Substitutes for meat & protein
202 cards, each listed with its best swap. Open one for the amount and every option, stamped.
In this drawer
202 cardsA
B
- Baby back ribsbest swap: Pork spare ribs or St. Louis style ribs
- Baconbest swap: Turkey bacon
- Bacon bitsbest swap: Chopped crisp-cooked bacon
- Bavette steakbest swap: Flank steak
- Beefbest swap: Ground turkey
- Beef back ribsbest swap: Beef plate short ribs (the real dinosaur ribs)
- Beef cheeksbest swap: Short ribs
- Beef chuckbest swap: Beef brisket
- Beef heartbest swap: Flank steak
- Beef liverbest swap: Calf's liver (calves liver, veal liver)
- Beef shankbest swap: Oxtail
- Beef short ribsbest swap: Beef chuck roast
- Beef soup bonesbest swap: Cross-cut beef shank (osso buco cut)
- Beef stew meatbest swap: Boneless chuck roast, cut into cubes yourself
- Beef tenderloinbest swap: Ribeye
- Beef tendonbest swap: Oxtail
- Beef tonguebest swap: Beef cheeks
- Beef tripebest swap: Beef tendon
- Bisonbest swap: Lean ground beef, 90/10 or leaner, for ground bison
- Black Forest hambest swap: Speck (speck Alto Adige)
- Blood sausagebest swap: Black pudding, boudin noir, morcilla or kaszanka
- Bone brothbest swap: Chicken stock
- Bottom roundbest swap: Top round or sirloin tip roast
- Boudinbest swap: Dirty rice
- Bratwurstbest swap: Sweet Italian sausage
- Breakfast sausagebest swap: Ground pork plus homemade breakfast seasoning
- Bresaolabest swap: Air-dried beef (Bundnerfleisch, viande des Grisons, dried beef)
- Brisketbest swap: Chuck roast
- Butifarrabest swap: Fresh bratwurst (uncooked)
C
- Canadian baconbest swap: Sliced deli ham (boiled or honey ham)
- Canned chickenbest swap: Shredded rotisserie chicken
- Capicolabest swap: Prosciutto
- Caponbest swap: Large roasting chicken, 6 to 7 lb
- Carne secabest swap: Beef chuck plus salt pork or slab bacon
- Cecinabest swap: Bresaola
- Cha luabest swap: Mortadella or bologna
- Char siu porkbest swap: Siu yuk (Chinese roast pork belly)
- Chicharonbest swap: Plain pork rinds or cracklings
- Chickenbest swap: Turkey
- Chicken breastbest swap: Boneless skinless chicken thighs
- Chicken drumsticksbest swap: Bone-in skin-on chicken thighs
- Chicken feetbest swap: Chicken wings
- Chicken gizzardsbest swap: Chicken hearts
- Chicken liversbest swap: Duck or turkey livers
- Chicken skinbest swap: Duck, goose or turkey skin
- Chicken tendersbest swap: Boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into strips
- Chicken thighsbest swap: Chicken drumsticks
- Chicken wingsbest swap: Boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into chunks
- Chinese sausagebest swap: Chorizo
- Chistorrabest swap: Fresh Mexican chorizo
- Chorizo criollobest swap: Fresh bratwurst
- Chuck eye steakbest swap: Flat iron steak (top blade, oyster blade)
- Coppabest swap: Capicola or hot capicola
- Cornish game henbest swap: Small whole chicken, halved or spatchcocked
- Cotechinobest swap: Zampone
- Country-style ribsbest swap: Pork shoulder or pork butt, cut into strips
- Cube steakbest swap: Top or bottom round steak, pounded thin yourself
- Culatellobest swap: Prosciutto di Parma, 24 months or older
D
E
F
- Filet mignonbest swap: Teres major (petite tender, shoulder tender)
- Finocchionabest swap: Mild dry salami plus toasted fennel seed
- Flank steakbest swap: Skirt steak
- Flankenbest swap: English-cut short ribs
- Flat iron steakbest swap: Skirt steak
- Foie grasbest swap: Chicken liver parfait
- Frog legsbest swap: Chicken wings or drumettes
G
- Gammonbest swap: Raw cured ham, smoked picnic ham or smoked pork shoulder
- Gibletsbest swap: Chicken wings or turkey wings, browned and simmered
- Glace de viandebest swap: Store-bought demi-glace, reduced further
- Goat meatbest swap: Bone-in lamb shoulder or lamb neck
- Goosebest swap: Two or three whole ducks
- Gribenesbest swap: Homemade gribenes from chicken skin
- Ground beefbest swap: Ground turkey
- Ground chickenbest swap: Ground turkey
- Ground lambbest swap: Ground beef
- Ground porkbest swap: Ground chicken or ground turkey thigh
- Ground turkeybest swap: Ground chicken
- Ground vealbest swap: Ground pork
- Ground venisonbest swap: Lean ground beef, 90/10
- Guancialebest swap: Pancetta
