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Vegetarian mincemeat recipe - an easy recipe for delicious home-made Christmas mincemeat made using butter so it is suitable for vegetarians (with vegan option).
It never feels like Christmas is close for me until I've had my first mince pie; they are an absolute essential in making me feel festive and I love them.
While I enjoy most mince pies, shop bought or otherwise, as with most things you just can't beat homemade ones, and if you do make your own then you get the bonus of festive baking, which always helps to put me in a Christmassy mood.
If you are going to go through the effort of making your own (and they really aren't that much effort at all), then you might as well make your own mincemeat too - again, homemade is so much better than shop bought.
Mincemeat is incredibly quick and easy to make yourself, and you get to choose what fruits and alcohol you include - don't like mixed peel? Substitute with chopped dried apricots. Not a fan of brandy? Use rum, port or sherry instead.
Feel free to chop and change the recipe below to suit you, just keep the same basic quantities of everything (ie. swap an ingredient out for the same weight of another) and it will work out just fine.
Mincemeat traditionally contains suet (a throwback to the disturbing days when it contained actual meat...), which means that it isn't exactly vegetarian friendly. Vegetable suet is available but it doesn't taste very nice, the good news is that mincemeat can be made with butter, which tastes far superior.
Suet based mincemeat is made by simply stirring all of the ingredients together then ladling into sterilised jars, to use butter you need to go through the extra step of heating the ingredients together in a pan, but it's not like that is difficult or time-consuming so this version is still really quick and easy to make.
Once jarred, the mincemeat will keep for six months, possibly even a year; and it does taste best if given a month or so to mature before using. That said, it does taste great freshly made as well, which is good seeing as there is only less than two weeks, TWO WEEKS!! until Christmas (I wasn't organised enough to make it any earlier...).
Make It Vegan:
This vegetarian mincemeat can easily be made vegan by swapping the butter for dairy free margarine or coconut oil. If you use coconut oil do bear in mind that the mixture may set a little firmer in cold conditions.
Ways To Use Vegetarian Mincemeat:
Put your vegetarian mincemeat to good use with these recipes:
Mincemeat, marzipan and apple bread wreath
Mincemeat bundt cake
Mincemeat and marzipan cinnamon buns
Apple and mincemeat filo wreath
Print
Vegetarian Mincemeat
Servings 4 jars
Author Domestic Gothess
Ingredients
- 175 g currants
- 175 g raisins
- 175 g sultanas
- 175 g dried cranberries
- 100 g mixed peel
- 120 g butter cubed
- 220 g light brown soft sugar
- 50 g almonds chopped
- 1 large bramley apple peeled, cored and grated
- 1 ½ tsp mixed spice
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground ginger
- ⅛ tsp ground cloves
- 1 orange finely grated zest and juice
- 200 ml ruby port
Instructions
Sterilise 4 370g jars and lids (or 5 slightly smaller ones) by washing in hot soapy water, rinsing well then placing them in a low oven until dry.
Place all of the ingredients apart from the port into a large pan, heat gently, stirring, until the butter has melted then simmer very gently, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes.
Remove from the heat and leave to cool until just warm then stir in the port. Divide the mincemeat between the sterilised jars, seal, and store in a cool place for up to six months.
Notes
Adapted from a recipe by Mary Berry.
I was sent some free products but I was not paid to write this post and all opinions are my own.
More Recipes
- Vegan Chocolate Cheesecake
- Rhubarb Frangipane Buns (Vegan)
- Vegan Rhubarb Tart
- How To Make Vegan Pastry Cream (Crème Pâtissière)
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Comments
Thank you very excited about trying your recipe looks delicious.
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[…] have been making variations of this mincemeat recipe for many years; all I had to do to veganise it was to swap the usual butter for coconut […]
[…] If you hate apricots swap them out for dried cranberries or currants. There are also a variety of vegetarian mincemeat recipes for those who don’t eat […]
[…] had a jar of my homemade mincemeat left over from Christmas; it would probably have kept till next year but I don’t have much […]
[…] somehow ended up with about five jars of mincemeat leftover from making various things and there are only so many mince pies that one can eat (though […]
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FAQs
If you can't find suet then we have found that grated vegetable shortening (such as Trex, Crisco or Copha) is a good substitute.
Why is mincemeat called mincemeat when there's no meat in it? ›
Mincemeat is a combination of chopped dried fruits, spices, sugar, nuts, distilled spirits, a fat of some type and sometimes meat. The name is a carryover from 15th century England when mincemeat did indeed have meat in the mix; in fact, the whole point of mincemeat was to preserve meat with sugar and alcohol.
