If you live in the United Kingdom like me, finding good vegan food shouldn’t be too difficult, especially if you live in a fairly well-populated city like London or Manchester.
However, even if you don’t, there are still plenty of handy tips and tricks you can learn about purchasing vegan-friendly produce no matter where you live.
Where to buy vegan groceries (UK)
The best places to buy fresh vegan groceries are Lidl, Aldi and Oddbox. They are all relatively well-priced and have a great range of fruits and vegetables.
In regards to vegan processed foods including the likes of tofu, veggie burgers, frozen foods and so on, the best would include Aldi, Tesco & Ocado. These 3 have you covered in terms of range and quality.
To break this down for you further, vegan groceries can be defined as items of food that were produced without any animal involvement or slaughter.
Vegan groceries can also be split into two categories that can be helpful for beginners.
- Inherently vegan food
- processed vegan food
All of the naturally occurring plant-based foods are in the first category. These foods include your
- Fruits
- Vegetables
- Nuts (almond, pecan)
- Grains (rice, quinoa, oatmeal)
- legumes (beans, lentils)
These categories of vegan foods are easy to buy and can be purchased from virtually anywhere, however, some places are better suited for vegan shoppers. Let’s talk about which ones in particular…
Where to buy Inherently vegan food
Lidl
As I’ve mentioned before in my ‘how to buy whole foods’ blog, Lidl is a great supermarket for UK shoppers to purchase ‘inherently vegan food’ like your veg and beans. This is simply because their prices are, on average, the lowest.
What’s more is that, depending on which lidl you go to, you may see a ‘Too Good To Waste box’. With these, you can pick up a box full of fruit and vegetables for £1.50, and for the most part, the food is absolutely fine.
The only problem is consuming the produce before they begin to perish, but in my opinion, it’s a fair deal considering such a low price. Moreover, the range of veggies you can get will aid you in creating nutritionally varied meals.
A box full of fruit and veg would usually cost you over £10 so if you are able to head over to Lidl and grab a too-good-to-waste box, you should go ahead and do that.
Even if your local Lidl does not have one, the overall pricing at Lidl is solid, so consider picking up your produce from there.
Aldi
With Aldi, you get a good mix of low prices, a wide range of vegan options and lots of natural produce. If you like vegan processed foods, aldi also has your back. They have their own signature ‘plant menu’ with 70, 100% vegan-approved items.
If you have an Aldi nearby and you haven’t visited, you may be surprised to know they’re pretty vegan-friendly. Although I try to stay away from heavily processed foods, there are still plenty of good options for a health-conscious person like me.
Here’s a rundown of things you can pick up from Aldi
- Plant-based meats. (bacon, chicken fillets, fish fingers)
- Ready-made vegan meals, wraps and sandwiches
- Vegan-approved crisps
- Vegan candy
- Vegan ice cream and mochi
- Vegan milk (further reading – What is plant-based milk?)
- Vegan chocolate (further reading – Vegan Chocolate – What’s inside & how it’s made.)
Oddbox
Over at oddbox.co.uk, you can order fresh fruits and vegetables that would have been wasted due to “deformities” I recently purchased the small fruit and veg box and I’m excited to share what I receive once it comes. In the meantime let me tell you why they’re worth looking into…
In the words of oddbox themselves – ” Fruit and veg can be at risk of going to waste for all kinds of reasons – it could be “too big”, “too odd” or just “too many”. For this reason, oddbox rescues fruit and veg. They simply email you a ‘rescue list’, pack everything up and deliver it to you overnight to keep emissions low. (The box is stored in a safe place of your choosing)
Some key benefits of choosing oddbox
- You can choose which fruit and veg you want to leave out of your box.
- You can skip deliveries, pause your subscription or leave anytime
- Help to turn around the 3 million tonnes of fruit & veg that are wasted before they leave the farm.
- Each box comes with recipes
If you’d like, you can get £10 off of your first Oddbox delivery with this referral link which will direct you to the oddbox website.
