vegan - FoodNerdy Recipes Management System

Avoiding animal products, acting ethically and living sustainably – that is the idea behind the vegan life. Here you will find undogmatic tips for a vegan lifestyle: We present purely plant-based products, explain what you should pay attention to when eating vegan and provide information about vegan clothing and cosmetics. We also show that vegan living doesn’t have to be complicated.

Vegans generally avoid all products that contain animal ingredients. The idea of this way of life: To act more ethically because no animals have to be killed to make your own life possible. In addition, there is the sustainability aspect: after all, meat from factory farming and dairy products pollute the climate. Last but not least, the vegan life is often associated with the hope of a healthier diet.

Cooking vegan: innovative and different

Those who live vegan – or at least want to live a little more vegan – often expand their diet in many different ways. Cooking and experimenting is part of it for many (new) vegans. For example, you can conjure up delicious dishes with the versatile meat substitute seitan (and even make seitan yourself), make vegan brownies from kidney beans or vegan chocolate spread yourself as an alternative to Nutella.

“Necessity is the mother of invention” is the motto and it is the same with vegan baking and cooking: The vegan egg substitute can consist of fruit puree, special egg substitute powder, flaxseed or silken tofu – or you can simply omit eggs altogether. Honey is replaced with sugar beet and maple syrup or agave syrup: we present the best vegan honey alternatives.

Tip: To ensure that you continue to eat a balanced diet, you can use the vegan food pyramid

Eat vegan: There are many alternatives

Traditional dishes can be reinterpreted as “vegan”: there are many delicious plant-based recipe ideas. In summer, living vegan does not mean doing without, but instead you reach for vegan ice cream, which is now available in supermarkets and ice cream parlors. Grilling is also possible without steak or wieners: we provide delicious recipe ideas for vegan grilling

And what about the typical German breakfast? Don’t worry, it looks good on the bread without salami and cheese: You can make vegan spreads yourself with just two ingredients. Because: Purchased vegetarian and vegan spreads

There is now a large selection of plant-based milk substitutes for coffee. We looked at different types of plant milk: soy milk, almond milk, pea milk, lupine milk, hemp milk, oat milk (which you can also make yourself with our oat milk recipe) and rice milk – find out more and try for yourself which plant milk you like best. Living (and above all eating) vegan means: Trying out many things and being curious.

Living vegan: Eating a healthy and balanced diet

Unlike “omnivores”, vegans get their proteins only from plant sources, i.e. from legumes instead of meat, eggs and milk. Anyone who has decided to live vegan should deal intensively with food and its nutrients in order to stay healthy. With us you will find information about vitamins from plant sources, the much-discussed vitamin B12 and we will answer the question of which foods provide plant-based protein.

Controversially discussed and examined by us: Pregnancy with a vegan diet and you wonder whether you can lose weight vegan.

Food

Pegan: This is How the Vegan Paleo Diet Works

The pegan diet combines the paleo diet and veganism. We explain to you what constitutes the diet and whether it is healthy.

Veganism and Paleo seem mutually exclusive at first glance:

While you do without all animal products on a vegan diet, meat, fish and eggs play an important role in the Paleo diet.
Whole grains and legumes are important sources of nutrients in a vegan diet. In Paleo, on the other hand, they are taboo.
However, the American doctor Mark Hyman combined the two diets into the pegan diet. This largely corresponds to the Paleo diet, only the proportion of animal products is greatly reduced – fish, meat and eggs are still allowed. The pegan diet is not vegan.

These foods are suitable for a pegan diet:

Fresh vegetables should be the most important part of your meals, combined with plenty of fruit.
Nuts, seeds and avocados as well as olives, olive oil and coconut oil serve as sources of fat.
According to the Paleo philosophy, fish, meat and eggs should come from species-appropriate and natural animal husbandry or wild-caught where possible and play a minor role in your meals.
On the other hand, you should use these foods sparingly in a pegan diet or avoid them altogether:

Grains containing gluten do not belong on your menu. Gluten-free grains and legumes are allowed in small amounts.
You should avoid dairy products and consume them very sparingly.
Refined sugar is taboo. Instead, you can use small amounts of coconut blossom sugar, syrups or concentrated juices to sweeten.
Most oils and fats are considered over-processed and therefore not pegan. Excluded are the fat sources mentioned above.
Processed foods should be avoided as much as possible.
Ultimately, you can decide for yourself how strictly you want to interpret the guidelines. A vegan pegan diet is also possible.

