With a juicy fruit mince filling and buttery flaky pie crust, this vegan mince pie recipe makes the ultimate finger food for the holidays. They're eggless, dairy-free, and made without vegetable suet, which can be tricky to get a hold of.
Serve them warm with a dollop of non-dairy cream or vanilla ice cream, or just enjoy them as they are; either way, they're irresistibly delicious!
Note: This recipe is made over 2 days for the best possible flavor. The mince filling and pastry are prepared on day 1 and baked on the second day, so a little patience is needed, but they are so worth it!
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📚 Do Mince Pies Have Meat?
The traditional mince pie dates back as far as medieval times, when it did contain meat, hence the name "mincemeat".
Nowadays, most standard mince pie recipes are made without meat but are still full of animal products. Usually, some form of animal fat, like beef suet, is used along with dairy and eggs.
This can make it tricky to find vegetarian mince pies, let alone vegan ones.
For more classic British Christmas desserts, check out my vegan sticky toffee pudding and chocolate biscuit cake.
🧾 Ingredients Needed
Here's everything you need to make this vegan mince pie recipe from scratch. Find the complete list of ingredients, quantities, and instructions in the recipe card at the end of this post.
Ingredient Notes
Vegan Butter: Gives the mince filling a rich and thick consistency. As these are made without vegetarian suet, the butter is our vegetable fat, acting as a binder for the filling.
Vegan Pastry: A lot of mince pie recipes call for shortcrust pastry, but I much prefer using this vegan buttermilk crust recipe as it's so flaky and crisp.
Dried Fruits: The recipe calls for raisins, sultanas, and candied orange peel. You could also mix and match with other dried fruits like golden raisins, apricots, currants, mixed peel, cherries, and/or cranberries.
Flaked Almonds: These add flavor and texture. If you have a nut allergy, you can leave them out and replace them with additional dried fruit.
Green Apple: Preferably a sour type like Granny Smith or Bramley apple.
Warm Spices: Ground cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves give them a delicious, festive flavor.
Vegan Brandy: You can also go for vegan port, whiskey, or rum. If you want to make them without alcohol, just use juice like apple juice or cranberry juice instead.
And as we're making these mince pies without eggs, some non-dairy milk acts as a simple vegan swap for eggwash.
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📷 Step-By-Step Images
Here are step-by-step images showing how to make Christmas mince pies. Please refer to the detailed printable recipe card at the end of this page for full measurements and written instructions.
The vegan mince pie filling is essentially a caramel sauce reduction with dried and fresh fruits and a good glug of brandy, of course!
You can make the filling a few days in advance, but as with the pie crust, I highly recommend making it at least one day ahead of baking to give the flavors a chance to develop.
Day 1: Prep Vegan Mincemeat and Pie Crust
Start by preparing the mincemeat filling and pastry the day before you plan to bake. The filling is a sticky, spiced fruit mixture that's a bit like a thick caramel sauce once cooked down.
Giving it time to chill overnight not only makes it easier to handle but also lets those festive flavors develop.
For the pastry, a night in the fridge helps it bake up beautifully crisp and flaky.
Day 2: Assemble and Bake the Pies
When you're ready to bake, roll out most of the chilled pastry and cut your bases. It's best to work quickly here, especially if your kitchen is warm, to keep the dough from softening too much.
Press the circles into your muffin tray, making sure they come up slightly above the edge of the tin - this gives the filling some room and makes sealing the tops easier.
Spoon in the fruity filling, about one and a half tablespoons per pie, then brush the edges with a little plant milk to help the tops stick.
The remaining dough becomes your lids. Cut them out, pop them on, and gently press around the edges to seal. A small cross in the top of each one helps steam escape during baking. For that golden, sparkly finish, give them a quick glaze with more plant milk and a sprinkle of sugar before they head into the oven.
💭 Recipe Tips
Don't overfill your mince pies. Only fill them around three-quarters full. This helps prevent the filling from bubbling out through the top of the pastry during baking.
If you are stuck for time and literally cannot wait to make these, you can prepare the filling and crust on the day of baking. The flavors just won't be as well-balanced in the filling, and the crust won't be as flaky.
Most brandy brands, like Courvoisier and Hennessey are vegan, but it's best to check if you're unsure.
To make mince pies with crumble topping, simply divide the pie crust between 22-24 bases and top them with streusel topping from my pumpkin crumble pie recipe!
💬 FAQs
Keep them in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days, or at room temperature for up to 2 days.
You can freeze them in a sealed container for up to 3 months. Defrost them in the fridge or warm them in the oven before serving.
Yes, you can swap out the brandy for fruit juice like apple, cranberry, or orange.
