The best vegan mince alternatives in the UK (2024)

If you’re looking for a plant-based alternative to meat mince, you’ve come to the right place. Some alternatives may well mimic the weirdly off-putting brain-like look of mince but they all come without the environmental issues, animal cruelty, or health concerns.

Oh, and they are all pretty useful for cooking vegan bolognese, chilli ‘non’ carne (like in my traybake chilli), burgers, and meatballs.

In this blog, I will be reviewing some of the best brands of vegan mince available in the UK market, and comparing them on factors such as taste, healthiness, affordability, and versatility. You’ll be seeing offerings from many of the top vegan meat brands, like THIS, Moving Mountains and Meatless Farm. But you’ll also see a few newcomers in here too!

THIS Isn’t Beef Mince

• Made from: Soya protein
• Calories per 100g: 216 kcal
• Protein per 100g: 17.2g
• Packaging: Recyclable cardboard sleeve and plastic film but the plastic tray isn’t recyclable
• Cost: £3

The top prize for the best vegan mince product goes to THIS Isn’t Beef Mince! It may be a newbie to the scene, but it completely smashes all the rest out of the park. There are many reasons for this, including the fact that it is one of the more affordable products and has a really decent amount of protein, making it a great substitute for animal-based mince.

Although, this does have a lot more fibre than what you’d ever find in animal-based minces. Which is great for your gut!

But the main reason I love this is that it is also the tastiest plant-based mince alternative I’ve ever tried. This should really come as no surprise since THIS also makes absolutely banging vegan bacon and vegan sausages.

See also: my review of THIS Isn’t Bacon & my review of THIS Isn’t Pork Sausages

It has a great texture which resembles mince meat, it even looks very similar in its ‘raw’ form inside the packaging. This means it works perfectly as a direct mince meat replacement in sauces, burgers and meatballs.

I recommend this product to both vegans and non-vegans alike, it isn’t too meaty that you’d be freaked out but it is also super tasty and has a nice chew to it.

Beyond Meat Mince

• Made from: Pea protein
• Calories per 100g: 238 kcal
• Protein per 100g: 15g
• Packaging: Recyclable cardboard sleeve and plastic tray but the plastic film isn’t recyclable
• Cost: £4

Another great vegan mince product is this one from Beyond Meat. If you love their plant-based burgers then you’ll definitely love this mince too. It tastes very similar, probably because they use the same ingredients and flavourings.

It is a very tasty product that brings a lot of flavour to the dishes you cook it in. Meaning it is great if you want to add flavour to something, but not so great if you’d rather it had a more neutral taste that didn’t take over.

Beyond Meat use pea protein to create its mince, meaning it is a soy-free and gluten-free product. This is great if you have specific dietary restrictions that stop you from eating other vegan mince alternatives.

Whilst this plant-based mince may not look exactly like mince inside the packet, it definitely resembles it once cooked. Because it is a little bit more squishy when in its ‘raw’ form, I find it really easy to form it into meatballs and burgers. But it also works pretty well if you fry it off for sauces.

Clearspring Organic Soya Mince

• Made from: Soya beans
• Calories per 100g: 347 kcal
• Protein per 100g: 52g
• Packaging: Plastic bag which you may be able to recycle at local supermarkets
• Cost: £4.05

This plant-based mince may be something of a throwback for some since it was a popular meat alternative (called TVP) for vegetarians and vegans back before veganism became popular in the 2000s. It has truly stood the test of time, as Clearspring has been selling it more recently and it appears to still be a very popular mince meat substitute.

I personally always like to have a bag of this in my cupboard. It lasts a very long time thanks to it being dehydrated. It is also a very clean product since it is made purely from soya beans and has absolutely no flavouring or anything added to it, so you do have to add flavour to this soya mince or you can cook it into a flavourful vegan sauce. This does make this a less convenient vegan mince product, but I love the flexibility it offers.

The calories and protein in this product do look crazily high at first, but once you rehydrate them you will add a lot more weight to the product (three times more to be exact), therefore you will need a lot less of it to create a portion size. It also means that a little goes a long way, saving you pennies and packaging!