How healthy is the pegan diet?

The pegan diet is very similar to the paleo diet. Experts are discussing how healthy this is.

The DGE gives a positive assessment of the high proportion of vegetables and fruit and the absence of processed products. According to the DGE, studies also show that you can reduce fat mass, improve your insulin metabolism and possibly lower your cholesterol level with a paleo diet.
The DGE is critical of the fact that people who eat paleo eat a lot of animal products. The problem is less with the pegan diet. However, the DGE also criticizes that not eating dairy products, legumes and whole grains can promote nutrient deficiencies – this can also happen with the pegan diet. Finally, the scientific basis of the Paleo diet is also questionable. It is based on the assumption that our bodies are still adapted to the Stone Age diet and cannot handle agricultural products such as milk or grain. However, there is no evidence that our genetic makeup has not changed since the Paleolithic period. In addition, people at that time also had very different diets depending on the region.
If you follow the pegan diet strictly (vegan), you should have your blood values checked regularly to avoid nutrient deficiencies (e.g. certain B vitamins, zinc, iodine, iron or calcium). Get some advice or consult your nutritionist before beginning a strict pegan diet.

Cooking Tips

Pectin: This is Hidden Behind The Vegan Gelling Agent

Pectin is a vegan gelling agent. But how can it be used and what should you consider? The answers and more information about pectin can be found here.

pectin in plants

Pectin is a gelling agent that is used in many foods. Similar to agar agar

Chemically, pectin is a polysaccharide. Basically there is no such thing as pectin. It is a component of almost all plants and stabilizes the cells of the plants and regulates the water. It comes in different forms.

Fruit in particular has a particularly high proportion of pectin. For example, the pectin content of cherries is 0.4 percent. Apricots contain one and apples even up to 1.5 percent.

Pectin as a gelatine substitute

Pectin is widely used in the food industry. The ability to gel is responsible for the consistency of jams, jellies and preserves. It can be used as a plant-based substitute for gelatin in vegan foods.

If you want to make jam yourself, you can use pectin in the form of preserving sugar. It consists essentially of sugar and pectin. The advantage of jam sugar is that it is very easy to use. According to the manufacturer’s instructions, you add a certain amount of preserving sugar to a certain amount of fruit.

Because you also dose the pectin via the amount of sugar, you have to use the specified dosage of gelling sugar in order to achieve the desired result. So you can’t sweeten freely according to your taste. There is another disadvantage of jam sugar: Depending on the supplier, it may contain other substances such as citric acid or preservatives in addition to sugar and pectin.

Pure pectin – an alternative to jam sugar

If you don’t want any additives or preservatives in your homemade jam, you can also buy pure pectin as a powder. It is then highly concentrated and you should dose it precisely so that your jam gets the desired consistency. You can sweeten the jam to your taste with sugar or even better cane sugar.

You can even make your own pectin yourself. This is not so hard:

Cut apples into small pieces and boil them with water in a 2:1 ratio for about 45 minutes.
Allow the resulting mush to drain in a cloth overnight. But you mustn’t squeeze it out.
Reduce the liquid by half the next day.
Add one part of your homemade pectin to four parts of fruit to make jam.

Food

Is Sugar Vegan? You Have to Know That

It actually seems clear that sugar is vegan – it is obtained from plants such as sugar beet or sugar cane. In some cases, however, sugar is refined with animal substances. We explain when sugar is vegan – and when not.

Sugar is often hidden in processed foods in particular. But the sweetener is also often used in your own kitchen, when baking or for coffee or tea. Even vegans do not do without sugar, since the food itself is purely vegetable. A closer look reveals, however, that this is not always entirely true. In some cases, animal substances are used in production.

Sugar is vegan – but not always

Sugar is usually obtained from sugar beets or sugar cane and is therefore a plant-based food. Animal charcoal is sometimes used to make refined sugar.

Refined sugar is a particularly white, pure sugar that is almost 100 percent sugar and contains no trace elements or by-products. In order to obtain this, the sugar is also filtered and decolorized in addition to various other processing steps. Various substances and means can be used for this process – including animal charcoal.

Animal charcoal, also known as carbo animalis, is an activated charcoal made from animal products such as bones, blood, or skin. Since these occur in large quantities as slaughterhouse waste products, animal charcoal is a particularly cheap filter material. Alternatively, sugar is refined with activated carbon from other raw materials or kieselguhr.

