Delicious Vegan Meals on the Go: From Avanti to easyJet!
The vegan revolution is marching on. Major UK supermarkets, restaurants, and coffee shops are now serving wonderful vegan options, and more and more people are eating plant-based for animals, the environment, and their health. Now, many train companies, airlines, service stations, and ferry operators are getting on board. These are the ones to watch:
Aer Lingus
The Irish airline’s on-board menu has a vegan meal on flights between Ireland and Europe. Try the vegan tikka masala wrap with chickpeas, mango chutney, carrot, and baby spinach. The menu also boasts a caramel rocky road bar from The Foods of Athenry, while in-flight shoppers will also find vegan and animal test–free skincare products certified by the PETA US global “Beauty Without Bunnies” programme.
Avanti West Coast
Avanti West Coast operates services from London all the way to Glasgow, and it’s on the right track when it comes to vegan fare. From the on-board shop, try the Coronation Chickpea Wrap or Peppenoni Panini and a lemon drizzle flapjack or Kind bar for a sweet snack. Treats for first-class passengers include the Breakfast Hash – a mix of potato, sun-blushed tomatoes, and vegan black bean and tomato sausage – or Coronation Chickpea Salad with crunchy chickpeas, red pepper, onion, and a tangy madras dressing. Soya milk is available for hot drinks.
British Airways
Travellers, rejoice! British Airways now has vegan options on short-haul flights. Order a sweet and spicy falafel wrap, a garlic and herb couscous pot, dark chocolate and sea salt praline truffles, a LoveRaw M:lk Choc Cre&m Wafer Bar, and more! The wrap was designed by chef Tom Kerridge and is filled with sweet potato falafel, crunchy carrot, and lightly spiced mango chutney. You can pre-order from the High Life Café menu before your flight. As part of a sustainability push, vegan burgers and other plant-based options will be served in British Airways lounges in the UK and US.
East Midlands Railway
PETA loves that East Midlands Railway launched 32 vegan food and drink options for “Veganuary”! Top picks include the vegan sweet and spicy chickpea wrap, burrito, sausages, pain au chocolat, chocolate brownie, and the range of hot drinks with soya milk. Customers in first class and standard class can enjoy these vegan treats, so sit back and watch the world roll by.
easyJet
easyJet’s EAT. DRINK. SHOP menu includes many delicious vegan options. Tuck into a Naked Japanese Style Katsu Curry rice pot – packed full of authentic natural flavours – or opt for Thai Chilli Crunchits, crisps, olives, or other snacks. The vegan “Free From” snack box includes Nairn’s oatcakes, Joe and Seph’s Toffee Apple and Cinnamon Gourmet Popcorn, hummus, a dark chocolate and salted caramel Raw Halo bar, and smoked BBQ–flavour Love Corn. The airline also offers a mouthwatering penne pomodoro for something more substantial. Oat milk sachets are available for your choice of hot drink, so sit back, relax, and sip away as you watch the world fly by.
Greater Anglia
Greater Anglia recognises the growing demand for vegan food and the benefits to the planet of not eating meat and now has options at the café bar and trolley service. Grab a vegan sausage roll to start and a berry muffin for something sweet.
Irish Ferries
Irish Ferries was the first ferry company operating out of the UK to have vegan items on the menu. On its Holyhead to Dublin service, there are several plant-based options at various eateries. From its club-class lounge Martello, enjoy the superfood salad or Thai red curry, while the kids’ menu features ramen with fried tofu. Soya milk is available for tea, coffee, porridge, and muesli. Options from Boylan’s Brasserie include the Fishless Fish & Chips with VBites “fish” steaks or a Moving Mountains burger with white cheddar–style grated cheese, vegan mayonnaise, and thick-cut chips.
Jet2
Jet2 is flying high when it comes to delicious vegan options. The on-board menu has penne arrabbiata or a snack box containing chocolate, oat cakes, hummus, and corn snacks, and there is soya milk for tea and coffee. You can choose an onion bhaji mango wrap with minted slaw for something light or pre-order a hot vegan meal when you book your flight. Choose between the Moroccan-spiced vegetable tagine with couscous and the all-day vegan breakfast with grilled tofu sausages, hash browns, and sautéed mushrooms in tomato sauce.
LNER
London North Eastern Railway (LNER) operates trains to London, northeast England, and Scotland. The Let’s Eat menu is available from the on-board shop or for pre-order direct to your seat. Vegan options include the Gudness Poha rice pot and Chickpea Curry Naanster. The first-class Deli menu features a fruity flapjack or THIS sausage sandwich for breakfast or brunch, and for lunch and dinner, you can get a toasted teacake ordered with Flora or a Mexican-style grains salad. The first-class Dine menu also offers a full English breakfast with wilted spinach, THIS plant-based sausage, hash browns, mushrooms, and baked beans. The evening menu includes a warming vegetable masala. Oatly oat milk is available for hot drinks. Full steam ahead!
Lumo
Lumo runs low-fare electric trains from London to Edinburgh, and as part of its sustainability philosophy, over 50% of the menu is plant-based. Highlights include the M&S Plant Kitchen Hoisin No Duck Wrap and The Pasty Shop’s vegan pasty or “sausage” roll. There are also plenty of snacks and vegan sweets on board so if you’re planning a trip between London and Edinburgh be sure to pre-order with LumoEats.