I would say you can get more bang for your buck at shops like lidl or even your local fresh fruit and veg market.
Although oddbox is great, if you are on a budget the other two choices may suit you better. Oddbox is pricey in comparison to Lidl and Aldi however I love their mission and the fact they deliver!
When it comes to vegan processed foods, if you recall earlier I said Tesco, Aldi & Ocado would be your best bets here’s why…
Ocado has over 3000 vegan products and Tesco has a nice assortment of quality plant-based foods and vegan alternatives. Take my word for whatever it’s worth, but I believe Tesco has the best-tasting vegan processed foods.
Where to buy processed vegan food
Processed vegan food can be described as non-animal ingredient foods, which have gone through a manufacturing process to alter their palatability or edibility.
‘Healthy/minimally’ vegan processed foods include:
- Tofu
- Tempeh
- Seiten (Depending on gluten intolrances)
- Canned legumes
- Canned fruit and veg
- frozen fruit and veg
Ultra-processed vegan foods include
- Vegan cheese
- Crisps, cookies, cakes, biscuits ect
- Breakfast cereals
- Instant meals/ microwave meals
- Ready frozen meals
- Mass-produced bread
- Ice cream
Tesco
I buy my tofu from Tesco and prior to cutting down on processed foods, I would indulge in the fantastic Wicked range, which consists of:
- On-the-go porridge
- A selection of vegan pizzas( e.g pepperoni, sourdough pizza, veg and mushroom)
- A selection of meal kits (e.g shwarma, shiitake ramen, Korean mushrooms shreds)
- Ready meals (e.g Cauliflower tikka, vegan lasagne)
- Frozen ready meals
- Meal pots (e.g Vegan Mac n cheese)
- Plant-based meats
- seasonings
- sauces (e.g teriyaki, Asian-style BBQ, mango sauce)
- Lots of snacks ( cookies, cupcakes, muffins, pies, ice creams)
On top of this, Tesco has a great vegan frozen foods section which tastes very good. Their vegan sausage rolls, meatballs, nuggets, pizzas and so forth, are top quality and stand atop the hill of processed vegan supermarket produce.
On the downside, their prices are a little higher than I can get over at Lidl and Aldi so I do prefer those stores.
Ocado
As of the 13th of November 2022, Ocado has 3453 vegan-approved products on its site! Now that’s a lot of stuff right? Ocado is a same-day grocery service who are both reasonable in price and big on quality. Anything you’re looking for is almost guaranteed to be on Ocado.
For me, Ocado is a good website for finding and trying out different vegan products, whether it be their selection of plant-based milk or interesting vegan sauces
Using their site, you can easily navigate through different categories within the vast amount of vegan products.
How I buy vegan food in London
The table below will outline what I usually purchase, where I buy it from, and how much it costs.
| Item Name | Store Bought From | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Kidney Beans x 2 | Lidl | £ 0.60 (850ml) |
| Carrots (pack of 9) | Lidl | £ 0.99 (750g) |
| Potatoes | Tesco | £1.05 (2.5kg) |
| Loose Sweet potatoes | Tesco | £1.10/kg |
| Red Lentils | Tesco | £1.35 (500g) |
| Spinach | Lidl | £ 0.72 (200g) |
| Plum Tomatoes | Lidl | £ 0.69 (325g) |
| Red Onion x 3 | Lidl | £0.72 |
| Garlic x 4 | Lidl | £ 0.59 |
| Red Pepper | Lidl | £ 0.55 |
| Cauldron Falafels | Tesco | £2.45 (£1.75 Clubcard price) |
| Cauldron Tofu x 2 | Tesco | £5 (800g) |
| Cauldron marinated tofu x 2 | Tesco | £5 (320g) |
| Mushrooms x 2 | Tesco | £1.80 (600g) |
| Quinoa | Tesco | £2 (300g) |
| Chickpeas x 2 | Lidl | £0.90 (850g) |
| Nutritional Yeast | Amazon | £6.95 (150g) |
| Grapes x 2 | Lidl | £2.80(1kg) |
| Banana bunch | Lidl | £1.20 (bunch of 6) |
| Oranges x 2 | Tesco | £1.00 (50p each) |
| Apples | Lidl | £1.19 ( 6 pack) |
| Oat Milk | Waitrose | £1.75 |
| Spring onions | Lidl | £ 0.35 |
| Cashews | Lidl | £1.50 (200g) |
| Sauces & Pastes | Lidl, Tesco & Local Ethnic superstores | £6 |
| Hummus | Lidl | £0.69 (200g) |
Total: £49.94
I do not buy every item on this list weekly, so my total varies, but this is a nice depiction of how I shop for groceries in London. If you know where to find cheaper groceries please head to the comments and fill us all in!
