How to make the perfect vegan full English breakfast
Is there a single meal on the face of the planet more satisfying than a proper Full English Breakfast? We’d wager that there isn’t, but we have one adjustment over the traditional version that makes them healthier, more ethical, and more sustainable, without compromising even a little bit on those bold, savoury flavours – making them 100% plant-based. How do you do that without losing the essence of the dish? Join as as we dissect the perfect Full English Breakfast that really hits the spot.
What is in a full english breakfast and is there a vegan or vegetarian version?
Full English Breakfasts, also known as a ‘fry-up’ or ‘cooked breakfast’, is a hearty meal originating in the UK and known the world over. It has many variations with different foods added or substituted according to personal preference, but the most common components include:
Bacon rashers
Sausages
Eggs
Black pudding / Blood pudding
Baked beans
Tomatoes
Mushrooms
Buttered toast
Tomato sauce / Brown sauce (or both)
A cup of tea or coffee
Optional additions include hash brown, potatoes, avocado, or English muffin, but your fry-up is limited only by your own creativity!
Full English Breakfasts are extremely beloved and regularly consumed by many, so the idea of ditching them if you turn vegan or vegetarian seems daunting, to say the very least…
Fortunately though, in this day and age, you don’t have to! Thanks to the rapidly developing specialty vegan food product market, there are replacements for every Full English Breakfast ingredient you can imagine.
And, as is often the case, the alternatives provide a few advantages.
They’re a healthier option, featuring less salt and saturated fat, and generate about half as much CO2 compared to the meat and dairy-filled kind. We’re also big fans of the fact that no animals are prodded, milked, or killed for it in the process.
Ok, ok, making a Full English vegan breakfast has its virtues. But can you capture the true essence of a proper fry-up without the animals?
Yeah you can. Here’s how.
Vegan Full English Breakfast ingredients
We know a thing or two about the vegan food product market, and we scoured the UK to find the absolute best plant-based fry-up alternatives and substitutes for your veganised Full English. We based our product choices on user-reviews, nutritional qualities, all-important performance in the pan, and lots and lots of taste-testing. Take a look at our discoveries below:
THIS Isn’t Bacon Plant-Based Rashers
Meatless Farm Co Plant-Based Sausages
Crackd No-egg Egg
Naturli’ Vegan Butter
The Bury Black Pudding Co Vegetarian Black Pudding
Ingredients at the ready, it’s time to get the job done.
Recipe instructions
Cooking methods vary based on your personal preference in terms of the taste and texture of the core ingredients, but if you have a frying pan (preferably a massive one), some oil, and perhaps a touch of salt and pepper, you’re good to go.
Step One
The sausages take the longest to cook, so they need to go in first.
Drizzle your frying pan with oil and heat for a few minutes so the oil begins to bubble gently. Put your sausages in and roll them around so they’re evenly covered in a thin layer of oil.
You can optionally sprinkle a dash of salt and pepper here, but our Meatless Farm Co Plant-Based sausages have a flavourful and distinct seasoning mix that may satisfy all on its own.
Intermittently roll the sausages so they cook evenly on all sides and don’t burn.
Tomatoes are next, and you’ll need a grill for these.
Cut some tomatoes in half and place them under a grill heated to 170 degrees Celcius for around 7 minutes.
Step Two
Next up, we need to get our scrambled egg going. We’re using Crackd, a versatile liquid egg replacement mostly made from water and pea protein. Thanks to the nutritional yeast in Crackd, it’s also loaded with B12 which is a vitamin that has great importance in a vegan diet.
In a separate pan, lightly coat with oil and heat for a few minutes. Pour in between 150 and 200 grams of Crackd, and wait. Just as the liquid begins to solidify, scramble it by stirring and folding until it resembles the shape and consistency of normal scrambled egg.
You can add black salt, also known as Kala Lamak, as you cook to give it a more pronounced ‘eggy’ flavour. Don’t forget a dash of pepper.
Step Three
It’s time for the vegan bacon. Plant-based bacon alternatives can be hit or miss in terms of flavour and ability to crisp up nicely in the pan, but THIS have knocked it out of the park with their Isn’t Plant-Based Bacon Rashers. They come in small even strips that resemble American-style bacon strips but without the streaks of fat.
While the sausages cook, place the plant-based bacon rashers into the pan making sure they are evenly covered in the existing oil in the pan.
You can add salt and pepper to taste but as before, this is optional.
When the underside of the rashers begins to crisp up and brown, flip them over and wait for this side to crisp to the same level.
Step Five
Black pudding is a sausage-style food that is usually made by combining pig blood and fat with a cereal like oat and adding a pepper-based seasoning mix. With mixed popularity probably owing to the fairly un-appetising ingredients, you can skip this addition if you like.
I personally rarely ate black pudding before I went vegan, but I was surprised to really enjoy The Bury Black Pudding company’s vegan take on blood pudding. From what I can remember it’s similar to the real thing but much more palatable, and needless to say, has a much more agreeable main ingredient in black beans, which are also incredibly high in protein and micronutrients. You definitely need to give them a try if you haven’t already.
Slice your vegetarian black pudding into reasonably thick discs, and fry on both sides until crisp.
Step Six
That’s our main alternatives taken care of. Now for some veggie and legume action.
Fry some halved mushrooms in the pan, adding salt and pepper, and optionally sprinkling on some vegan Worcester sauce.
Pop a few slices of bread into the toaster and toast until desired
Wilt some spinach by adding a small amount to the pan and stirring until they reduce in size.
Add some baked beans (Haricot beans with a rich tomato sauce) to a saucepan and heat. Alternatively, put them in a suitable container and microwave for 1 minutes and 30 seconds on 900W.
Once the toast pops, evenly spread on your Naturli’ vegan butter to one side.
Step Seven
Ok, time to bring it on home. For this step you’ll need to summon some serious creative energy, artfully arranging the various ingredients on the plate however you see fit. Oh, and a few more things.
Liberally squeeze red or brown sauce onto your fry-up.
Enjoy with a cup of tea or coffee with sugar.
And there you have it.
…Is anyone else’s mouth watering?
How many calories are in a full english fried breakfast?
A traditional Full English breakfast with two bacon rashers, two sausages, fried egg, toast, beans and mushrooms can quite easily exceed 1000 calories (without many of the optional extras), and contains a whopping 82 grams of fat… (Source)
Not ideal for the ol’ arteries, but you can trim those numbers down by opting for a 100% plant-based version. The equivalent portion with vegan ingredients would have around 800 calories and almost exactly half the amount of fat at 41 grams!
And it beats a hangover just as well!
Where can you get vegan Full English ingredients?
We were serious when we said we want to make plant-based eating easy.
And for those who want to get in on the plant-based Full English Breakfast action, boy, do we have a hamper for you.
The Full English features all of the vegan meat and dairy alternatives we listed in this recipe, so you can get it all in one click!
There’s enough plant-based goodness in there for at least 5 plates (depending on the severity of your hangover).
You can also get this hamper on subscription for plant-based fry-ups sent your door automatically on a regular basis… We are truly living in the future. We update our hampers every month based on the community’s feedback, to keep it fresh and to ensure only the best products are included.
All hampers will be available for purchase on our launch day next week. Mark your calendars – 28/01/21!
