Vegan Mince Pies for sale?

sweet-rasmus

Has anyone found vegan-friendly mince pies for sale? If so, where did you buy them? I checked the stock in Tesco and Supervalu today but neither have any that are suitable. I hear that the Spar and Lidl brands are OK, though I have yet to venture to those shops to check it out for myself.

Of course, home-made is another option, though I've never made the mincemeat filling before. Though I think Blazing Salads might have their home-made jars for sale... I know that supermarkets tend to sell mincemeat, but I'm not entirely sure if those brands tend to be vegan. Does anyone know more about the availability of vegan mincemeat?

flikflak

Lidl ones are usually ok. Not checked this year though. Its usually the cheaper end of the market that are suitable. I think Sainsburys basics ones might be too if you are ever up north.

I bought some vegan mincemeat from M+S last year. Not the fancy one just the normal one and it was suitable. I made them using frozen pastry from jus rol. Again, I have not looked this year if the mincemeat is suitable.

Lucena

Sorry if the answer is obvious to most people, but what's not vegan about mince pies?

cosmic

Lucena wrote: »

Sorry if the answer is obvious to most people, but what's not vegan about mince pies?

Pastry - butter and egg
Mincemeat - suet

flikflak

Update - bought some luxury mincemeat from m+s today. All looks vegan from a scan through the ingredients.

http://health.marksandspencer.com/uploads/pdfs/vegan.pdf

Yey! It is according to the list above.

rubadub

cosmic wrote: »

Pastry - butter and egg
Mincemeat - suet

I did think this was obvious, but what might not be obvious is that many are not vegetarian, due to the animal fat. There was a vegetarian in work and people were laughing at her as she never ate mince pies, thinking they had animal mince meat in them (traditionally they did), so she was unwittingly eating them after being wrongly told they are definitely vegetarian.

sweet-rasmus

Hi all! Just to report back - I've been scouting out the shops!

Also, thank you for posting the M&S vegan list flikflak! I was unsure of the port and brandy in the luxury mincemeat, but if it's on the list they must be grand.

Update:
No vegan mince pies available in: Tesco, Dunnes, Supervalu (e.g. 'all butter crust')

Vegan Mince Pies
12 mince pies available in Lidl (€2.99 - great value!)

Blazing Salads (Dublin city) are selling 1 freshly made mince pie for €1.45
Nourish (GPO, Dublin city) are selling 4 mince pies for €5.50 (be careful, they are also selling non-vegan mince pies)

Jars of mincemeat seem to be available in many shops. The following brands have been marked as 'suitable for vegetarians' and appear to be vegan. I didn't read any labels where anything other than vegetable suet was used.
Marks and Spencer Classic Mincemeat, 510g, €2.99
Marks and Spencer Luxury Mincemeat, 411g, €2.99
Tesco Mincemeat, 411g, €1.99
Chivers Mincemeat (spotted in Tesco), 420g, €1.99

Finally... I made a batch of mince pies using the M&S Classic Mincemeat this week and they went down very well with my family

sweet-rasmus

Update:

Vegan mince pies:
Blazing Salads (Dublin city) is selling the same pack of 4 as Nourish but for €6.55
Aldi 'Everyday Essentials' - 6 mince pies for 99c

Mincemeat:
Aldi (own brand) Mincemeat, 822g, €1.99 - marked 'suitable for vegetarians'

henryporter

Normally make my own as it's not too difficult (and you can set your own alcohol level :-). Noticed when I was gathering ingredients last week that the candied peel contained cochineal so have to go the extra step now and make some of that too. Also planning (if time permits) to make some proper coconut oil butter for the pastry. I might do a step-by-step guide and stick it up here, probably at the weekend.