Turn Leftovers into a Golden Vegetarian Pie | Quorn Hack Revealed

A thrifty vegetarian scrap potato and veg pie — now even tastier with a touch of Quorn.

📝 We store leftover veg and potatoes in the fridge, and at week’s end make a tasty vegetarian scrap potato and veg pie. When batch cooking, I bulk the pie with extra ingredients for flavour/texture, then freeze surplus meals. These extras include chickpeas, tinned peas, chopped tomatoes, and baked beans.

*For other recipes*—such as vegetarian cottage pie and spaghetti Bolognese—I’ve always used ready-made soya mince, full of flavour and texture, but never for scrap pie.

Due to medical reasons, my wife can’t eat soya, so we switched to Quorn as a safe alternative. Quorn is flavourless alone, so I adapted it with ingredients we enjoy. Through experimentation, I found one quick hack: add vegetarian gravy and natural flavourings like English mustard, onion, thyme, etc.

This recipe combines leftover potato/veg scraps with tinned extras and my Quorn hack to make extremely tasty scrap pies for batch cooking.

🧂 Ingredient Adaptations
To add flavour and bulk to Quorn, I use vegetarian gravy, chickpeas, tinned peas, chopped tomatoes, baked beans, carrots, and other veg. These tinned ingredients are also used in batch cooking for my scrap pies. For extra flavour, I add thyme, English mustard, vegetarian OXO cubes, and concentrated vegetable stock.

🔗 Official Quorn Recipe Reference:
https://www.quorn.co.uk/recipes

No Added Salt Policy
This recipe contains no added salt. Flavour comes from vegetarian stock cubes, Bisto gravy granules, and tinned tomatoes. It’s designed to be tasty without excess sodium—ideal for anyone watching salt intake.

Breaking With Tradition
Unlike the usual method of shallow-frying Quorn, I boil and simmer all ingredients in stock. It suits our cooking style better.

🧊 Batch Cooking & Storage
This recipe scales beautifully. I served four generous portions and still had enough for three more days. It keeps in the fridge 3–4 days and freezes well. Portion before freezing for easy reheating—ideal for busy weeks or dietary restrictions.

🥔 Potato Preparation Note
We don’t peel potatoes—just trim blemishes. Skins add texture and fibre. Feel free to peel if preferred, but this suits our tastes and nutritional goals.

Ingredients
For 4 batches (4 medium casserole dishes; each serves 4 people):
• Quorn – 150g
• Mixed veg and potatoes (leftovers stored in fridge during week)
• 1 finely chopped onion
• 1 teaspoon English mustard
• 1 level teaspoon thyme
• 500ml vegetable stock
• 1 portion concentrated vegetable stock (paste or gel)
• 2 vegetarian OXO cubes
• 4 teaspoons vegetarian Bisto gravy granules
• 1 tin chopped tomatoes
• 1 tin chickpeas
• 1 tin baked beans
• 1 small tin peas
• Optional: apple or pear sauce, for sweetness or depth

Potato Topping - Per dish (enough for 4 servings):
• Grated hard cheese – 100g
• Mashed potatoes – 800g
• 1 thinly sliced tomato
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 25g margarine

🍽 Procedure
1. Gather all ingredients, including leftover potato/veg and any leftover vegetarian gravy from the week.
2. If not enough potatoes, boil extra while preparing.
3. Put leftover veg/potatoes in a large saucepan and stir.
4. Add tinned veg—peas, baked beans, chickpeas, chopped tomatoes—and mix.
5. Weigh 150g Quorn, place in separate saucepan.
6. Add 500ml vegetarian gravy to Quorn and stir.
7. Add flavourings: English mustard, concentrated veg stock, thyme, vegetarian OXO cubes, onion. Mix well.
8. Bring Quorn mix to boil, then simmer 5 minutes.
9. Mash boiled potatoes with olive oil and margarine.
10. Add Quorn mix to scrap potato/veg, stir thoroughly.
11. Ladle mixture into casserole dishes, filling halfway.
12. Top with mashed potato, level with fork.
13. Lay thin tomato slices over mash.
14. Grate 100g hard cheese per dish, spread evenly.
15. Bake at 180°C for 45 minutes, until golden and piping hot.
16. While pie bakes, prepare vegetarian sides—sausages or burgers, with peas, gravy or baked beans.
17. Once cooked, remove from oven, serve immediately, and enjoy!

Chapters
00:00 Intro
01:05 Prep & Planning
01:37 Base Mix Assembly
02:39 Quorn Flavour Hack
04:00 Mash Prep
04:28 Combine & Fill
05:10 Topping & Bake
06:23 Serve & Enjoy

👍 If you enjoy vegetarian recipes with a British twist, Subscribe for more thrifty British vegetarian recipes.

#vegetarianrecipes #quornrecipes #batchcooking #soyaFree #meatfreemeals #easyvegetarian #britishcooking #familymeals #comfortfood