Are Prawn Cocktail Crisps Vegan? Best Vegan Options in 2024

Last updated on December 15th, 2023

One of my favourite crisp flavours is prawn cocktail. Especially with a Booths meal deal. But the question is Are Prawn Cocktail Crisps Vegan?

A packet of crisps is something most of us enjoy from time to time and as vegans, this doesn’t need to change because there are plenty of vegan-friendly crisps out there.

But, I’ll be honest, it can be a bit confusing knowing which crisps are vegan and which aren’t. Especially when some of the crisps you least expect to be vegan turn out to be totally fine. 

Today we’re going to talk about one of my favourite flavours – prawn cocktail. I especially love to grab a packet of prawn cocktail Walkers with my Boots meal deal, that’s lunch when I’m on the go. 

The flavouring in most packets of prawn cocktail crisps isn’t made using prawns or any other animal-derived ingredients.

Typically you’ll find ingredients such as:

Sugar, glucose, salt, dried yeast, dried onion, tomato extract, paprika extract, sucralose, dried spirit vinegar, yeast extract, tomato powder, onion powder, and even brandy sometimes.

The answer is yes, most prawn cocktail crisps are vegan but not all brands! 

So, you do need to check the packet. Some of the most popular brands such as Walkers Prawn Cocktail are vegan. However, not every brand for example Burts Prawn Cocktail are made using shrimp powder, meaning they are not vegan.

Yes, most prawn cocktail crisps are suitable for vegetarians. If there are any types of milk powder in the flavouring this will mean they aren’t suitable for vegans but fine for vegetarians such as Tayto Prawn Cocktail crisps. Tayto Prawn Cocktails are suitable for vegetarians but not vegans because they contain milk.

However, on the rare occasion, you’ll find a brand that actually adds prawn/shrimp to their crisps such as Burts and in this case, they are not suitable for vegetarians. 

Yes, Walkers prawn cocktail crisps are vegan-friendly. The tasty sweet flavour you find inside that pink packet of crisps is made using flavourings that don’t come from any animal-derived ingredients making them a vegan-friendly snack. 

It seems this comes down to the fact that the factory also makes items that include no-vegan ingredients such as milk, so they can not guarantee there’ll be no cross-contamination. 

Many vegans don’t worry about this because these crisps are made to a vegan recipe and cross-contamination is very rare. But this information may be very important to those with allergies.

Yes, prawn cocktail Quavers are vegan. They’re also made by walkers and have similar ingredients to make the sweet prawn cocktail flavour. They don’t have the vegan logo either, presumably, this is also in case of cross-contamination.

Again Wotsits don’t specifically label their prawn cocktail crisps as vegan however the ingredient list looks to be vegan-friendly. 

But be careful, regular cheese Wotsits are not vegan!

Another of my favourites are Skips, and the good news is that prawn cocktail Skips are vegan too! While the allergy advice says ‘may contain milk’ they’re also made to a vegan recipe. 

Snackrite is a popular bag of crisps that you can pick up at Aldi. On Aldi’s website, next to the lifestyle category, it says vegans and vegetarian. So it’s pretty safe to say that prawn cocktail Snackrite crisps are suitable for vegans. 

Morrisons are no different to the rest on our list. Their prawn cocktail crisps are listed as vegetarian-friendly however looking at the ingredient list there doesn’t seem to be any reason they aren’t also vegan. 

Here’s another exception on our list. If you are a fan of Tayto, the popular Irish brand of crisps, I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news. Tayto prawn cocktail crisps are not suitable for vegans because they contain milk powder. 

Asda’s own brand of prawn cocktail crisps seem to be the same as most others. They are listed as suitable for vegetarians but when you look through the ingredients there doesn’t seem to be any animal-derived ingredients. However, they are most likely made in a factory that handles milk.

You now know all you need to know as a vegan trying to get their hands on this land-standing favourite packet of crisps. To find out more about what foods are and aren’t vegan, check out my vegan food and drink page.

---

Meet the Author

Meet Sinead O’Carroll: Vegan explorer, sustainability advocate and the founder of The Wondering Wandering Vegan. Embracing veganism since 2018 and vegetarianism since 2005, Sinead is armed with a Vegan Health, Nutrition and Lifestyle qualification, and is on a mission to share her passion for cruelty-free living. 

With a taste for adventure and a heart for eco-conscious choices, she’s here to prove that vegans never miss out on flavour, fun or style. Join her in enjoying the delights of a vegan-friendly world! 🌱✈️🌍
Want to know more? Check out Sinead’s About page here.

---

Follow me on Instagram to see all the delicious vegan food I find, the vegan and cruelty-free products I use and what I get up to as a travelling vegan.

Know someone who'd be interested?