As a native Scotsman with a vegan food blog, this occasion is nothing short of momentous. After much trial and tribulation – and lots of meals to use up the leftovers of experiments gone wrong – it gives me great pleasure to share my recipe for the ultimate vegan haggis.
There are few things more Scottish than the hallowed haggis, and upholders of tradition will no doubt have steam coming out of their ears at the thought of veganising it. But times change, and all I’ll say is don't knock it until you’ve tried it.
If you have any leftovers, why not treat yourself to a vegan haggis toastie, haggis fritter, or haggis quesadilla?
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What is haggis?
Often described as Scotland’s national dish, traditional haggis is a meat pudding that consists of sheep’s heart, liver, and lungs, together with oatmeal, suet, and spices, all cooked inside the stomach of the animal itself. It is usually served alongside neeps (mashed swede or turnip) and tatties (mashed potato).
Haggis is eaten throughout the year in Scotland, but its popularity spikes around 25th January when it plays a central role in Burns Night celebrations.
The truth about haggis
Want to know a secret? Most modern Scots don’t prepare haggis from scratch themselves. Like sausages, they either get it from a local butcher or – as is much more common – straight off a refrigerated supermarket shelf.
Fair enough. Even as a meat-eater, I rarely had sheep’s heart, liver, or lung lying around the house to make haggis with.
And while you could make the same argument about vegans or vegetarians buying their meat-free versions from a supermarket, at least there’s a viable alternative here to create your own from scratch.
What’s in vegan haggis?
It’s quite straightforward to recreate the texture and flavour of traditional haggis, with the key ingredients of pinhead oats, pepper, and nutmeg (just like in this vegan white pudding).
Beyond that, different recipes call for different lentils or beans to substitute the offal, and nuts or seeds to add some fat and texture. I include portobello mushrooms and yeast extract to cover the umami side of things.
Is vegan haggis healthy?
The oats, lentils, and sunflower seeds in this recipe are packed full of plant-based protein. In fact, one serving of this vegan haggis will provide you with over 50% of the recommended daily amount of protein.
Pulses like lentils are nutritional powerhouses, offering fibre, vitamins, and minerals in a way that won't break the bank. Want to learn more? Check out my Beginner's Guide to Pulses.
Using the right oats
To get the right consistency, it’s important to use pinhead oats a.k.a. 'steel-cut' oats. I played around with several versions that used normal rolled porridge oats, but this resulted in a completely different texture (they're better for porridge or things like easy oat cookies).
I managed to track down pinhead oats in a local wholefood shop, where I also picked up the black beluga lentils.
How to make haggis gluten-free
Oats are a gluten-free ingredient, however they are sometimes processed in environments where there's a risk of cross-contamination.
If you're wanting to ensure that this recipe is 100% gluten-free, use pinhead oats, a yeast extract, and a vegan stock that are certified gluten-free.
How to make vegan haggis
Start by frying the onion and carrot together in a pan, followed by the mushrooms, lentils, and spices.
Then it's in with the pinhead oats, Marmite, and veg stock. Cook this together for 15 minutes until you have a very thick porridge mix, before turning off the heat and stirring through the chopped sunflower seeds.
Spoon the mix into a greased loaf tin and bake in the oven for approx. 30 minutes. To make the outside extra crispy, turn up the heat slightly towards the end.
Once cooked, remove from the oven and allow to stand for five minutes before serving.
What to serve with vegan haggis
Haggis is traditionally served alongside neeps (mashed swede or turnip) and tatties (mashed potatoes), as well as greens such as cabbage or kale. The neeps and tatties are both very easy to veganise – simply use plant-based butter and plant-based milk when mashing.
If you want to take your haggis game up a level, I'd highly recommend pairing it with this Vegan Whisky Cream Sauce. Featuring a creamy cashew base, subtle sweet whisky notes, and hints of mustard and lemon, it's the perfect way to top it all off.
Variations/tips for vegan haggis
- Quantity: If making larger quantities of the haggis, make sure you have large enough tins/dishes to bake it in the oven.
- Lentils: I'd highly recommend the black beluga lentils if you can find them, but tinned or pre-cooked cooked brown, green, or Puy lentils would also work.
- Oats: It's important to use pinhead or 'steel-cut' oats for this – rolled porridge oats simply don't work in the same way. You could swap out some of the pinhead oats for cooked pearl barley.
- Texture: If you want a meatier texture, try adding some plant-based mince.
- Sauce: I personally like this dish without any sauce, but you could add gravy or vegan whisky cream sauce. Some people like to pour a dram of straight whisky over their haggis, but I'll leave that decision entirely up to you...
