The Best Vegan Quorn, Where To Buy It, And How To Prepare It

Quorn used to be the food of choice for vegetarians but now, with its new and expansive vegan range, there are lots of amazing vegan meals you can prepare with Quorn.

The Quorn vegan range includes chicken style pieces, fillets, chicken nuggets, fishless fingers, sandwich fillers, fajita strips and sausages.

You can use these ingredients to make all sorts of delicious meals, such as fajitas, burgers, vegan chicken-style skewers and pies.

Quorn

Quorn is a healthy, low-fat meat substitute originally developed for vegetarians. It was invented in the UK but is now sold across Europe and across Asia and North America.

Quorn is made of mycoprotein and is a high source of protein and fibre. It is low in saturated fat and is marketed as a healthy alternative to meat.

Quorn comes in a variety of forms, but is not a completely vegan range. You can find vegan Quorn in the form of chicken pieces, burgers, nuggets, fillets and sandwich slices.

In 2014, Olympic gold medal winner Mo Farrah announced a partnership with Quorn in which he endorsed their products as a healthy alternative to meat.

How is Quorn made?

Quorn is made by taking natural and nutritious fungus called fusarium venenatum from the soil and fermenting it using the same processes used to create bread, beer and yoghurt, to grown mycoprotein.

Fusarium Venenatum was discovered growing near wheat fields in Southeast England. Quorn developed a fermentation process that enables this small-sized fungus to grow at a rate that is sustainable to feed millions of people.

Quorn has three core principles; to promote a healthy lifestyle, to reduce their environmental impact and meet the worldwide demand for sustainable protein. It has served three billion meals since their launch in 1985 and are now sold worldwide, adapting their recipes in order to cater for a variety of cultures and lifestyle choices. For more information about Quorn, you can watch this short video

This video explains more about Quorn‍

What are the benefits of Quorn?

Quorn is high in protein and in fiber, more than the equivalent amount found in baked beans, potatoes, brown bread and rice. It's a great nutritional alternative to meat. It contains a fraction of the saturated fat of animal flesh which means it is better for your body and great if you are looking to lose weight. Because it helps to lower the bad kind of cholesterol, you'll feel fuller for longer.

A 500g bag of Quorn is roughly £2.79 in the UK, versus a bag of meat at around £4.00, so it's not just healthy for your body, but healthy for your bank balance, too.

Quorn is also much better for the environment than the production of meat, which relies heavily on intensive animal agriculture. The product has a much lower carbon footprint and switching to Quorn from eating chicken, beef, pork or lamb has been proven to save energy. This article on Life Without Meat claims that replacing minced beef with Quorn once a week for a year would save enough energy to boil 20,000 kettles. ‍

Quorn takes its commitment to environmental sustainability extremely seriously; it is one of their core principles. It hope that itsproduct will help to meet the protein demands of an ever growing population without causing damage to the environment in the way that traditional animal agriculture does.  

Is Quorn vegan?

Not all Quorn is vegan. Some of the products contain products taken from animals, such as eggs. In October 2015, Quorn released a vegan range. There is lots of vegan Quorn to choose from.‍

The following products are available on the Quorn vegan range:

 

• Fishless fingers
• Burgers
• Cracking Cranberry Balls
• Hot & spicy Burgers
• Fajita Strips
• BBQ Strips
• Five Grain Fillets
• Fillets
• Breaded Fillets
• Smoky Ham Free Slices
• Chicken Free Slices
• Nuggets
• Fillets
• Cumberland Sausages

Quorn recently revealed that they have invested $7 million in research and development for vegan products.

If you can't find Quorn or you don't like it, you can always look at alternative vegan meat substitutes. There are great ones available by Oumph, Tesco, Beyond Meat, Linda McCartney and Tofurky.

Easy Quorn recipes

Quorn is very easy to use and prepare. The Quorn website has an entire section dedicated to delicious recipes. It has separated out the recipes that are vegan to make it easier.

‍Choose from Quorn Vegan Fillet Kebab Skewers, Vegan Wellington and Moroccan quorn Crispy Nuggets.

The Health Benefits Of Quorn

Mycoprotein is a great source of protein, which is important for anyone who wants a balanced and nutritious diet. Your body uses protein to build and repair tissues and it is essential for bones, muscles, skin, cartlidge and blood.

Quorn is also high in fibre. Dietary fibre is extremely important for your bowel and can help prevent diseases like diabetes, heart disease and bowel cancer. Fibre is also important for your digestion. If you're trying to lose weight, fibre can help you to feel fuller for longer and can improve your cholesterol and blood sugar levels.

Unlike meat, Quorn contains absolutely no cholesterol. Too much cholesterol can increase the risk of coronary heart disease. Studies show that Quorn helps maintain normal blood cholesterol levels and can even lower LDL cholesterol levels, which will help to keep your heart healthy.

Some studies also suggest that Quorn might have a positive effect on blood sugar levels.

As well as offering a variety of health benefits, Quorn is also an environmentally sustainable form of protein.

Where Can I Buy Vegan Quorn?

You can buy vegan Quorn at most major supermarkets. As veganism grows, supermarkets are stocking more plant-based products than ever before. Tescos, Asda, Waitrose, Sainsbury's and Morrison's all stock Quorn across most of their stores.

Quorn is available in refrigerated and frozen varieties. ‍

You can use the official Quorn website store location tool to find your closest Quorn stockist. ‍

How To Cook Quorn

How you cook Quorn depends on the variety of Quorn you have purchased. Quorn can be cooked in a saucepan, frying pan or in the oven or microwave depending on what it is you are making.

The Quorn website has an entire recipes section and you can find inspiration and information about how best to cook Quorn products there. ‍

Is Quorn Vegan?

No, not all Quorn is vegan. Some quorn contains egg, which means that it is not suitable for vegans. Quorn do have lots of vegan products, though, including chicken nuggets, fillets, fishless fingers, fajita strips and chicken pieces.

The vegan Quorn range is easily identifiable by a green strip in the top corner of the outer packaging that clearly states that the product is vegan.

Quorn recently stated that they are working towards and entirely vegan range but that they are struggling to achieve this at the moment due to a worldwide shortage of potato starch.

Alternatives to Quorn

There are lots of alternatives to Quorn including Linda McCartney, Oumph, Beyond Meat, Lightlife, Tofurky and Amy's Kitchen (some products).

Some supermarkets do their own brands of vegan foods, too. Tesco has an entire range of vegan ready meals called Wicked Kitchen. It includes pizzas, bolognese, curry and pasta.