Made with flaky crescent rolls and marinated baby carrots, these vegan pigs in a blanket are a fun take on a childhood favorite! This recipe comes together quickly and the carrots are poached in a flavor-loaded broth with liquid smoke and soy sauce. This has been a hit in our family with the vegans and meat-eaters alike!
If you’ve been around here a bit, you probably saw my viral carrot hot dogs that Good Morning America shared across the internet. The video brought lots of love and lots of questions…which I understand, but one bite and readers were smitten by the taste!
Little did I know, my parents had taken that recipe and used it to make vegan pigs in a blanket for a party. And low and behold, guests didn’t even realize they were carrots! I’ll let you be the judge of that though – be sure to let me know in the comments if they taste more like carrots or more like hot dogs!
Why you’ll love it
- They honestly taste SO good and I’m not saying that because I’m a vegetarian. I’m saying it because a party of unknowing guests said so.
- This childhood staple is an easy recipe to throw together and everyone loves it!
- These can be air-fried if you don’t want to heat up the oven – which is ideal for those warm summer months!
Ingredients for Vegan Pigs in a Blanket
Making carrots taste like hot dogs requires a little smoke and mirrors. Ok, it’s actually just a little food science. Here’s what you need for the magic!
- The Poaching Liquid: To generate smokiness in the carrots, they are poached in a liquid of vegetable broth, apple cider vinegar, soy sauce, mustard, smoked paprika, and liquid smoke.
- Carrots: Baby carrots are the perfect size to mimic mini sausages in these little vegan pigs in blankets. You could cut big carrots to be smaller.
- Crescent Rolls: To keep it classic, these are wrapped in a blanket of Pillsbury crescent rolls and then brushed with butter and flaky sea salt. Standard biscuit dough that’s been rolled flat and cut to size will work too.
sarah’s go-to dipping sauce
Ok, you have to try this appetizer with my favorite sauce (and no, it’s not ketchup)! All you do to make this mayo mustard is combine 1 tablespoon of mayonnaise and 1 tablespoon of Dijon mustard! Of course, you can also serve them with BBQ sauce, sriracha mayo, or burger sauce.
How to make Pigs in a Blanket
- Boil the carrots in the vegetable broth mixture until tender.
- Roll the carrots in the crescent rolls that have been cut in half into smaller triangles.
- Brush them with melted butter, top with salt, and bake until golden brown.
How to air fry Vegetarian pigs in a blanket
If you want to air fry these, cook them at 375 degrees for 5-10 minutes in the air fryer, or until golden brown. They cook quickly, so keep an eye on them!
Storage
Leftovers will keep in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 4 days. To reheat them, pop them in the oven or air fryer so they get crispy again.
FAVORITE SHEET PAN
This large nonstick sheet pan is one of my everyday favorites!
Why this Recipe Works
If you’re wondering, “ok how can someone not know these are carrots and not hot dogs?”…well, here’s how:
- Smoke, smoke, and more smoke gives the carrots the same depth of flavor as a hot dog!
- Cooking the carrots in a flavorful broth first softens them to help with the texture. This ensures the vegan pigs in a blanket eat like the meat version.
- Crescent rolls act as the mirror to the smoke and mirrors of this recipe. Classic pigs in a blanket use them, so in order to keep up the illusion, these needed the same staple ingredient.
More Recipes to trick your meat-eating friends
We love replicating meat-lover classics around here. These are a few of our favorites!
Ingredients
- 2 cups vegetable broth 473 mL
- ½ cup apple cider vinegar 120 mL
- ¼ cup soy sauce 60 mL
- ¼ cup mustard
- 2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp liquid smoke
- 32 baby carrots
- 2 8-count tubes crescent rolls vegan or traditional
- 2 Tbsp unsalted butter vegan, 28 g
- 1 tsp flaky sea salt
Instructions
- Boil: Add 2 cups vegetable broth, ½ cup apple cider vinegar, ¼ cup soy sauce, ¼ cup mustard, 2 tsp smoked paprika, and 1 tsp liquid smoke to a medium pot and whisk to combine. Add 32 baby carrots and bring to a simmer over medium/high. Cover and cook until carrots are fork-tender, about 15 to 20 minutes. Strain carrots from broth (broth can be saved and used again).
- Roll: Unroll your 2 8-count tubes crescent rolls. Cut each triangle into 2 long pieces, to make 32 separate triangles. Place a carrot onto the wide end of each triangle, then roll.Preheat oven to 375°F (or 350°F for nonstick cookie sheet).
- Bake: Arrange vegan pigs in blankets on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Brush each with melted butter then sprinkle with salt. Bake for 9 to 12 minutes, or until golden brown.
Tips & Tricks
Nutrition Information
FAQs
Sure! This would make a fun and slightly elevated version. But, puff pastry puffs a lot so it doesn’t stay together in this mini form nearly as well as crescent rolls.
Not really. Because this recipe relies on boiling the carrots, a vegan sausage won’t work very well for this specific recipe (although you could just roll up vegan sausages straight from the package).
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