Vegan Mincemeat

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Homemade vegan mincemeat with fresh & dried fruit, warm spices, and brandy! Enjoy it inside mince pies, on top of vegan ice cream, or mixed into your favorite muffins. It makes an extra-sweet gift around the holidays, but is also delicious any time of year!

A traditional pie filling in Britain, mincemeat is a mixture of dried fruit, sugar, spices, and brandy. This festive treat is typically made with beef suet or butter but tastes just as good (if not better) with coconut oil! Despite the name, it’s not made with meat!

I love to make vegan mince around the holidays. It makes a thoughtful gift for Christmas time, is super easy to make your own mincemeat at home, and tastes worlds better than store-bought mincemeat.

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This vegan mince recipe is ready in just under 20 minutes. All the ingredients simmer in a pot until the house smells fragrant and fall-like, then the mixture goes straight into jars!

Vegetarian mincemeat also makes an extra-sweet addition to vegan muffins, tarts, thumbprint cookies, or crisps and crumbles. Or for a simple dessert, just generously scoop onto vegan ice cream. Yum!

👩‍🍳 Why This Recipe Works

• Best vegetarian mince meat
• Quick and easy to make
• Use in homemade mince pies
• Sweet & festive
• Ready in under 20 minutes
• Perfect for Christmas Eve
• No animal products or animal fat
• Makes the best mince pies!

🥘 Ingredients

This vegan mincemeat recipe calls for simple ingredients found at your local grocery store. For the full recipe and nutritional information, see the recipe card below!

• Apples: Any variety of fresh apple works here, but I prefer sweet-tart apples like honey crisp or pink ladies. Grating the apple helps it cook quickly. You can also try other fresh fruits like pears or even cherries to mix things up!
• Orange Zest: Adds a bright pop of citrus flavor. Save the leftover oranges or squeeze the juice of one into the pot for more orange flavor.
• Slivered Almonds: Almonds add good texture and a nutty flavor.
• Dried Mixed Fruit & Dried Cranberries: Look for a bag of dry fruit already mixed together. Raisins, golden raisins, dried cherries, dried prunes, and dried apples are good options. You can’t make vegan mince without cranberries – the sweet-tart cranberry flavor is a must!
• Coconut Oil: In place of animal suet. Vegetable suet or vegan suet can also be used for dairy-free mincemeat. It’s made from vegetable oils like sunflower oil and palm oil.
• Coconut Sugar: To sweeten the vegetarian mincemeat.
• Spices & Brandy: Ginger, allspice, cinnamon, and nutmeg add a warm, festive touch, and brandy adds a robust, citrus kick.

📖 Variations

• Change Up The Sweetener: Swap the coconut sugar with white sugar, brown sugar, or maple syrup.
• Christmas Mince Pies: Roll out vegan pie dough and cut into 3-inch circles with a round cookie cutter. Gently place the circles into each cavity of a muffin tin. Add homemade mincemeat filling to the middle of each vegan pastry. If desired, top each pie with a layer of pastry crust. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Dust the cooled pies with icing sugar.
• Sugar Free Mincemeat: For no added sugar mincemeat, replace the coconut sugar with monk fruit or stevia (start with 1/4 to 1/3 the amount of monk fruit or stevia compared to the coconut sugar and add more as needed to taste!) This will reduce both the sugar and calories in this yummy treat.
• Try A Different Alcohol: Swap the brandy with rum, whiskey, port, or Cointreau.

🔪 Instructions

Plant based mince is ready in less than 20 minutes! Here’s detailed instructions to walk you through it.

Grate Apples, Add Remaining Ingredients: Grate the apples with the skin on and transfer to a large saucepan. Add everything but the brandy to the pot.

Cook Mincemeat: Heat the pot over medium heat for 10 minutes, stirring until the sugar melts, the apple cooks through, and the liquid reduces.

Add Brandy: Remove the pot from the heat and add the brandy. Give it a good stir.

Let Mixture Cool: Let the mixture cool to room temperature before scooping into sterilized jars or an airtight container. Store the jars of vegan mincemeat in the refrigerator for up to one month.

❓ Recipe FAQs

💭 Expert Tips

• For best results, use sterilized jars to store the mincemeat. This prevents bacteria from getting into the mince. To sterilize, simply wash the jars with hot soapy water before you use them, or run them through your dishwasher.
• For a kid-friendly option, swap the brandy for apple juice, orange juice, or another fruit juice.
• For a more citrusy flavor, add the juice of an orange when cooking. Increase the cook time to 12 minutes to help reduce the extra liquid.
• Don’t use old dried fruit that’s been in the pantry since last winter. Fresh, plump dried fruits that haven’t been opened will give you the best end product.
• If the mixture is still too liquidy, cook it for a few more minutes. This mincemeat recipe without meat will thicken as it cools.

🎄 More Festive Vegan Recipes!

• Vegan French Toast Casserole
• Vegan Fruit Cake
• Pumpkin Protein Balls
• Vegan Christmas Pudding
• Cranberry Orange Muffins
• Vegan French Toast Recipe
• Ginger Snap Cookies Recipe
• Santa Pancakes

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