Price: £1.50 for a box of 6 (07/10/2024)
OMV! is Asda’s vegan food brand, which has been on the go since late 2022. These mince pies are part of that range and they are described on the box as ‘merrily vegan’. Presumably the other products in the range are not so merry about their vegan status. Anyway, the main takeaway is that these mince pies are plant based, making them direct competitors to Tesco’s Plant Chef mince pies.
Somewhat surprisingly, these OMV! mince pies have the highest calorie count of any mince pies that I have reviewed so far, at 400 kcal per 100g. They also score highly for fat content, so perhaps they’re not as healthy an option as you might expect. At 4g per 100g, they have an elevated fibre content compared to most other mince pies, which may be seen as a positive by some consumers.
Cold Taste Test
The blurb on the packaging describes them as ‘perfectly crisp shortcrust pastry, packed with a juicy mincemeat filling’. I can’t agree. This is some of the worst pastry I’ve ever experienced on a mince pie. Crisp it is not. In fact, it is doughy and rather chewy. The filling doesn’t really cut the mustard either. Rather than juicy, it’s dry, sticky and blends into the pastry as you chew to create an overwhelming sensation of vaguely festive stodginess.
Hot Taste Test
Heating up these Asda OMV! mince pies didn’t miraculously transform them into a more palatable proposition. The pastry was still just as disappointing, but the texture and flavour of the filling was slightly enhanced. They’re still fairly bland and would benefit from an accompaniment of your preferred ice cream, cream, custard or brandy butter to liven them up a bit.
Verdict
Unfortunately I have to report that these are some of the worst mince pies that I have ever tasted. I definitely won’t be buying them again. There are better options out there, even amongst the other vegan offerings. It’s difficult to conceive of anyone ever coming up with a poorer, blander version of a mince pie than this.
Nutrition
Typical values (per 100g):
- Energy: 400 kcal
- Fat: 16 g
- Saturates: 5.1 g
- Carbohydrate: 58 g
- Of which sugars: 29 g
- Fibre : 4.0 g
- Protein: 3.7 g
- Salt: 0.19 g