Our Vegan Scottish Stovies recipe is based on the traditional stovies my mum prepared throughout our childhood, in Glasgow during the 80s-90s. In essence, stovies are potatoes stoved or stewed within a gravy, water, or cooking fat, with onions and meat being a popular addition. Our Vegan Stovies feature potatoes and onions stewed within a delicious plant-based home-made gravy, with pre-cooked vegan sausages, or an alternative, and can be either enjoyed as a type of Vegan Sausage Stew or mashed up into a tasty comforting bowl of plant-based homely stoved goodness!
There are many different ways to prepare traditional stovies and depending on the region of Scotland you hail from one pot of stovies will look completely different from another pot. Vegan Stovies are simply another branch of the long history of the Scottish stovies story!
Stovies are perfect for an easy, quick, budget-friendly meal any day of the week, but are especially great for enjoying as part of a Scottish dinner party or meal, such as Hogmanay [31st December], New Years Dinner [1st January], Robert Burns Supper (25th January), or as part of a St Andrew Day Meal (30th November).
What are Scottish Stovies?
Scottish stovies are a traditional working class or peasant dish as they make use of a few humble ingredients that would have been readily available - potatoes and cooking fat.
Stovies date back to sometime during the 18th century, as although potatoes were first introduced to Britain during the 16th Century, it wasn't until 1739 that potatoes were first recorded as being cultivated around the Stirlingshire area. People were initially suspicious of potatoes mainly regarding them as only fit for animal feed.
The word Stovies is a Scottish word meaning 'to stew' and Theodora Fitzgibbon [A Taste Of Scotland In Food And In Pictures, 1971 edition, p27] explains that the term stovies originates from the French étouffée which means ''to stew in a closed vessel''.
The Cambridge Dictionary defines stovies as a dish that involves cooking potatoes and onions in a pot with liquid, frequently accompanied by pre-cooked meat whereas the Collins Dictionary states stovies are a dish of potatoes stewed with onions.
Traditionally, the main ingredients of stovies was simply potatoes stewed in a lidded pot with just lard, dripping, or butter, and perhaps a small drop of water, but some old recipes also include a few onions, sometimes a piece of turnip, with perhaps some leftover meat, especially mutton, but meat was only really included if it was affordable and available.
Other traditional stovies recipes that were popular in Scotland include recipes for Stoved Chicken and Stoved Bacon and Turnip.
So in essence, stovies are a rustic Scottish meal that was traditionally prepared without meat, which makes sense as throughout the centuries the poorer folk would have less access to meat, and if not for animal-based cooking fat and broth, their diets consisted heavily on a few plant-based foods - such as turnips [swede], potatoes, onions, cabbages, leeks, oats, barley, and rye.
How should stovies be cooked?
There's a great deal of debate about how traditional Scottish stovies should be prepared as everyone has their own way of preparing stovies and it usually depends on which area of Scotland you grew up. Some recipes use traditional link sausages or square sausages, or corned beef, or leftover meat from a roast dinner. Other recipes omit the meat altogether and focus on the potatoes.
Other variations include mashing up the stovied potatoes once cooked, and this can also include mashing up the sausages, before dishing up so the end dish is more of a thick mash than a stew. Other family recipes use cubed, sliced, or whole potatoes.
The amount of liquid used to cook the stovies also differs, with some people preferring a lot of gravy whereas others like a dryer stovies. Some old Scottish recipes added fine oatmeal to the cooking liquid for the last few minutes of cooking as the oatmeal thickened up the stock nicely.
Stovies can be enjoyed either as similar to a chunky sausage stew, or once cooked, mash everything up into a thick stovies stew. Either way is equally delicious.
Old traditional stovies recipes
One old-fashioned Scottish stovies recipe can be found in Margaret B Stout [1968] book ''Shetland Cookery Book Complied for Home and School''.
Stout's stovies recipe contained - one and a half pounds of mutton, one pound of potatoes, pepper and salt, one onion, half a small turnip, and one tablespoon of suet.
