OK, i'm not a veggie, I never have been and I probably never will be. I do want to eat a little healthier though so I would like to cut down on the old red meat.
If I use something like quorn in a chilli or cottage pie is there a real noticable difference? I once had a vegetarian pie with tofu and that was bloody horrible! I'm thinking quorn mince might be better as the pieces are smaller instead of lumps. Is quinoa the same sort of stuff?
Thanks in advance for any info, I know my food usually but on veggie substitutes I have absolutely no clue!

I use the mince and chicken pieces a lot. You may need to alter recipes a little as the quorn mince wont add taste like meat does. For spag boll a shake of Worcester sauce adds a little bite that you might miss from not using meat. Try it and see is the best advice I can give.
Its made from a type of mushroom apparently, For me its ideal, tastes good and is low fat and at one pack for a spag boll or a chilli or stir fry feeds me for a couple of days.

i use the quorn pieces, but for chile, bol and cottage pie we use dried soya mince, cheaper and a bag lasts for ages. Re-hydrate it in a bit of water then treat as normal mince, it needs to be simmered with onion, garlic and tomatos e.t c for a couple of hours and it does need quite a bit of help as poster above said, worcester sauce, bit of soy sauce (maybe some bisto granules) but it's really nice, and if you make too much it can sit in the fridge for days and you don't have to worry about it going funny like meat.

I use Quorn mince and TVP for the same reason as you, IW. At first I found the texture to be less than desirable as it seemed a little soggy. However, now I what do is brown it off with a little oil and some Touch of Taste to give it a firmer texture and taste.

When I first tried this I had two vegetarians round for lunch (I made cannelloni) and they had a very, very hard time believing it was Quorn! Overall I think I like Quorn Mince and Sainsbury's Meat Free Mince the best.

I don't really buy the other versions such as the southern fried grills and the like because I always eat free range organic chicken breasts anyway.

Quinoa isn't really the same - if I had to compare it to anything it would probably be cous cous or bulghar wheat. It's a grain but a complete protein though and very tasty. I make a lot of salads with it, using both the white and red quinoa. It's also a great rice substitute - combine that with a Quorn chilli and you are being super healthy!

I absolutely hate Quorn, except the Quorn mince. My OH is a meat eater and is one of those 'has to have meat with every meal or it ain't a real meal' kind of guys and he doesn't have a problem with eating Quorn mince as he really can't tell the difference between that and the real thing. Even my dad who seems to have a real issue with me being veggie and would never dream of touching anything that resembles a meat substitute couldn't tell the difference, I made him spag bol and told him afterwards it was made with Quorn and he didn't believe me.

Definitely give it a try, hopefully you will be pleasantly surprised, just don't overcook the Quorn and don't buy soya mince because that is a different thing altogether and personally I think it tastes disgusting, stick to the Quorn mince.

IW if you want to reduce just the red meat howabout using Turkey mince instead.

With Quorn you have to remember that it basically has no taste, so it needs to have a strong sauce to accompany it. When I cook with Quorn, I always leave it in the fridge for a day so that it has time to really absorb the flavours.

Quorn mince and Quorn pieces are fine, but I loathe all their other products (and no, I'm not a meat eater!). My OH is a red meat fiend, but he loves my 'Special Quorn Dishes' even more than he loves a steak

As people have said, quorn mince or other sorts of mince, like Linda M, might be a good place to start. It won't be the same as a meat bolognese or chilli but will be nice, in it's own way and with much less fat, of course. Then, people claim quorn is unhealthy but there's aren't the only products of this type.

I only ever use tofu (and not the sloppy sort) in Asian recipes, never a cottage pie or anything else. I hate the sloppy sort.

I use the quorn 'chicken' pieces too because my OH likes them and I don't mind them. I use them sometimes in curries, Asian dishes and St David's type pies (carrots, leeks, mushrooms in a white sauce) and PamelaL's chicken cacciatore (which has become a favourite dish!).

As an aside (I know IW won't want to eat stuff like this anyway) I do like their broccoli escalopes. I'm not normally a fan of that type of thing and don't often eat sausages or burgers even (that often!) but I have found I really like those. I really dislike the 'chicken' dippers type things and the straight from the pack barbecue fillets were pretty bleurgh, too. The veggie hot dogs you can get taste the same as the meat ones, so I'm told. I don't much like the 'bacon' either.

