4 Vegan-Friendly Mooncake Sets for Mid-Autumn Festival

Everybody is gearing up for the second most important festival in China after Chinese New Year: Mid-Autumn Festival! It’s a time for families to reunite over the three-day holiday (which is really just a 3-day weekend, but I digress…) and gorge themselves silly on this harvest holiday treat: mooncakes.

Mooncakes come in many forms, both sweet and savoury. Cantonese mooncakes are the most well-known, but typically contain animal ingredients such as lard or salted egg yolks that represent the full moon. 

While traditional mooncakes aren’t always vegan-friendly, I’m pleasantly surprised by the selection of plant-based mooncakes on sale this year! Here are some of the ones I’m eyeing the most, some with traditional fillings, and others that are pretty darn creative!

1.草本月饼 Caoben Mooncake Set 

This Cantonese-style set of mooncakes provides a variety of interesting fillings, both savoury and sweet. I’m particularly interested in the curried bamboo shoots, coconut rose, and pine nut & avocado mooncakes.  

2. Oatly Mooncake Set

Oatly has made its own set of vegan-friendly mooncakes that come in four flavours: chocolate, coffee, jasmine tea and classic oat.  They may not be the most traditional, but they are quite delicious (albeit a little small considering the price). To ensure that your Oatly mooncakes are vegan, make sure to purchase directly from the Oatly online stores, as some collaborations with the oat milk brand contain animal products. 

3. 梦华风雅 Meng Hua Fengya Mooncake Set

The snowy-white mooncake aesthetic has been popularized from the Chinese TV Series Meng Hua Lu. This set is based on traditional mooncake recipes that date back to the Song Dynasty and contain classic fillings such as black sesame, mixed nuts, red dates and green tea. 

4. 清心堂 Qingxintang Mooncake Set

The chefs behind these mooncakes are true artists - each filling has a beautiful message/meaning behind it.

Rose: Just like flowers, you’ll bloom when you’re ready.

Cranberry: To learn to appreciate the sour moments in life.

Chestnut: Don’t live for the praise of others, live for yourself.

Passionfruit: Represents the sweet-and-sourness of life’s twists and turns.

Green Tea: To give you the energy to understand yourself and others.

Five Grains: Represent vitality and growth.

All of these mooncake sets are available on Taobao.

Have you had mooncakes before? What is your favourite filling?