The method directs that the mutton and suet is cooked together in a pan with boiling water to cover, and boiled for one hour, before chopped onion, potato, and turnip are added and stewed for another hour. The stovies are seasoned with salt and pepper before serving.
Swede or turnip?
Its worth noting that in Scotland we call a swede a turnip, and in other parts of the word our swede would be known as a Swedish turnip or a rutabaga. Confusingly we also have turnips but those are much smaller vegetables that are usually sold in small bunches much like beetroots.
Another recipe for Stovies or Stoved Potatoes, printed in F, Marian McNeil's book ''The Scots Kitchen'' [1929], lists the ingredients as - potatoes, butter, water, and salt [pg148]. The potatoes are placed into a cooking pot with enough water to just cover the bottom of the pot, and salt and pats of butter and dotted over the top of the potatoes. A lid is placed over the pot and the potatoes are gently boiled until soft.
This old-fashioned stovies recipe was contributed by a Lady Clark of Tillypronie so was likely a much older family recipe handed down through the generations, and as with most historical recipes ingredient quantities and cooking times were not provided as those would have been assumed knowledge that experienced cooks would possess.
Stoved Chicken
As the term stovies or stoved generally referred to how the ingredients were stewed or slowly cooked in a closed pot it stands to reason that there would be recipes that included different ingredients rather than potatoes, and these recipes may predate the introduction of potatoes.
Such as this recipe named Stoved Chicken, from the book written by Theodora Fitzgibbon [A Taste Of Scotland In Food And In Pictures, 1971 edition, p27].
The recipe for stoved chicken is cooked by layering chicken, onions, and potatoes into a cooking pot, and adding pats of butter to each layer. Once layered, stock is poured over the ingredients and the stoved chicken is slowly cooked on the stove top or within an oven.
Stoved Bacon and Turnip
Old recipes for Stoved Bacon and Turnip are mainly the same as stoved potatoes or stovies, except turnip replaces the potatoes, and bacon is added instead of sausages or meat scraps, and an onion is sometimes included.
To prepare stoved bacon and turnip the bacon is first browned for a few minutes in some cooking fat, before layers of turnip, bacon, and onions are added to a large cooking pot and a small amount of water is poured into the bottom.
A lid is placed over the pot and everything is stewed until soft and recipes recommended to keep an eye on the cooking pot and top it up with a little water if it evaporates whilst cooking.
Stoved bacon and turnip was served as a side dish along with dinner, a plain or a high tea, or as a simple meal on its own.
Not a fan of vegan sausages? These can be omitted and instead enjoy traditional stoved potatoes and onions, along with a chunk of crusty bread to mop up the delicious plant-based gravy juices. A side of mashed neeps [swede/rutabaga] is a tasty accompaniment as are a few crunchy Scottish Oatcakes.
Modern stovies
Sausages, either link sausages or Lorne square sausage, seem to be a relatively modern addition to stovies but some modern recipes still keep to the more purist ways of making stovies by focusing on the potatoes, and omitting the meat.
Other modern recipes for stovies add corned beef as well as other types of meat such as pieces of cooked beef, mutton, or chicken, while some people prefer to use ground minced beef. Whereas some people even like to top mashed corned beef stovies with grated cheese!
In Nick Nairn's book ''New Scottish Cookery'' [2002] Nairn's recipe for stovies [pg 173] does not include meat, nor beef fat dripping, as Nairn prefers to use vegetable oil to saute the onions before the potatoes are added. Next, salt and pepper, and chicken and beef stock is poured over and everything is simmered for about 20 minutes until soft and the stock is thickened up.
Nowadays, stovies are commonly served in cafes, pubs, inns and restaurants throughout Scotland. Stovies are also a popular dish of choice for many Scottish wedding feasts as well as a common choice for Take-Out vans at football matches.
Also many Scottish special days frequently feature stovies on the menu such as Robert Burns Suppers [25th January], Bonfire Night or Guy Fawkes Day [5th November], St Andrews Day [30th November], and when the bells ring at midnight on Hogmanay [New Years Eve, 31st December] many people like to celebrate the New Year arriving with a hot bowl of home-cooked stovies.