You can get Quorn meatballs now which are Italian style and they are very good. I'm not a vegetarian but both my daughters have been for over 20 years. If I am in a rush I sweat an onion and add a LLoyd Grossman tomato & chilli sauce mix, a drained tin of chopped tomatoes, 1 tsp of chilli flakes, 1 tsp Schwartz Italian seasoning, and 1 tsp oregano. Serve with pasta & it's not bad. If I am using Quorn mince for a chilli I buy the tinned kidney beans that are already in a sauce & I find that adds a bit more flavour to the quorn.

Yes, the quorn balls have definitely improved from the original recipe.

A splodge of Marmite in the mince will give it a better flavour.

Also browning it in some oil as one poster said helps with the texture and flavour as well.

For my money I thought the mince was vile. It smelled of cat food when I opened it. Used it in a spag bol and just as mince. It was tasteless and dry and basically ruined both meals. Just my two-penneth like.

Was it a tin of minced TVP? Frozen quorn doesn't smell like cat food.

My hubby is a meat man but he prefers quorn in a spag bol and we both like the quorn fillets with things like broccoli and cheese in. As someone else said you just need to let it absorb the flavours for longer than meat.

Give it a try, you've nothing to lose but the calories!

We're all veggies here, so I use quite a lot of quorn, because my husband prefers traditional looking meals...and its fairly easy to make them using quorn or soya mince...and he doesn't like tofu at all

I usually lightly fry it first in a touch of chilli or garlic oil and herbs before adding it to other stuff, like bolognaise or cassorole...it seems to give it a nicer taste

My dad who is a real meat eater happily eats the stuff I make with quorn or soya mince..sainsburys own veggie mince is quite good too

I tried to feed my husband quorn mince in a spag bol once. There was a small coup and the words 'Woman, don't ever bring that filth into our home again' were uttered.

When cooking for a veggie I've used for quorn mince for cottage pie. Just make it in exactly the same as I would using minced beef.

Quorn pieces are also good in curries - particularly a Thai Green Chicken curry.

I hate Quorn with a passion as I don't eat eggs and so when I go to the veggie section in supermarkets its full of Quorn burgers, sauasages etc... and ahhhhhhhhhhhhh

Some mixed (re)views above .
My parents and I have been vegetarian for 25+ years.
We try any new Quorn products (and LM) whenever any are introduced.
Our staple items (once /twice per week) are Quorn mince, fillets and chicken style pieces.
Personally I've made many spag bol and lasagne, I brown the Quorn mince in a pan with a little oil then add sliced mushrooms and onion, then the sauce, and simmer for 5 mins. Whether it's then like a meat dish I can't say, but it has been perfectly accepted by meat eating family.
As are rice dishes made with Quorn chicken pieces and sweet&sour sauce and boiled rice, and grilled or barbequed Quorn nuggets.
The chicken style pieces also work well instead of steak in a steak/mushroom pie.

Quorn southern style chicken burgers, Tivall (or Tesco/Asda/Sains branded) hot-dog sausages and burgers, and Quorn or Tivall bacon rashers are all acceptable as the basis for a meal. Just watch for overcooking as these tend to dry easily.

I love quorn!! Here's my run down of my fave veggie foods:

For Chicken pieces, i only use Quorn brand because i don't like other brands.
For mince, Morrisons or Asda own brand are very tasty and cheaper than Quorn.
Burgers, [Beef style] Tesco are the best!
Sausages, You cannot beat Linda McCartneys veggie sausages.
Burgers, [Chicken style] Quorn Southern style burgers are yummy!

Also Quorn chicken pieces, ham, bacon, turkey and stuffing.

its all yummy i am firmly a fan

I've never seen the turkey and stuffing one. Is that slices or a kind of roast.


Quorn chilli, today. Yum!

Although I'm not a vegetarian I have recently been trying veggie sausages. I bought Cauldron, Linda McCartney and Quorn. To my surprise I found the nicest of the lot to be the Linda McCartney ones, which happen to be suitable for vegans whereas the others aren't.

If the LM ones are the ones I'm thinking of, they have a very unusual texture, not like traditional 'sausages' at all, but I still really like them!
The Quorn ones are very dry, they work fine if you're making a meal with sauce or gravy over them, but on their own they're yuck.