Need a quick and easy vegan appetizer than everyone will love? These vegan pigs in a blanket are only 4 ingredients and ready in just about 15 minutes! Cook them up in either the oven or your air fryer and serve with mustard, BBQ sauce, or ketchup for dipping.
You may be wondering why a dietitian is posting a pigs in a blanket recipe, but I love quick and easy appetizers like this one too! Eating a healthy diet is all about balance – not every meal is going to be chock full of fiber and nutrients and that’s perfectly ok.
I’ve been vegetarian (now vegan!) for years, so it has been a very long time since I’ve had pigs in a blanket. Since I finally found a vegan hot dog that I actually like – it was time to make a vegan version. I had so much fun creating this delicious vegan pigs in a blanket recipe!
Why You’ll Love this Recipe
- Easy Appetizer: What’s not to love about an appetizer recipe with just 4 simple ingredients that can be whipped up in just about 15 minutes? The most addictive party snack for game day!
- Cooking Options: Don’t want to heat up the oven for these? No worries! You can also make these in the air fryer.
- This recipe is vegan, dairy free, and egg free so it can be an appetizer option that works for so many people! Kid friendly too. 🙂
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Crescent Roll Dough: most refrigerated crescent roll doughs at any local supermarket are actually vegan so it isn’t too hard to find one! A lot of pastry contains dairy, but crescent dough is usually made with palm oil instead. I used the brand Immaculate for mine, but you could also use Pillsbury crescent rolls which are vegan too.
- Vegan Hot Dogs: since vegan cocktail sausages don’t exist (at least I don’t think they do?!), we’re using vegan hot dogs for this recipe. My favorite brand of veggie hot dogs is Upton’s hot dogs but you could also use Field Roast stadium dogs or Lightlife Smart Dogs. You could also use vegan sausages.
- Vegan Butter: to help the seasoning stick to the top of the pigs in a blanket and give them a nice golden brown color, I like to brush them with a bit of melted vegan butter before baking.
- Everything Bagel Seasoning: I love adding everything bagel seasoning to these for some color and extra flavor. If you don’t have everything bagel, you could sprinkle them with black poppy seeds, white sesame seeds, or just a little bit of garlic powder.
Variations
- Jalapeno: make a slit into the hot dog piece and add a slice of pickled jalapeño for a slightly spicy version of these vegetarian pigs in a blanket.
- Dill Pickle: for a fun dill pickle surprise, make a slit in the hot dog pieces and tuck a dill pickle slice inside.
- Cheese: sprinkle some vegan shredded cheddar cheese on top of the crescents before you roll the hot dogs into the middle for a cheesy variation of this recipe.
- Garlic Butter: Add 1 clove of minced garlic to the melted butter for this recipe and brush over the tops of the meatless pigs in a blanket before baking.
- Bacon: roll each hot dog in a slice of vegan bacon or chop the bacon and add a few pieces to the inside of the crescent roll before rolling around the hot dog.
Step by Step
Step One: Unroll the crescent roll dough and separate it into 8 pieces along the preformed perforations. Use a pizza cutter to cut each triangle of dough into two pieces lengthwise. Add dough onto to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Step Two: Roll each piece of hot dog in the crescent dough – start at the wide end of the triangle and roll towards the tip.
Step Three: Brush each piece with some melted vegan butter and then sprinkle with everything bagel seasoning.
Step Four: Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Serve these easy vegan pigs in a blanket with various sauces for dipping like spicy mustard, ketchup, and BBQ sauce. If desired, add a cocktail stick for your guests to pick them up easier!
Air Fryer Method: Preheat air fryer at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 5 minutes. Arrange assembled pigs in a blanket in a single layer in the basket of your air fryer. Depending on the size of your air fryer, you may need to work in batches if needed. Cook them for 5-10 minutes at 375 degrees Fahrenheit until golden brown. (Check at the 5 minute mark and keep cooking if needed.)
Expert Tips
- Work Quickly: You want to work fairly quickly to assemble your pigs in a blanket as you don’t want the crescent roll to get too warm as it may lose some of its delicious flakiness.
- Reheating: To reheat, add your pigs in a blanket to a baking sheet and put in a 350 degree oven for 5-7 minutes until warmed through. We have also reheated these in our counter top toaster oven – it usually takes just about 5 minutes.