Harvest festival
Meals with potatoes, would also have featured heavily on the menu during the traditional British Harvest Festivals as they are the perfect way to use up excess potatoes.
The Harvest Festival in the United Kingdom doesn't have a fixed date, but it is traditionally celebrated on the Sunday nearest to the Harvest Moon. The Harvest Moon is the full moon that occurs closest to the autumn equinox, which usually falls around September 22nd or 23rd. So, the Harvest Festival in the UK is generally celebrated in late September or early October.
Churches often hold special services to give thanks for the harvest, and it's a time when people often donate food to charities and Food Banks. Schools and communities also sometimes celebrate with events, performances, and gatherings that focus on the bounty of the harvest season.
During the 80s, in Glasgow, our primary school always took us to church to mark the Harvest Festival and there would be a huge table laden with bread, fruit, vegetables, and donated cans, tins, and food packages. Every pupil was expected to bring a can of something or other, and the food was to be donated to those in need in the community.
So, when the supermarkets have inexpensive potatoes in season especially during harvest times [usually June-October], or have their annual potato price wars during the festive season, or perhaps you have a bounty of potatoes from your garden or allotment, a huge pot of tasty vegan stovies is a always a good idea!
Plant-based stovies are perfect for everyone not just vegans, vegetarians, and plant-based diets! And if potatoes are not your cup of tea then simply replace those with sweet potatoes or swede.
Vegan Scottish Stovies
For our Vegan Scottish Stovies recipes we have used potatoes, onions, and vegan sausages along with a few extra non-traditional ingredients -vegan Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, yeast extract (marmite), bay leaf, onion and garlic powder - as these extra flavours meld together resulting in a deeply savoury meaty plant-based gravy in which the potatoes and onions are stewed. The extra plant-based flavourings are used instead of beef dripping and meat-based stock.
Scroll down for useful recipe information such as ingredient substitutions, sausage alternatives, and top tips for preparing the best vegans stovies and more!
How to prepare vegan Scottish stovies
Stovies is an easy dish to prepare and as the vegan sausages are precooked any leftover sausages are ideal. The sausages can be precooked 1-2 days in advance. Alternatively, precooked sliced vegan burgers, fillets, meatballs, etc., can replace the sausages or perhaps go with juicy mushrooms or creamy butterbeans as an alternative, and these can be cooked in the pot with the stovies.
If you would like to serve mashed neeps [swede/rutabaga] with your stovies then scroll down to find an easy method which is also included within the main recipe below.
First gather all your ingredients, chop the potatoes and onions, and precook the sausages. Although if you replace the sausages with mushrooms, butterbeans, or perhaps vegan meatballs, then these can be added directly to the cooking pot for either the whole cooking time or just part of it.
The ingredients you'll need are - 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 2 tablespoons vegan Worcestershire sauce [or replace with extra soy sauce and apple cider vinegar], one teaspoon yeast extract [marmite], vegan stock, onion powder, garlic powder, potatoes, onions, bay leaf, and meat-free sausages.
Add a layer of onions, followed by a layer of potatoes, and so on, until the ingredients are used up.
Next, add the soy sauce, vegan Worcestershire sauce, yeast extract, bay leaf, onion powder, and garlic powder. Season with a few pinches of black pepper.
Pour in the vegetable stock and bring the stew to a boil.
Gently boil for 60 minutes.
Once cooked, season with salt and pepper to taste, and stir through the cooked sausages - either chopped or kept whole if small.
Serve the stovies just as they, with perhaps a few potatoes mashed and stirred through so as to thicken the gravy, or mash the whole lot -potatoes, sausages, and onions - although its always best to leave some small chunky pieces simply for a better texture.
A dollop of tomato ketchup or brown sauce is a tasty addition, as are a few slices of wholemeal bread to soak up the deliciously rich veggie gravy.
