Are Chip Shop Chips Vegan?
Fish and chip shops are an iconic part of British culture. With a local ‘chippy’ found in pretty much every town and city, their food is among the most popular in the United Kingdom.
But are chip shop chips vegan? Whilst their accompaniment, fish, is quite clearly not vegan, the status of chips is a lot less obvious. To find out the vegan status of chip shop chips, read on and I’ll explain all…
Are Chip Shop Chips Vegan?
Chips shop chips are NORMALLY NOT vegan, as they are usually cooked and prepared in ingredients which contain animal products.
Like all chips, chip shops chips are simply cut up pieces of potatoes. However, during the cooking process most fish and chip shops will submerge the chips in an oil/beef dripping mix. As well as this, chip shop chips are sometimes also cooked in batter, which will contain eggs and, potentially, additional animal products.
Having said this, there are some fish and chip shops which do offer vegan-friendly chips. In these cases, the chips are normally fried in palm oil only, without the beef dripping. Most of the time, the chippy will let you know of its vegan-friendly options with special signs or notices in the premises. However, if in doubt then the best thing to do is to ask the fish and chip shop directly.
Are There Any Alternatives?
So, if you’re really keen to have some chip shop style chips but can’t find a vegan-friendly chippy available, what can you do?
The best alternative is simply to make your own! Yes, I know that this can be a pain as it’s more time-consuming than having them made for you, but the results can be super tasty!
There’s a variety of options for oven-cooked chips, check them out and find your favourite!
To Conclude
Despite being made of potato, chip shop chips are usually not vegan due to the fact that they are normally cooked in an oil which contains beef dripping. However, there are some chip shops which offer vegan chips. These delicious vegan-friendly options are normally advertised inside the chippy.