How do you pimp up mincemeat? ›
Heat a pile of mincemeat in a pan with sugar, orange and lemon juice, orange peel, half a cinnamon stick and brandy, wait for it to thicken and then stir in some whipping cream.
Does mincemeat from a jar need to be cooked? ›
Versions containing animal fats should be cooked before use but those including butter can be used as they are, perhaps stirred into an ice cream mixture. You could even serve an especially tasty version with whipped or clotted cream as a sumptuous festive topping for warm scones.
What is a vegetarian substitute for suet? ›
Vegetarians could use vegetarian suet, which is available in many UK supermarkets. Outside the UK suet can be difficult to find and vegetable shortening is the best alternative. The same weight should be used - 150g and for the US it is 14 tablespoons.
What is the US equivalent of suet? ›
If you can't find suet or you just don't want to use it, try shortening instead. One of the advantages of using vegetable shortening is that it is suitable for vegetarian dishes. Before using it, freeze the shortening until it is very firm. Once frozen, grate on a large holed grater so you get more chunky pieces.
Why is mincemeat so expensive? ›
Mincemeat isn't difficult to make, but it has a lot of ingredients, which can make it expensive to produce in small batches, and it requires at least a day's advance planning to let the ingredients sit.
When did they stop putting meat in mincemeat? ›
By the 18th century it was more likely to be tongue or even tripe, and in the 19th century it was minced beef. It was not until the late Victorian period and early 20th Century that mince pies dropped the meat and had all fruit fillings (albeit with suet). Even today there are traditions associated with mince pies.
What do Americans call mincemeat? ›
In American English, "mincemeat" is a sweet pie filling (I think it's mince pie in BrE) which originally contained some meat but in modern times it is generally made mostly of apples and raisins. It's not very popular anymore, but you sometimes see it around Christmas time.
How do you jazz up bought mincemeat? ›
Start by tasting it, then add extra flavours that suit: nearly always add a little freshly grated lemon or orange zest, extra spice, extra brandy or rum and some cherries or nuts.
Simply take your mincemeat and place it in a clean, sterilised jar. Pour in some rum, and let it sit for a week. During this time, the flavours will meld and create a delightful concoction that's perfect for the season.
Why does my mincemeat taste bitter? ›
Mincemeat over time does deepen in colour but the bitter taste may be that you pressed too hard when the citrus zests were grated!
Why do you stir mincemeat clockwise? ›
Traditions, folklore and superstitions
Stirring the mincemeat was quite an event, and English tradition dictates that it should only be stirred clockwise. Stirring the mincemeat anti-clockwise would lead to bad luck and poor fortune in the coming 12 months.
Is mincemeat OK to eat when Brown? ›
The colour change in mince does not mean that the meat is old or stale. The minced meat remains safe to eat as long as it has been correctly refrigerated and consumed by the use-by date on the package.
Which way do you stir mincemeat for good luck? ›
English tradition demands that the mince meat mixture should only be stirred in a clockwise direction. To stir it anticlockwise is to bring bad luck for the coming year. Another English custom is for all the family to take a turn in stirring the mincemeat mixture whilst making a wish.
Can you use butter instead of suet? ›
Yes you can use grated butter if you prefer. In the same way as Delia prepares quick flaky pastry, its easier to grate it if its been frozen for 45 minutes first and use a little of the flour to keep the gratings separate.
Why is suet used in mincemeat? ›
The purpose of the suet is not only to preserve the mincemeat for long-term storage. Not all of the suet rises to the top, much of it remains mixed in with the mincemeat and adds flavor, acts as a binder, and contributes an important texture element to the pies you'll be making with the mincemeat.
Does Robertsons mincemeat contain suet? ›
Sugar, Apples (26%), Vine Fruit (26%) (Sultanas, Raisins, Currants with Glazing Agent (Palm Oil, Sunflower Oil)), Candied Mixed Peel (4%) (Glucose-Fructose Syrup, Orange Peel, Sugar, Lemon Peel, Citric Acid), Vegetable Suet (Palm Oil, Sunflower Oil, Rice Flour), Treacle, Acetic Acid, Mixed Spices (0.3%) (Cinnamon, ...
What does suet do in a recipe? ›
Suet is a type of saturated fat that home cooks use to add moisture to sweet and savory dishes. Suet has a crumbly texture and stays solid at room temperature, so it can result in a less-greasy pie crust than butter would yield.
