New classics: Irish vegan recipes

Want a wholesome, traditional Irish meal but can’t find anything that caters to both your old fashioned and vegan needs? Well look no further! These hearty Irish vegan recipes will sort you right out.

It is no secret that, when talking about food, Irish vegan recipes are words that historically have never gone together – until now. The once a Sisyphean-like task of a vegan trying to find someone delicious to eat on this Emerald Isle is finally over. Here is a list we’ve made of some traditional Irish vegan recipes to warm your souls this winter. 

1. Vegan Dublin Coddle

Now let’s kick things off with one of the classics – but with a twist of course. Typically, Dublin coddle is a recipe made up of the week’s leftovers thrown together in a big pot and left to simmer on the hob for a couple of hours. My nanna would be turning in her grave at the idea of this classic dish becoming a traditional Irish vegan dish it but alas, dear Nanna, times have changed!

Irish Vegan recipes, Dublin coddle

Serves: 4   Time: 60 mins

Ingredients:

  • 5-6 of your favourite vegan sausages (potato based ones aren’t ideal as they may disintegrate)
  • 3-4 potatoes, cut into small chunks
  • 2-3 white onions, sliced 
  • 500ml vegetable stock (vegan stock cubes can be bought The Health Store)
  • 100g pearl barley
  • A good handful of fresh parsley, roughly chopped
  • Sea salt and ground black pepper
  • A generous helping of vegan butter
  • 1/4 teaspoon liquid smoke flavouring
  • 3/4 cup dark beer optional
  • 1 bay leaf

Method:

  1. Place the onions across the base of a casserole dish with the bay leaf, sausages, pearl barley and finish with a layer of potatoes. 
  2. Mix the Liquid Smoke into the stock and pour it over the casserole dish before placing the dish, covered, on a high heat and bring to boil. Lower the heat and simmer for 30 minutes.
  3. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 220˚C
  4. Remove the lid and dot the potatoes with vegan butter and the dark beer if you have opted to use some. Season to taste and transfer the casserole dish to the oven and cook for 15 minutes or until the potatoes turn golden brown.
  5. Add parsley for garnish if desired!

Sweet Potato Shepherd’s Pie 

Next up is a simple but effective dish to get your stomach rumbling. Even your fussy dinner guests who are convinced they’re allergic to vegan food will be begging for you to make this one again. This is one of those Irish vegan recipes you’ll be wanting to make over and over again.

Irish vegan recipes, shepherd's pie

Serves: 8   Time: 1 hour 30 mins

Ingredients:

  • 600g white potatoes, roughly chopped
  • 600g sweet potatoes, roughly chopped 
  • 40g margarine
  • 2 red onions, finely sliced
  • 2 carrots, finely sliced
  • As much garlic as you like
  • 2 sticks of celery, finely sliced 
  • olive oil
  • 350g of your choice of mushrooms, roughly chopped 
  • 12 sun-dried tomatoes
  • 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar
  • vegan red wine
  • 100ml organic vegetable stock
  • 1 tin of lentils
  • 1 tin of chickpeas
  • 5 sprigs of parsley, roughly chopped

Method:

  1. Preheat the oven to 200°C
  2. Place the white potatoes into a pan of cold water and bring to boil over a medium heat, add the sweet potatoes after 5 minutes and simmer until potatoes are tender.
  3. When tender, drain the potatoes of all water before returning them to the pan with the margarine, salt and some pepper. Mash until smooth and set aside.
  4. Throw the onion, garlic, carrots and celery into a separate pan with some oil and cook over a medium heat until softened.
  5. Add the mushrooms and sun-dried tomatoes to the pan along with the vinegar and 2 tablespoons of the sun-dried tomato oil from the jar and let the ingredients simmer for another ten minutes before adding some wine (I always think the more the better). 
  6. Add the stock, lentils and chickpeas and then let the mixture simmer until slightly thickened and reduced.
  7. Stir in the parsley, season as desired and then transfer contents to a baking dish.
  8. Once this is done you want to spread your mash over the top and then place in the hot oven for around 10 minutes. If you desire the top of your pie to be a beautiful golden colour place it under the grill until it is the colour you want.

3.  Vegan Boxty

If you know traditional Irish food, you know boxty – so I know what you’re thinking. You’re wondering how on earth something so creamy and melt-in-your-mouthy could work without its essential knobs of butter, generous splashes of milk and bags of grated cheese. How could we propose something so preposterous? Well, this is how:

Irish vegan recipes, boxty pancakes

Serves:Time: 30mins

Ingredients:

  • 2 large potatoes, grated
  • 1 large white onion, diced
  • As much garlic as you like, finely chopped
  • ¼ cup of flour
  • 1tsp of baking powder
  • canola oil 
  • Salt and pepper to taste as you please
  • Optional: A splash of unsweetened soy milk

Method:

  1. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. 
  2. Heat some oil in a large pan over medium heat. Wait till the oil is sizzling hot and scoop a large spoonful of the potato mix into the oil and spread into a patty of your desired size and thickness. Fry each patty until golden brown on each side.
  3. When you remove the finished boxties from the pan, consider placing them on kitchen roll or a tea towel to absorb excess oil. 

