Vegan Mincemeat
This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Please read my disclosure.I love how my Vegan Mincemeat adds so much flavor and versatility to my holiday baking. In just 20 minutes, it’s ready to be the perfect filling for mince pies, a topping for desserts, or a thoughtful gift for friends and family. It’s an extra-sweet treat for the holidays, but honestly, I enjoy it all year round.
Inspired by my love for creating festive treats like my vegan Christmas pudding, I made this vegan mincemeat to enjoy a plant-based version of the classic.
Traditionally made with suet, my mincemeat gets a flavorful plant-based upgrade with coconut oil, dried fruits, warm spices, and brandy. It’s a dessert I absolutely love pairing with my vegan turkey roast for a festive and satisfying finish!
👩🏽🍳 Why I Love This Recipe
Every time I make this vegan mincemeat, my kitchen fills with the cozy, spicy aroma of the holidays, it instantly puts me in a festive mood! It’s one of my favorite homemade gifts because it’s so easy to make and always feels thoughtful and personal.
Have you ever had a recipe that’s so easy and flavorful, you can’t wait to share it? That’s exactly how I feel about my vegan mincemeat recipe. In just under 20 minutes, I simmer everything together, and my kitchen transforms into a cozy, spiced wonderland. It’s also my best friend’s absolute favorite, every time she visits during the holidays, she makes it a mission to leave with a jar or two. I’m starting to think she comes over just for the mincemeat. Huh!
With dried fruits, warm spices, and a splash of brandy, my vegan mincemeat is festive, and so much better than anything store-bought. It’s perfect for Christmas muffins, thumbprint cookies, or even as a sweet surprise in crumbles and crisps. The taste is a beautiful balance of fruity sweetness and warm spice, and the texture is rich but not too heavy. Trust me, once you make this, you’ll find so many ways to use it, and it just might become one of your holiday staples, like it has for me!
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🥘 Ingredients
I made my vegan mincemeat recipe with simple, easy-to-find ingredients that are available any time of year.
Apples: I like using sweet-tart apples like honey crisp or pink ladies for the best flavor. Grating them helps them cook quickly.
Orange Zest: A little orange zest adds a bright, citrusy flavor that I love. If I’m feeling extra festive, I’ll squeeze some orange juice into the mix for even more zing.
Slivered Almonds: These add a lovely nutty flavor and a bit of crunch to the mincemeat. They’re a must for that perfect texture.
Dried Mixed Fruit & Cranberries: I grab a bag of mixed dried fruit and always include cranberries for their sweet-tart kick, they’re essential for the best mincemeat.
Coconut Oil: I use coconut oil instead of suet to keep the recipe plant-based. It works beautifully.
Coconut Sugar: This natural sweetener adds just the right amount of sweetness to the mincemeat.
Spices & Brandy: Ginger, allspice, cinnamon, and nutmeg make this recipe warm and festive, and the brandy adds a rich, citrusy flavor.
Substitutions
Apples: I love using sweet-tart apples, but sometimes I’ll mix things up with pears or cherries for a fun twist.
Brandy: Brandy adds a rich, festive flavor, but I’ll often swap it for apple juice when making a kid-friendly version!
Sweetener: I sometimes swap coconut sugar with brown sugar, white sugar, or even maple syrup for a different flavor.
🔪 How to Make
My plant-based mincemeat comes together in less than 20 minutes, and it’s so easy. Let me walk you through the detailed steps to make it perfectly every time.
Grate Apples, Add Remaining Ingredients: I start by grating the apples with the skin on. Then, I transfer them to a large saucepan and add all the other ingredients except the brandy.
Cook Mincemeat: Next, I heat the pot over medium heat for about 10 minutes, stirring constantly. During this time, the sugar melts, the apples soften, and the liquid reduces into a delicious, fragrant mixture.
Add Brandy: Once the pot is off the heat, I stir in the brandy. It adds a rich, festive flavor and brings the whole mixture together beautifully.
Let Mixture Cool: I let the mixture cool completely to room temperature before scooping it into sterilized jars or an airtight container. Once jarred, I store the vegan mincemeat in the refrigerator, where it stays fresh and delicious for up to a month.
💭 Expert Tips
My #1 Secret Tip for making the best vegan mincemeat is to always use fresh, plump dried fruit. Trust me, I’ve made the mistake of grabbing an old bag from the back of the pantry, and it just didn’t have the same flavor or texture. Now, I always make sure my dried fruit is fresh and unopened, it makes such a big difference in creating a rich, delicious mincemeat that everyone loves!
Other Tips To Keep In Mind:
- Sterilized Jars: I always use sterilized jars to store my mincemeat, it keeps everything fresh and safe. A quick wash with hot soapy water or a run through the dishwasher does the trick!
- Kid-Friendly Option: When making this for kids, I swap the brandy with apple juice, orange juice, or any fruit juice. It still tastes amazing and is perfect for the whole family.
- Citrusy Flavor: For a brighter citrus flavor, I add the juice of an orange while cooking. I just increase the cook time by a couple of minutes to reduce the extra liquid.
- Thicken the Mixture: If the mixture feels too liquidy, I let it cook for a few extra minutes. It thickens beautifully as it cools, so don’t worry.
📖 Variations
I love making vegan mincemeat during the holidays, it’s flavorful, and perfect for so many festive treats. Here are some of my favorite variations to mix things up.
