Vegan Pork Sausage Rolls and Porkless Pies!
These vegan caramelised apple and ‘pork’ sausage rolls (Lucy and Lentils) are sure to become a household favourite. It’s just a good idea to make your own puff pastry (to avoid palm oil – you can freeze leftovers). It’s a a really simple thing to do, and you’ll have a talent to last for life!
Slice sausages lengthwise and lengthwise again for children and those at risk of choking.
Before cooking, read up on food safety for people and pets (many ingredients are unsafe near animal friends). Bin allium scraps (onion, garlic, leeks, shallots, chives) as acids may harm compost creatures (same with tomato/citrus/rhubarb scraps).
These vegan porkie pies (not from Melton Mowbray!) are made with vege-gel to give the ‘jelly filling’ without the gelatine). Again, make your own pastry, to avoid palm oil.
More Simple Vegan Pork Recipes
These vegan pulled pork burgers (Lazy Cat Kitchen) use King Oyster mushrooms as the base, and again flavours things up with lots of sauces, spice, brown sugar, maple syrup and canned tomatoes.
Where to Buy Good Vegan Pork
Most councils now recycle soft plastic packaging. If not, pop it in the supermarket plastic packaging bin, next time you’re passing.
- THIS Isn’t Pork is one of the few brands free from palm oil. High in protein and fibre, it has the same crispy skin with 83% less saturated fat. Good news, as it means you can eat more of them!
- Swiss company Vegusto sells its own plant-based luncheon meats, which you can find in good health shops. Made from wheat protein and sunflower oil, this is good hot or cold in sandwiches and salads.
- Planted is a Swiss food company that makes its own vegan ‘pulled pork’ products. You’ll find them in good grocery stores. In BBQ or Spicy Herb flavours, these are made with marinated pea and soy protein, to take tacos and veggie burgers to the next level. Just pan-fry over a little heat.
- Juicy Marbles is a food brand making headlines (it also offers items for food service). Unlike most lab-grown meats, this is all natural and has become known for its homemade ribs. It also offers Meaty Meat Porkish (!) which again is made from pea and soy protein, and packed with nutrients.
- Redefine Pro Pulled Pork is a renowned ‘meat’ that is endorsed (and eaten and served) by chef Marco Pierre-White. Ready in minutes, it’s made with soy and wheat protein, spices and yeast extract.
- Omni! Pork Mince is so popular in China (a country where more pork is eaten than anywhere else) that users are swapping supermarkets, to find it! Made from pea protein, mushrooms and rice, it has 92% less fat than meat pork, half the calories and no cholesterol. It’s even recently released a vegan spam!
Homemade Vegan Roast Pork (complicated!)
Vegan Roast Pork (Full of Plants) is not for beginners, but by a talented French chef, and it does indeed look authentically like real pork. This layers vegan chicken slices with coconut milk fat, and then binds it with tapioca flour and colours with a natural dye.
Why Switch to Vegan Pork?
Pork is a popular food in England, mostly served as roast pork with applesauce or gravy. But there are many issues. For starters, England does not have enough land for 60 million people to eat free-range. So even if you do eat meat, most of the time it’s going to be factory-farmed, unless stated otherwise.
Red meats are hard to digest and very high in saturated fat. Pork (one of the most common meats worldwide) is not a good food to eat for anyone with issues like heart disease or high cholesterol. And red meats (although pork is still classed in culinary circles as white meat) are also linked to certain cancers.
When pork is cured (preserved) it turns into very unhealthy food products like sausages, ham and bacon, as well as charcuterie items like terrines and pâté.
The benefits of real pork (protein and flavour) can easily be replicated both in recipes and artisan food products. Some say they are ‘not natural’. But neither is a slice of pig meat – it’s only when it has the bristles removed and is then cured or marinated, that it becomes tasty anyway. So you may as well do the same with plants. Far kinder, healthier and no factory farms involved.
Pork is also banned by certain religions (like Judaism and Islam) from eating. So all faiths can happily chomp away on plant-based alternatives!