- Guinea fowlbest swap: Small whole chicken, about 3 lb, or bone-in skin-on chicken legs and thighs
- Gyro meatbest swap: Ground lamb and beef loaf
H
I
J
K
L
- Lamb chopsbest swap: Lamb shoulder chops
- Lamb neckbest swap: Bone-in lamb shoulder
- Lamb shankbest swap: Bone-in lamb shoulder chops or lamb shoulder roast
- Lamb shoulderbest swap: Lamb neck or lamb shanks
- Lamb stew meatbest swap: Boneless lamb shoulder, cubed yourself
- Lardobest swap: Prosciutto fat cap
- Lardonsbest swap: Thick-cut bacon, cut into batons
- Leberkaesebest swap: Thick-cut bologna or German Fleischwurst
- Leg of lambbest swap: Boneless lamb shoulder
- Linguicabest swap: Spanish chorizo (the firm cured kind, not fresh Mexican chorizo)
- Liver spreadbest swap: Chicken liver pate
- Liverwurstbest swap: Braunschweiger
- London broilbest swap: Top round roast or top round steak
- Longanizabest swap: Spanish chorizo (dry-cured)
- Longganisabest swap: Ground pork, seasoned as skinless longganisa
- Loukanikobest swap: Sweet Italian sausage plus orange zest
M
- Marrow bonesbest swap: Cross-cut beef shank (osso buco cut)
- Meatbest swap: Extra-firm tofu
- Merguezbest swap: Ground lamb, seasoned yourself
- Mexican chorizobest swap: Ground pork plus chile, vinegar and garlic
- Morcilla (Spanish blood sausage)best swap: Black pudding (British or Irish)
- Mortadellabest swap: Prosciutto
- Muttonbest swap: Bone-in lamb shoulder or lamb neck
N
O
P
- Pan drippingsbest swap: Brown some meat on purpose
- Pancettabest swap: Bacon
- Pastirmabest swap: Bresaola
- Pastramibest swap: Corned beef
- Pepperonibest swap: Salame piccante or hot soppressata
- Petite tenderbest swap: Beef tenderloin or filet mignon
- Pheasantbest swap: Bone-in skin-on chicken thighs, or a small whole chicken
- Picanhabest swap: Top sirloin cap or coulotte (fat cap on)
- Pig trotterbest swap: Ham hocks or fresh pork hocks
- Pork bellybest swap: Bacon
- Pork chopsbest swap: Boneless pork loin, cut into chops
- Pork flossbest swap: Chicken floss or fish floss
- Pork loinbest swap: Pork sirloin roast
- Pork rindsbest swap: Almond flour (for breading and binding)
- Pork shoulderbest swap: Pork butt
- Pork tenderloinbest swap: Pork loin, cut into a tenderloin-shaped piece or thick chops
- Porterhouse steakbest swap: T-bone steak
- Presuntobest swap: Jamon serrano
- Prime ribbest swap: Boneless ribeye roast (rib roast, boneless)
- Prosciuttobest swap: Serrano ham
- Prosciutto cottobest swap: Deli boiled ham or cooked ham
- Protein powderbest swap: Ground nuts
Q
R
S
- Salamibest swap: Soppressata
- Salt porkbest swap: Pancetta
- Scrapplebest swap: Livermush or liver pudding
- Seitanbest swap: Vital wheat gluten, made into seitan at home
- Serrano hambest swap: Prosciutto di Parma (or any Italian prosciutto crudo)
- Silversidebest swap: Bottom round or outside round
- Sirloin steakbest swap: Ribeye steak
- Skirt steakbest swap: Flank steak
- Smoked turkeybest swap: Smoked ham hock
- Sobrasadabest swap: Nduja (spreadable Calabrian salami)
- Soppressatabest swap: Genoa or hard salami
- Soy curlsbest swap: Textured vegetable protein (TVP) strips or chunks
- Soybean meatbest swap: Tempeh
- Spambest swap: Ham
- Spanish chorizobest swap: Mexican chorizo
- Spare ribsbest swap: Baby back ribs
- Speckbest swap: Black Forest ham (Schwarzwalder Schinken)
- Squabbest swap: Quail
- Sucukbest swap: Cured Spanish chorizo
- Summer sausagebest swap: Hard salami or Genoa salami
T
- Tasso hambest swap: Andouille sausage
- Tempehbest swap: Extra-firm tofu, pressed
- Textured vegetable proteinbest swap: Cooked brown or green lentils
- Tocinobest swap: Home-marinated pork (sweet tocino marinade)
- Tofu puffsbest swap: Aburaage or inari fried tofu sheets
- Top roundbest swap: Bottom round or sirloin tip roast
- Top sirloinbest swap: Sirloin steak
- Tri-tipbest swap: Top sirloin roast
- Turkeybest swap: Chicken
- Turkey baconbest swap: Chicken bacon or beef bacon
- Turkey breastbest swap: Whole roasting chicken
- Turkey neckbest swap: Turkey wings, smoked or fresh
- Turkey sausagebest swap: Pork breakfast sausage or pork Italian sausage, matching the style
- Turkey wingsbest swap: Smoked ham hock or smoked pork neck bones (for seasoning meat)
V
W