Vegan alternatives to honey: which ones to choose and recipes

Honey is a natural sweetener made by bees. For a teaspoon in the infusion, you need the work of about 10 or 12 bees throughout their lives. It is estimated that for one kilo of honey, no more and no less than 2,500 honey bees are needed.

Not all bees produce honey, but these species of bees are the ones that currently predominate, being a problem for species diversity. Not to mention that honey is the fruit of their work and has the function of their own food.

Honey being a product of the tireless work of these insects, vegan people look for alternatives not only to sweeten tea, our infusions or coffee, but also for many recipes that require it.

There are also traditional recipes, such as Eggplants with cane honeywhich already give us a clue that we have alternatives at hand.

This is one of the recipes that you will find in the Today’s weekly vegan menuin which, if you sweeten your breakfasts, I also encourage you to look for alternatives to honey.

Download the weekly vegan menu seasonal here.

How to substitute honey for other healthy sweeteners

The composition of honey is almost entirely glucose and fructose. That is to say, 80% of simple carbohydrates, of those that give us fast energy to assimilate. Therefore, both honey and its alternatives, although they can be considered healthier than white sugar, must be consume in moderation and always taking into account your energy needs.

Vitamins, proteins and other compounds, such as antioxidants, occur in a very small percentage, but we can easily replace it with fresh fruit and vegetables.

Between the more common alternatives we can find:

Molasses or cane honey Maple syrup Agave syrup Apple honey from mead Rice molasses

These alternatives have very different compositions and highly variable glycemic indices. Maple syrup is usually less processed than agave syrup, for example, and has a lower glycemic index than the other named alternatives.

We can also make alternatives to honey at home, such as date syrup. Below I explain how to do it and I present two recipes sweetened with vegan alternatives to honey, a classic such as honey aubergines and a vegetarian delight such as seitan with maple syrup. You will find both in this week’s downloadable menu.

3 recipes with “vegan honey” for your healthy weekly menu

In hot season, the need for hydration and fresh food grows, and it’s what you’ll find in abundance on today’s weekly vegan menu. Remember that the best option to hydrate ourselves is water.

Seasonal fruits and vegetables such as cucumbers also help us to stay well hydrated. Add a green salad, a gazpacho or a watermelon soup to any of the meals if you need an extra fresh.

It is also an excellent time to Prepare small cups of yogurt, whole grains and fruit in the fridge, chilled and ready to eat. They are ideal for breakfast or snack.

As a vegan menu, you will find alternatives to animal products in recipes in which these are traditionally used. Among these alternatives are some of the sweeteners that I propose in this post to replace honey. You can use them in your yogurts, mueslis or any other recipe that you usually sweeten, although remember that the key is moderation: when sweetening we are adding sugar.

You will also find the three recipes that I suggest here next:

1. Homemade date syrup

It is recommended to make this homemade syrup with fresh dates. If you use dried dates, you may need a little more water.

Ingredients:

250 g fresh dates 400 ml of filtered water

Preparation:

We boned the dates. In the case of fresh ones, it will also be easy for us to remove the skin. We place the dates in a blender container. In the event that they are dry, we will have hydrated them with hot water before, for at least half an hour. We beat with the water indicated in the recipe (or more, if we use dried dates) until we have a very fine texture. Depending on the texture that interests us, we add more water. Store in the fridge until use.

2. Eggplants with cane honey

A crunchy recipe ideal as an appetizer in eggplant season. You can use any of the vegetable alternatives to honey that exist, but the traditional thing is to use cane honey. This recipe it can also be baked.

Ingredients for 4 people:

2 large aubergines a few tablespoons of chickpea flour water cane honey virgin olive oil for frying

Preparation:

Wash the aubergines, remove the stem and cut them into slices. We place them in a container with water and salt, which covers them. After a while, we drain them and dry them well. Flour them with the chickpea flour and fry at high temperature, in batches. We serve with a little cane syrup on top.

3. Seitan with maple syrup

A dish that is usually made with chicken and honey, but that we can make vegan very easily. This recipe accepts a large amount of vegetablesin addition to mushrooms, such as carrots, zucchini or broccoli, so it can become a very complete dish.

We use seitan because it is similar in texture to meat, but also you can change it for tempeh, tofu or products analogous to chicken.

Ingredients for 3-4 servings:

500 g homemade seitan 2 large carrots 200 g mushrooms 1 white zucchini 1 leek 1 garlic clove (or more, to taste) 50 g maple syrup 200 ml water 2 tablespoons soy sauce or tamari extra virgin olive oil

Preparation:

In a frying pan, brown the seitan with two tablespoons of olive oil. Wash and peel the carrots and cut them into slices. The same with the zucchini and the leek, of which we can use the white part and also the green part. And finally, peel the garlic clove and chop finely. Sauté all the vegetables over medium heat with little oil until the carrot is al dente. Mix the water with the maple syrup and soy sauce, and add the liquid to the pan. Add the seitan, stir and let it cook over low heat for about 15 minutes. You can put it on a very low heat and with the lid on for half an hour, making sure that the liquid does not evaporate. We serve it still hot. It can be accompanied with boiled leg, brown rice or noodles.