How to prepare mashed Scottish neeps
Mashed neeps or swede or rutabaga is a traditional Scottish side-dish that is especially tasty when enjoyed along with a bowl of hot stovies. However, a scoop of mashed neeps is a tasty side to any meal, and is a traditional accompaniment to Scottish haggis, so do have a look at our Vegan Scottish Haggis recipe that can be prepared easily and quickly in a microwave and then you'll have two recipes that you can enjoy along with tasty mashed neeps!
First peel the swede and remove any blemishes.
Slice the swede into equal sized chunks.
Cook the swede chunks in boiling water until soft. Drain the cooking liquid away and return the swede to the pot. Add the vegan margarine or butter, plant-based milk, and salt and pepper.
Mash the swede until its as smooth as you can get it. Add extra margarine and milk if desired, and extra salt and pepper to taste.
Stir through fresh parsley or sprinkle the parsley on top of the swede, although this step is optional.
For another traditional swede recipe check out our Old-Fashioned Cream of Swede Soup which features tasty crispy croutons.
Recipe notes and FAQs
Storage
Leftover stovies can be stored within a covered container and kept in the refrigerator for 3 days.
Or freeze stovies for 2-3 months.
Reheating
Stovies can be reheated by placing into a saucepan and bringing to a boil, lower the heat, and gently boil for 2-3 minutes or until the stovies are piping hot throughout. Stir frequently during reheating and add more gravy or vegetable stock if required.
Or reheat the stovies in the microwave, stirring the stovies well after each 1-2 minutes of reheating, until the stovies are piping hot.
Yes, with a few changes this vegan stovies recipe can be easily prepared as gluten-free. First, ensure that your vegan sausages are also gluten-free or replace the sausages with chopped up gluten-free vegan burgers, fillets, or steaks, or replace with meat-free gluten-free pieces, chunks, etc.
Alternatively, the sausages could be replaced with mushrooms, or simply omitted. See below for more sausage substitution ideas.
Next, use a gluten-free vegan stock or broth, a gluten-free vegan Worcestershire sauce, and a gluten-free soy sauce such as Tamari soy sauce or replace the soy sauce with coconut liquid aminos.
Alternatively, the Worcestershire sauce can be replaced with an additional tablespoon of Tamari and a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar. Although Tamari soy sauce is usually gluten-free, it is best to check the packaging just to be 100% certain.
Lastly, as yeast extract may contain gluten, and Marmite sadly does contain gluten, be sure and use one that is certified gluten-free such as Meridian Gluten-Free Natural Yeast Extract which if your in the UK can be sourced at Holland & Barrett.
A few Scottish oatcakes and a chilled glass of milk or buttermilk is a traditional accompaniment to Scottish stovies, but of course a glass of plant-based buttermilk may not be the best idea so perhaps go for a nice glass of chilled oat or pea milk seeing as oats and peas are traditional Scottish crops!
A few more accompaniments:
* a wedge of Vegan Irish Soda Bread or Australian Damper Bread
* Vegan Scottish Oatcakes
* vegan Traditional Scottish Skirlie
* mashed neeps (turnip/rutabaga), or mashed celeriac
* steamed greens [especially kale which has a long history in Scottish cooking]
* pickled red cabbage
* pickled beetroot (this is a traditional side for stovies)
* a nice dollop of tomato ketchup or brown sauce!
It's not a traditional addition, but we often add a few cups of chopped kale to our stovies just because green veggies are always a good idea! Kale is a great choice as it has long been a traditional Scottish vegetable crop, so adding it to the stovies rather than cooking it separately just makes more sense.
Alternatively, add some shredded collard greens, spring greens, cabbage, chard, etc., for say the last 10-15 minutes of stewing.
Also, a carrot or two chopped into chunks is a nice addition as is half a swede sliced into chunky pieces.
The best type of potato for making stovies depends on your personal preferences, as if you prefer a firmer stovies you'll want a potato that holds its shape well. But if you will be mashing your stovies at the end of cooking you may prefer to use a potato that's good for mashing.
