Easy Vegan Shepherd's Pie

Shepherd’s pie is a classic British winter dish. This vegan version has all the best qualities - it’s warming, hearty, comfort food at it’s finest. Made with chunky tender vegetables and chickpeas in a thick, rich gravy, and topped with fluffy potatoes which turn golden and crispy on the top.

I’ve tried loads of vegan shepherd’s pie recipes in my time, and this version takes the best bits from each one to form the ultimate recipe. It’s packed with protein, is low-fat, and of course has a huge array of vitamins and minerals. But, most importantly, this vegan shepherd’s pie is guaranteed to put a smile on your face.

Easy Vegan Shepherd’s Pie Recipe

Ingredients (serves 8):

• 1kg potatoes (floury varieties like Russet or King Edwards work best

• 3 Tbsp rapeseed oil

• 30g dried porcini mushrooms

• 2 leeks, chopped

• 2 onions, diced

• 2 carrots, chopped

• 4 sticks celery, chopped

• 5 cloves garlic, minced

• 5 Tbsp tomato puree

• 3 Tbsp soy sauce

• 2 tsp smoked paprika

• 1 small butternut squash

• 2 tsp dried oregano

• A dozen sprigs of thyme, leaves picked

• 250g cooked puy lentils

• 1 x 400g can chickpeas

• Vegan stock cube or 2 tsp vegan stock powder

• 300g frozen peas

• 300g frozen spinach

• Lots of freshly ground black pepper

• 3 Tbsp olive oil

• 1/2 cup plant-based milk

• Handful fresh parsley

Method:

Start by preparing your potatoes. Peel them and roughly chop into large chunks, then boil for 30-40 minutes or until they are tender. Drain and leave to cool.

Meanwhile, soak the porcini mushrooms in 200ml hot water for 10-15 minutes, then lift out the mushrooms, reserve the liquid, and chop the soaked mushrooms into small chunks.

Heat the rapeseed oil in a large pan, then add the onions, leeks, carrots and celery, and saute for 5-10 minutes until beginning to soften. Add the porcini mushrooms, garlic, tomato puree, soy sauce, paprika, squash, oregano and thyme, then continue to saute for another 5-10 minutes, stirring frequently.

Now add the chickpeas (along with the liquid from the can), the lentils, the reserved water from the porcini mushrooms, and add a vegan stock cube or powder. Add the frozen peas and spinach, season with lots of black pepper (there’s enough salt already in the stock and soy sauce) and simmer for another 10 minutes. Take 200g of the boiled potatoes, mash roughly with a fork, and stir through the vegetables (this helps to thicken and enrich the sauce).

Now prepare the mash topping by mashing the remaining boiled potatoes with the olive oil, plant-based milk and fresh parsley until smooth. Divide the filling between your pie dish (or dishes). Dollop the mashed potato on top and spread out evenly over the pie using the back of a fork.

When ready to cook, preheat the oven to 180C (360F) and bake the pies for around 40 minutes, until the filling is piping hot and the potatoes have turned golden and crispy on the top. Serve with a fresh salad or mixed green veg.

Nutrition (per serving):

• Protein: 13.7g (Women: 27.4% / Men: 24.9%)

• Iron: 4.4mg (Women: 29.7% / Men: 50.6%)

• Calories: 378 (Women: 18.9% / Men: 15.1%)

• Sugar: 9.9g (Women: 11.0% / Men: 8.3%)

• Total Fats: 11.6g (Women: 16.6% / Men: 12.2%)

• Saturated Fat: 1.2g (Women: 6.0% / Men: 4.0%)

• Salt: 0.9g (Women: 15.0% / Men: 15.0%)

• Fibre: 11.1g (Women: 37.0% / Men: 37.0%)

  See the Nutrition Info page for more details on % of Dietary Reference Values for men and women.

Quick Vegan Sweet Potato Quesadillas

Quesadillas are the perfect party food - you don’t need plates as they’re easy to grab with your hands, plus you can make them in advance and just warm them up in the oven when you’re ready to eat. Any leftovers make an awesome speedy dinner, served up with a simple salad. Don’t forget to make the quick guacamole to dip them into, as it really does complement these quesadillas really well.

Veganising this classic Mexican dish turns it from a grease-laden snack into an incredibly healthy, nutrient-packed meal. Using the sweet potato and white bean mash as the filling instead of cheese, plus using whole wheat tortillas and serving with a fresh avocado dip, means they’re high in protein, packed with fibre and antioxidants, but with a fraction of the saturated fat. And they have ALL the flavour you want - the chipotle paste, maple syrup, paprika and nutritional yeast provide the perfect blend of smokiness, heat and sweetness.

QUICK VEGAN SWEET POTATO QUESADILLAS RECIPE

Ingredients (makes 24 slices - serves 10 as a snack or 5 as a main):

• 2 Tbsp olive oil

• 2 medium-sized sweet potatoes

• 3 Tbsp maple syrup

• 3 tsp chipotle paste

• 1 tsp smoked paprika

• 1/4 tsp turmeric

• 2 Tbsp nutritional yeast

• Salt and pepper (to taste)

• 2 x 400g tin of cannellini beans, drained

• 8 whole wheat tortillas

• 2 avocados

• 1 lime

• 1 handful fresh coriander

Method:

Firstly peel and grate the sweet potatoes. Heat the olive oil in a large pan over a medium-high heat, and add the grated sweet potato, maple syrup, paprika, turmeric, and nutritional yeast. Stir frequently and cook for 7-8 minutes until the sweet potato has softened, then season with salt and pepper to taste.