Despite using less of the dried soya mince to make up a portion, this is still a significantly high-protein vegan mince option. It is great for anyone who tolerates soy well and for anyone who is gluten-free.

Meatless Farm Plant-Based Mince

• Made from: Soya & rice protein
• Calories per 100g: 235 kcal
• Protein per 100g: 25.7g
• Packaging: The cardboard sleeve and plastic tray are recyclable but the plastic film is not
• Cost: £3.25

This is a very popular vegan mince product that is also gluten-free since they use a mix of soya and rice protein. Their blend of plant-based proteins helps to make this one of the most protein-packed mince options per serving. Therefore, making this a great mince alternative for anyone looking to get more protein into their diet.

It looks less creepy in the packet since it doesn’t have that really pinky-red appearance that animal-based mince does. This is great for anyone who gets slightly freaked out by anything too meaty.

That being said, once it is cooked it has a lovely meatiness to it, but definitely not one that would fool you into thinking you are eating animals.

It fries off nicely in a good non stick pan (I use this eco pan by Prestige), but it can be prone to sticking if you don’t have a good quality pan.

I personally like that they include a food impact sticker on their packaging, it hopefully helps to convince more people to make sustainable swaps like this one!

Moving Mountains Plant-Based Mince

• Made from: Mushrooms, pea protein and wheat gluten
• Calories per 100g: 245 kcal
• Protein per 100g: 16g
• Packaging: Recyclable cardboard box
• Cost: £4

This is a plant-based mince that I buy quite regularly due to its eco-friendly packaging and the fact that it is sold frozen, meaning I can keep some stocked up in my freezer ready for whenever I need it.

It is eco-friendly because Moving Mountains sell this mince inside cardboard packaging, which is really easy to recycle. No plastic in sight, hurray! They can get away with using cardboard packaging because it is sold frozen, so you won’t see anything as eco-friendly in fresh vegan mince products.

But don’t worry, you can cook Moving Mountains Plant-Based Mince straight from frozen! I find it really easy to cook and it is pretty quick considering it is frozen, only taking about 10 minutes in a frying pan.

Whilst it is soya free, it isn’t gluten-free because they use wheat gluten. This does make it harder for me to tolerate since I have IBS, but it is great for anyone who doesn’t struggle with wheat.

Profusion Organic Pea & Fava Protein Mince

• Made from: Pea & fava bean protein
• Calories per 100g: 322 kcal
• Protein per 100g: 50g
• Packaging: Plastic bag which you may be able to recycle at local supermarkets
• Cost: £3.45

This organic vegan protein mince by Profusion is made using pea and fava bean protein, so it is both gluten-free and soy-free. Like soya mince, this is a dehydrated product that expands in size and weight once introduced into the liquid, so you don’t need as much of this to create a portion.

The texture is a lot softer than some of the ready-made vegan mince products listed above, but it is great for bulking out food. Considering the price, this will really keep you going for a long time for very little money, so it is definitely an affordable way of getting some healthy proteins into your diet.

Unlike mince, this does come in strips rather than round chunks, but whether you mind this or not just comes down to a matter of preference. I like to add it to bolognese-style sauces, but it definitely wouldn’t be able to hold together to form vegan meatballs or burgers.

I like that it lasts a long time in your food cupboard and it works just as well as dried soya mince, making it a great alternative for anyone with a soy allergy or intolerance.

It is worth keeping in mind though that some people may have allergies to pea protein which can cause stomach upset. So I’d recommend trying this out in small quantities to begin!

Vegan mince comparison

Here are all the top vegan mince products in the UK in a table which includes a comparison of their protein content and their price.

Vegan mince	Calories per 100g	Protein per 100g	Cost	Purchase
THIS Isn’t Beef Mince	216 kcal	17.2g	£3	Go to Tesco
Beyond Meat Mince	238 kcal	15g	£4	Go to Ocado
Clearspring Organic Soya Mince	347 kcal	52g	£5.08	Go to Amazon
Meatless Farm Plant-Based Mince	235 kcal	25.7g	£3	Go to Amazon
Moving Mountains Plant-Based Mince	245 kcal	16g	£4	Go to Amazon
Profusion Organic Pea & Fava Protein Mince	322 kcal	50g	£3.42	Go to Amazon