Here are some potato types commonly used for stovies:
1. Waxy Potatoes: Varieties like Yukon Gold or Charlotte potatoes are waxy and hold their shape well when cooked and as they are less starchy they tend to have a smoother, creamier texture.
2. All-Purpose Potatoes: Potatoes like Maris Piper or Desiree are often recommended for stovies as they offer a good balance between waxy and floury.
3. Floury Potatoes: Varieties like Russet or King Edward are high in starch and tend to break down more when cooked, which can be desired as they thicken the stovies gravy.
4. New or Baby Potatoes: These are small, young potatoes that are hold their shape well so perfect for firmer stovies.
5. White potatoes: These potatoes are often simply labelled 'white potatoes' in the UK and are a great inexpensive all-rounder potato.
When we cook stovies we just use whatever potato is currently in our refrigerator as the stovies recipe is a great way to use up older potatoes, and often a mixture of different potato types are used. So, really the best type of potatoes for stovies can simply be whatever potato you have to hand or the most budget-friendly variety.
If your potato skins are smooth, clean, and unblemished then its always best to retain the skins as they can provide valuable nutrition that's better in your cooking pot rather than the garbage bin! Of course, before using the potatoes in a recipe, do clean the potatoes, remove any blemishes, green bits, sprouting bits, etc, from the potatoes, and then they will be good to go, skin and all!
Of course, sweet potatoes are often used in many modern recipes for stovies and these can be used if preferred. Just keep in mind that sweet potatoes cook much faster compared to ordinary potatoes and the end stovies texture may be much softer, which many people prefer.
Any vegan or plant-based sausages that you like best are perfect for stovies, including fresh, frozen, or a dried sausage mix.
For our stovies recipes we have used Richmond meat free sausages, frozen Linda McCartney Vegan Sausages [red onion and rosemary], and Granose Meat-Free Lincolnshire Sausage Mix which is a dried mix that needs to be mixed with water and formed into sausages before cooking. They have all produced good results.
Absolutely. Stovies can be enjoyed as a simple dish of stewed potatoes and onions, either as a main or as a side-dish. However, if you would like to replace the sausages with an alternative, here are a few suggestions:
* Add half a cup of dried barley to the stovies at the beginning of cooking. Barley is a common Scottish staple so your stovies will still be deliciously Scottish! Your gravy will likely be thicker so add extra stock or broth as desired, whilst cooking.
* Vegan burgers, fillets, steaks, meatballs, or sliced vegan Scottish square sausage (found in some UK supermarkets) can be pre-cooked and then sliced and added to the stovies at the end of cooking, or cooked along with the stovies.
* Chopped tempeh or tofu can replace the sausages and the smoked varieties are especially tasty and will add an extra flavour dimension to your stovies.
* Add a can of drained butterbeans [these were one of my Scottish childhood staples!] to your stovies at the same time the sausages would have been added.
* A handful of soy curls or soya chunks (TVP or Textured Vegetable Protein) can be added to the stovies at the beginning of cooking. As these are dehydrated they will soak up the liquids as they cook, so keep your eye on the gravy as it may need some extra broth or stock added if it becomes too thick during cooking.
* Any variety of juicy mushrooms can replace the sausages and these will add extra tasty savoury flavours to the stovies.
* Add a few cups of chopped swede [rutabaga] or carrots along with the potatoes.
Vegan Worcestershire sauce is a plant-based alternative to traditional Worcestershire sauce, which usually contains anchovies or fish sauce.
The vegan version aims to replicate the tangy, umami-rich flavour of the original while using only plant-based ingredients such as - soy sauce, vinegar, molasses or brown sugar, mustard, garlic and onion powder, cloves, ginger and perhaps cinnamon, and sometimes tamarind.
Although different brands will have different ingredient combinations and will likely have other ingredients not mentioned here.
You can find vegan Worcestershire sauce at health food or wholefood stores, in the organic or specialty sections of some grocery stores, in some supermarkets, or online at retailers such as Amazon.
