Delicious Vegan Meals on the Go: From Avanti to easyJet!
The vegan revolution is steaming ahead. Major UK supermarkets, restaurants, and coffee shops are now serving wonderful vegan options, and more and more people are eating plant-based for animals, the environment, and their health. Many train companies, airlines, service stations, and ferry operators are getting on board. These are the ones to watch:
Aer Lingus
The Irish airline’s onboard menu offers a vegan meal on flights between Ireland and Europe. Try the vegan wrap with falafel, carrot, pickled red cabbage, caramelised onion hummus, and spinach. In-flight shoppers can snack on sea salt Love Corn while browsing vegan and animal test–free skincare products certified by the PETA US global “Beauty Without Bunnies” programme. On flights between Ireland and the UK, opt for The Foods of Athenry caramel rocky road for that chocolate treat.
Ambassador Cruise Line
Sail away while indulging in the great vegan options at the sophisticated Buckingham restaurants aboard Ambassador’s cruise ships. Lunch dishes that can be made vegan include vegetable tempura with soy and ginger sauce and crispy vegetable bhajis with yoghurt sauce. From the dinner menu, it’s possible to order plant-based versions of the cauliflower mac ’n’ cheese, cobb salad, and cheese mousse. Head to Saffron for South Asian dishes such as the vegetable khazana and the wild mushroom and green pea Lababdar which can be vegan. For dessert, opt for the vegan trifle or warm vattayappam with cashews and sultanas. What’s more, you can order a chickpea and lentil burger straight to your room or find a dedicated vegan menu at the Chef’s Table featuring a cauliflower steak, a selection of vegan cheeses, and espresso crème brûlée.
Avanti West Coast
Avanti West Coast operates services from London to Glasgow, and it’s on the right track when it comes to vegan fare. Grab a lemon drizzle flapjack, vegan brunch roll, or rice cake from the onboard shop. Treats for first-class passengers include sweetcorn fritters with shakshuka – featuring a spicy tomato, red pepper, and mushroom sauce, served with a toasted malted bloomer – or an Indian grazing plate of samosas, pakora, and an onion bhaji. Passengers in the first-class lounges can enjoy rosemary and thyme pitta chips or sea salt crips. Soya milk is often available for hot drinks upon request.
British Airways
British AirwaysTravellers, rejoice! British Airways provides vegan options on short-haul flights. Order a spiced humous and sweet potato wrap, designed by chef Tom Kerridge and filled with a Middle Eastern-inspired recipe of sweet potato, red pepper, spinach, and spicy humous; a Pollen + Grace salad or Mexican chipotle rice bowl featuring a black bean stew. For something sweet, opt for dark chocolate and sea salt praline truffles or a LoveRaw M:lk Choc Cre&m Wafer Bar. You can pre-order from the High Life Café menu before your flight. As part of a sustainability push, vegan options are also served in British Airways lounges in the UK and US. On long-haul international flights, passengers can enjoy PureOaty barista-style oat milk in hot drinks – perfect for early-morning jet-setters.
Caledonian Sleeper
Taking that long journey between Scotland and London? Fear not, for you can indulge in their vegan offering en route. To start the day, guests can tuck into fluffy pancakes with blueberry coulis. Later on, enjoy a three-course meal from the Club Car and Seated Coach menus. Start with a warming curried parsnip soup, followed by harissa vegetable stew with naan bread, and a chocolate brownie with chocolate sauce to close. You can even enjoy these delightful dishes in the Euston guest lounge.
easyJet
PixabayeasyJet’s EAT DRINK SHOP menu includes many delicious vegan options. Tuck into an itsu rice noodle pot full of authentic natural flavours, or opt for Fiery Chilli Crunchits, crisps, olives, or other snacks. The vegan “Free From” snack box includes Nairn’s oatcakes, Urban Fruit baked mango, houmous, a Moo Free chocolate bar, and smoked BBQ–flavour Love Corn. For something more substantial, the airline also offers a mouthwatering Penne Pomodoro. Non-dairy milk is available with your choice of hot drink, so sit back, relax, and sip away as you watch the world fly by.
Greater Anglia
Greater Anglia recognises the growing demand for vegan food and the benefits to the planet of not eating meat and now has options at the café bar and trolley service. Grab a vegan sausage roll or Ploughman’s sandwich and a berry muffin for something sweet.
Irish Ferries
UnsplashIrish Ferries was the first ferry company out of the UK to have vegan items on the menu. On its Holyhead to Dublin service, several plant-based options exist at various eateries. From Martello’s club-class lounge, you can enjoy the superfood salad or Thai red vegetable curry, and the kids’ menu features ramen with fried tofu. Soya milk is available for tea, coffee, porridge, and muesli. Options from Boylan’s Brasserie include the fishless fish and chips featuring VBites fishless steaks and Moving Mountains burger with vegan cheddar-style cheese, vegan mayonnaise, and thick-cut chips.
Jet2
Jet2Jet2 is flying high when it comes to delicious vegan options. The onboard menu has penne arrabbiata or a snack box containing chocolate, oat cakes, hummus, corn snacks, and soya milk for tea and coffee. You can choose an onion bhaji mango wrap with minted slaw for something light or pre-order a hot vegan meal when you book your flight. Choose between the Moroccan vegetable tagine with couscous and the all-day vegan breakfast with grilled tofu sausages, hash browns, and sautéed mushrooms in tomato sauce.
LNER
London North Eastern Railway (LNER) operates trains to London, northeast England, and Scotland. The Let’s Eat menu is available from the on-board shop or for pre-order direct to your seat. Vegan options include the Gudness Poha rice pot, Chickpea Curry Naanster, and a double chocolate chip cookie. The first-class Deli menu features a THIS plant-based sausage sandwich for breakfast or brunch, and you can get a coronation chickpea wrap for lunch and dinner. The first-class Dine menu offers a full English breakfast with wilted spinach, THIS sausage, hash browns, mushrooms, and baked beans. Oatly oat milk is available for hot drinks. Full steam ahead!
Lumo
Lumo runs low-fare electric trains from London to Edinburgh. As part of its sustainability philosophy, over 50% of the menu is plant-based. Highlights include the M&S Plant Kitchen Hoisin No Duck Wrap and The Pasty Shop’s vegan pasty or sausage roll. Plenty of snacks and vegan sweets are on board, but availability can vary for each journey, so if you’re planning a trip between London and Edinburgh, be sure to pre-order with LumoEats.
P&O Ferries
Sailing from the UK to Belgium, France, Ireland, and the Netherlands, P&O Ferries has some great vegan food available. On ferries between Hull and Rotterdam, you can find vegan dishes at The Brasserie restaurant, such as Keralan vegetable curry with rice and naan bread, thick-cut chips, and a sweet potato cake in panko breadcrumbs with pickled red cabbage, broad beans, peas, and green chilli. On ferries between Scotland and Northern Ireland, head to the Food Court and opt for a classic vegan burger and chips.
Roadchef
Roadchef is a leading motorway service station operator in the UK. It has branches in 30 locations and offers several popular brands, including McDonald’s, Costa, LEON, and The Cornish Bakery – all with a wide variety of great vegan options. Its own Fresh Food Café can be found at larger sites and offers a range of vegan dishes – perfect for a quick but filling bite on the road. Our top picks include the sausage bap, pumpkin katsu, and cooked breakfast with THIS vegan sausage, grilled tomatoes, mushrooms, beans, and hash browns. Note that each service station’s retailers, restaurants, and vegan options vary.
Ryanair
RyanairRyanair’s menu offers vegan meals, drinks, and snack options. The airline’s vegan lasagne with roasted vegetables and a soya bechamel sauce has been a huge hit, and it continues to be available on all European flights, along with snacks like multi-seed pretzel thins and original-flavour Pringles. Try a Prosecco upgrade – now, that’s travelling in style.
Stena Line
This ferry company has set sail for a better future: it has added more vegan meals across all its European passenger routes as part of its policy to reduce its impact on the environment. You’ll find options including a plant-based burger with vegan cheese served with chunky chips and coleslaw and a bean chilli bowl served with a crusty roll and vegan creamy spread.
Virgin Atlantic
Virgin Atlantic offers some great plant-based options on every flight. In “Premium Economy” and “Upper Class”, passengers can enjoy LoveRaw chocolate bars from the onboard snack selection. Menus vary by route and season and have featured dishes such as a cauliflower, sweet potato, and chickpea curry with pea pilau, mushroom and garlic palak, and naan bread, and a Beyond Burger with pickled onions, vegan cheese, and plant-based mayonnaise with truffle and rosemary crisps.
Welcome Break
Welcome Break service stations have great options for vegans, including Burger King, Chopstix, KFC, PizzaExpress, Pret A Manger, Starbucks, Subway, Waitrose, and WHSmith. Note that each service station’s retailers, restaurants, and vegan options vary.
Wightlink
Wightlink operates ferries from Portsmouth to the Isle of Wight and prides itself on its eco-friendliness. The company has the first hybrid-energy ferry in England, offers electric car–charging points, and runs marine conservation projects. Cafés at ports and on the ferries offer vegan sandwiches, “sausage” baps, vegan cheese and caramelised onion toasties, and plant-based Magnums. When possible, produce grown locally on the island is used.
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Why Vegan?
The meat, fishing, egg, and dairy industries are a nightmare for animals, who are treated like a collection of body parts rather than sentient individuals who can feel pain, fear, and joy.
All animals reared for food suffer. Females are repeatedly forcibly impregnated. Babies are torn away from their mothers, mutilated, kept in filthy and severely crowded conditions, and fed a cocktail of drugs, sometimes causing their bodies to become oversized, resulting in numerous health problems. Then, often, when they’re only a few months old, they endure a stressful and terrifying trip to the abattoir, where many are killed while still conscious.
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Businesses in the transportation sector need your help to improve their vegan options. No vegan hot dish on your flight? Please request that the airline start offering one. Send companies that you travel with a polite e-mail, tweet, or Facebook message to ask for more vegan food and drink options. Your views are listened to – companies are taking note and making changes by expanding their vegan food offering. Together, we’ve urged most of the top fast food chains to offer vegan options – including McDonald’s, Burger King, KFC, Subway, Papa John’s, and Nando’s. And in 2018, 20,000 of you urged Greggs to add a vegan sausage roll to its menu – now, your local branch has this iconic option. Let’s use our power again: tell these chicken shops you want vegan options on the menu. Planning a staycation? These vegan-friendly B&Bs, hotels, and homes away from home across the UK make for the perfect winter escape:How to Help Animals
