Who Created Vegan Meat? The Surprising History of Plant-Based Alternatives

December 30, 2025 •

4 min read

The modern vegan meat industry is valued in the billions, yet the concept is far from new. It's a culinary practice with roots stretching back centuries, not a trendy phenomenon, and the question of who created vegan meat has a complex, multi-layered answer.

Quick Summary

The development of vegan meat involves multiple traditions and innovators over time. Ancient Buddhist monks in China created early meat alternatives like tofu and seitan, while modern scientists and companies perfected plant-based proteins to mimic meat's flavor and texture for mainstream appeal.

Key Points

Ancient Asian Origins: The earliest vegan meat substitutes, such as tofu and seitan, were developed by Chinese Buddhist monks centuries ago to align with vegetarian principles.
Western Pioneers: Early Western innovators like John Harvey Kellogg created commercial meat alternatives in the late 19th century, primarily for health-conscious consumers at his sanitarium.
Modern Breakthroughs: The modern era of vegan meat, focused on mimicking the sensory experience of animal meat, was spearheaded by companies like Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods.
Pat Brown of Impossible Foods: A key modern inventor is Patrick O. Brown, who founded Impossible Foods and discovered how to create a plant-based heme molecule, the critical ingredient for recreating the flavor and aroma of beef.
Ethan Brown of Beyond Meat: Ethan Brown founded Beyond Meat and utilized licensed technology to perfect a realistic, plant-based texture using pea protein and other innovative ingredients.
Continuous Innovation: The history of vegan meat is a story of continuous innovation, evolving from simple whole-food preparations to complex, scientifically-engineered products for a global market.

The Ancient Roots of Vegan Meat: Early Asian Innovators

The idea of creating meat substitutes from plants is not a modern invention but a practice with a long and rich history. Many of the earliest and most enduring forms of vegan meat originated in Asia, largely driven by Buddhist principles of vegetarianism and compassion for animals.

Tofu: The Accidental Discovery

While the exact inventor remains a subject of debate and legend, tofu's origins are most commonly traced back to China's Han Dynasty (206 BC–220 CE). A popular but unproven story attributes the creation to Prince Liu An of Anhui province, though documentation relating him to tofu only appeared centuries after his death. Another theory suggests it was an accidental discovery, born from a cook curdling soy milk with impure sea salt, which contains natural coagulants like calcium and magnesium. Regardless of its origin story, tofu's versatility made it a staple in East Asian cuisine, serving as a vital protein source for vegetarian Buddhist monks and the wider population for millennia.

Seitan: The "Wheat Meat" from Buddhist Monasteries

Seitan, or "wheat meat," has similarly ancient roots in China, dating back to the 6th century among Buddhist monks. These monks developed seitan by washing wheat flour dough with water to remove the starch, leaving behind a fibrous, protein-rich gluten mass. This product, known in China as mian jin, was an essential protein substitute in their vegetarian diets. The term "seitan" itself is much more recent, coined in 1961 by the Japanese macrobiotic advocate George Ohsawa, who helped popularize the product in the West.

Western Pioneers of Meat Alternatives

While Asian cultures perfected plant-based proteins for centuries, the concept of commercial meat alternatives took hold in the West much later, driven initially by health and wellness concerns.

John Harvey Kellogg and Early Commercial Products

In the late 19th century, John Harvey Kellogg, a health food pioneer and founder of the Battle Creek Sanitarium, was one of the first Westerners to commercially produce meat substitutes. Products like "Nuttose" and "Protose," made from peanuts and wheat gluten, were developed to provide a protein source for his vegetarian patients. These early Western innovations, though often less sophisticated than modern products, laid the groundwork for future meat alternative development.

Mycoprotein and the Quorn Revolution

The 20th century saw the introduction of mycoprotein, a new protein source derived from a fermented microfungus. First commercialized in the UK in the 1980s by Marlow Foods under the brand name Quorn, this innovation offered a new, naturally fibrous texture. Quorn successfully brought fungal-based protein to the mass market, showcasing that vegan meat could come from sources beyond soy or wheat.

The Rise of Modern, Indistinguishable Vegan Meat

The most recent and significant chapter in the history of vegan meat is the development of products that closely mimic the sensory experience of animal flesh, targeting not just vegans but also mainstream meat-eaters.

