[tomcam]

I was a vegetarian for 40 years. I could never understand why people go vegetarian and then... eat fake meat? WTF? There are zillions of awesome vegetarian dishes in this beautiful culinary world.

[sseagull]

Speaking from experience, one reason is that people grew up cooking meat, and therefore know intuitively how to cook it.

When I cook vegetarian, it can be a lot more work. How long do I do so-and-so, how much whatever goes in the what not, stuff like that.

There’s a lot of intuition in cooking, and switching paradigms can be challenging.

[tomcam]

Never considered that perspective. Thanks!

[astura]

Because they enjoy the taste and/or it's something very familiar and comforting to them; it's not at all difficult to understand.

Especially if someone is new to vegetarian food and don't know what those "zillions of awesome vegetarian dishes" even are, let alone how to prepare them.