Recognizing vegan sugar: you need to know that

Animal charcoal does not have to be specified on the packaging as a production aid. It is therefore not clear by what means the sugar was processed and refined.
To be on the safe side, you have two options:

Ask the sugar producer directly whether or not they use animal products in their production.
Skip refined sugar and buy whole cane sugar instead.

Whole cane sugar has even more advantages over refined sugar: Since the molasses with its valuable minerals and vitamins remains in the sugar, it is considered the healthiest type of sugar.

Food

Aquafaba: This is How Vegan Egg Whites Work

Aquafaba is a great vegan alternative to egg whites. The production is very simple and quick. We’ll show you how to make the vegan egg whites yourself.

What actually is aquafaba?

Aquafaba is the liquid that forms when you cook chickpeas or beans. You may also know it as bean or chickpea water. In vegan cuisine, aquafaba acts as a substitute for egg whites or egg whites.

Important: Only use the cooking water from the chickpeas. The water from the soak contains large amounts of phytic acid and should therefore not be used for aquafaba.

The liquid acts as a leavening agent and emulsifier. Emulsifiers combine substances that do not naturally mix. This effect is especially necessary when making cakes, otherwise you will find it difficult to make dough. You also need emulsifiers for potato pancakes or similar dishes. They hold the ingredients together and act like glue. So you can also use aquafaba to make savory vegan dishes.

However, aquafaba is probably most popular as a substitute for beaten egg whites. For example, you can use aquafaba to make meringues or mousse au chocolat.

Making aquafaba: Here’s how

You don’t need many ingredients to make aquafaba:

100ml chickpea water (after boiling or from the can)
1/2 tsp cream of tartar baking powder
1 pinch of salt
1/2 tsp locust bean gum

Now all you have to do is mix all the ingredients together and whip them up with the whisk or hand mixer. You can now use the foam that is created like egg whites. You can use the remaining chickpeas, for example to make hummus yourself.

Cooking Tips

The Best Vegan Minced Meat Alternatives

Meat is an essential part of the diet for most people. Vegan minced meat is a plant-based alternative to minced meat dishes such as spaghetti Bolognese. We show you cheap and at least tasty minced meat alternatives and what advantages vegan minced meat has for you.

Lots of great and delicious dishes can be made with minced meat: lasagne, meatballs, or spaghetti Bolognese. However, the consumption of pork and/or beef causes mass deaths of animals. It’s not really healthy either. To avoid that, here are some vegan minced meat alternatives.

Vegan mince as a healthier option

Roughly speaking, minced meat is chopped and designed as muscle meat, e.g. As pork, beef, or veal. It contains nutrients and important vitamins, but vegan ground beef is much healthier. Vegan minced meat contains very healthy ingredients such as vegetable fat with lots of unsaturated fatty acids. Healthy vegetable oil is rapeseed oil, for example. This is good for your heart and circulation. The minced meat alternatives also contain fiber.

Products from the supermarket and online

Almost all supermarkets now sell meat alternatives. Including vegan alternatives to minced meat. Of course, such products can also be purchased online. The Rügenwalder Mühle brand sells vegan minced meat, both online and in supermarkets, such as Rewe.

Different variants of vegan mince

Vegan mince comes in many different types. These include soy, peas, and sunflower seeds. The different bases provide a wide range of choices and are all very healthy. This means that people with allergies or vegans and vegetarians also have a large selection of products. The minced meat alternatives can be used, for example, for dishes such as homemade Bolognese or a cider Bolognese sauce, chili non-Carne, burgers, or vegetable fillings.

1) Vegan, soy-based ground beef

Many vegan meat alternatives are based on soy. So also some vegan minced meat products. These are not only available for frying, but also for mixing. Soy is a healthy and nutritious alternative to ground beef, and it tastes amazing too. Soy-based products are also available online.

2) Pea protein as a basis for vegan mince

Even pea protein minced meat exists. The unusual alternative, like the soy mince, can be bought as granules, for example. You can use the granules for a wide variety of dishes. It is also ideal for a vegan or vegetarian diet.

3) Vegan ground beef made from sunflower seed proteins

Great minced meals can also be prepared from sunflower seed proteins because the products are soy-free and contain a lot of protein. Minced meat based on sunflower seeds is very healthy and a good product for people with allergies, for example.

4) Make vegan mett yourself

In addition to warm dishes, the Mettbrötchen is probably one of the most popular dishes with minced meat. There is also a delicious vegan alternative. What you need for this:

50g puffed brown rice or rice cakes
50g tomato paste
1.5 onions (approx. 120g)
1-2 tsp sea salt
pepper
1 tbsp coconut oil (melted)
200ml of water

Watch this video for simple instructions on how to prepare it. By the way, this vegan mince alternative tastes very delicious and is quick and easy to prepare.