Impossible Foods and the Power of Heme

The modern era of vegan meat was largely spurred by Patrick O. Brown, a geneticist and former Stanford University biochemist who founded Impossible Foods in 2011. Driven by a mission to address the environmental impact of animal agriculture, Brown focused on replicating what makes meat taste like meat: the compound heme. By creating a plant-based version of heme through genetically engineered yeast, Impossible Foods was able to produce a burger patty that "bleeds" and sizzles, captivating meat-eaters and launching the Impossible Burger into mainstream restaurants and grocery stores.

Beyond Meat and a Mission for Change

Around the same time, Ethan Brown founded Beyond Meat in 2009 with a similar mission focused on public health, animal welfare, and climate change. Beyond Meat, which famously developed the Beyond Burger, uses pea protein and other plant-based ingredients to replicate the texture and flavor of ground beef. Ethan Brown and his team licensed technology developed by two University of Missouri professors, Fu-hung Hsieh and Harold Huff, to create their breakthrough products.

The Pioneers: A Comparison of Vegan Meat Innovators


Pioneer	Era	Innovation	Key Ingredient(s)	Impact	Target Audience	Key Motivation
Ancient Chinese Buddhist Monks	~6th Century	Seitan (Mian Jin)	Wheat gluten	First use of wheat gluten as meat substitute	Vegetarians, Monks	Religious belief, ethics
Ancient Chinese Innovators	Han Dynasty	Tofu	Soybeans	Versatile and long-lasting staple protein	General Population, Monks	Dietary protein, health
John Harvey Kellogg	Late 19th Century	Commercial meat alternatives (Protose)	Peanuts, grains, wheat gluten	Early commercialization in the West	Sanitarium patients, Vegetarians	Health benefits
Marlow Foods (Quorn)	1980s	Mycoprotein (fungus-based)	Fermented microfungus	New, naturally fibrous texture source	UK consumers, Mass Market	Health, animal welfare
Patrick O. Brown (Impossible)	2011	Heme-based realism	Genetically engineered yeast (for heme), soy	Replicated taste, smell, and "bleed"	Mainstream meat-eaters	Environmental, scientific
Ethan Brown (Beyond)	2009	Textural replication	Pea protein, mung bean	Realistic texture, broad appeal	Mainstream meat-eaters	Environmental, animal welfare

Conclusion: A Legacy of Innovation

The question of who created vegan meat has no single answer because it is not a singular invention but a continuous culinary and technological evolution. From the ancient Buddhist monks who practiced compassion by creating meat substitutes like tofu and seitan to the modern biochemists who reverse-engineered the taste of meat, each figure and tradition built upon the work of those who came before. Today's hyper-realistic plant-based burgers are a testament to this long legacy of innovation, driven by diverse motivations ranging from religious conviction to environmental necessity. This rich history shows that far from being a new fad, vegan meat is the latest chapter in humanity's long story of creative and compassionate cooking. For those interested in the environmental factors driving this industry, organizations like The Good Food Institute provide extensive research and data on sustainable protein production.

Frequently Asked Questions

No, the earliest forms of vegan meat, like tofu and seitan, were created in Asia centuries ago. The modern, highly realistic vegan meats created by companies like Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat were developed in the United States, but they stand on the shoulders of ancient culinary traditions.

Tofu originated in China around the 2nd century BCE, potentially discovered by Prince Liu An or through a serendipitous accident. It spread throughout East Asia, becoming a vegetarian staple, especially for Buddhist monks, who relied on it as a nutritious and versatile protein source.

Seitan, or 'wheat meat,' is a meat substitute made from wheat gluten. It was developed by Chinese Buddhist monks around the 6th century. The term 'seitan' was coined much later, in 1961, by Japanese macrobiotic advocate George Ohsawa.

Modern vegan meats, like those from Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat, use advanced food science to mimic the taste and texture of animal meat. Key innovations include Impossible Foods' use of plant-based heme for a bloody, meaty flavor and Beyond Meat's use of pea protein and other ingredients to replicate the fibrous texture of muscle.

Impossible Foods was founded by biochemist Patrick O. Brown in 2011. He started the company to address the devastating environmental impact of animal agriculture by creating a delicious, plant-based meat alternative that could appeal to meat-eaters.

Beyond Meat was founded by Ethan Brown in 2009, with the goal of shifting the protein at the center of the plate from animals to plants to positively impact human health, climate change, resource constraints, and animal welfare. He licensed meat-mimicking technology from University of Missouri professors to build the company.

While the modern commercial market has grown rapidly, vegan meat is not a new fad. The practice of creating plant-based alternatives to meat has existed for centuries, with early examples rooted in Eastern traditions and Buddhist dietary practices.