Vegan Worcestershire sauce can be used in any recipe that calls for ordinary Worcestershire or Worcester sauce, including marinades, gravies, sauces, stews, casseroles, and soups as it can add savoury, meaty, umami flavours.
If you don't have any vegan Worcestershire sauce available it can be easily replaced with extra soy sauce and some vinegar such as apple cider vinegar. So if your recipe calls for 2 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce then replace it with 1 tablespoon of soy sauce and 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar.
Leftover stovies can be repurposed into a variety of delicious meals such as:
1. Vegan Shepherds Pie - cook sweet potatoes, swede, carrots, celeriac, cauliflower, either one vegetable or a mixture, and mash well just like you would with mashed potatoes, and use the mash as a topping for the stovies filling. Cook in the oven until tinged with golden crispy bits and the filling is bubbling. Individual shepherds pies prepared in ramekins can repurpose small amounts of stovies into more substantial meals.
2. Stovies Pies: Use the stovies as a pie filling, and top with puff or short-crust pastry. Again ramekin or soufflé dishes can be used to prepare mini pies.
3. Stovies Soup: Mash the stovies up, keeping some bits with texture, and thin down with some vegetable broth. Reheat until piping hot, and enjoy with a wedge of bread, toast, or a few oatcakes for a quick lunch or dinner.
4. Stovies Snack: Enjoy chilled stovies straight from the refrigerator, perhaps adding a dollop of thick stovies to a home-made oatcake. We have a tasty vegan oil-free oatcake recipe as well as an oil-free vegan cheese oatcake recipe that are delicious snacks especially when topped with savoury leftovers!
As there are many different ways to prepare stovies there are also many variations in how they are presented. Some people like to have more of a mashed stovies whereas others prefer to have the ingredients whole with more of a bite to them.
Alternatively, some people like a mixture so before serving a few potatoes are mashed and this can be a great way to thicken up the gravy.
It really is personal preference however you like your stovies so if you haven't had stovies before, just go with what presentation attracts you the most!
12 Top Tips for preparing the best vegan Scottish stovies!
- If you have any leftover cooked potatoes from another meal, chuck these into the stovies cooking pot! Even leftover mashed potato can be stirred through the stovies for the final few minutes of cooking and this will create a wonderfully thick pot of stovies. Many Scottish people actually prefer their stovies to be a thick mountain of stovies with not much gravy!
- Save any potato or vegetable cooking liquid from previous recipes and use this liquid to prepare your vegan stock if your using stock cubes or bouillion powder or bouillon paste. Less waste and more flavour!
- Using a vegan 'beef' flavour vegetable stock is a great idea as it provides more savoury flavours. We like to use the OXO meat free beef stock cubes.
- We often use Maris Piper potatoes for stovies as they become lovely and fluffy as they stew, but any potato variety is fine.
- If using new or baby potatoes add small pats of vegan butter over the potatoes once they are in the serving bowls as the butter will melt deliciously over the creamy new potatoes.
- If your potato skins are unblemished omit the peeling and enjoy the extra nutrition and flavour that the potato skins provide.
- Precooked vegan sausages are best for stovies as this can help preserve the sausages texture as some varieties can become mushy if cooked in liquid. However, if you know that your type of sausages cope well in sausage type stews then by all means add the uncooked sausages to the stovies pot for say the last 25 minutes of cooking.
- Although traditional stoved potatoes are cooked with the pot lid on, our recipe requires that the pot lid is left off as this will result in the stovies cooking liquid reducing down into a lovely rich gravy.
- If you like your stew a bit thicker then mash a few of your cooked potatoes into the stovies and stir through and this will thicken up your stovies. Alternatively, for the last 10 minutes of cooking stir through a handful of oatmeal and this will nicely thicken up the stovies.
- Our Vegan Scottish Skirlie recipe would be a delicious addition to cooked vegan stovies, either sprinkle it over each serving, or stir it through to thicken up the stovies.
