Vegan Crisps (good brands or make your own!)
Most people in England like munching on a bag of crisps. Of course the caveat is that you have to then take the packs to a supermarket bag bin for recycling, unless you live near a Terracycle facility. But at least now it’s possible to recycle crisp packets, so there’s no need for littered crisps packets all over the streets.
Crisps of course are not health food, but they can sneak in some veggies. The health issue for most people is to avoid too much salt, as most packs of crisps are packed with them! So treat them as a treat. The ‘traffic light’ health rules are got around by dividing up one big bag into smaller ones, saying that it’s okay to eat a tiny bag at a time.
But who does that?
Keep crisps away from children and those at risk of choking.
Truth be told, most of us are not going to bother making our own crisps. But if you do wish to do so, there is a good recipe at the end of this post.
If you are an American reader, note that in England crisps are what you call ‘potato chips’. And what you call ‘fries’ are what we call ‘chips’. It’s all quite confusing!
Spudos (vegan crisps in refillable tubs)
Spudos is an innovative company, that is kind of like a zero-waste version of those old packs of Smiths Crisps, where you had the tiny blue sachet of salt inside to shake into the bag.
Sold in refillable tubs, you then buy refill compostable packs and ‘bottles of ‘spud dust’ to flavour your crisps (everything sold is vegan-friendly, despite the meaty, cheesy and prawny names!)
This company began when two successful web developers who had managed to ‘zero waste’ most of their lives, realise that the one thing they could not give up was crisps in the office!
They had no idea how to change this, so fortunately hired a ‘crisp consultant’ and quickly got to work!
Fed up with buying bags of crisps that had ‘two crisps inside and lots of crumbs’, they hired a sustainable farm that saves rainwater and runs on solar power, to produce thick crunchy crisps right to the end of the bag.
In a nation (UK) that eats a whopping 6 billion bags of crisps a year, something needs to change. So Spudos ships their spuds to North London, where they are hand-cooked and packed into home compostable bags, with no food waste.
The bags are strong and greaseproof with zip locks to keep crisps fresh, then just compost the bag at end of use (including the lock).
Produced in the UK, the Spud Dust shakers are made with 30% recycled ocean-bound plastic, as are the labels, and both can be easily recycled.
The sachets inside are compostable, plus you can buy refillable plastic tubs to keep crisps fresh for as long as possible (these tubs last for years and again can be recycled).
Once open, keep your Spud Dust tightly sealed and it will last a couple of months (break up clumps with a fork and give it a shake, keeping in a cool dark place.
You can buy a starter kit that includes the crisps and bags, a tub and Spud Dust, then just buy refills thereafter. The flavours include:
- Salt & Vinegar
- Chip Shop Curry
- Crispy Bacon
- Döner Kebab Spud
- Nooch (vegan cheese) & Onion
- Prawn Cocktail
- Chicken
- Nduja (vegan pork)
For wholesale orders, Spudos will collect tubs and shakers in London. Outside this area just send them to the company for reuse.
The sealed Spudos last around 16 weeks, and most shops sell 3 tubs per month, so they won’t sit around getting stale. If using a dispenser for a zero waste shop, the crisps should stay fresh for a week.
Vegan crisps (in zero waste packaging)
Never sold in supermarkets, The British Crisp Co grows its own potatoes on an Essex farm, using renewable energy. The salt and vinegar ones are vegan.
The paper bags have a tiny layer of aluminium that does not affect the bags being recycled, so can be placed with paper packaging, if your kerbside recycles. If not, just take to supermarket bag bins to recycle.
All the flavours are (at time of writing) free from major allergens, and are also suitable for gluten-free diets. Never sold in supermarkets, you can find these in independent health and farm shops, or order in bulk online.
There is also a mixed case option, to try all the flavours. This brand gladly also sells to cafes, restaurants, hotels and coffee shops, with wholesale prices.
The vegan flavours (not cheese and onion) are:
- Salt & Vinegar
- Sea Salt
- Sweet Chilli
Two Farmers (Herefordshire) is one of the first brands of crisps to sell in tins . Find them in shops and pubs, or buy online in a box of 2 x 500g tins.
Not all the flavours are vegan, but three are:
- Sea Salted
- Salt & Cider Vinegar
- Woodland Mushroom & Wild Garlic
The brand was founded by two farmers (obviously) who met over a beer and a bag of crisps, and decided to do something better. These crisps have such low food miles that they go from potato harvesting to farm shops within a day or so.
The farm runs on renewable energy, and each batch is taste-tested before being packed. The tins are also available at wholesale prices for pubs, hotels and restaurants.
Although the brand also sells crisps in compostable bags, most ‘biodegradable packaging’ for crisps, coffee and chocolate is made with fibres from flammable eucalyptus trees which have caused many wildfires – Spain and Portugal are banning new plantations.
So we only recommend tins.
Just Crisps have a wholesale range made with local Staffordshire rapeseed oil. You can order and then have the containers rinse and refilled.
Conventional bags of crisps (made vegan)
Fairfields Farm sells nice crisps, made from potatoes, maize and rye grown near Colchester in Essex. Despite the names, all these crisps are vegan-friendly with flavours including cheese and onion, prawn cocktail, bacon tomato and roast rib of beef!
Extra healthy snacking crisps!
Plenny Crisps are ordered from The Netherlands (you can add these on to their vegan powdered meals, that you just mix with water to create a nutritious hot meal). Perfectly seasoned, this boasts that it is ‘the world’s first nutritionally complete crisp’ with 26 vitamins and minerals, high protein, high fibre and just 166kcal per serving. Choose from Thai sweet chilli or sour cream and onion (vegan).
Spinachips are the world’s first water-spinach chips! The world’s what, you ask? Founded by two friends who grew up in southeast Asia (where spinach snacking is a thing), they decided to launch here!
High in fibre, these are gluten-free and battered into a blend of chickpea flour, tapioca starch and spices, then fried in pure coconut oil to create a savoury burst of flavour and crunch. Popeye would be proud. You can also use them as a nutritious crunchy topping on salads.
Nudie is a healthy snack company, which makes a nice range of crisps working with Scottish farmers. The range includes cheesy-tasting vegan cauliflower crisps.
The other snacks include:
- Sea salt cauliflower crisps
- Chilli lime lentil curls
- Sundried tomato quinoa chips
- Katsu curry cauliflower crisps
- Lightly salted hummus chips
Scrapples Crisps make tasty fruit crisps turn unused apples, pears, and other fruit into a healthy, crunchy treat. If you care about flavour, nutrition, and the planet, these crisps check every box.
Scrapples Crisps use upcycled fruit that would otherwise go to waste. They take odd-shaped apples, pears, and other fruit from local farms, wash them, slice them thin, and bake or air-dry them to a crunch.
Instead of throwing away edible produce, Scrapples gives it a second life. This approach fights food waste and delivers flavour-packed crisps. The company has so far rescued over 142 tons of wonky produce (mostly fresh and dried apples) from landfill.
Homemade Vegan Crisp Recipes (you’ll need a mandoline!)
As long as you have a quality mandoline (with a finger guard so you don’t lose a finger), it’s pretty easy to make your own crisps. The Simple Veganista is a good simple recipe.
Bin allium scraps (onion, leeks, garlic, shallots, chives) and citrus/tomato/rhubarb scraps, as acids could harm compost creatures. It’s okay to put them in food waste bins (made into biogas).
Use a crinkle cutter, to turn them into crisps. Dry the carrots with recycled paper kitchen roll, the dunk them in olive or rapeseed oil (seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic/onion powder and dried parsley). Bake for around15 minutes, and serve with ketchup or vegan mayo.
