In households across the UK, pigs in blankets are a festive staple. While traditionally, they’re a part of Christmas dinner (alongside turkey, roast potatoes, and Brussels sprouts), they have increasingly become a popular snack or appetizer in their own right throughout the holiday season. Research suggests that throughout December, Brits are expected to eat nearly 670 million sausages wrapped in bacon in total (that’s more than 11 each).
To cater to all of this demand, budget supermarket Aldi recently announced it would be launching its own Bottomless Pigs in Blankets Restaurant in London, where it will offer everything from pigs in blankets to Yorkshire pudding sliders to a foot-long vegan version of the iconic British festive snack. But if you can’t make it to London, we have good news: it’s easy to make meat-free pigs in blankets from scratch.
What are British pigs in blankets?
British pigs in blankets differ from pigs in a blanket, which are usually enjoyed in the US. While the latter involves wrapping small sausages in pastry, the former refers to small pork chipolata sausages wrapped in streaky bacon. As mentioned above, they’re usually roasted in the oven alongside traditional Christmas dinner ingredients, like vegetables and stuffing, before they’re served with lashings of gravy (which means they’d work well on the Thanksgiving table, too!).
But there are no real rules when it comes to pigs in blankets—they can be served as an appetizer with a dip, in a sandwich, or just eaten as they are, plain and simple. And while pigs in blankets are traditionally made with two different types of pork meat (sausages and bacon), they can also easily be made vegan.
How to make vegan British pigs in blankets: 5 ways
In the UK, many supermarkets (including Aldi) stock meat-free versions in the lead-up to the holiday season, but it’s simple to make plant-based pigs in blankets from scratch too. Below, we’ve picked just a few of our favorite ways.
School Night Vegan
1 Eggplant Bacon Pigs in Blankets
This tasty festive recipe from School Night Vegan involves wrapping vegan sausages in bacon made from crispy eggplant (or aubergine, as it’s known in the UK). The latter gets all of its rich, smoky, umami flavor from ingredients like soy sauce, liquid smoke, and maple syrup, while the crispy texture comes from rice paper. “Crispy yet succulent,” says recipe developer Richard Makin. “Just perfect for a vegan Christmas dinner.”
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Vegan Punks
2 Vegan Pigs in Blankets With Sage and Wholegrain Mustard
This simple delicious recipe from Vegan Punks comes together with just five ingredients: vegan cocktail sausages, vegan bacon, sage, maple syrup, and wholegrain mustard. Of course, if you want to keep it as whole food, plant-based as possible, you can make the sausages and bacon from scratch if you have time. Otherwise, you can expect to have this dish on the table in less than 15 minutes.
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Bosh!
3 Bangers in Blankets
Again, eggplant takes the place of bacon in this delicious vegan recipe from Bosh!. The secret to the delicious smoky flavor is all in the marinade, which is a simple mix of salt, pepper, olive oil, paprika, and maple syrup. “Even the meatiest-meat-eater at the table will love ‘em,” promises the blog.
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Sweeter Than Oats
4 Vegan Pigs in Blankets With a Sticky Maple Marmite Glaze
Marmite is an umami-packed British staple, so it makes sense that it crops up in this delicious vegan pigs in blankets recipe from Sweeter Than Oats. According to the recipe developer Freya Erickson, it helps to create a delicious glaze that “is addictively sweet and savory.” She added: “[These] are possibly one of the most delicious side dishes I have created, and I am not a fan of artificial meat.”
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The Vegan Dietitian
5 Smoky Maple Mushroom Bacon Vegan Pigs in Blankets
If you’re not a fan of eggplants, we have good news: mushrooms work just as well as the “blankets” in pigs in blankets. In this recipe from The Vegan Dietitian, king trumpet mushrooms are bathed in ingredients like maple syrup and smoked paprika before they’re wrapped around homemade seitan and porcini mushroom sausages. “If there was just one recipe I could share with the world and boast about from rooftops, it would be these vegan pigs in blankets, one hundred percent,” says recipe developer Reena Sharma, RD. “These look and taste so much like meat, I almost fooled myself!”
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Charlotte is a VegNews editor and writer based in sunny Southsea on England’s southern coast.