- Leftover stovies are amazingly tasty for lunch the next day, especially with a slice of buttered wholemeal bread, toasted bread, or crisp oatcakes. Alternatively, chilled stovies straight from the refrigerator is equally as tasty for a quick snack.
- Preparing stovies 1-2 days in advance is a great time-saver but it will also result in even more delicious stovies as the flavours will just improve as it is stored.
More Vegan Traditional Scottish Recipes
As a Scottish family we love traditional Scottish food so naturally we love Scottish food with a vegan twist, so new Vegan Scottish Recipes are always being added to our family recipe blog. If you would like to see a Scottish favourite adapted into a tasty vegan version, do get in touch!
***please note: for US measurements click the 'US customary button' within the recipe and the measurements will switch to tablespoons, cups, and ounces.***
Recipe
Vegan Scottish Stovies
Equipment
- Large saucepan, stew pot, Dutch oven pot
- potato masher optional, only required if mashing the stovies or preparing the mashed neeps
- vegetable peeler optional, only required if preparing the mashed neeps or peeling the potatoes
- medium saucepan optional, only required if preparing the mashed neeps
Ingredients
For the stovies:
- 8 vegan sausages [pre-cooked according to packet instructions and sliced into 2-3 pieces, or if small kept whole, see notes below for alternatives]
- 950 grams potatoes [chopped into very large chunks, small-medium sized potatoes can be left whole.]
- 450 grams onion [sliced into thick onion rings, wedges, or slices.]
- 2 tablespoon vegan Worcestershire sauce {or replace with 1 tablespoon of soy sauce and 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar]
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon yeast extract [or marmite, vegemite]
- 2 bay leaf
- 1 tablespoon onion powder
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 2 litres vegan stock [Use a 'beef' flavoured vegan stock if available.]
For the mashed neeps:
- 800 grams swede [In Scotland a swede is called a turnip or neep, and in the US you will need a rutabaga.]
- 1 tablespoon vegan margarine or butter [Or use 1-2 tablespoon of nutritional yeast flakes, hummus, or white miso paste.]
- 60 millilitres plant-based milk [add more as required, if preferred the swede cooking liquid can replace the milk]
- to season: salt, pepper, and fresh parsley [optional]
Instructions
Prepare the stovies:
- Add a layer of potatoes to your cooking pot, and follow with a layer of onions, and so on until the ingredients are used up.950 grams potatoes, 450 grams onion
- Add the yeast extract, vegan Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, bay leaf, onion and garlic powder to the cooking pot. Add a few pinches of black pepper if liked.[One tablespoon of soy sauce and one tablespoon of apple cider vinegar can replace the vegan Worcestershire sauce]2 tablespoon vegan Worcestershire sauce, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 1 teaspoon yeast extract, 2 bay leaf, 1 tablespoon onion powder, 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- Pour in the vegetable stock and over a high heat bring to the boil.2 litres vegan stock
- Reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 60 minutes.Don't add a lid to your saucepan as you want the liquid to reduce and thicken up.
- Once cooked, give the stovies a good mix and remove the bay leafs, check the seasoning and add salt and pepper to taste, and you can either mash a few of the potatoes directly in the cooking pot or leave everything whole. [We like to mash a few of the potatoes and stir these through the stovies as doing so can help thicken the cooking liquid. But sometimes we like to just leave the stovies whole especially if we use new or baby potatoes as they don't tend to mash well.]
- Stir through the cooked vegan sausages and if your sausages are cold, simmer the stovies for a few minutes to heat the sausages up.[Some people prefer their stovies all mashed up so feel free to mash the potatoes, sausages, and everything together]8 vegan sausages
- Enjoy the stovies with a few slices of bread to mop up the the tasty stovies gravy. A side-dish of mashed neeps [swede] is also a delicious accompaniment.
