Vegan substitute for oil and butter

[Stormy]

Hi, I use oil and vegan butter when cooking and was looking for ideas or suggestions on alternatives. I saw a couple recipes where someone said they don’t use oil anymore, but now use vegetable stock. Any suggestions?? I’d like to stay away from oil as much as possible. Thanks!

 

[amberfunk]

You can cook veggies in water instead of oil. Just add a 1/4 cup of water at a time while cooking and add more as it evaporates.

 

[Veganite]

I rarely use oil or butter, unless I absolutely have to. I will only use oil if it is critical to the recipe or if I am a guest in someone's home. I do have the odd recipe where if you didn't use oil it just wouldn't cook properly. Like browning a crust, for example, might require a very small amount of oil brushed on.

As Amber mentioned, frying with a bit of water or veggie stock works fantastic, and happens to be my preferred method for sauteing. However, many of the veggies I used to fry, I now roast in the oven. I am so hooked on roasted veggies, I don't miss frying whatsoever. It really has opened the door to some amazing flavours. Like roasted cauliflower, broccoli, asparagus, and even spinach is delicious oven-roasted. It really is endless. I only had bad memories of okra from when my parent used to cook it. It's not really your average run of the mill vegetable, but I got brave and tried some roasted with a sprinkle of curry powder. Amazing!

There are those air fryers as well, which to me don't look like they hold enough to make them worth their while, but that's another option you could consider.

 

[Forest Nymph]

I've seen it suggested to use tahini instead of things like vegan mayo or vegan butter. However, it wouldn't really work in place of oil, I've primarily seen vegetable broth/stock, water or air fryers suggested as replacements for oil in cooking. In sweet baking, you can replace oil with apple sauce.

You lose a ton of calories when you don't use oil though just fyi. Over winter break I ran out of oil and also could not afford to buy any vegan goodies or processed foods, so I was eating my oatmeal with peanut butter stirred into it, putting flax seeds into various meals, etc. I can see how anyone could easily lose weight with an oil-free diet but I'm telling you that if you don't replace at least some of the calories or fats, you're going to be hungry.