P&O Ferries
Sailing from the UK to Belgium, France, Ireland, and the Netherlands, P&O Ferries has some great vegan food available. Current vegan dishes at The Brasserie restaurant include a roasted-vegetable pizza with dairy-free cheese, sweet potato fries, and linguine all’arrabbiata served with hard vegan cheese, sun-blushed tomatoes, olives, and basil oil.
Roadchef
Roadchef is one of the UK’s leading motorway and trunk road service area operators. It operates in 30 locations, offering a number of popular brands, including McDonald’s, Costa, LEON, and The Cornish Bakery, with a wide variety of great vegan options. Its own Fresh Food Café at larger service stations offers a range of new vegan dishes perfect for a quick but filling bite on the road.
Our top picks include a cooked breakfast with THIS vegan sausages and bacon, mushrooms, beans, and hash browns; a breakfast bap with three Quorn vegan sausages; vegan hot dog in a brioche roll with mustard, ketchup, and crispy onions; Moving Mountains vegan cheeseburger; New York deli bagel using Violife or Hello vegan cheese; Moving Mountains vegan fish and chips.
Note that the retailers, restaurants, and vegan options present at each service station vary.Ryanair
Ryanair’s menu offers vegan meals, drinks, and snack options. The airline’s vegan lasagne with roasted vegetables and a soya bechamel sauce has been a huge hit, and it continues to be available on all European flights, along with snacks like multi-seed pretzel thins and original-flavour Pringles. Try a Prosecco upgrade – now, that’s travelling in style.
Stena Line
This ferry company has set sail for a better future: it has added more vegan options across all its European passenger routes as part of its policy to reduce its impact on the environment. On ships departing UK ports, you can find a vegan burger topped with a chipotle sauce, baby gem lettuce, tomato, pickle, and red onion, tucked in a brioche bun and served with chunky chips. Otherwise try its bean chilli bowl served with sourdough.
Transport for Wales
Transport for Wales has a fantastic vegan option for first-class breakfast dining: a feast of vegan sausages, smashed avocado, hash browns, baked beans, button mushrooms, grilled tomatoes, and toast awaits those embarking on an early morning commute. As part of its festive selection, the service also offers a soft white roll filled with tasty nut-free vegan roast, stuffing, and juicy cranberry sauce.
Virgin Atlantic
Virgin Atlantic offers some great plant-based options for every flight. Pre-order Jealous Sweets’ jelly Grizzly Bears or choose poppadoms with dips from the Food for Thought & Mini Bar selection. In “Premium Economy” and “Upper Class”, passengers can also enjoy LoveRaw chocolate bars from the on-board snacks selection and, on selected routes, winter menus feature dishes such as a cauliflower, sweet potato, and chickpea curry with pea pilau, mushroom and garlic palak, and naan bread and a Beyond Burger with pickled onions, vegan cheese, and plant-based mayonnaise with truffle and rosemary crisps.
Welcome Break
Welcome Break service stations have great options for vegans, including at Burger King, Chopstix, PizzaExpress, Pret A Manger, Starbucks, Subway, KFC, Waitrose, and WHSmith.
Note that the retailers and restaurants present at each service station vary.
Wightlink
Wightlink operates ferries from Portsmouth to the Isle of Wight and prides itself on its eco-friendliness. The company has the first hybrid-energy ferry in England, offers electric car–charging points, and runs marine conservation projects. Cafés at ports and on the ferries offer vegan sandwiches, vegan sausage baps, and vegan cheese and caramelised onion toasties. You can also pick up vegan artisan fudge from Slab in flavours like rocky road, classic, and Biscoff. When possible, produce grown locally on the island is used.
Note: Please always be sure to double-check the ingredients before purchasing anything on this list, as manufacturers are at liberty to change them at any time.
*****
Why Vegan?
The meat, fishing, egg, and dairy industries are a nightmare for animals, who are treated like a collection of body parts rather than sentient individuals who have the ability to feel pain, fear, and joy.
All animals reared for food suffer. Females are repeatedly forcibly impregnated. Babies are torn away from their mothers, mutilated, kept in filthy and severely crowded conditions, and fed a cocktail of drugs, sometimes causing their bodies to become oversized, resulting in numerous health problems. Then, often when they’re only a few months old, they endure a stressful and terrifying trip to the abattoir, where many are killed while still conscious.
Inspired to go vegan in the new year? Let us help you every step of the way.
Every week, we’ll send you an e-mail and guide you through all the latest and greatest things in the vegan world – from plant-based breakfast extravaganzas to animal-friendly clothing and tips on showing compassion for all living beings in every area of your life:
Businesses in the transportation sector need your help to improve their vegan options. No vegan hot dish on your flight? Please request that the airline start offering one. Send companies that you travel with a polite e-mail, tweet, or Facebook message to ask for more vegan food and drink options. Your views are listened to – companies are taking note and making changes by expanding their vegan food offering. Together, we’ve urged most of the top fast food chains to offer vegan options – including McDonald’s, Burger King, KFC, Subway, Papa John’s, and Nando’s. And back in 2018, 20,000 of you urged Greggs to add a vegan sausage roll to its menu – and now, your local branch has this iconic option. Let’s use our power once again: simply tweet the chains listed below to ask them to offer vegan versions of popular dishes. Planning a stay-cation? These vegan-friendly B&Bs, hotels, and homes away from home across the UK make for the perfect winter escape:
How to Help Animals