Transfer to a mixing bowl and add the beans. Use a potato masher to smash the mixture together. It’s fine to leave some bits of un-mashed sweet potato but the mixture should now be ‘spoonable’.

Now heat a frying pan and lay a tortilla flat in the pan. Spoon two heaped tablespoons of the mixture on to one half of it and spread out over half the tortilla, then fold the other half over and press down with a spatula. Dry fry on one side for about a minute or until it turns golden brown and beginning to char. Then flip over and repeat for the other side.

Keep the quesadillas warm in the oven while you cook the remaining tortillas in the same way. When ready to serve, cut each of the tortillas into three slices. Quickly mash the avocados using the back of a spoon with the lime juice and coriander, and serve with the warm quesadillas.

Nutrition (per 5 slices):

• Protein: 18.8g (Women: 37.6% / Men: 34.2%)

• Iron: 7.4mg (Women: 50.0% / Men: 85.1%)

• Calories: 540 (Women: 27.0% / Men: 21.6%)

• Sugar: 12.3g (Women: 13.7% / Men: 12.3%)

• Total Fats: 12.4g (Women: 17.7% / Men: 13.1%)

• Saturated Fats: 3.7g (Women: 18.5% / Men: 12.3%)

• Salt: 1.2g (Women: 20.0% / Men: 20.0%)

• Fibre: 15.0g (Women: 50.0% / Men: 50.0%)

See the Nutrition Info page for more details on % of Dietary Reference Values for men and women.

Vegan Pea and Mint Fritters

*** EDIT - this vegan pea and mint fritters recipe was first posted in November 2018, but I have since tweaked and improved the recipe and added new photos - I hope you enjoy them as much as I do! ***

We all know the feeling after a big Sunday roast - or even a Christmas lunch - of feeling uncomfortably full and vouching that you’ll never need to eat again. You might even be fooled into thinking you don’t need to prepare anything for dinner. But, surely enough, that slightly-too-full feeling subsides and inevitably hunger, somehow, creeps up on us later in the day. That’s when something light, healthy, tasty, and easy to prepare with ingredients you’re likely to have lying around comes in really handy.

These vegan pea and mint fritters are definitely the answer. They’re seriously delicious, with the perfect combination of fragrant sweet peas and subtle fresh mint. They go golden and crispy on the outside while staying soft and tender in the middle.

Plus they’re really quick and easy to make, and are super healthy, providing lots of protein, fibre, vitamins A, C, and K, B-vitamins, iron, and manganese, thanks to the greens they’re packed with. All while being pretty low in calories (check out the nutrition info at the bottom of the post).

They’re best eaten fresh and hot out of the pan, served with a simple salad and a yoghurt dip. But they reheat well in the oven, and are also delicious used like a falafel in a pitta, or just on their own as a snack (they keep in the fridge for up to three days).

Vegan Pea and Mint Fritters Recipe

Ingredients (makes 12 fritters):

• 240g frozen peas

• 150g frozen spinach

• 1/2 white onion

• 2 cloves garlic

• 1 tbsp nutritional yeast (optional)

• 1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

• 1/4 cup oat milk (60g)

• 1/2 cup fresh mint (and/or basil and dill)

• 1/2 cup plain flour (65g)

• 1 tsp baking powder

• 1/4 tsp salt

• Black pepper to taste

  For the yoghurt dip

• 1/2 cup plain soy yoghurt

• 1 Tbsp fresh chopped mint

• 2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

Method:

Start by thawing your frozen peas and spinach - either leave out for a few hours or add to a bowl of boiling water for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat 1 Tbsp of olive oil in a frying pan on a medium heat, finely dice your 1/2 onion, and sauté for 7-8 minutes. Mince your garlic and add to the pan and continue to sauté for another 1-2 minutes, until the onion is softened.

Drain the peas and spinach well and throw into a food processor. Also throw in the sautéed onion and garlic (save the pan for later, just wipe out with a piece of kitchen paper if necessary), nutritional yeast, lemon juice, fresh herbs and oat milk. Blitz until a rough paste is formed (it’s quite nice to have some of the peas still intact for texture). This also works well using a handheld stick blender.

In a separate bowl mix together the flour, baking powder, salt and pepper. Then stir through the pea mixture and fold to combine.

Heat 1 Tbsp of olive oil in the frying pan saved from earlier. Take a heaped Tbsp of the mixture and carefully dollop into the pan, flattening with the spoon to shape into a small fritter.

Fry for 4-5 minutes, or until golden and crispy, then flip over to cook for another 4-5 minutes on the other side (tip - don’t try and move them too soon, they’re much easier to move once they’ve turned golden and crispy underneath).

Mix the yoghurt dip ingredients together in a ramekin and serve with a simple salad.

Nutrition (per two pea fritters):

• Protein: 5.9g (Women: 11.8% / Men: 10.7%)

• Iron: 2.3mg (Women: 15.6% / Men: 26.4%)

• Calories: 137 (Women: 6.9% / Men: 5.5%)

• Sugars: 2.9g (Women: 3.2% / Men: 2.4%)

• Total Fats: 5.3g (Women: 7.6% / Men: 5.6%)

• Saturated Fats: 0.7g (Women: 3.5% / Men: 2.3%)

• Salt: 0.6g (Women: 10.0% / Men: 10.0%)

• Fibre: 3.6g (Women: 12.0% / Men: 12.0%)

See the Nutrition Info page for more details on % of Dietary Reference Values for men and women.