Best vegan marshmallows you can buy – 5 delicious options for people who want a soft, gooey treat without the gelatine or dairy
When you switch to a diet such as a vegan diet, you often don't realise how many of your favourite foods that you might have to give up. There are the obvious foods like cheese (although there are lots of great vegan cheese options) and cow's milk, but you'll quickly learn that animal products can pop up in the most unexpected of places.
We'll get to the point of this article - most marshmallows are made with gelatine derived from beef. Yes, those sweet, squishy things which seem so innocent are actually made using a product made from beef. This is obviously bad news for any vegans who love marshmallows, but the good news is that there are loads of excellent vegan marshmallows out there which you can buy, and for the most part they're pretty good.
We thought it would be useful to round up the best vegan marshmallows you can buy that we've found and tried. Let's get into it:
Dandies vegan vanilla marshmallows
These vegan marshmallows from Dandies are excellent - in fact, we'd go as far as to say that you can't even tell that they're vegan. In terms of texture and taste, they're so similar to marshmallows made with gelatine that we feel like we could swap these marshmallows with marshmallows containing gelatine and nobody would notice. Made with soy protein and with carrageenan as the gelling agent (a substance derived from red seaweeds), these marshmallows are made in a dairy free facility and tick all the boxes that a vegan would hope to see. As well as being vegan, they're also gluten free and free from any artificial colours or flavours. We're super impressed with these, and we should also add that the vanilla taste (which is natural) is subtle yet lovely. Learn more and buy them here - amazon.co.uk
Mallow puffs vanilla bean mallows
These vegan marshmallows are covered in dark chocolate, so they might not be exactly what you're looking for in terms of a marshmallow to roast over a fire or for use in a s'more (Dandies marshmallows are much better for toasting), but they're so tasty that we had to include them in this list. Covered in 100% vegan dark Belgian chocolate and containing zero palm oil or artificial colours/flavours, these marshmallows are free from gelatine and rubbish ingredients, but taste absolutely amazing. We feel similarly about this as we do about the Dandies marshmallows - you wouldn't know they're vegan.
The packet is resealable which is useful, although we wouldn't blame you if you eat the whole packet once you've opened them! Learn more and buy them here - hollandandbarrett.com
Free From Fellows Va-Va-Voom Vanilla Vegan Marshmallows
We imagine that most vegans will already be familiar with the Free From Fellows brand - they produce a number of food products which are free from dairy, and if you visit a health shop you'll usually find a few products from this brand stocked there. These vegan marshmallows are probably our favourite product from this brand. The flavour is excellent, and they're really fluffy too. As well as being vegan, they're also gluten free, nut free, soy free, and free from artificial flavourings & colours. Basically, anybody can eat these. We like the classic vanilla taste of these marshmallows, but you can buy a strawbery flavour version too which we haven't tried yet but absolutely will. Learn more and buy them here - sainsburys.co.uk
Freedom Vegantics Vegan Vanilla Mallows
Of all the vegan marshmallows we tried for this guide, we'd probably say that these Freedom Mallows were our least favourite, but that's not to say that they didn't taste good, because they definitely did. But we included these in this list because they're excellent for toasting, and each pack includes a mix of white and pink marshmallows, so it's great to have a variety of colours (especially for kids). These are quite hard to find but you can buy them from Amazon, learn more and buy them here - amazon.co.uk
OMV! mini pink & white mallows
We've continually been impressed with the OMV! vegan range from Asda - the vegan OMV! chicken is great, and the vegan pesto from the range is also excellent. So although we were surprised to see marshmallows in the OMV! range, we really shouldn't have been. Asda was the only supermarket where we found own-brand vegan marshmallows, they were great. They're mini marshmallows which makes them ideal for sprinkling on cakes or for topping a hot chocolate. Learn more and buy them here - groceries.asda.com
M&S Plant Kitchen marshmallows
Just as we didn't really expect to find vegan marshmallows in Asda, we were similarly surprised to find vegan marshmallows in our local M&S, and for less than £2 per bag too. With a lovely subtle vanilla flavour and soft texture, these are perfect for snacking on or for adding to a hot chocolate. They're also great for roasting. Learn more and buy them here - ocado.com
So although there aren't loads of options when it comes to vegan marshmallows in the UK, we think the 5 options we've included in this guide are the best that you can buy. Let us know if you've tried these, and if so what you think of them. Also, let us know if you have any other recommendations for us to check out!
Finn H
Finn is the editor of You Well and has been writing about travel, health, and more for over 10 years.