I have a serious goat jones. Thanks.
Horse meat is hard to come by in the U.S. but apparently polish horse meat was called beef and fed to British people and they were happy until they found out. You would think after mad cow they would be happy for a beef substitute.
I had camel meat once in Australia. It is very much red meat with a serious meat taste. I see you can order camel meat in the states. I am thinking of all these camel is the best solution for you.