Been scouring the internet for vegan Christmas pudding recipes so everyone can enjoy the rich, fruity Christmas classic this year? Well consider your search over. This ultimate vegan Christmas Pudding recipe will impress vegans and non-vegans alike so you can all tuck in together!
Is Christmas pudding vegan?
Unfortunately, not. Most of the pre-made Christmas puddings you will find in the supermarkets will contain non-vegan ingredients like eggs, milk and cream.
You may be lucky enough to find a vegan-friendly Christmas pudding in the ‘free from’ isle – but where’s the fun in that?! If you want to really impress, then home-made is the way forward.
Without further ado - let’s get straight into the ultimate vegan Christmas pudding recipe!
The ultimate Christmas pudding recipe
Ingredients:
- 130g dairy-free butter (like Naturli) or margarine (like Vitalite) + a little extra for greasing the paper and bowl
- 400g dried figs
- 100ml spiced rum or brandy
- 325g of mixed raisins, sultanas and currants
- 1 large ‘eating’ apple, cored, peeled and finely grated
- 90g dark brown soft sugar
- 80g light brown soft sugar
- 100g self-raising flour
- 100g dried breadcrumbs
- 1 teaspoon mixed spice
Method:
- Get yourself a 2-litre pudding bowl and use kitchen roll and dairy-free margarine / butter to grease it up ready, then cut out a circle of baking paper to line the base of the bowl.
- If you have a secure lid for your pudding basin, skip this step. Lay down a large sheet of foil and cover it with an equally sized piece of baking paper and grease it on top. Then, fold a pleat into the middle of each sheet.
- Roughly chop up half your figs and set them aside in a large mixing bowl. Combine the remaining figs, rum and dairy-free butter / margarine into a large food processor and blend until mostly smooth, then add to the chopped figs.
- Add in the raisins, sultanas, currants, grated apple, breadcrumbs, sugar and mixed spice. Mix it all together and spoon into your pudding basin.
- Simply pop your lid on if your pudding basin has one or cover your basin with the greased paper-foil sheet you made earlier, then tie together with string and trim.
- Take a large saucepan and put it onto the hob with scrunched up bits of tinfoil or upturned saucers on the bottom (so your pudding basin won’t touch the bottom of the pan).
- Lower your basin into the saucepan, boil a kettle and pour boiling water into the pan until it comes about halfway up the sides of the bowl.
- Cover the saucepan with a lid and simmer for around 3 hours, topping up the water if needed.
- Remove and leave to cool down before releasing onto a plate and tucking in! It will last up to a year kept in a sealed container in a cool dry cupboard.
Approximate nutritional info per serving (based on 14 servings):
| Calories (kcal) | Total fat | Saturated fat | Total carbohydrate | Sugars | Protein | Salt | Fibre |
| 281 | 6g | 2g | 55g | 41g | 4g | 0.3g | 6g |
What can you serve with your vegan Christmas pudding?
It’s your pudding, you can top it however you like! Here’s some both traditional and modern Christmas pudding sauces / accompaniments for inspiration:
- Brandy / rum / sherry sauce
- Brandy / rum / sherry butter
- Custard
- Ice cream
And here’s how to make them vegan!
Top tip: Depending on what alcohol you’ve used in your Christmas pudding, it’s best to stick to the same flavours in the sides.
Vegan brandy / spiced rum sauce:
This all-time classic is perfect for slathering all over your pud and is traditionally made with non-vegan butter and milk, but we all know how easy they are to replace! Here’s how to whip up some of your own.
Ingredients:
- 60g vegan margarine / butter
- 60g plain flour
- 500ml plant milk of your choice
- 60g granulated sugar
- 5 tablespoons of spiced rum / brandy
Method:
- Gently melt 60g vegan margarine / butter in a saucepan.
- Once melted, add 60g of plain flour and stir quickly for about a minute to make a thick, smooth paste.
- Slowly add 500ml of a plant milk of your choice (we like oat) and stir vigorously with a hand whisk until you are left with a smooth, thick sauce – this will take around 5 minutes.