4. Tofurkey with Mushroom Stuffing 

I disagree, but many would say Christmas isn’t Christmas without a turkey. Years ago when I tried it once I thought it was just dry and bland. So, let’s amend that phrase and scream it from the rooftops: Christmas isn’t Christmas without a tofurkey! (Note: for the best possible results start draining the moisture from your tofu as soon as possible – even the day before if you can). This is the most intricate of all the Irish vegan recipes listed on this page, but if we didn’t think it was worth it, we wouldn’t have included it.

tofurkey, Irish vegan recipes

Serves: Time: 1 hour, 40 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 4 tablespoons vegetable oil, 
  • 1 mini-baguette cut into small cubes 
  • 1/2 cup raw pecans, coarsely chopped
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • As much garlic as you like, finely chopped
  • 5 sprigs of thyme
  • 8 ounces of portobello mushrooms, coarsely chopped
  • 1 celery stick, sliced thickly 
  • 1 cup of vegetable stock
  • 1/3 cup of white wine
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • 2 tablespoons of soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon of maple syrup
  • Smoked paprika
  • Cayenne pepper
  • 3 packages of extra-firm tofu
  • 3 tablespoons of white miso paste
  • 2 tablespoons of cornstarch
  • Garlic powder
  • Chopped parsley

Method:

  1. Preheat oven to 220°C 
  2. Place the bread and pecans on a tray and bake until bread is golden brown and crisp
  3. Heat some oil in a large pan over a medium heat. Once sizzling hot, add the onion, garlic, thyme and stir continuously until the onion is translucent. Add the mushrooms and cook until they start to brown, add the celery and cook for about 3 minutes more. 
  4. Transfer the cooked veg into a large bowl and remove the thyme sprigs. Take the pecans and bread from the oven and combine the two dishes. Set aside for later.
  5. Pour the stock and wine into a hot pan and heat over medium heat with salt and pepper – how much you add is up to you but do remember that the stock cube will carry a lot of its own salty flavour. After about one minute mix in the bread-veg mixture.
  6. In another bowl, mix the soy sauce, maple syrup, paprika, cayenne, 2 Tbsp. oil, and 1/2 tsp. of salt.
  7. Before you started preparation for this meal you should have drained as much moisture as possible out of your tofu, this will help with its texture at the end. You can do this by wrapping it in kitchen paper, muslin or a tea towel and placing between a hard surface and heavy objects to squeeze out the moisture. Or if you have your own preferred method, go ahead with that. 
  8. Transfer your dried tofu to a food processor and add miso, cornstarch, garlic powder, salt and pepper and blend until smooth.
  9. Grease an oven dish with a little bit of oil or margarine and then line with baking paper, a smaller dish will mean a deeper tofurky that is not spread too thin. If the bottom of the tofurkey is too thin it is likely to crack later. Don’t let that happen. You’ll be very sad.
  10. Line bottom and sides of dish with two-thirds of the tofu mixture and press it down firmly. 
  11. Spoon the mushroom mixture into the centre and then cover with the remaining tofu mix. Don’t worry if you have extra stuffing, you can cook it separately and serve it as an extra dish!
  12. Glaze the top of the tofurkey with a generous amount of your soy-maple mixture but save some for step 13.
  13. Place your tofurkey in the oven and bake for about 30 minutes or until the dish is starting to brown nicely. 
  14. Line another baking tray with baking paper and place over the baking dish containing the tofurkey. If you’re attempting this without oven gloves you shouldn’t be in a kitchen. Quickly flip the tofurkey onto the baking tray and tug gently at the paper in the dish to prise the tofurky out without crumbling it. Use the remaining soy-maple glaze to dress the tofurkey.
  15. Finally, place the tofurkey under a grill and grill until a light brown crust forms. This final step should take roughly 5-10 minutes. Top with parsley and serve with gravy alongside.

5. Vegan Guinness mustard

Did you know that Guinness is vegan? And so are pretty much all mustards, apart from Dijon which is made with white wine and honey mustard which is made with, well, you know. 

Irish vegan recipes

 Serves: 6   Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 175g of coarse-grained mustard
  • 2 tablespoons of regular mustard
  • 2 tablespoons of Guinness
  • 1 tablespoon of minced shallots
  • 1 teaspoon of golden brown sugar

Method:

  1. Mix all the ingredients together and blend.
  2. Cover and refrigerate for at least two hours before serving. 

6. Irish Stew

Irish stew is a staple in every Irish household, even for those who are culinarily deficient, they’ll still have their own recipes for this classic. The only difference here is that we would rather cuddle lambs than stick ‘em in a stew. This is a great addition to your arsenal of Irish vegan recipes this winter. 