How to store vegan haggis
Refrigerate: Store this haggis in the fridge for up to four days. The easiest way to reheat is in the microwave, but you could also reheat in the oven (covered with foil to prevent burning).
Freeze: Store this haggis in the freezer in sealed containers or resealable bags for up to six months. Defrost before reheating in the microwave or in the oven (see above).
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More vegan recipe ideas
If you liked this recipe, you may also enjoy:
- Ultimate Vegan Fish Pie
- Vegan Biryani with Chickpeas
- Vegan Goulash (Hungarian Stew)
- Easy Vegan Scotch Broth
- Vegan Cranachan (Scottish Dessert)
- Vegan Skirlie (Oatmeal Stuffing)
- Jackfruit 'Beef' Stew
- Ultimate Vegan Lasagne
You can also check out my full list of Scottish vegan recipes.
Ultimate Vegan Haggis
Ingredients
- 20 g plant-based butter or margarine
- 1 large onion, peeled and finely chopped
- 1 large carrot, peeled and grated
- 2 portobello/flat cap mushrooms, finely diced
- 1x 400 g tin black beluga lentils, drained (you could also use cooked brown, green, or Puy lentils)
- 1 level teaspoon white pepper
- 1 level teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 250 g pinhead oats (it's important to use pinhead or 'steel-cut' oats, see notes below for gluten-free option)
- 1½ tablespoons Marmite (or other yeast extract if GF)
- 400 ml veg stock (plus more water if needed)
- 30 g sunflower seeds, chopped
Instructions
- Heat the butter in a pan. Add the onion and carrot and cook for 5-6 minutes.
- Add in the finely diced mushrooms and cook for another 3-4 minutes.
- Add the lentils, white pepper, and nutmeg and stir through for a couple of minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (360°F).
- To the pan, add the pinhead oats, Marmite, and veg stock. Cook for 15 minutes on a low heat, stirring regularly. The mix should become quite thick, but add a splash more water if it seems too thick.
- After 15 minutes, turn off the heat and stir through the chopped sunflower seeds.
- Spoon the mix into a greased loaf tin and bake in the oven for approx. 30 minutes. To make the outside extra crispy, turn up the heat slightly towards the end.
- Once cooked, remove from the oven and allow to stand for five minutes. Serve with neeps, tatties, cabbage or kale, and vegan whisky cream sauce. If you have any leftovers, why not treat yourself to a vegan haggis toastie, haggis fritter, or haggis quesadilla?
Notes
- Ultimate Vegan Fish Pie
- Vegan Stovies (Scottish Potato Stew)
- Easy Vegan Scotch Broth
- Vegan Cranachan (Scottish Dessert)
- Smoky Mushroom & Red Lentil Pâté
- Vegan Cottage Pie
- Easy Vegan Scalloped Potatoes (Dauphinoise)
- Ultimate Vegan Lasagne
Nutrition
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Chris Roberts
I love haggis, and I totally love this recipe! Just perfect with neeps, tatties and whisky sauce. Last week I made it for friends who were visiting Scotland from California and they loved it too! I needed to make a larger quantity this time and had no more lentils, so added half a tin of black beans that I mashed a little. That worked so well I'll probably do it again. I also add ground pumpkin seeds along with the sunflower seeds, just because I like the flavour.
The Pesky Vegan
Those sound like good additions, cheers for the review!
frances
hello,
should i soak or otherwise cook the pinhead oats beforehand? (sorry, i admit i am not familiar with using them!)
thank you,
frances
The Pesky Vegan
Hi there, no this isn't necessary. The oats will cook in the pan for a while before baking in the oven, and the idea is that they still have a little bit of bite in the final dish. Hope this helps!
Desirée
Peace Alistair,
My name is Desirée. Thank you for this recipe! Do you have to cook the lentils beforehand?
Gratefully,
Desirée
The Pesky Vegan
Hi there! This recipe calls for tinned lentils, which means they've already been cooked as part of the canning process. If using dried lentils, these will need to be cooked separately before using in this recipe. Hope this helps!
Darlene D Stone
I substituted nutritional yeast for the marmite; and chopped walnuts for the sunflower seeds
The Pesky Vegan
Thanks for the tips!
Theresa
I made this for Burns' Night, along with the Whisky Cream Sauce, and it was absolutely delicious!
The last time I had vegan haggis this good was at Henderson's Restaurant in Edinburgh back in 2013.
My housemate, who isn't vegan, absolutely loved it and went back for seconds!
The Pesky Vegan
Great to hear, cheers for the review!
Marjorie Paterson
An amazing recipe…I will be making this again and again.And the Whisky Sauce too. Thank you so much. I made it for a family Burns Night, and it was a great success.