Christmas Mince Pies: I love turning this mincemeat into festive pies with my vegan pastry dough. Simply fill, bake 15 min, and dust with icing sugar for a classic holiday treat.
Sugar-Free Mincemeat: For a no-sugar version, I replace coconut sugar with monk fruit or stevia. It’s a great way to enjoy this treat with fewer calories.
Try A Different Alcohol: Switching out brandy for rum, whiskey, port, or Cointreau adds a fun twist. Each one brings its own unique flavor to the mix.
🍽 Serving Suggestions
Packed with fresh and dried fruit, warm spices, and a splash of brandy, my vegan mincemeat is an absolute holiday must-have.
It is perfect for filling mince pies, spooning over creamy tofu ice cream, or even swirled into muffin batter for a festive twist. One of my favorite ways to use it is in my healthy cranberry orange muffins. The sweetness of the mincemeat paired with the tartness of the cranberries is like a little party in my mouth every single time.
🧊 Storage Directions
Refrigeration: I store my mincemeat in sterilized jars in the fridge, where it stays fresh and flavorful for up to a month. It’s so handy to have on hand for all my holiday baking!
Freezing: If I want to keep it longer, I freeze the mincemeat in an airtight container for up to three months. It’s perfect to pull out when I need a quick festive treat!
Reheating: When I use frozen mincemeat, I let it thaw in the fridge overnight or warm it gently on the stovetop. The flavors come right back to life, just as good as fresh.
❓ Recipe FAQs
What is mincemeat?
Mincemeat is a spiced fruit chutney commonly used as pie filling in mince pies. It’s a holiday staple in England and Great Britain. It’s a cooked mixture of fresh and dried fruit, beef suet, citrus zest, warm spices, sugar, and brandy. Despite its name, it doesn’t contain meat, although it used to!
Is there meat in mincemeat?
Did you know that traditional mincemeat back in the late 1500s actually contained meat? The sugar and alcohol were used to preserve it. These days, store-bought mincemeat doesn’t usually have meat, but it often contains beef suet, which is fat from around a cow’s kidneys. When I wanted to make a vegan version, the solution was so simple! I just swapped the suet for plant-based coconut oil, and it worked perfectly.
Can I make this mincemeat alcohol-free?
Absolutely! I just replace the brandy with apple juice, orange juice, or another fruit juice for a kid-friendly, alcohol-free version.
📋 Recipe Card
🎥 Watch How to Make It
Vegan Mincemeat
I love how my Vegan Mincemeat adds so much flavor and versatility to my holiday baking. In just 20 minutes, it’s ready to be the perfect filling for mince pies, a topping for desserts, or a thoughtful gift for friends and family. It’s an extra-sweet treat for the holidays, but honestly, I enjoy it all year round.
Servings: 20 servings
Calories: 118kcal
Ingredients
- 2 apples
- 2 oranges, zested (you won't be using the orange juice or the actual orange, just the zest of two oranges)
- ½ cup slivered almonds
- 3 cups dried mixed fruit
- ½ cup dried cranberries
- ⅓ cup coconut oil
- 1 cup coconut sugar
- 1 tsp ginger, ground
- 1 tsp allspice
- 2 tsp cinnamon, ground
- 1 tsp nutmeg, ground
- ⅓ cup brandy
Instructions
- Grate the apples, including the skin and add to a large pot.
- Add all other ingredients to the pot except for the brandy.
- Heat over a medium heat for 10 minutes, stirring constantly until the sugar has melted, the apple is cooked through and the liquid has reduced.
- Remove from the heat, add the brandy, and stir through.
- Allow to cool completely before storing in sterilized jars.
- Store the jars of mincemeat in the fridge for up to a month.
Notes
- Always use fresh, plump dried fruit. Trust me, I’ve made the mistake of grabbing an old bag from the back of the pantry, and it just didn’t have the same flavor or texture. Now, I always make sure my dried fruit is fresh and unopened, it makes such a big difference in creating a rich, delicious mincemeat that everyone loves!
- I always use sterilized jars to store my mincemeat, it keeps everything fresh and safe. A quick wash with hot soapy water or a run through the dishwasher does the trick!
- When making this for kids, I swap the brandy with apple juice, orange juice, or any fruit juice. It still tastes amazing and is perfect for the whole family.
- For a brighter citrus flavor, I add the juice of an orange while cooking. I just increase the cook time by a couple of minutes to reduce the extra liquid.
- If the mixture feels too liquidy, I let it cook for a few extra minutes. It thickens beautifully as it cools, so don’t worry.
Nutrition
Serving: 0.25cup | Calories: 118kcal | Carbohydrates: 17g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 0.001g | Sodium: 17mg | Potassium: 88mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 12g
This is my new favorite holiday tradition! Not only was this easier than I originally thought but it was flavored perfectly. Wonderful.
Awesome!! So happy to hear that Tara!
Totally love this vegan mincemeat! It looks so good and great for the holidays! Pinned!
Thanks so much! Enjoy!
Adding this to my list of homemade gifts to make this holiday season.
It makes a wonderful holiday gift for sure! 🙂
Such delicious mix of spices and flavours, saving this recipe for Christmas time!
Thanks Sara! You will love it!
Easy and delicious, this one is a keeper. I know I’m going to make it over and over again!
Yay! Thanks so much Shadi – so happy to hear that! 🙂