Irish stew, Irish vegan recipes

 Serves: Time: 1 hour 10 minutes

Ingredients:

  • canola oil
  • 150g of soy chunks
  • 35g of all-purpose flour
  • 1 large onion, finely chopped
  • As much garlic as you like, minced
  • 3 sticks of celery, finely chopped
  • 2 carrots, chunked
  • 6 medium potatoes, roughly cut 
  • 240ml of Guinness 

 Method:

  1. Soak the soy chunks in hot water for 30 minutes and then drain.
  2. In another bowl mix the flour, salt, pepper and half the herbs together.
  3. Roll the soy chunks in the flour mix so each side is evenly covered.
  4. Heat some oil in a large pan and, in batches, fry the soy chunks till brown on all sides. 
  5. When fried, remove the soy chunks from the pan and place on a dish lined with kitchen roll or a clean tea towel to absorb any excess oil. 
  6. Add some more oil to the same pan and add the onions, garlic and season with salt and pepper. Stir over medium heat until the onions are soft.
  7. Add the remaining veg, flour and Guinness. Mix everything together and let the stew come to a boil. Cook until most the beer has disappeared.
  8. Add the remaining herbs, soy and 4 cups of vegetable stock.
  9. Bring to a boil and then lower the heat to a simmer. 
  10. Cover the pot with a lid and leave to cook for 30 minutes 
  11. Season to taste with desired seasoning and serve hot!

7. Vegan Gravy

Now, we could give you some knock-off run of the mill Jamie Oliver style recipe, but where would the fun be in that? Here is a vegan gravy recipe with some ingredients you probably weren’t expecting…. But just trust us, okay?

vegan gravy, Irish vegan recipes

Serves: 4    Time:  20mins

Ingredients:

  • ¼ cup of vegan butter/margarine
  • 1 onion finely chopped
  • As much garlic as you like, crushed
  • 4 tbsp of flour
  • 1 cup of unsweetened coconut milk
  • 2 tbsp of dark soy sauce
  • 2 cups of vegetable stock
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

  1. Melt the butter in a saucepan and then add the garlic and onions. 
  2. In a separate bowl, mix the flour and some of the coconut milk and stir into a paste like consistency.
  3. Add the rest of the coconut milk and whisk until there are no lumps. 
  4. Add the coconut-flour mix to the onion, butter and garlic along with the soy sauce and vegetable stock and whisk thoroughly.
  5. Stir continuously until the sauce thickens. Add salt and pepper as desired.

8. Chocolate Guinness Cake with “Baileys” frosting

Let’s round everything off with a nice dessert that everyone knows and loves, the chocolate Guinness cake. Of all Irish vegan recipes, this one is essential – people just can’t get enough, especially with that soft creamy bailey’s frosting…. (PS – My mum makes it better than yours!)

Irish vegan recipes, chocolate Guinness cake

Serves:Times: 45minutes

Ingredients:

  • 250g of plain flour
  • 120g unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 2 tsp of baking soda
  • 220g of caster sugar
  • 100 g of light brown sugar
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 480ml Guinness
  • 120 ml of vegetable oil
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

For the “Baileys” frosting:

  • 250g of vegan butter/margarine
  • 1 tsp of vanilla extract
  • 600g of icing sugar
  • 2-3 tbsp of Irish Whiskey
  • 1/2 tsp of cocoa powder
  • 1/2 tsp of strongly brewed coffee (none of that instant malarky) 

Method:

  1. Preheat oven to 170c and grease two small cake tins with margarine and baking paper.
  2. In a bowl sift the flour, baking soda, cocoa powder, salt and sugars. Pour in the beer, oil, vanilla extract and whisk until lump-free..
  3. Pour the mixture into the lined tins and bake for 25-30 minutes,  check if it’s ready by sticking a knife into the cake, don’t worry, not everything is sentient. If it comes out clean (without cake blood on it) you’re golden.
  4. Once out of the oven let the cakes cool for 15-20 minutes in their tins before moving them to a cooling rack.

The frosting:

  1. Whisk the vegan butter and vanilla extract together until creamy. 
  2. Add icing sugar by piecemeal until well mixed
  1. Add the whiskey, cocoa powder and brewed coffee. Adjust the quantities until you’re happy with the taste. 
  2. Once the cake has cooled, spread the icing on top of one layer,  sandwich the two layers and then add the rest of the frosting on the top of the cake

Now it’s your turn! Do you have any of your own Irish vegan recipes to share? Any tips? Have you tried out any of the recipes above? Share your results by tagging us on our Instagram @babylonradiodublin! 

If you were inspired but ultimately want to sink your teeth into something a little meatier, why not check out our mouthwatering  Traditional Irish winter recipes?

Leora Mansoor
Leora Mansoor

Leora is a freelance journalist who is currently working for Babylon Radio, covering all things current and cultural

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