- Storage: store any leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Leftover pigs in a blanket can also be frozen for up to 3 months. Reheat in the oven or air fryer when ready to serve.
Recipe FAQs
Serve your pigs in a blanket with various sauces for dipping! We like spicy brown mustard, vegan honey mustard, ketchup, and BBQ sauce as dipping sauce options. You could also use a cheese sauce like the nacho cheese from these epic vegan nachos for dipping. If making these for the big game, we usually pair it with this vegetarian chipotle chili. It’s such a great combo and both recipes are simple to make but serve a crowd.
Yes, most brands of crescent rolls are accidentally vegan! Pastry usually contains butter or eggs, but refrigerated crescent roll dough from the store is usually made from palm oil instead of butter so it is vegan. Pillsbury crescent rolls are a good option as well as Immaculate Baking.
Since we are using full size hot dogs for this recipe, I would say 2 pigs in a blanket per person is the right serving size as an appetizer. It’s great to have a vegan option for the party!
More Vegan Snacks You’ll Love
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Vegan Pigs in a Blanket
Equipment
- 1 air fryer optional, see notes
Ingredients
- 5 vegan hot dogs
- 1 (8 oz) package vegan crescent rolls
- 1 tablespoon vegan butter, melted
- 1 tablespoon everything bagel seasoning
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Cut hot dogs in to thirds. Roll out the crescent rolls and separate them along the perforated lines into triangles. Use a pizza cutter to divide each triangle into two lengthwise. You should end up with 16 triangles of dough.
- Place hot dog on top of the large end of the triangle of dough and roll towards the narrow end of the triangle. Repeat for each piece of hot dog. You'll have one piece of dough leftover, I just roll it up into a crescent roll and bake with everything else.
- Brush each piece with the melted vegan butter and sprinkle with bagel seasoning. Bake for 10-14 minutes or until golden brown. Serve with mustard, ketchup, and BBQ sauce for dipping.
Video
Notes
- Air Fryer: Preheat the air fryer to 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 5 minutes. Add your pigs in a blanket in a single layer in air fryer basket (work in batches if needed). Air fry for 5-10 minutes until golden brown.
- Reheating: To reheat, add your pigs in a blanket to a baking sheet and put in a 350 degree oven for 5-7 minutes until warmed through. We have also reheated these in our counter top toaster oven – it usually takes just about 5 minutes.
- Storage: store any leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Leftover pigs in a blanket can also be frozen for up to 3 months. Reheat in the oven or air fryer when ready to serve.
- Variations: stuff the hot dog with a slice of pickled jalapeno or a dill pickle slice. You can also add 1 clove minced garlic to the butter before brushing the top of these for a delicious garlic-y version.
Nutrition
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Comments & Reviews
Deb Kaszas says
Yummy! I used vegan sausage because it’s generally more flavorful than vegan hot dogs. I think the everything bagel seasoning really makes it!
Maria Garcia says
Hey, I thought this was a awesome article. Thank you for sharing.
Rachel - The Conscious Dietitian says
I love popcorn! and your pictures! xx
Jessica @ Nutritioulicious says
I love popcorn flavored with herbs and spices as an afternoon snack. This sounds great and your pics are amazing!!
Dana says
As a recent convert to stove top popcorn (couldn’t stand the ingredient list of the store-bought stuff either), I CANNOT WAIT to try this! Especially since smoked paprika is a major recipe buzzword for me. And as always, your photos are gorgeous!
Rachael@AnAvocadoADay says
Oh I love homemade popcorn! My favorite is with parmesan and black pepper. Sooo good!
DietitianDebbie says
Yum! I will have you try your parmesan and black pepper combo next!
Whitney @ To Live & Diet in L.A. says
I love popcorn too but rarely make it because I don’t have an awesome pan like yours and I don’t want all crap in the store bought kind. I might just have to give in and buy one now though after seeing this fab recipe 🙂
Deanna Segrave-Daly says
OK – first off, your photos are awesome! Secondly, I’m a stovetop popcorn freak (not to mention a smoked paprika freek) – I make it several times a week but never thought to make it in my Le Creuset. And thirdly, I need to check out Lodge pots – been wanting a new Le Creuset but not wanting to shell out the money.