Minced meat from factory farming

Masses of animals are dying because of the high meat consumption of the people. Many people go hungry because most of the soy grown worldwide is used for animal feed. To counteract this and the cruel attitude of the animals, you can use vegan alternatives.

Vegan hack for the diet

Vegan mince is great for a diet. Since it is very healthy, you can eat delicious mincemeat despite a vegan Thrive diet, for example. The healthy nutrients in soy, sunflower seed, and ground peas help you to get your diet under control and still be able to eat delicious dishes.

Lifestyle

Vegan or Vegetarian: How to Deal with Questions About Your Lifestyle

As a vegetarian, do you even get all the nutrients? As a vegan, don’t you have to do without a lot? As a vegetarian, can you still…? If such questions sound familiar to you, you can find out here how to deal with them in a relaxed manner.

Your diet is your decision. And if you don’t want to talk about it, you can tell the person you’re talking to in a friendly manner. But: You can use such questions as an opportunity to arouse interest in plant-based nutrition and break down prejudices. A few general tips:

Don’t take questions as criticism. Maybe your counterpart is just curious.
Eating is an emotional issue. You will feel this when the relevant questions trigger something in you. Nevertheless, always remain factual, avoid accusations and do not appear “proselytizing” – this is how your arguments reach your counterpart best.
The principles of so-called non-violent communication help to formulate concerns clearly and precisely and promote a successful exchange.
For the other person, too, your own diet is probably an emotional matter. Therefore, good arguments do not necessarily lead to a change of mind. And even if a person has a positive opinion about sustainable eating, they still may not act on it: this phenomenon, where good intentions and actual action diverge, is known as the attitude behavior gap.

However, if you make good arguments, treat others with respect, and are patient, you may see an increase in interest in your lifestyle over the coming weeks, months, or years. The following sections provide ideas for answers to common questions.

Why do you have to eat veggie schnitzel?!

Not all vegetarians eat veggie schnitzel and not all meat eaters despise tofu sausage. And of course nobody has to eat tofu mince and vegan sausages. You can eat very well vegetarian or vegan without meat-like alternatives. However, if you enjoy the hearty taste or the meaty texture, you don’t have to do without it.

Incidentally, language has a major impact on whether things are perceived as desirable. If you’re trying to convince someone to try a vegetarian product, describe it in a way that gets them interested. If you think it’s “super delicious”, don’t hide it behind a shy “tastes pretty good too”.

It’s still harder for vegans to live healthy, right?

Of course, vegans (and to a certain extent vegetarians too) have to take a close look at nutrients and supplement certain substances such as vitamin B12. Meat eaters tend to be less concerned about their diet, but that too comes with risks:

According to the consumer center, men consume on average almost twice as much meat as recommended. Women are at the highest recommended limit with an average of 600 grams. High meat consumption can have health consequences: For example, scientists at the World Health Organization (WHO) classify processed meat products such as salami, ham or sausages as “carcinogenic”. Unprocessed red meat is considered “probably carcinogenic”. The risk depends heavily on how much of it you eat.

Note: Sensitive groups such as children, pregnant women and the elderly must pay particular attention to their diet. If you are unsure whether a diet is right for you, seek medical advice.

Food

Vegan Wine – What Makes it Special?

Vegan wine – that often causes heads to shake. Because most drinks are inherently vegan, aren’t they? Unfortunately that’s not true. We explain what makes vegan wine and which animal substances are contained in many wines.

Vegan wine: free from animal additives

When growing the grapes in the vineyard, there is still no difference between vegan and non-vegan wine. There are usually no animal substances to be found in the finished product either. In the production of wine, however, turbidity is often found or undesirable flavors, colors or smells appear. Then the wine is “clarified” or “fined”. Various animal proteins have been used in the production process for centuries:

Casein: Casein is made from fresh milk. It combines with the cloudy substances and settles on the bottom of the barrel. The clear wine is then skimmed off so that there is almost no protein or turbidity left in the wine.
Albumin: Albumin is found in egg yolk. It reduces the tannin content and makes the wine milder. After the addition, fine grains form in the wine, which are filtered out. This so-called “egg white fining” is mainly used for red wine.
Gelatin: Gelatin is usually made from pork bones. The background: Gelatine also combines with the cloudy substances and settles on the bottom of the barrel. The wine is then drawn off.
Isinglass: An isinglass is the dried swim bladder of fish. Just like gelatine, it binds small particles such as turbidity in the wine. The isinglass sinks to the bottom with the particles and the clear wine is skimmed off.
Lysozyme: Lysozyme is an enzyme derived from protein. In addition to the dairy industry, it is also used in the wine industry. It prevents faulty, spontaneous acid degradation from occurring

There are numerous vegan solutions for wine

In vegan wine production, wine is clarified with vegetable proteins or mineral substances instead of animal proteins.

