These are my delicious crispy, festive and vegan-friendly pigs in blankets perfect for the ultimate Christmas dinner. These little piggies are extra warm, too! They’re wrapped in both puff pastry and vegan bacon with a beautiful cranberry glaze, making these genuinely the best vegan pigs in blankets I’ve ever tried.

When starting my Christmas sides series this year, I knew pigs in blankets had to feature on the list. Of course, when you’re following a vegetarian or vegan diet, however, it’s not always so easy to find great pigs in blankets.

I’m thrilled that vegan bacon has improved enough that I could find a brand in my local supermarket that worked great for this recipe…

Serve these snuggly pigs in blankets with roast potatoes, cauliflower cheese (I have a vegan version too), balsamic glazed sprouts, these easy stuffing balls, and roasted green beans and carrots.

What You’ll Need for This Recipe

This is a relatively low-fuss recipe in terms of ingredients and equipment you’ll need, but rolling the pigs in blankets can be a little time-consuming.

In terms of equipment, you’ll need a baking sheet, a large chopping board, and ideally a tool for brushing the pigs in blankets with your cranberry glaze. I use this little silicone brush which works great!

Scroll down for the exact ingredient quantities and step-by-step instructions. As an overview, you’ll need vegan cocktail sausages and vegan bacon (I share which brands I use in the recipe card), cranberry sauce, olive oil, thyme, and puff pastry. That’s it!

How To Make Your Vegan Pigs in Blankets

Step 1: Prep the pastry and the bacon

First, we’ll prep the puff pastry and vegan bacon. Cut the bacon strips in half lengthways, and then cut your puff pastry into 10 thin strips (0.5 – 1cm) around the same length as your bacon strips.

Lay the puff pastry strips down on your chopping board first, and then lay a strip of bacon over each puff pastry strips in a very narrow X shape – so the bacon isn’t laying directly on top of the puff pastry, but there’s not much room between each end, either.

Step 2: Mix up the cranberry sauce

Combine your cranberry sauce, olive oil, thyme, and salt & pepper. Then, brush the pastry/bacon strips with a light coating of the sauce.

Step 3: Wrap up your pigs (sausages

Lay one end of your cocktail sausage across the top edge of your pastry/bacon strip. Roll it down the strips, wrapping the sausage, with the opposite edge of the pastry and bacon finishing at the other end of the sausage.

Step 4: Brush with the remaining cranberry glaze

Line up your vegan pigs in blankets on a baking tray, and then brush the tops with the remaining cranberry glaze. Bake for 12 – 15 minutes or until the puff pastry looks cooked and golden brown, and the pigs in blankets are cooked.

Storing

If you’re planning on making your vegan pigs in blankets as a part of a much bigger meal (for example, for your Christmas dinner), I completely understand not wanting to be rolling up cocktail sausages when you have a million other side dishes to prepare!

You can make your pigs in blankets ahead of time (they should last up to 2 days uncooked in the fridge once prepared) and simply wait to cook them when you’re ready.

Once cooked, these pigs in blankets are best served immediately. However, you can store leftovers in the refrigerator in an airtight container for 3-5 days and either enjoy hot or cold.

Using Fake Meats for Vegan or Vegetarian Cooking

I have a small handful of recipes on my blog that have fake meat featured, and that is a very intentional choice I’ve made. Recipes we’ve had featured include this Vegetarian Chicken Fajitas recipe, Easy Quorn Curry, and this delicious Easy One Pot Sausage and Bean Casserole.

I enjoy meat substitutes on occasion and think they can make for an easy and delicious high-protein meal. However, I also love sharing recipes featuring chickpeas, beans, and lentils even more.

I found that vegan pigs in blankets simply couldn’t be replicated without using a meat substitute, which is why I used vegan cocktail sausages and vegan bacon.

However, I have seen some recipes using tempeh or rice paper for the “bacon” component, so you could try that if you’d like to avoid a fake bacon ingredient.

More Roast Dinner Recipes

• Classic Crispy Roasted Potatoes
• Vegan Cauliflower Cheese
• Roasted Frozen Green Beans Recipe
• Honey Garlic Butter Carrots