Where to buy vegan snacks in the uk
Vegan snacks can be bought from in-store retailers like Aldi, Tesco, and Holland & Barrett, or from online stores like amazon and greenbay.com. You’ll have plenty of variety no matter which way you go but let’s break it down a bit further…
When it comes to vegan snacks, I like to break them into 2 categories.
- ‘Accidentally’ vegan snacks ( Snacks that weren’t necessarily intended to be vegan but are)
- Ordinary vegan snacks (For further reading -‘ The best vegan snacks to buy in 2022′)
*If on mobile swipe to view whole table*
| ‘Accidentally’ vegan snack name | Where to buy from (click name for link) |
|---|---|
| Oreos | Ocado |
| Takis | Amazon |
| Strawberry Poptarts | Tesco |
| Ritz crackers | Sainsbury’s |
| sour patch kids watermelon | Amazon |
| Nature Valley Crunchy Granola Bars | Local Retailers |
| Sun Bites | Sainsbury’s |
| Swedish Fish | Morrisons |
| Ryvita Multi-Seed Thins | Tesco |
| Jacob’s Cream Crackers | Asda |
| Jammie Dodgers | Amazon |
| Fox’s Cookie Minis | Tesco |
| Bourbon Biscuits | Amazon |
| Pringles – Original, BBQ, Paprika | Tesco |
| Skips Tingly Prawn Cocktail | Asda |
| Walkers Sensations – Poppadoms, | Tesco |
| Skittles | Amazon |
| Lindt Dark Chocolate | Amazon |
Where to buy vegan-made snacks
Holland & Barrett are a great option if you have one nearby. Their prices are a little higher than I like, but they have a great range of vegan snacks with over 280 products.
Tesco is fantastic for vegan snackers now, especially with their wicked range. In case you didn’t know, in most Tesco’s there are now Wicked Kitchen aisles or dedicated areas, as well as ‘free-from aisles, which are foods and snacks that are free from gluten, egg, milk and often soya.
Because of this, you can find a ton of vegan snacks, as the list below will illustrate.
- BBQ Pretzel Grills
- Salt & Pepper Pretzels
- Chia Seed Cashews
- Salt & Vinegar Squares
- Chipotle Spiced Crackers
- Sourdough Charcoal & Sesame Crackers
- Jam Filled Biscuits
- Cinnamon Scrolls
- Cupcakes
- Shortbread
- Double Chocolate Cookies
- Orange Chocolate Cookies
- Doughnuts
- Maple & Pecan Nut Bites
- Salted Caramel Chocolate
- Strawberry Cheesecakes
- Brownie Sundaes
- Tiramisu
- Apple Pie
And believe me, the list goes on. All vegan btw.
If your local Tesco does not have the snack you want, check the Wicked Kitchen Website, their tool can locate wicked products near you and tells you how many products are in those stores. Link below.
https://wickedkitchen.com/plant-based-foods-product-finder/
Tesco – Free-from Snacks (Most of the range is vegan but a few are not)
- Chocolate Coated Honeycomb
- Custard Creams
- Ginger Nuts
- Bourbon Creams
- Belgian Chocolate Wafers
- Chocolate & Crispie Bar
- Dark Chocolate Ginger Cookies
- Chocolate Buttons
- Chocolate Digestives
- Chocolate Chip Cookie
- Cheese Flavour Balls
- Chilli & Lime Tortillas
- Cheese Flavour Tortilla Chips
The vegan Kind is a 100% vegan online shopping market. They have over 5000 products, offer free shipping and do next-day deliveries on orders before 2 pm.
