How to eat out like a vegan pro

What you can't eat as a vegan

Going out to eat can be challenging to a new vegan, with many non-vegan ingredients often lurking behind many of the standard menu items. If you’re looking at going vegan, here’s a list of some of the ingredients you should look to avoid:

What you can eat as a vegan

There are still plenty of great tastes, textures, and ethnic spices that you can enjoy when eating vegan, offering variety, nutrition and plenty of flavour, including some of the following:

Top tips on how to stick to your vegan diet

Get ‘Appy About Veganism:
If you’re in doubt over what’s vegan and what’s not, head to your smartphone for the answer.
There’s even an app, Is It Vegan?, which you can use to check if certain products count or not.
Simply scan a product and the app will analyse its ingredients and give you the thumbs up or down.

Check your condiments:
There may be animal-based ingredients lurking in certain condiments, so do always check the
label. For example, some pesto’s contain cheese; Worcestershire Sauce can contain anchovies; and cartons of pre-made guacamole often contain cream. But don’t panic, there are some yummy vegan alternative versions of these on the market too!

Is Your Wine Vegan-Friendly?
Wine is made from grapes, but that does not necessarily make it vegetarian or vegan. Some
winemaking methods make surprising use of animal-derived products - including bone marrow, fish by products and gelatine – which is why an increasing number of producers now state this on the label. Some brands of beer can also contain these ingredients, so it’s also worth double checking with the waiter.

Ask the Waiter:
If you don’t see any vegan meal that takes your fancy, get a little creative with the menu – most menus have vegetarian options that can easily be made vegan. A simple swap could be replacing cheese or eggs with sliced avocado in sandwiches and salads, using olive oil and lemon juice in place of creamy dressings and butter, or asking for extra veggies or beans in place of non-vegan items. The chef may even be able to create a veganfriendly meal from scratch for you. Don’t be afraid to ask, many chefs relish the chance to cook ‘off menu’!

Have fun:
The most important tip of all! Initially going vegan might feel a little daunting but, as with anything, you’ll soon find your confidence and get the hang of it, and it won’t be long before it becomes second nature. You might even find that you have some great conversations because of it, and most importantly you’ll eat some really, really delicious food!

Get rewarded with Meerkat Meals*

When you compare and buy a qualifying product, you get Meerkat Meals. This means you can enjoy 2 for 1 on starters, mains and desserts, every Sunday - Thursday, for a whole year.

If you have a current Meerkat Movies membership, we will give you a Meerkat Meals membership until it expires, because we want all our existing customers to benefit from this great reward. Enjoy!