One size fits all : pleasing everybody with kids' party food

Here are party food ideas for anyone entertaining veggie & vegan kids, or just those who are dairy and egg intollerant, or has religious food considerations, plus anyone at all who likes good tasty food.

All the food is vegan so it suits everyone, so you don't even need to do anything else for the non-veggie kids. That means you only have one lot of food to prepare. Bingo - an easier life!

We want to make doing vegan/veggie food at parties as easy as possible, so please contact us if you have feedback and ideas, whether you are a caterer, parent or kid.

basic ideas

Use the equivalents tables below for quick ideas on general party food.

Make sure there are substantial foods to fill the kids up, not just fruit and veg. Sandwiches, sausage rolls and nuts are good bets.

the cake

Vegan kids are just so happy when they get some cake.

Vegan cakes taste exactly the same as any other cake, so you might as well make a vegan cake for everyone. Try the cake recipes on the Veggie Snow website, as all these are vegan. There are also cup cake recipes linked in there. There are some handy cake & dessert recipes towards the end of the toddler recipes on the Vegan Society website.

example menu

It's nice to fit what you have around the particular favourites of your child and their friends, so it can be well worth picking and choosing from all the ideas below. However, if you are new to this or in a hurry, take a look at our example party menu and shopping list for a basic plan.

don't be afraid to ask

Parents tend to be keen to invite everyone their child would like to come, and to look after each of them. It can be a bit daunting to invite a vegan kid, but after the first time you'll never worry again. There's so much help here too. Almost any parent would be okay to bring along food for their kid if you don't have the notice or chance to work it through, and there are many easy to sort options listed here so you can do it yourself after a quick chat with them.

It's always a great idea to talk to the parents or their vegan kid in advance of your party. They will be happy to help with ideas for you or the caterer/restaurant involved, and may even supply ingredients and food items for their kid or all the children. Some vegan parents are on for making the cake for the whole party for their kids' bestest friends. Vegan cakes are yummy for everyone, so it's lovely to have one everyone can share. They are easy to make yourself too, just take some tips from this web page.

where to shop

You can buy a great range of vegan foods, including dairy and meat alternatives, almost anywhere in the UK. Supermarkets have a good variety, and both Sainsbury and Co-op specify if something is vegan on their own-label products.

For a wider range of interesting items it can be worth going into a health food or organic shop. Even places like Holland & Barrett can have a wide range of chilled and frozen options.

Buying on line can get you a vast range. Places to try include:

• Goodness Direct
• Vegan Store
• Redwood Foods
• Beanie's Healthfoods - supplying Fry's products in the UK

catering suppliers for commercially-run parties

Catering suppliers have been rather slow to catch on compared to supermarkets, though all seem to do tins of three bean salad and packets of pine kernels. Brake Bros have a wide range of products that are vegan, so they could be worth exploring. We recommend using the on line suppliers above - Redwood and Fry's products can be frozen and are suitable for a wide range of special diets, so are very handy in the long term. Also wholefood wholesalers such as Infinity Foods and Suma may become favourites of yours if you wish to serve wholesome fare.

vegan equivalents to standard party food

It often works best to make the vegan options as similar as possible to what everyone else is having. Or just replace everyone's with a vegan version to make things simple so no one has to ask what they can have and all can share, and odds on no one will notice. So here are conversion tables to help with ideas. Ingredients of manufactured products can change so please do tell us if any of the specific items listed are no longer vegan or new ones are.

hfs = health food shops in the tables below.

savoury

item	context	vegan version	where to buy
fresh vegetables	to make kids food colourful and tasty	any crudite you like. Very popular with all kids, especially carrots, cucumber, peas (including sugar snap), red/orange/yellow pepper, baby tomotoes, steamed broccoli florets, and some kids like olives, especially Spanish black olives, which are mild.	everywhere
spread/butter	to spread in sandwiches	vegan margarine, peanut butter, mashed avocado. Note that most margarines are not vegan, but big supermarkets always have on that is, the most common being the Pure brand.	e.g. Pure margarine; big supermarkets and all hfs
sandwich fillings	in kids sarnies	Marmite, peanut butter, vegan cheese (eg Cheezly), hummus, cucumber, jam, vegan ham (eg Cheatin' Ham)	Cheezly is available in the cheese section of big supermarkets like Tesco, as well as health food shops
sausages	cold or hot, BBQ-ed	vegan sausages, e.g. VegiDeli (Redwood's), Biona, Taifun, SosMix, Fry's. Do note that Linda McCartney products are rather low quality and unpopular with many kids, though they do have some fans. Fry's hotdogs are one of the most popular with vegans and non-vegans alike - they taste just like ordianry hot dogs (buy mail order or in Holland & Barrett).	supermarkets, mail order and hfs
sausage rolls	best cut bite sized	use Sosmix & JusRoll pastry, or Linda McCartney sausage rolls	supermarkets (eg Sainsbury) and hfs
savoury finger food	for variety	falafel are nearly always vegan, though do check the ingredients, and kids love them. VegiDeli Fish Style Fingers can go down well, cut into chunks, or the similar Scampi Style Pieces. Vegetable spring rolls (avoid ones with egg) are very popular. For older kids samosas, pakora & bhajis are popular, so look for dairy-free and egg-free ones, which are pretty common. You can also make your own filo pastry parcels with vegetables and beans/chickpeas/tofu/vegan cheese inside.	supermarkets etc
crisps and savoury snacks	some standard ones are vegan, more than can be listed here	Ready salted or salt & vinegar Hula Hoops and crisps are pretty much always vegan. Nuts, especially cashews, are popular with kids. Freshly made popcorn is very popular, just use a vegetable oil.	supermarkets and hfs