Vegetable protein (from peas, beans, potato starch): Just like animal proteins, they bind the turbidity in the wine and make it clearer.
Bentonite: Bentonite is obtained from volcanic ash or the weathering of similar deposits. It can be used in the same way as proteins and is considered the safest remedy for clouding.
Activated charcoal: Activated charcoal also helps against bad taste, odor irritation or discoloration.
Sedimentation: If wine or must is left to stand, particles will settle out on their own. You are then left with careful skimming. This natural process is considered to be quality-enhancing and particularly gentle – but also very time-consuming.

Food

Baking Vegan: How to Make Cakes, Biscuits and Bread without Animal Cruelty

Vegans don’t always have it easy when it comes to baked goods. Because even if some bakeries now offer vegan alternatives, many cakes, biscuits and even breads still contain animal products such as butter and eggs. So how about just baking it yourself? This article will show you exactly how vegan baking works and what to look out for.

Why bake vegan at all? Being vegan means consistently avoiding products of animal origin. According to statista.de, more than 1.13 million people in Germany now live vegan – and the trend is still rising.

While a large number of meat substitutes and milk substitutes have long since found their way onto supermarket shelves, vegan baked goods are still the exception rather than the rule. Vegan baking is actually quite easy, is neither more complicated nor more expensive than traditional baking and the results are just as delicious. So why not just do it yourself?

Baking Vegan: Tips & Tricks

It doesn’t matter whether you’ve been vegan for a long time, want to please vegans in your circle of acquaintances or simply want to try out vegan baking recipes – with our tips you can make your favorite baked goods without animal products.

Rely on vegetable fats: Butter is a dairy product – and therefore taboo in vegan baking. Instead, use purely vegetable, preferably palm oil-free (organic) margarine. Of course you can also use oils. The following applies: 100 grams of margarine are replaced with 75 to 80 milliliters of oil (e.g. rapeseed or sunflower oil). Nut butter, such as almond butter, is also an interesting alternative to conventional butter – make sure you use organic and fair trade quality. If you want to improve your ecological balance and save calories at the same time, simply replace 100 grams of butter with a mixture of 120 grams of oat yoghurt and a tablespoon of semolina. Another option is to make your own vegan butter.

Egg substitute instead of eggs: In traditional baked goods, eggs are used to bind the dough better. As you will quickly find out when baking vegan, this is often not absolutely necessary. If you still want to use an egg substitute, you can buy one in most organic stores and some supermarkets – or you can simply make your own egg substitute using simple ingredients that you probably have at home anyway: banana , applesauce or flaxseed can effectively replace eggs in baking. Read more: Make your own egg substitute: 6 ideas for vegan eggs
Plant-based drinks instead of cow’s milk: plant-based milk alternatives have long been found in every supermarket and most drugstores, often even in organic quality. Depending on what you’re baking, cow’s milk can usually be easily substituted one-to-one with milk alternatives such as oat milk, soy milk, or almond milk.
Plant-based cream: Plant-based cream substitutes can also be found in most supermarkets, for example based on oats, soy or rice. Alternatively, you can easily make vegan cream yourself. More on this: Vegan Cream: Recommended Alternatives
Aquafaba instead of egg whites: There are some baking recipes that use egg whites. This is the case, for example, with biscuit doughs. But there is also a vegan variant here: aquafaba. Aquafaba is the soaking liquid from chickpeas and beans. Aquafaba is whipped into the perfect vegan egg whites and is even suitable for mousse au chocolat.

