When Hodo labels their new Lightly Fried Tofu “ready to cook,” they’re selling it short, because it’s perfectly tasty right out of the package, even still cold from the fridge.

Read the review here: https://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2026issue1/2026_issue1_veggie_bits.php

To subscribe to Vegan Journal in the USA only, visit: www.vrg.org/member

photo from Freepik

by Reed Mangels, PhD, RD

Protein pretzels, protein gummies candy, protein soft drinks … Walk through a supermarket today and you might think Americans are suffering from protein deficiency and food manufacturers are doing their utmost to help Americans meet their protein needs. In reality, most Americans get all the protein they need without having to resort to products pumped full of protein as a way to boost sales.

How much protein do vegans need?

The Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs) are a trusted source of protein recommendations for different age groups and are a good starting place to determine how much protein vegans need. The RDA for protein is based on how much a person weighs:

• Infants, 0-6 months old: 0.69 grams of protein per pound
• Infants, 7-12 months: 0.54 grams of protein per pound
• Children, 1-3 years: 0.48 grams of protein per pound
• Children and teens, 4-13 years: 0.43 grams of protein per pound
• Teens, 14-18 years: 0.39 grams of protein per pound
• Adults, 19 years and older: 0.36 grams of protein per pound
• Pregnancy: 0.50 grams of protein per pound
• Lactation: 0.59 grams of protein per pound

Those who are markedly underweight or overweight should discuss their protein needs with a registered dietitian.

Older adults appear to have somewhat higher protein needs. Research suggests that older adults would benefit from a protein intake between 0.45 and 0.57 grams per pound of body weight per day (1). Ideally, this would be coupled with resistance training to promote a higher muscle mass in older people.

Individuals engaged in strength or endurance training may have somewhat higher protein needs than more sedentary people. Estimates of protein needs for adults engaged in strength or endurance training range from 0.54 to 0.91 grams per pound of body weight (1).

Vegans and others who eat mostly whole plant foods may have slightly higher protein needs since the digestibility and composition of plant proteins differ from animal proteins. Some dietitians have suggested that 1- to 2-year old vegans get 30-35% more protein than the RDA, 2- to 6-year old vegan children get 20-30% more protein than the RDA and that older children (more than 6 years old) get 15-20% more protein (1). Adult vegans and vegan athletes may need 15% more protein than the RDA or the recommendations for athletes above (1). These increases are small and are easy to achieve with a whole foods vegan diet.

Another way to look at protein needs is something called the acceptable macronutrient distribution range (AMDR) – the percentage of calories that should come from protein, fat and carbohydrate. The AMDR for protein is 10 to 35% of calories for adults, 5 to 20% of calories for 1- to 3-year old children, and 10 to 30% of calories for 4- to 18-year old children and teens (2). For example, an adult who eats 2000 calories a day would have a protein AMDR of 200 and 700 calories from protein or 50 to 175 grams of protein a day.

To read more about protein for vegans see:

Protein in the Vegan Diet

Protein for Vegans & Vegetarians

Protein for Vegan Children

References

1. Mangels R, Messina V, Messina M. The Dietitian’s Guide to Vegetarian Diets, 4^th edition. Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning; 2023.
2. Institute of Medicine Food and Nutrition Board. Dietary Reference Intakes for Energy, Carbohydrate, Fiber, Fat, Fatty Acids, Cholesterol, Protein, and Amino Acids. Washington, DC: National Academy Press; 2002.

The contents of this website and our other publications, including The Vegan Journal, are not intended to provide personal medical advice. Medical advice should be obtained from a qualified health professional. We often depend on product and ingredient information from company statements. It is impossible to be 100% sure about a statement, info can change, people have different views, and mistakes can be made. Please use your best judgment about whether a product is suitable for you. To be sure, do further research or confirmation on your own.

Vegan Symbolica Hair Salon Owner in Austin is interviewed by Vegan Journal Editor Hannah Kaminsky in Vegan Journal’s Work with Purpose series. Living Your Ethics by using cruelty-free products, safety, sustainability, and healthy services. Starting a business good for people and animals? Find something no one else is doing and what makes you unique. See video at https://youtu.be/4aUIM4LOPUE

For lists of cruelty-free products and businesses see:

https://www.vrg.org/links/CosmeticsPersonalCareProducts.htm

https://www.vrg.org/links/LeatherAndClothingAlternatives.htm

https://www.vrg.org/nutshell/leather.php

For more on ethical careers, go to https://www.vrg.org/links/JobSearch.htm

photo by Hannah Kaminsky

Each issue of Vegan Journal contains a column called Vegan Cooking Tips. In the latest issue, Nancy Berkoff, EdD, RD, offers some quick and easy vegan stew ideas.

Read the entire column here: https://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2026issue1/2026_issue1_cooking_tips.php

To subscribe to Vegan Journal in the USA only, visit: www.vrg.org/member

Beets can be polarizing; you either love them or hate them. If the Marinated Baby Beets from Love Beets don’t live up to their namesake and win over haters, we don’t know what will.

Read the review here: https://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2026issue1/2026_issue1_veggie_bits.php

To subscribe to Vegan Journal in the USA only, visit: www.vrg.org/member

video camera photo from Freepik

The Vegetarian Resource Group is once again sponsoring a video contest. We will be awarding several monetary awards. The deadline for entries this year is July 15, 2026 and the contest is open to all ages.