In the case of vegan snacks, they have over 250 of ’em!
Head over and discover categories like:
- Fairtrade
- BCorp
- Plastic Free
- Compostable
- High Protein
- Low Fat
- Low Sugar
- Low Salt
- Palm Oil Free
- Non-GMO
- Organic
- Nut free
And more
These thoughtful categories will allow you to easily find the perfect vegan snack that matches your personal needs!
Buying vegan food in the UK (rural areas)
If you don’t live in a city, your best bet as a vegan would be to stick to your inherently vegan food like your fruits, grains, legumes and veg. This is because processed vegan foods are much harder to find outside of the city, and many UK food delivery services are confined within cities. ( with the exception of accidentally vegan foods)
When I go on holidays with the family out of London, I often struggle to find the vegan foods I like such as tofu, tempeh, falafels, nutritional yeast, oat milk, wheat-alternative pasta (like lentil pasta) and so on.
Because of this I just stick to the ordinary. I just buy cheap vegetables, grains, fruits and legumes, and I am able to get creative in the kitchen with just those. A lot of my recipes rely on simple, easy-to-obtain ingredients. So once you pick up some fresh groceries head on over and check out some delicious recipes.
Living in a rural area away from the city means less variety, fewer alternatives and fewer like-minded people. This means being a vegan can be harder. Especially if there are no nearby, well-established supermarkets that have had a demand for vegan products.
Because of this, the path of least resistance would likely be a processed-foods-free vegan diet. Focusing on buying the cheapest and easiest foods that are closest to you, (this means you might have to forget about vegan cheeses and tofu.)
Lidl is a great place to pick fresh fruits and vegetables. From their locations to the immediate environment, it shows a business focused on delivering excellent services. I always take advantage of their too-good-to-waste box when I have friends coming around. That way, I am sure we will exhaust the fruits. And there will be no waste
Exactly, I think minimising waste should be a bigger priority globally.
I had a tough time keeping up with my vegan diet when I first got to the UK because I couldn’t locate the shops. After a week or so, I got to know a few places like Oddbox where I placed orders online and had them delivered to where I was. So I think it’s generally a good article you’ve written here
It can certainly be tough if you’re not sure of what you’re doing.
My sister-in-law turned vegan more than a year ago and she said she’s never felt better. Here in the Philippines, there are so many shops and places where which to buy vegan products. But a couple of weeks from now, she’s finally joining her husband in the UK. Although she’s very excited to go there, she’s more concerned about where to find vegan food in the UK.
I am really glad I landed on your site. After finding out about these many places that sell vegan food such as Lidl, Aldi, and Oddbox, I know that my sister-in-law will do just fine, especially since these vegan foods are not only 100% approved vegan but they are also affordable.
I will forward your post’s URL to my sister-in-law so she will stop worrying about where to get vegan food once she arrives in the UK.
Thanks, Zedek.
Wow right on time I guess! Glad this article will be put to practical use!
Being a vegan like myself, it is important for me to know where I can find vegan food for my everyday needs. There are not many places that offer a good variety of choices for people on vegan diets, I like Aldi, even though it can be overpriced. This is some valuable information that is needed for a lot of people, I am going to share with my social media followers.
Thank you for your valuable comment! I find Aldi to be quite well-priced, so to hear that is quite surprising!
I would like to leave a comment concerning “Oddbox” in my opinion I feel that it’s false advertising. Their picture shows a box overflowing with a variety of vegetables and fruits which is stimulating to the eyes and enhances salivation but the reality is the items only fill one third of the box. I totally love the concept but the pricing is extortionate considering that these foods would not have been sold otherwise
Yea, I understand what you mean I cannot disagree with the fact that they could put more in the box espescially since the produce was going to be wasted.