Is Vegetable Shortening Vegan?
Vegetable shortening is a butter-like ingredient often used in baking. Since it’s almost entirely composed of solid fat, it’s used to help maintain the firmness of a batter or icing, or to make crusts especially flaky and delicious. It’s often viewed as vegan-friendly, simply because of the presence of the word ‘vegetable’ in its name. So, is this the case?
While shortening contains animal fat, vegetable shortening can generally be considered vegan-friendly. It contains zero animal derivatives and is processed without animal byproducts or animal testing. However, if we look at each ingredient carefully, we’ll find that there’s a bit more to the story.
The Palm Oil Controversy
Vegetable shortening is almost always produced with palm oil. This ingredient is directly linked to animal exploitation due to deforestation and destruction of animal habitats caused by the industry. There are slightly more sustainable versions of this ingredient, and some brands like Spectrum and Nutiva offer organic, fair trade vegetable shortening made with these options. However, sustainable palm oil certifications are heavily questioned by environmental activists. More info on this questionable ingredient here.
Best Vegan Vegetable Shortening Alternatives
If you need a more sustainable, ethical vegetable shortening substitute, some great choices may be coconut oil or a solid vegan butter. While coconut oil is an almost perfect substitute, and can be swapped 1:1 in recipes that call for shortening, it may leave a coconut taste in your baked goods. It’s also not the best choice when preparing icing.
Vegan butter is a good choice for both baking and icing! However, you will need to add an extra tablespoon when substituting each cup of vegetable shortening required in your recipes. Check out our recommendations below and start swapping!