sweet

item	context	vegan version	where to buy
honey (it's not vegan)	sweetener (watch out for it in chewy bars)	syrup, eg. golden, maple or agave syrup. Plus sugar of any kind in the UK.	Buy anywhere
fruit	to make kids food colourful and tasty	any you like. Very popular with all kids, especially grapes, strawberries, banana slices, pineapple chunks, satsumas/clementines	everywhere
biscuits	some standard ones are vegan, more than can be listed here.	Common ones include: McVitie's Original Hob Nobs and Ginger Nuts; Crawford's Bourbons, Nice and Jam Rings; Waitrose Bourbons, Rich Tea, and Fruit Shortcake; Tesco Value Digestives; Sainsbury Bourbons, Ginger Snaps, Lemon Thins, Nice, Rich Tea; Asda Bourbons, Morning Coffee and Ginger Nuts. For listings of thousands of common products that are vegan, buy the Animal Free Shopper.	supermarkets and hfs
butter	in cakes	vegan margarine or 2/3 the weight in sunflower oil	supermarkets etc
eggs	in cakes	use vegan cake recipes or replace eggs with a commercial egg replacer or follow the other great ideas for replacing eggs on the Veggie Snow website	supermarkets Free From areas & hfs
sprinkles & icing	on cakes	health food shops often sell vegan chocolate sprinkles or try grated vegan chocolate or dessicated coconut. Supercook 100s and 1000's are the only cake decorations in the Supercook range that are vegan. Icing is simple to make with icing sugar mixed with water or margarine and vanilla essence.	supermarkets & hfs
ready-made cakes & tarts	dessert	Mr Kipling Treacle Lattice Tart, 6 Treacle Tarts and 6 Assorted Jam Tarts. Brake Bros Mini Apple Pies; Mothers Pride Currant Buns, Derby Scones, Teacakes, Scotch Pancakes, Syrup & Saltana Pancakes; Mrs Crimbles cakes are mostly vegan (see packet); Village Bakery Gluten Free Mince Pies; Co-op Deep Filled Mince Pies; Brake Bros Baked Mince Pies and Hot Cross Buns, Matthew Walker Christmas Pudding Logs	supermarkets Free From areas & hfs
sweets	party food and party bags	vegan ones in Free From ranges (eg Gummi Bears, Whizzers, Lyme Regis marzipan bars), and dried and fresh fruit are obvious answers. Although most widely available sweets contain gelatine or dairy products, some don't. Examples of common sweets that are vegan include: most plain liquorice (eg Laidback or Panda plain liquorice bars or pieces or bears); Bassetts Fruit Bonbons, Pear Drops & Sherbert Fountain; Nestle Jelly Tots, Tooty Fruities & Polos; Thorntons Real Fruit Jellies; Trebor Soft Fruits; Elizabeth Shaw Mint Crisp and Orange Crisp; Green & Black's organic Maya Gold & Dark Chocolate squares.	any supermarket or hfs
ice cream	desserts and smoothies	dairy-free ice cream, e.g. Swedish Glace, Tofutti. Also most sorbets	supermarkets and hfs
custard, cream & yoghurt	desserts	Soya desserts, cream & custard by Alpro or Granose (all non-refridgerated, usually with long life milk & soya milk section). Refridgerated yoghurts by Alpro and Sojasun.	Supermarkets and hfs
jelly	desserts	veggie jellies, usually in crystal form. Use 2/3 water specified to make firm kiddie type jelly.	Supermarkets Free From sections and hfs

hot food

Parties seem to be in the rhelms of junk foods these days so we'll stick on that line. If you want something fancier try some good vegan savoury dishes such as those on the Veggie Snow website, where vegan sherherd's pie or lasagna go down pretty well with most kids.

Popular hot options for all kinds of kids including vegans include baked beans, chips & ketchup, pasta & tomato sauce, peas, jacket potatoes, vegan sausages and VegiDeli fish style fingers.

Please note that Quorn is not vegan as it contains eggs.

When you fry or roast anything, just use a vegetable oil (eg olive oil) rather than butter or non-vegan marg.

prizes and pass the parcel treats

It's lovely if any prizes and treats during games are vegan too, and if they are not sweets then you're likely to have less of a problem of the kids getting grumpy or hyperactive on a sugar high! Little toys and interesting objects are really appreciated by kids, though the main thing is the fun of the game itself.

The alternative to thinking it all through beforehand is to have vegan treats ready to substitute when the vegan kid wins a prize.

party bag treats

At quite a few parties you get party bags. These often contain treats along with toys and interesting things. Here are some ideas for treats which are good for vegan kids too:

• satsuma/clementine
• packet of raisins
• vegan flapjack or chewy bar
• sweets such as those listed in the table above

However, never feel obliged to provide party bags, as the kids will love going to the party most!

Thanks

Thanks to all the parents and caterers who make the effort to provide welcoming vegan options at parties and other occasions.

This article was written up by vegan parent Sophie Fenwick-Paul, who would like to thank the following for their feedback, additions and improvements: Deb & Evie of VegParentsSE, Tony Bishop-Weston of Foods for Life.