I love your blog…so many good recipes that turn out tasty.😌
The Pesky Vegan
Thanks for the kind words Marjorie, glad you've enjoyed the haggis!
Liz
LOVED this!! Easy to make and very delicious. Will definitely be making again. Thanks for the recipe 🙌🏻
The Pesky Vegan
Thanks for the review, glad you enjoyed it!
Sophie
I made this for our Burns supper tonight, because it was impossible to find a veggie haggis in our part of London. The guests really enjoyed it and my husband said it was nicer than the one I usually buy (to be honest I can’t remember what that one tastes like, so I can’t compare them, but this homemade one was certainly very nice). I switched most of the oats for barley as it was impossible to find pinhead oats as well! I also upped the quantity of mushrooms quite significantly, just because I like them.
Thank you for sharing this recipe. I can’t wait to make haggis fritters with the leftovers tomorrow!
The Pesky Vegan
Sounds great, thanks very much for the review!
Kitty
Delicious! Made this for a Burns night dinner party. It was a hit! Even the meat was eaters enjoyed it
The Pesky Vegan
Result – cheers for the review!
Eleanor
Excellent.
The Pesky Vegan
Glad you enjoyed!
Valerie
This is the best vegan haggis recipe! I’ve made it 2 years in a row for Burns Night celebration and everyone loves it. We make the sides of beeps and tatties and next year I will also add dessert. Mine is gluten free and vegan. Thank you!!
The Pesky Vegan
Beep-beep, tatties coming through! Thanks for the review!
Jo Austin
Absolutely the best haggis recipe I have made. Used some soya mince and less lentils. Fantastic texture and taste. It is the recipe I will always use now 😋
The Pesky Vegan
Soya mince sounds like a good addition – glad you enjoyed!
Harry
Hey! I made this for burns night, and it turned out super! I made one small change, which maybe you'd be interested in, and that is, I shaped the haggis into ball shapes, and wrapped the haggis in those clear Vietnamese spring roll wrappers to replicate the skin, so you're able to stab the haggis! It works out pretty well 🙂
The Pesky Vegan
Ah very interesting, I'll have to give that a go at some point!
Jo
Soooooo good
The Pesky Vegan
Glad you enjoyed!
Marie
Made this yesterday. It was a triumph! Swapped out some of the oats for pearl barley and used shitake mushrooms instead of portobello. Also added in some chopped pumpkin seeds, pistachio and walnuts to the mix. Won't be buying Haggis anymore as this was much nicer.
The Pesky Vegan
Sounds like a resounding success – cheers for the review!
Katrina
So good! Definitely going to make again!!!
The Pesky Vegan
Wonderful, thanks for the review!
Christine
This was such a hit here at home. Thank you so much for the easy-to-follow instructions. Family says it is so much better than the traditional version, it is in its own league.
The Pesky Vegan
That's what we like to hear, cheers for leaving a review!
Sholom in Upstate NY
I’ve made this recipe three times- once for a world whisky dinner and for Burns Night 2022 & 2023.
It’s easy and exceedingly tasty!
And, it’s great as leftovers for several days with eggs for breakfast or as a mid-afternoon meal.
The Pesky Vegan
Great to hear, thanks for the review!
Peter McKechnie
I have been a veggie since Moses was a lad, but in the distant archives of my memory I remember that I had “real” haggis when I was very young, as my father was very Scottish (from Ardesier). Since then it had remained forbidden fruit until Macsween came up with their veggy version, which I enjoy regularly (well probably I won’t need to now :-). When I happened upon your version, I just had to make it. I don’t usually follow recipes exactly; I just chuck in whatever seems vaguely appropriate. However, in this case I acquired the correct oats etc and stuck meticulously to your recipe, with the exception of using lots of black pepper, because I didn’t have any white. Full of trepidation I pulled the cooked haggis out of the oven, let it cool a bit and then tasted it. It was absolutely magnificent and even my carnivore wife (she who must be obeyed), agreed that it was extremely tasty! Thank you so much for coming up with this recipe, lang may yer lum reek.
The Pesky Vegan
Music to my ears, great to hear it went down well!
Jan
Vegan Haggis?? Who would have thought it!!
This recipe was a resounding success, enjoyed by all, with plenty of leftovers to go in the freezer for another time.
I struggled to get the right oats and found them in the end as 'coarse oatmeal' in a health food shop. Couldn't get a tin of beluga lentils, so I cooked up some of my favourite Pardina lentils instead.
I'm excited to try the vegan white pudding soon as well.
All round a complete winner. Thanks Alastair for another top recipe!
The Pesky Vegan
There's certainly flexibility with the lentils/pulses you use, but glad you managed to find coarse oatmeal to get the right texture. It's all about the oats with this one. Thanks for the review!