Is Puff Pastry Vegan? Here’s What You Should Know
Puff pastry is a type of pastry which is said to have been created in France. It has a super flaky texture with a buttery flavour and it can be used in a variety of sweet and savoury recipes. But is puff pastry vegan? Let’s take a look at that.
Next up in my ‘Is It Vegan?’ series is puff pastry. There are so many accidentally vegan foods that new vegans may not be aware of, and other foods that people often think are vegan but are not. I ate the chocolate sea salt Kind bars for quite a while before realising they contained honey and on the other hand, I went almost a whole year without realising that Jus Rol cinnamon rolls are vegan! So I’m writing these posts to help any newbies out, or for anyone who may be hosting a vegan friend or family member and is unsure what to make.
What is puff pastry?
Puff pastry is a flaky type of pastry that can be used in both cooking and baking recipes. It’s created by lamination, which means to fold fat (usually butter) into the dough repeatedly, to create thin layers.
You’ll often see this type of pastry being used in pie recipes but it can also be used for things like apple turnovers, apple pie, cinnamon rolls, pinwheels, strudel and lots more!
Puff pastry can be made at home but if you want to save time and effort, you can use ready-made puff pastry that’s found in the supermarket. I think it’s quite common to use ready-rolled pastry unless you are a very keen cook or baker.
Is puff pastry vegan?
Almost all ready-made puff pastry is vegan. The ready-rolled and ready-to-roll puff pastry that you buy in the supermarket is usually made with vegetable fats. Homemade puff pastry typically calls for butter but it can be made with dairy-free butter too. Let’s take a look at which brands of puff pastry are free from animal products.
Is Jus Rol puff pastry vegan?
Jus Rol (just roll) is a popular pastry brand in the UK. They have lots of variations of pastry available to purchase but let’s look at their chilled puff pastry block ingredients:
Wheat flour, margarine (vegetable oil (palm, rapeseed in varying proportions), water, salt, emulsifier: mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids), water, alcohol, salt, lemon juice, preservative: potassium sorbate, flour treatment agent: L-cysteine.
As you can see, there is no butter or milk in the ingredients list, meaning Jus Roll puff pastry block is vegan-friendly. Other vegan Jus Rol puff pastry products include:
- Chilled puff pastry sheets
- Chilled light puff pastry sheets
- Chilled gluten-free puff pastry sheet
- Frozen puff pastry block
- Frozen puff pastry cases
- Frozen puff pastry sheets
- Frozen puff squares
The only type of Jus Rol puff pastry that contains animal products is the chilled all butter puff pastry sheets. But as you can see, they have plenty of vegan options to choose from!
Is Asda puff pastry vegan?
Yes. Asda ready rolled puff pastry is made with the following ingredients:
Fortified Wheat Flour [Wheat Flour, Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin (B3), Thiamin (B1)], Margarine [Palm Fat, Water, Palm Oil, Rapeseed Oil, Salt, Emulsifier (Mono- and Diglycerides of Fatty Acids), Lemon Purée], Water, Wheat Gluten, Concentrated Lemon Juice, Sugar, Preservative (Potassium Sorbate), Colour (Carotenes).
As you can see, it’s free from animal products. Asda have also officially marked this product as vegan.
What about Aldi puff pastry?
Aldi Greenvale puff pastry is vegan. The ingredients are as follows:
Wheat Flour, Margarine (Palm Fat, Water, Emulsifiers: Mono- And Diglycerides Of Fatty Acids, Lecithin (Sunflower); Acidity Regulator: Citric Acid; Salt), Water, Ethanol, Sugar, Salt, Acidity Regulator: Citric Acid.
Frasers puff pastry sold in Aldi is also vegan.
Sainsbury’s
Is Sainsbury’s puff pastry vegan? Yes! Sainsbury’s ready rolled puff pastry is free from animal products and is therefore suitable for a vegan diet. The ingredients are:
Fortified Wheat Flour (Wheat Flour, Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin), Water, Vegetable Oils (Palm Oil, Rapeseed Oil), Salt, Emulsifier: Mono- and Diglycerides of Fatty Acids; Caster Sugar, Concentrated Lemon Juice, Lemon Juice, Preservative: Potassium Sorbate; Colour: Beta-carotene.
Tesco
Is Tesco’s pastry suitable for vegans? Yes. Tesco has marked their ready-rolled puff pastry as vegan. The ingredients are:
Wheat Flour (Wheat Flour, Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin), Margarine, Water, Wheat Gluten, Concentrated Lemon Juice, Sugar, Preservative (Potassium Sorbate), Colour (Beta-Carotene).
Tesco puff pastry block is also free from animal products.
Is puff pastry gluten-free?
No. Since it’s made with wheat, puff pastry is not gluten-free. However, you can make puff pastry with gluten-free flours or buy a special gluten-free one.
Other vegan puff pastry you can buy
- Co-op ready-rolled puff pastry
- Shire puff pastry block (Iceland)
- Bells ready rolled puff pastry & puff pastry block
- Lidl Chef Select puff pastry
Ways to use it
As I mentioned earlier in this post, puff pastry can be used in either cooking or baking recipes. Below are some ideas for dishes you can use it in. I also created a whole post about puff pastry desserts if you’d like some more inspiration.
- Pies, strudels and tarts (with your choice of sweet or savoury fillings)
- Cinnamon rolls
- Turnovers
- Sweet or savoury pinwheels
- Vegan sausage rolls
Related post: Is filo pastry vegan?
Summary
So, is puff pastry vegan? In most cases, yes. Ready-made puff pastry from the supermarket is almost always vegan. It’s usually made with vegetable fats but can occasionally be made with butter so always make sure to double check the ingredients list before buying. Homemade puff pastry is usually made with butter but you can substitute this for dairy-free butter.
Puff pastry is made with wheat and is therefore not gluten-free. However, some brands make gluten-free puff pastry you can buy, or you can make it yourself using gluten-free flour.