I do recommend homemade pastry as it tastes so much better, but you can take a shortcut here if needed! A lot of store-bought pastry, like puff pastry, is accidentally vegan already, just make sure you check the labels.
🎄 More Vegan Christmas Recipes
📖 Recipe
Vegan Mince Pies With Homemade Mincemeat
Ingredients
- 1 batch vegan pie crust
- 150 g (1 ⅖ cup) granny smith apple approx 1 large apple
- 75 ml (⅓ cup) juice and rind from an orange freshly squeezed
- 100 g (⅔ cup) sultanas or golden raisins
- 100 g (⅔ cup) raisins or currants
- 70 g (½ cup) candied orange peel or candied mixed peel
- 40 g (¼ cup) flaked almonds omit for nut-free option
- 100 g (½ cup) light brown sugar I use light muscovado
- 100 g (½ cup) dark brown sugar I use dark muscovado
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¾ teaspoon ground cloves
- 100 g (½ cup) vegan butter
- 100 ml (⅖ cup) brandy or vegan port or whiskey, *see notes
- 50 ml (⅕ cup) non-dairy milk
- granulated sugar for garnish
Instructions
- I strongly recommend making the pie crust and mincemeat filling in advance (1-3 days) and keeping them in the fridge until the day of baking for the best results. This will ensure the flakiest pastry and the most flavorful vegan mincemeat filling.
- Make the pie crust: Prepare a batch of this pie crust recipe through to step 3, and shape it into a large disc. Wrap the pastry disc in plastic wrap and place it in the fridge to chill for at least an hour (overnight or up to 3 days).
- Prepare the fruits: Core the apple and chop it into small cubes. Zest and squeeze the orange.
- Make the vegan mincemeat filling: To a large bowl, add the chopped apple, orange juice and zest, sultanas, raisins, candied orange peel, flaked almonds, light and dark brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves. Mix well with a spatula until all the ingredients are coated in the juices. Cover and set aside for an hour.
- Add the vegan butter to a medium-large pot and pour the mincemeat filling on top of it. Place over medium heat until simmering gently and stir to combine all the ingredients.Cook on a gentle simmer for 30-40 minutes, stirring often, until most of the liquid has evaporated and the apples are soft. Remove from the heat and allow the mixture to cool slightly for 15 minutes.Next, stir in the brandy and mix well to combine. Cover the pot with the lid or transfer the mincemeat to a sealed container and refrigerate for 1-3 days until ready to use.
- Prepare to bake: Preheat your oven to 200°C (392°F).Grease 2 muffin pans with some vegan butter - you may need to bake them in batches depending on how many pans you have. You can also use disposable tin foil cups and arrange them on a baking sheet.
- Roll the dough: Separate ⅓ of the dough and set aside for the lids. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the other ⅔ of the dough to 3mm (⅛ of an inch) in height.Using a fluted or round cutter (4"/10cm) cut out 15 bases and carefully press them into the muffin pans. Use your fingers to press the sides into the tin so that they are slightly higher than the pan.
- Assemble the pies: Add around 1.5 tablespoons of mincemeat filling to each pie, making sure that the filling does not come all the way to the top. Brush the edge of the pies with some non-dairy milk.Roll out the remaining dough and cut out 15 lids (3"/7cm) and carefully sit them on top of each pie. Use your fingers to press the edges down to seal the pies. Cut a cross on top of each pie to allow air out whilst baking, glaze the tops with more non-dairy milk, and generously sprinkle with granulated sugar.
- Bake: For 20-25 minutes until the pastry is golden brown. Allow them to come to room temperature before carefully removing them from the pan, use a knife to gently loosen the edges if needed.
- Storage: Keep them in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days, or at room temperature for up to 2 days. You can freeze them in a sealed container for up to 3 months. Simply defrost them in the fridge or warm them in the oven before serving.
Notes
- Most brandy like Courvoisier and Hennessey is vegan but it's best to check if you're unsure. (ref. ChooseVeganism.Org)
- For alcohol-free use apple juice, orange juice, or cranberry juice instead of brandy.
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Absolutely yummylicious
So happy you loved them, thanks so much for commenting Cassie!
Hello Christina,
Just a quick note to say THANK YOU for your incredible and always reliable recipes!
I made these mince pies and WAW! The pastry is incredible, the filling perfect, so thank you thank you. I don't comment much but I subscribe to your newsletter and often make a few recipes, especially your cheesecakes which are the best for me! So there you have it, thank you and a very Merry Christmas to you.
Translated with DeepL.com (free version)
Hi Laura,
You have made my day! Thank you so much for your kind words, I really appreciate it. Happy Christmas x
I think they're the BEST I've ever had and I'll be making them again because my husband LOVES them. Thank you so much for taking the time to reply.