Create and submit a video relating what you want to tell others about veganism. Some possible topics: food, nutrition, your feelings about veganism and/or vegetarianism, water usage and veganism, veganism and animal rights, or other veggie topics which appeal to you. Humor and feelings are appreciated. All videos should be positive, not be critical of anyone, and not include any footage of animal cruelty. You may submit a video you have already made. Please do not enter videos made completely using AI.

Aspects of judging include accuracy and judges wanting to share the video with others. Entrants give permission to The Vegetarian Resource Group to post and share the video, to link to and from the video, and share the video with the media.

To see the video contest rules, visit: http://www.vrg.org/videoscholarship.php

Previous wining videos can be found here: http://www.vrg.org/veg_videos.php

The Vegetarian Resource Group has a terrific brochure to show others about how much water is used to produce meat versus veggie food. The brochure is called Save Our Water – The Vegetarian Way.

See: http://www.vrg.org/environment/water_brochure.php

See Spanish translation of this brochure here: http://www.vrg.org/environment/water_brochure_spanish.php

by Reed Mangels, PhD, RD

The Oxford English Dictionary defines pizza as “A savoury dish of Italian origin, consisting of a flat, usually round base of dough, baked with a topping of tomatoes, cheese, and any of various other ingredients, such as meat, anchovies, or olives. Although tomatoes and cheese are the most typical toppings, on some kinds of pizza one or both of these may be absent.”

My thinking about pizza is more wide-ranging – pizza is a base of dough which is topped with whatever you choose to top it with. About a year ago, I challenged myself to make (or at least eat) a different vegan pizza each month, using seasonal vegetables and fruits as much as possible.

Here’s my year of vegan pizzas:

In January, I made 2 pizzas. One was topped with homemade pesto from the freezer and the other with commercial red sauce. Both featured a mix of sautéed mushrooms (shiitake, king trumpet, black trumpet, hedgehog, tree oyster, and lion’s mane) sautéed in a little olive oil, roasted butternut squash, and shredded Italian blend vegan cheese.

February’s pizza was topped with pesto from the freezer, sun-dried tomatoes, sautéed cremini mushrooms, roasted butternut squash, and slices of sautéed vegan Italian sausage.

In March, the pizza consisted of a commercial red sauce, steamed broccolini, roasted red pepper, sautéed baby Bella mushrooms, and homemade vegan cashew Mozzarella cheese.

April’s pizza featured spring vegetables – sugar snap peas, broccolini, and arugula, along with sautéed mushrooms and shredded vegan cheese. The sauce was a lemon crème cashew sauce.

May’s pizza spotlighted fresh local asparagus, lightly steamed and used to top a pizza dough spread with peanut sauce. Chickpeas and red pepper slices also made an appearance.

In June, the pizza was topped with a commercial vegan roasted red pepper spread and showcased roasted zucchini, green pepper, red onions, and cremini mushrooms.

With July and hot weather, the pizza crust was prebaked and then topped with vegan sour cream (made with silken tofu, dill, and parsley), sliced cucumbers, sliced tomatoes, and capers.

In August, the pizza celebrated local peaches with a topping of sliced peaches, fresh basil, and vegan Mozzarella shreds all baked in a cast iron skillet.

For September, the pizza crust was made with a mixture of all-purpose flour, whole-wheat flour, and cornmeal. It was topped with a cilantro/tomato sauce, sautéed peppers and red onions, and vegan chorizo.

October’s pizza had a white bean spread made with white beans, fresh dill, and tahini. It was topped with sautéed cabbage and onions, sun-dried tomatoes, and vegan Mozzarella shreds.

November’s pizza was purchased from a vegan pizzeria.

The year ended with December’s pizza – a homemade vegan cheese sauce, balsamic vinegar-caramelized red onions, shredded Brussels sprouts, and vegan Parmesan shreds.

Here’s my go-to pizza crust recipe:

Makes one pizza

1 cup warm water

2¼ teaspoon active dry yeast

1½ cups all-purpose flour

1¼ cups whole-wheat flour

1 teaspoon salt

Put warm water in a large bowl and sprinkle with yeast. Let stand 5 minutes. It should look foamy and bubbly. If it doesn’t, the yeast is too old to use.

Mix in both flours and salt. Knead dough for 10 minutes. Shape into a ball and place into an oiled bowl to rise. Cover and let rise in a warm spot about an hour. It should be about double in size.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Punch the dough down and gently stretch it into a 12-inch round or other shape of your choice on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Add toppings and bake for 15-20 minutes.

Soybeans have long reigned supreme as the essential foundation for tempeh, the original Indonesian meatless protein. However, any bean can be made into tempeh, as evidenced by Lightlife Tempeh Chickpea.

Read the review here: https://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2026issue1/2026_issue1_veggie_bits.php

To subscribe to Vegan Journal in the USA only, visit: www.vrg.org/member

Are you searching for non-leather vegan shoes, belts, wallets, purses, and other items in the USA, Europe, Canada, and other places? If so, you might want to check out VRG’s Guide to Leather Alternatives: https://www.vrg.org/nutshell/leather.php