9 plant-based meats you can buy at the grocery store

Are you thinking of going plant-based after the holiday season is over, or have you always wanted to fit more vegetables into your diet without making any drastic changes? More and more people are turning veggie-friendly -- it's no secret that plant-based diets are good for you, and you don't even have to go vegan or give up meat. 

With the rapid rise in popularity of plant-based meats, you can find tasty meat replacements on almost every fast food restaurant or grocery store shelf. The Impossible Burger has been taking the nation by storm, but there are tons of other options to try. Now, you can buy plant-based versions of ground beef, chicken and fish -- so experiment to find which one you like the best and make that meatless New Year's Resolution easy.

Plant-based 'beef' and 'pork'

Plant-based beef can be used as a stand-in for real beef or pork in burgers, meatballs, tacos, meatloaf and pretty much anything other recipe that calls for ground meat. Almost every plant-based meat has different ingredients, but they're usually made from extracted plant protein or whey protein, spices and binding ingredients. 

While they typically are higher in sodium, plant-based meat is similar to real meat in terms of calories and has more fiber and less cholesterol. While plant-based meat's impact on the environment is multifaceted, cutting down on our red meat consumption is one of the single best ways we can help the environment.

The Impossible Burger has heme, a molecule found in every plant and animal, that makes the burger taste eerily similar to real meat. It's been selling like a storm at Burger King and other grocery stores, and was one of the first products to really change the game of plant-based meat.

Beyond Meat is sold at rival restaurant Carl's Jr. and other fast food chains like Subway. It uses pea protein and beet juice to bleed like real meat. Beyond Meat is widely available at supermarkets like ShopRite, Target, Safeway and Costco, so you can pick it up on your next grocery haul.

Unless you live in Southern California, you can't get Impossible Burgers at your local grocery store. However, there are plenty of other plant-based meat options available:

• Smithland Pure Farmland sells burger patties, breakfast sausages, and even meatballs. Pair the meatballs with some homemade veggie noodles for a deliciously green meal.
  

• Sweet Earth Foods has a wide selection of products, including bacon mainly made out of wheat, buckwheat and a bunch of spices. Use its website to find products sold near you.
  

• If you'd rather not eat wheat, Hormel Food's line of Happy Little Plants is a soy-based version of ground beef and doesn't contain any GMOs.
  

Plant-based 'chicken'

Plant-based versions of chicken, also called chick'n, have been around for a while.

Tyson -- the mega-company that owns brands like Jimmy Dean, Hillshire Farms, and Aidell's -- has started branching into the chick'n market, so you're almost guaranteed to find products at a supermarket nearby. Its Raised & Rooted line includes choices like nuggets made out of pea protein, bamboo fiber and egg whites.

You can also buy chick'n wings, tenders, strips and more from Gardein, which are also made out of pea and wheat protein.

Plant-based fishless fish

Yup. In today's world, you can eat fish that've never set foot in the ocean -- or any other body of water.

Good Catch sells plant-based tuna made from pea protein, soy protein and chickpea powder. You can use it to make homemade sushi or tuna salad, and it also doubles as a nice treat for any neighborhood cats. 

Garedin also sells crabless cakes and fishless fillets, and New Wave Foods has plant-based shrimp, but I'm still waiting for someone to develop a plant-based fish that can swim in my home aquarium.

How do I avoid processed plant-based meat?

If all of these options have ingredient lists that are a bit too long for you, there are still plenty of ways you can make healthy plant-based meat replicas at home. For example, try cooking up some lentil sloppy joes, a burger made from chickpeas and eggs or some jackfruit tacos.