In celebration of World Vegan Month I decided to set myself a task, a task which involved tasting a number of vegan products and seeing whether or not I could tell them apart from their non-vegan counterparts.

Despite the title, the whole experience wasn’t as daunting as you may have expected it to be. For those that have been living under a rock for the last few years and are somehow unaware of what it means to be a ‘vegan’ – allow me to enlighten you. Vegans are like vegetarians but stricter as they refrain from the use or consumption of animal products.

As boring as that may sound, vegans don’t appear to be missing out on that much in the taste department as there are now a whole range of vegan alternatives available on the market including vegan bacon and burgers. But as I couldn’t possibly try each and every one of these alternatives I decided to compare four vegan products to the test and here’s how I got on.

Lincolnshire style sausages

I was honestly expecting these to taste like cardboard but was more than pleasantly surprised as they actually tasted quite good. They looked, smelt and tasted like meat sausages and as the saying goes; if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, then it’s a duck – but not in this case. In this case these Tesco meat free sausages are completely vegan friendly and taste amazing. Dare I say it? They may even taste better than meat sausages. Surprisingly, at only £1.75 for six they are quite reasonably priced too.

Rating 5/5

Chocolate dessert

As a self-confessed chocoholic I wasn’t going into this one with big expectations and rightfully so as this dessert was definitely one I won’t be buying again in a hurry. It was everything that you wouldn’t expect from a chocolate dessert as it was watery and actually not very sweet. I was able to detect this as the vegan product in a jiffy thanks to its unappetising taste and unfamiliar texture.

Rating 2/5

Vanilla creamy iced dessert

I’ve always had the preconception that dairy free ice creams leave some sort of powdery residue in your mouth after consumption. However, this one proved me wrong as it tasted quite good and I actually preferred it to normal vanilla ice cream. The only thing I found slightly off-putting about this particular product was the price as it did seem a bit overpriced when you compare it to other plain vanilla ice cream tubs.

Rating 4/5

Chocolate and coconut milk (dairy free)

I really have saved the worst for last here as this milk was disgusting. From its watery consistency, to the white bits floating at the top – every aspect of it was a major fail. Milk is generally known for its thick and creamy texture but the makers of this one must have not got the memo. However, I know this isn’t the case with all dairy free milk so I’m assuming this was just a bad batch.

Rating 1/5

Overall, my whole experience with vegan food wasn’t all that bad but I can see why some people are quite apprehensive about the idea of it. It can’t be that hard being a vegan, can it? Well, I don’t have to worry about that, because I’m not one.

Pictures courtesy of Maria Pontikis, Elana’s Pantry and Victor Bayon