- Add 60g of granulated sugar and whisk until dissolved
- Lower the heat and leave to cook for about 5 minutes, giving it a stir from time to time.
- Finally, add the rum and whisk until fully combined.
- Let it cool and keep it in the fridge if not using immediately.
Vegan brandy / spiced rum butter:
Vegan brandy / rum butter is a dreamy traditional accompaniment for your Christmas pud or mince pies. It’s usually made with dairy butter, but you can easily replace that with dairy-free vegan butter or margarine! Here’s how to mix up some of your own.
Ingredients:
- 100g unsalted vegan butter / margarine
- 225g of icing / powdered sugar
- 5 tablespoons of brandy / spiced rum
Method:
- Tip the butter / margarine in a large baking bowl and use an electric hand whisk to cream it until it is nice and smooth.
- Add in the icing sugar and beat again with the hand whisk until it’s nice and fluffy.
- Mix in the brandy or spiced rum and stir it in by hand. If it starts to curdle then add icing sugar little by little until the mixture binds together again.
Other options to serve with your vegan Christmas pud:
- Vegan custard: you can find ready-made vegan custard in the supermarket – usually in the ‘free from’ isle. Just Whole Foods offer a vegan vanilla custard powder and the famous Bird’s custard powder is accidently vegan, too! Simply use plant milk instead of dairy and mix with the powder
- Vegan ice cream: goes without saying, but ice cream served with a Christmas pud is nothing short of heavenly! There are usually lots of vegan ice-creams to choose from in supermarkets – and you’ll find some great varieties in H&B stores with freezers – search for one here
- Just vegan cream: want to keep it nice and simple? You can find ready-made plant-based single and double creams in a lot of supermarkets now – easy!
What are the benefits of choosing a vegan Christmas pudding?
It’s inclusive: Choosing to go vegan with any aspect of your Christmas meal means that vegans, as well as those with egg and dairy allergies, and of course non-vegans can all enjoy the same dishes together.
It’s more sustainable for our planet: Swapping dairy and eggs for their plant-based imitators generally slashes the impact your pud has on the environment. For example, Flora’s new ‘Plant B+tter’ has half the impact of normal dairy butter1 and still has the fantastically creamy taste you crave.
What is a vegan diet?
First, here is The Vegan Societies’ definition of veganism: "Veganism is a philosophy and way of living which seeks to exclude—as far as is possible and practicable—all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing or any other purpose; and by extension, promotes the development and use of animal-free alternatives for the benefit of animals, humans and the environment. In dietary terms it denotes the practice of dispensing with all products derived wholly or partly from animals."2
Basically, a vegan diet is one that excludes all meat and animal products like eggs, milk, cheese, cream, gelatine, fish oil, etc. If it is an animal or comes from an animal, it’s a no-go.
What other Christmas staples can be veganised?
- Bye dry turkey, hello rich and tasty vegan options! Try a traditional tasty nut roast, a walnut, cashew & peanut roast or a stuffed butternut squash with Christmas herbs
- Swap pork sausages and bacon for vegan varieties for pigs in blankets
- Use plant milk and plant-based butter for mashed potatoes
- Roast carrots and parsnips with maple syrup or agave nectar instead of honey
What to do with your leftover vegan Christmas pudding?
This Christmas pudding serves up a whopping 12-14 portions! So, you may be looking for new ways to enjoy it instead of reheating and re-topping it night after night… Well, we’ve had a think and came up with some tasty ways to use up leftover Christmas pudding, including:
- Christmas pudding, brandy / rum cream and ice cream sundae – layer ‘em up!
- Christmas pudding and banana trifle (just choose vegan whipped cream and ice cream)
- Christmas pudding strudel – make a strudel as normal and just use pudding as the filling
- Christmas pudding cheesecake – spread a layer of the pudding on top of a ready-made vanilla cheesecake or mix cold pudding into the (vegan) cheesecake mixture when you’re making it
Last updated: 10th November 2020