Quick Homemade Mincemeat (Fruit Mince)

This quick and easy homemade mincemeat (fruit mince) is vegan, gluten free, and made with basic pantry ingredients. Taking just 10 minutes to make, it is perfect for making last minute fruit mince pies!

Mincemeat is such a classic taste of Christmas, but with just the 3 of us in our house, I often don’t feel it is worth making big batches of mincemeat and storing in jars. However, a few days before Christmas I always get the craving for a small batch of mince pies, and this is where this recipe came from. It is made with basic pantry ingredients, designed to be made without a special trip to the shops, so feel free to add extra spices, mixed peel, cherries etc and adapt to what you have to hand.

Why we love this recipe

• It is a versatile recipe: not only can you add your favourite Christmas mincemeat ingredients, but you can cook the amount you want – halve the recipe to make a small batch of mincemeat, or double it to feed a crowd.
• This recipe for fruit mince is vegetarian, vegan, gluten free, and alcohol free.
• This homemade mincemeat recipe is freezer friendly.
• This Christmas fruit mince isn’t as rich and sweet as many fruit mince recipes or bought mince meat, which need the sugar to help preserve it. The downside is you can’t store this fruit mince for months, but you can freeze it.
• It is a quick recipe, using basic store cupboard ingredients. Feel free to add the ingredients you want – make a nut free mincemeat and leave out the almonds, add some brandy or different dried fruit.
• You don’t have to make this mincemeat in advance, once cooked you can use it straight away!
• You don’t need to bake it before using – once cooked in the pan, you can eat it with a spoon straight from the pan.

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Ingredient notes and substitutions

Please scroll down to the recipe card at the end of the post for ingredient quantities.

• Apples – grated apples add moisture which the dried fruit absorbs creating plump juicy fruit.
• Dried fruit – I often use sultanas, but you can use raisins, or a mixture of raisins and currants
• Almonds – raw unsalted almonds. Feel free to swap in pecans, hazelnuts or walnuts, or leave out altogether.
• Soft brown sugar – or light muscovado sugar – adds a rich, caramel sweetness. If you only have white sugar in then you can use that, but be aware the mincemeat won’t taste quite as rich.
• Orange – orange zest and orange juice. A traditional ingredient in Christmas mincemeat is mixed peel, however it’s not an ingredient that you tend to have in. There is always a question about what to do with the rest of the packet, unless you are doing a lot of Christmas baking, so I have used fresh orange instead.
• Lemon – lemon zest and lemon juice. As with the orange above, it adds a citrus flavour to the mincemeat.
• Spices – ground cinnamon, nutmeg, mixed spice. The classic Christmas spices for me. You can use a pinch of ground cloves or ginger if you prefer.

How to make fruit mince from scratch

Please scroll down to the recipe card at the end of the post for the full recipe.

1. Grate the apples and place in a pan with the rest of the ingredients.
2. Bring to a boil then turn the heat down and simmer gently, stirring occasionally, until the liquid has evaporated and the apples are tender.

That’s it! It’s now ready to eat or use in your favourite mincemeat / fruit mince recipes!

FAQ

My recipe tips

• This amount of fruit mince is enough to make approx. 24 mince pies.
• Grating the apple ensures that it cooks and softens before the water evaporates. You can cut it finely instead and have larger chunks of apple rather than it ‘melting’ into the background.
• Don’t cook the fruit mince over too high a heat as the sugar can catch and taste bitter.
• Keep an eye on the fruit when it’s cooking, adding a little more water if needed. This can alter depending on how ripe your apples are.
• Stir occasionally to make sure the fruit doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan.
• Lemon and orange juice – Around 2 tablespoons or lemon juice and 2 tablespoons of orange juice. If it isn’t this much, add a little more water.
• Almonds – this is quite a nutty mincemeat, use ¼ c / 40g for if don’t want as many nuts.

Serving Ideas

• Make homemade fruit mince pies with teaspoons of fruit mince and shortcrust pastry.
• For a Christmas breakfast: warm gently and top waffles with a spoonful of fruit mince and some yogurt.
• Spoon over ice cream.

Make ahead/storage

• Fridge: Keep in the fridge in an airtight container or bowl covered with clingfilm for up to 3 days.
• Freezer: This fruit mince freezes well, place in a freezer safe bag or container and freeze for up to 6 weeks. Defrost in the fridge overnight before using.

Variations

• Dried fruit – use your favourite dried fruit, add some dried cranberries, chopped dried apricots, finely chopped mixed peel.
• Brandy or rum – stir through a tablespoon of brandy or if you want the alcohol to burn off, add it with the other ingredients.
• Other spices – add your favourite Christmas spices, or even use pumpkin pie spice!

Ideas for leftover fruit mince recipes

• Add a spoonful to stewed apples and top with shortcrust pastry to make an apple and mincemeat pie.
• Or use instead of blueberries in this apple crumble.
• Use in Chelsea buns instead of the butter-fruit mixture.
• Fold it through ice cream – use this no churn passionfruit ice cream recipe, leaving out the fresh passionfruit and using the fruit mince instead.

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