olive vegan supermarket awards 2021

M&S Plant Kitchen Oat Drink (1l), £1.75

Described by our judges as the most similar to cow’s milk, this has a nice creamy texture, well-balanced sweetness and subtle, not overwhelmingly oaty flavour.

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HIGHLY COMMENDED

Co-op GRO The Oaty One (1l), £1.45

A very close contender for the top spot, this is the most natural-tasting of those tried, with a complex flavour and nice, thick texture. We think this would be the best oat milk for porridge or bircher muesli.

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Best ready-made vegan pizza

WINNER

Tesco Wicked Kitchen spicy mushroom & vegetable pizza (282g), £3

This was highly praised for its sourdough base, which is well seasoned, light and airy, with a nice chew on the crust. The tomato sauce is fresh and natural tasting, while the vegetables have a warm, peppery flavour.

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Best vegan cheddar alternative

ASDA Free From mature cheddar alternative (200g), £1.40

A resounding winner, this was the most cheddar-like of all those tested. It has a crumbly texture, good level of salt and a cheddar-like tang, plus it melts well, too.

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Best vegan burgers

WINNER

Aldi meat-free burgers (pack of 2, 227g), £1.29

These firm burgers achieve good caramelisation and browning on the outside when cooked. They have a meaty texture and balanced, salty flavour.

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HIGHLY COMMENDED

Co-op GRO Incredible burger (2 x 210g), £2

If you’re after a vegan burger that mimics meat, these tasted the most beef-like of all those we tried. It has a super-savoury, slightly smoky flavour, almost reminiscent of pastrami, with a touch of caramelised sweetness on the edges and a chewy, meaty texture.

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M&S Plant Kitchen no beef burger (320g), £3.50

This thick, juicy patty has a coarse, meaty texture and a pleasing firmness. The flavour is pleasantly savoury, with a good level of seasoning, but we felt it didn’t have quite as much depth as some of the others.

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Best vegan sausages

WINNER

Morrisons V Taste ‘little smokies’ vegan sausages (290g), £2.50

These little, chorizo-style sausages made with mushrooms, pinto beans and chipotle seasoning were a big hit – they’re savoury, smoky and spicy, with a firm, meaty texture.

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HIGHLY COMMENDED

Tesco Wicked Kitchen chorizo style bangers (350g), £2.50

Another chorizo-style sausage, these brown really well when cooked, have great bite and pleasing paprika flavour, but our judges found them a touch too salty compared to our winner.

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Best vegan mince alternative

WINNERS

Sainsbury’s Plant Pioneers vegan no beef mince (220g), £2.25

This has good bite and a realistic beef-mince-like appearance when cooked. Made with a mix of diced mushrooms and wheat gluten, it’s a great choice for mushroom fans.

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Aldi Plant Menu vegan mince (260g), £1.39

For those who aren’t keen on mushrooms, this mince alternative is made from soy protein and has an impressive meaty texture and lovely depth of flavour.

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Best ready-made vegan dessert

WINNER

Tesco Wicked Kitchen berry white sticks (3 x 100ml), £2.50

These vegan ice cream sticks have a thick, white chocolate casing with a mousse-like vegan vanilla ice cream and sweet raspberry ripple sauce inside. Although very sweet and slightly artificial tasting, they were a hit – we think kids would love them too.

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HIGHLY COMMENDED

Waitrose Scrumptious Summer layered summer pudding (405g), £4

For something a little more grown-up, we love this vibrant, fresh-tasting summer pudding, packed full of berries, with a lovely balance between sharp and sweet.

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Best vegan vanilla ice cream

WINNER

Aldi vegan vanilla ice cream (1l), £1.49

This was praised by our judges for its natural colour, specks of real vanilla and rich, creamy texture.

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How we chose the winners

The olive team chose 10 categories having researched which products you, our readers, would be most likely to seek out and buy. The supermarkets then selected the products they wanted to nominate (we only allowed one entry per category, so they had to choose carefully). Every product was prepared by independent home economists according to the pack instructions, and our expert panel of judges blind-tested them, rating each on taste and texture (first and foremost), as well as appearance. We then chose our winning products in each category, as well as up to two highly commended products for those that we felt also deserved a mention. Two of the categories were eliminated completely as we felt that none of the products submitted were good enough to award a winning status.