What a year 2021 has been! And we’re just talking about the vegan food!
Consumers are waking up to the benefits of vegan eating – to improve their own health, protect the planet, and spare the other animals we share it with a life of suffering and a horrifying death. Nowadays, it’s hard to walk down the street without seeing an advert or chalkboard proudly showcasing the word “vegan”.
Now in their ninth year, PETA’s Vegan Food Awards highlight some of the most delicious and exciting new vegan offerings in the last 12 months. Check out the award winners below, and try them for yourself:
BEST VEGAN MEAT
Oumph! – they did it again. Loved by meat-eaters and vegans alike, this döner meat is full of protein and flavour – just what you need to build the kebab of your dreams.
BEST VEGAN BURGER
This vegan burger from McDonald’s will introduce vegan food to a new audience and make it easier than ever for vegans on the go. Our opinion? They McDid it! Complete with vegan mayo and the chain’s secret vegan burger sauce, the McPlant is the burger everyone has been waiting for. Do you want fries with that? Go ahead – they’re vegan.
BEST VEGAN CHICKEN
VFC is on a mission to save chickens – one bite at a time – with its tasty vegan fried chicken fillets and bites. Available in spicy and original flavours with a southern fried crispy cornflake coating, this high-protein vegan meat is available at Tesco or from VFC direct to your door.
BEST VEGAN CHEESE
Organic macadamia and cashew nuts are fermented to deliver a distinctive sharp, umami tang in this sensational soft, creamy cheese. It is marinated in a blend of extra virgin olive and cold-pressed rapeseed oil infused with black peppercorns, garlic, and thyme. Enjoy it on a cheeseboard, in a sandwich, or straight out of the jar at midnight – we won’t judge.
BEST VEGAN SUSHI
The sushi is the crown jewel on 123V’s impressive all-vegan . Chef Alexis Gauthier marinates 123V’s to magical effect, while leaving the fish in the sea where they belong. The future is vegan, and top chefs like Gauthier are leading the way.
BEST VEGAN FISH
The Brook Beer Battered Tofish
Expertly crafted by The Brook’s vegan chefs and delivered to your door ready to heat and eat, these crispy battered fishless bites come with tangy tartar or piquant green chilli sauce to bring a fish-friendly taste of the sea to your plate. The dish is available as part of a number of menus in The Brook’s range, including its sensational Sea-lover’s Sharing Menu – seafood in a new way.
BEST VEGAN BACON
Finnebrogue Artisan Naked Without the Oink! Plant-Based Bacon Rashers
Produced in the company’s own vegan facility, Naked Without the Oink! Plant-Based Bacon Rashers prove that no pig flesh is needed to make crispy, delicious bacon. They’re available from supermarkets or in Costa Coffee’s luscious Vegan Bac’n Bap!
BEST VEGAN HOTDOG
An excellent freezer staple from Aldi for when you want a quick bite. Simmer for 8 minutes, pop ’em in a roll with all the fixings, and you’re good to go! Also great when barbecued or chopped up in beans, these ’dogs have all the versatility with none of the cruelty.
BEST VEGAN SAUSAGE
Packed full of veggies and flavoured with parsley and sage, these herby veggie bangin’ breakfast bangers are good for any time of day. They’re part of HECK’s expanding vegan offerings.
BEST VEGAN PIZZA
Chicago Town Tomato Stuffed Crust Takeaway Sticky BBQ Jackfruit
This pizza has it all – loaded with melty vegan mozzarella, sticky barbecue jackfruit, red and green peppers, and onion. The crust is even stuffed to make every mouthful count in this perfect freezer-filler.
BEST VEGAN PIE
These mini pies are big on flavour, made with red pepper, SunBlush tomato, carrot, and green lentils – all wrapped up in a vegan pastry crust. Equally at home tucked into your lunchbox or as a canapé for guests, you can heat ‘em and eat ‘em or enjoy them straight out of the pack. They’re a winner either way.
BEST VEGAN SANDWICH
Greggs Vegan Ham and CheeZe Baguette
Lunch on the go? Sorted. Quorn vegan ham is topped with mature cheddar-style slices in this crusty baguette that is so much more than the sum of its parts. Ask for it warmed up to enjoy the gooeyness of cheeZe that hurt no cowZ . Ah Greggs, you had us at vegan sausage roll.
