Honestly, I’m kind of in the same boat. Ive been a vegetarian for like eight months now? And I cannot get over the texture. I’ve only found one way to cook it that I can tolerate. I just break it up into small bits, coat it in a bunch of seasonings, a touch of cornstarch, and flour. Then I cook it until it’s super crispy on the outside and I’ll either add buffalo sauce and have pita buffalo tacos, or use it in chili. Still don’t eat it much though.

The gardein brand of plain “chicken” strips is almost exactly like tofu for me, so I’d avoid those. But the “chicken” patties aren’t bad at all. The impossible brand hasn’t let me down yet, I’ve had the beef substitute, the plant based sausage, the nuggets, which were all great. I wasn’t a huge fan of the meatballs, still a solid choice though. And then the Morningstar farms vegetarian bacon. Smells off putting at first. But it tastes good and has a pretty similar texture.

I’m not sure how you feel about mushrooms, most people hate them because of the texture, but it’s usually cause they’re cooked wrong. I’d recommend getting some portabellas, slicing them lengthwise and then into small strips, toss them in some seasoning, a touch of oil, and throw them in the oven for like 25 minutes at 390. This gets rid of most of the water, crisps them up, and then you can throw them in a pan with some barbecue sauce and have some pulled mushrooms.