Baking with vegan chocolate: What would chocolate chip cookies be without delicious pieces of chocolate in the batter? In general, many dark chocolates are vegan by nature, although you should pay close attention to the list of ingredients. Those who value sustainability and fair production conditions should choose organic and fair trade chocolate. In the (organic) supermarket you will also find vegan white chocolate and purely plant-based “milk” chocolate with different cocoa contents.
Agar-agar instead of gelatine: Anyone who bakes fruit cakes sometimes seals the fruit layer with a gelatine-based icing. However, since gelatine consists of animal bone and cartilage residues, among other things, this is not an option for vegan baking. Instead, you simply replace the gelatine with agar-agar, a purely vegetable powder made from red and blue-green algae. Here too, pay attention to organic quality in order to get a residue-free product. More on this: Gelatin substitute: vegan plant-based alternatives

What else should you keep in mind when baking vegan?

To ensure that the cruelty-free baked goods are 100 percent successful, you should not overdo it when mixing the ingredients, otherwise a vegan dough can quickly lose consistency and become tough. So sometimes it can be worth using the whisk, spatula or fork instead of the food processor to mix the ingredients.

Depending on the type of oven, your vegan pastries may also cook faster than traditional recipes state. It is best to set the timer 15 minutes before the regular end of the baking time to make sure that cakes, biscuits, rolls and the like do not become too crispy.

Incidentally, when baking bread and rolls, most recipes are already vegan – or can be veganized quickly. Instead of the honey used in some bread recipes, you can use some organic sugar beet syrup, for example, and replace the quark in quark rolls with vegan organic soy quark. Buttermilk is easily replaced with a plant-based milk alternative with a dash of vinegar.

Is Vegan Baking Healthier?

You can decide for yourself how healthy your vegan baked goods will be. For example, if you use whole grain instead of white flour and at least partially replace the sugar content in sweets with low-calorie sugar alternatives such as organic erythritol, you can definitely produce healthier baked goods.

In general, the major health benefit of vegan baking is that purely plant-based ingredients are virtually cholesterol-free, while animal products such as eggs, milk and butter contain a lot of saturated fatty acids and trans fats. With high and regular consumption, these can promote heart and vascular diseases.

Vegan is not always sustainable

While vegan ingredients are always free of animal components, they are not always sustainable, since some of the products have extremely long transport routes to the local shops (e.g. coconut oil, cocoa, chia seeds, Agr-agar) or come from conventional cultivation and are therefore are not free from environmentally harmful pesticides.

If you also want to implement the topic of sustainability in baking, you should therefore rely on fairly traded organic products and prefer regional and seasonal ingredients.

Veganized Recipes vs. Vegan Recipes

Veganized recipes are conventional recipes that are made with purely plant-based ingredients instead of the traditional ingredients. This is particularly recommended for vegan baking beginners and for everyone who would like to recreate the taste of baked goods they love. For example, have you ever baked vegan cheesecake, apple pie, vegan biscuits or purely plant-based stollen yourself? It’s easier than you might think – and the taste is in no way inferior to the original recipes.

Of course, vegan baking is also possible with a variety of more experimental, vegan recipes in which sugar is replaced with dates, for example, and unusual types of flour such as lupine, almond or coconut flour are used. These recipes are not replicas of well-known originals, but developed vegan from the outset and represent their own category. They therefore offer a less comparable, but precisely because of this, interesting taste experience. They are often all about “Clean Baking”. Due to the often exotic ingredients, you should pay close attention to the origin and, if possible, prefer regional products.

Food

Are Pretzels Vegan? What You Have to Look Out for with Pretzels

Many people wonder whether pretzels are vegan at all. After all, many foods contain animal products that we would not suspect. How about the pretzel?

Pretzels are not always vegan

A pretzel traditionally consists of a lye dough, i.e. flour, yeast, water, salt and baking soda for the lye. In some regions and in some bakeries, traditionally prepared pretzels also contain lard. This makes the dough smoother and the machines can process it more easily. Especially with fresh dough that has not rested for long, the lard helps with further processing.

Today, however, many bakeries do without the lard and use butter or vegetable fat instead. If butter is used, the pretzel is no longer vegan, but at least vegetarian.

How do I recognize vegan pretzels?

The use of pork fat or butter does not have to be labeled. As a rule, however, bakeries have lists of ingredients on hand so that they can also provide information in the event of allergies. Here it helps to simply ask for the list of ingredients. You can also find ingredient lists online at larger bakeries.

Some bakeries also label pretzels with “vegan” on the price tag. The V-Label identifies vegan products reliably and transparently.

You can be absolutely sure when you bake pretzels yourself.

Do pretzels contain egg?

In some Internet forums you can read again and again that pretzels are coated with egg. They should then look nicer and browner. However, the browning is caused by the bath in caustic soda and the subsequent baking of the pretzel.