BEST VEGAN MILK
Smooth, creamy, and cruelty-free, MOMA oat milk is the ideal choice for adding to cereal and hot drinks, cooking up vegan muffins, and creating Insta-perfect snaps of your smoothie bowl. Or just drink it – yum!
BEST VEGAN DESSERT
Little Moons Vegan Passionfruit & Mango Mochi Ice Cream
Balls of fruity, creamy cashew milk ice cream are wrapped in soft, sweet purple mochi dough to make these dinner-party showstoppers. They are adorable and delicious and contain only 78 calories per ball (but who’s counting?).
BEST VEGAN ICE CREAM
We just dough that you need this ice cream in your life – and your freezer – at all times. As a dessert, blended into smoothies, or from the tub with a spoon, Wicked Kitchen has created the perfect combo of cookies and ice cream in one tub. Head to Tesco to get your fill before your next movie night.
BEST VEGAN COOKIE
Just when you think vegan cookies couldn’t get any better, Subway goes and throw its Vegan Double Chocolate cookies onto the baking tray and we’re in awe! Chewy, chocolatey, and full of chunks – 10 out of 10!
BEST VEGAN CHOCOLATE
Buttermilk Peanut Butter Crunch
Part of Buttermilk’s dreamy range of vegan chocolates, these little bites of joy feature a creamy peanut butter filling wrapped in smooth chocolate with some added crunch. A perfect combo.
BEST VEGAN DOUGHNUTS
We’re whispering and shouting about these vegan-tastic creations! The dough is soft and light, and the toppings add just the right amount of sweet indulgence. A variety of creative flavours are available for delivery straight to your door – and your mouth.
BEST VEGAN RANGE
Investing in a better future by encouraging customers to eat more vegan food, Co-op has made sure prices for its vegan GRO range match those of its meat and dairy products. With everything from coleslaw, sausages, ready meals, and sandwiches to oat milk, salted caramel ice cream, and cupcakes, we hope this vegan range keeps on GRO-ing.
BEST VEGAN SQUID
The innovators who brought us watermelon “tuna” have done it again, and this dish is so good we invented a new category for it. Chewy and crunchy, this moreish starter is made from lightly battered king oyster mushrooms and served with a sticky dipping sauce that has a bit of a kick. Leave the squid in the sea, and chow down on some soft-bodied mushroom instead.
BEST VEGAN MAC
FacePlant Foods Mac ’n’ Cheeze Sandwich with Bacon
That’s right – a mac and cheese bacon sandwich and it’s 100% vegan and delicious. Comfort food at its indulgent best. All of the vegan cheese and meats at Edinburgh’s FacePlant Foods are handcrafted in small batches, and this exceptional sandwich is no exception.
BEST VEGAN MENU
This year’s winning menu is located within Bannatyne Health Club & Spa Bury St Edmunds. Beyond the treadmills and cycle classes awaits a vegan restaurant that offers stunning dishes like porcini mushroom arancini with miso pesto, celeriac puree, and chicory and homemade cashew nut cheese. Champagne afternoon tea or vegan spa day, anyone?
BEST VEGAN COOKBOOK
Omari McQueen’s Best Bites Cookbook
Get cooking with the UK’s youngest, award-winning vegan chef and entrepreneur, Omari McQueen. His delightful book features easy-to-make light bites, tasty lunches, delectable dinners, and yummy desserts like his barbecue jackfruit wrap, chickpea curry, and strawberry coconut cheesecake.
LAUNCH OF THE YEAR
Do you know what we call a Vegan Royale at PETA? Le winner. These crispy-coated vegan chicken burgers are finished off with iceberg lettuce, creamy vegan mayo, and a toasted sesame-seed bun. You probably can’t tell the difference, but the chickens can.
Today, more and more humans are recognising that other animals share their desire to live and that eating vegan is better for their health and for the planet. And a growing number of businesses understand that vegan foods are profitable and more inclusive, can help them reach their sustainability goals, and are more appealing to that all-important younger demographic, which is passionate about forging a better future for every living, feeling being. As a result, you can now find innovative, filling, and simply delicious vegan food pretty much everywhere you go. We’re accelerating towards our destination of a vegan world, and we’re not going to stop.
Once you’ve tasted these award-winning vegan options, get cooking with the recipes in our free vegan starter kit:
