One Of The Easiest Cheeses To Make At Home Is Also A Tasty Meat Swap For Your Dishes

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One Of The Easiest Cheeses To Make At Home Is Also A Tasty Meat Swap For Your Dishes By Maria Scinto Aug. 18, 2025 6:00 pm EST

Meat-free Mondays, even if you only observe the one day a week, can be good for your health and good for the planet. And if you also avoid pricey, plant-based meat substitutes like Impossible Foods hot dogs and Beyond Meat "chicken" tenders, they can also be good for your wallet. We asked Shivani Dhamija, who sells a line of Indian-style sauces at Shivani's Kitchen , to suggest one meat substitute that is extremely affordable if you make it yourself (which is a lot easier than you might think). Her answer: paneer cheese.

As Dhamija describes it, "Paneer should be soft yet firm, which would make it a good swap for meat in some dishes.