Optional side-dish: Prepare the mashed neeps while the stovies are cooking
- Place the chopped swede into a saucepan and cover with water. Bring to the boil over a high heat, and once boiling reduce the heat to medium. Simmer for 15-20 minutes until very soft.800 grams swede
- Drain the cooking liquid away, and add the swede back into the cooking pot. Add the margarine and plant-based milk. Season with salt and black pepper.1 tablespoon vegan margarine or butter, 60 millilitres plant-based milk, to season: salt, pepper, and fresh parsley [optional]
- Give the neeps a good mashing (sometimes it can be near impossible to achieve a smooth mash so don't try too hard! A rustic homely mashed neeps is still amazingly delicious!Add extra plant-based milk and margarine if necessary to achieve your desired consistency and flavour, and more salt and pepper to taste. A handful of fresh chopped parsley mixed through the mashed neeps is a nice addition.Place a lid over the pot with the mashed neeps, as this will keep the mash warm for a few minutes until the stovies are ready.
Notes
- Nutritional information is provided for guidance only and is not a strict calculation as ingredients vary. Data does not include the optional mashed neeps.
- Estimated data including the neeps is: 480 Kcal, 90g Carbs, 24g Protein, 4g Fat, 14g Fiber, 107g Vitamin C. 182g Calcium, 26g Sugar, 8mg Iron, 1244 IU Vitamin A, 1933mg Potassium.
- Leftover stovies can be refrigerated for up to 3 days.
- Or frozen for 2-3 months in a freezer proof container.
- To reheat stovies, add the stovies to a non-stick pan, bring to the boil, and reheat for a few minutes until piping hot. A little extra water or stock may be needed if the stovies are very thick.
- For a stovies variation add 100g [about 2 cups] of chopped kale, about 10-15 minutes before the stovies are cooked.
- Vegan sausages can be substituted for cooked and sliced vegan burgers, fillets, steaks, meat-balls, or tempeh, tofu, TVP [textured vegetable protein], soy curls, butterbeans, mushrooms, swede or carrots.
- If using mushrooms, butterbeans, TVP, soy curls, tempeh, tofu, or vegan meatballs, as a sausage substitute these can be added directly to the cooking pot.
- Or omit the sausages and any substitution and simply prepare traditional stovies which contained mainly potatoes, but onions are a delicious worthwhile addition.
- Sweet potatoes can be used instead of white potatoes if preferred.
- This is an oil-free stovies recipe but of course you can choose to saute the onions in oil or vegan butter if preferred, or add pats of vegan butter to the finished stoved potatoes so that it melts over.
- See the recipe notes and FAQ section above for more substitution ideas and lots of useful tips for preparing the best vegan stovies!
Nutrition
Prepared our Vegan Scottish Stovies recipe? We would really love to hear how you got on with the recipe so do pop back and let us know by commenting below and clicking the star ratings. Thanks so much, Jacq x
Michelle
Love that you kept the traditional feel to this dish while making it your own!
Jacq
Thanks so much 🙂
Emily Flint
I love learning about and making new dishes from all over the world. This was definitely a new one for me but so fun to make. Thanks for the great recipe!
Jacq
Your very welcome! I hope you enjoy 🙂
Nathan
I've never had stovies before, so I think this is my sign to give them a try! What a perfect dish for a cold day, I'll definitely be giving this a go.
Jacq
Most definitely a sign to make these stovies!
Jenn
I love this recipe! This is one of my go-to comfort food meals. Your recipe always turns out perfectly and sometimes I even share the food! LOL
Jacq
Lol that made me laugh! Glad you enjoyed the stovies 🙂
Choclette
I've been meaning to try stovies for years and have no idea why I still haven't. They look delicious and I can see something like butter beans would go really well.
Jacq
Yeah butter beans would be great. Growing up in Scotland we had butterbeans frequently, more so than any other bean except baked beans! Glad you like the recipe and I hope you make it soon and pop back and let me know how you get on, thanks 🙂
Farrah
Ooo, these look so good! I don't think I ever had one while I was in Scotland, but they sound like the perfect comfort food! :]
Jacq
Thanks! Scottish stovies are delicious and so easy to prepare. Let me know if you ever make my recipe, I'd love to know what you think of them 🙂