After the success of their vegan sausage roll, bakery chain Greggs has launched a version of its popular steak bakes with no animal products.

Eastern Daily Press: Vegan steak bakes are now on sale at Greggs stores across Norwich. Picture: Autumn Lewis.Vegan steak bakes are now on sale at Greggs stores across Norwich. Picture: Autumn Lewis. (Image: Archant)

On sale from Thursday, January 2 at its Norwich stores and 1,300 others across the UK, the vegan steak bake consists of Quorn pieces and diced onions in gravy, wrapped in a puff pastry.

It comes during Veganuary, when participants give up animal products for the month, and aims to provide those who have given up such ingredients with an alternative to their classic offering.

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Greggs will hope it has a similar impact to the vegan sausage roll, which became an internet sensation and also contributed to the chain's sales rising by more than 13% after launching last year.

The vegan steak back is available at stores across Norwich, including in London Street, St Stephens Street, Castle Quarter and Anglia Square, and costs £1.55 to take away - five pence more than their meat-filled offering.

A member of staff at the Castle Quarter store said that they had been selling well already in their first morning on sale.

But how does the meat-free version compare to its classic counterpart?

We went to the Castle Quarter store and purchased one of each for a taste test.

I was blindfolded and given the two treats, which had been mixed up so that I didn't know which I was tasting.

As I tried the vegan version - unbeknown to me - for all I knew I was eating a regular steak bake.

It was full to the brim with filling, which was delicious. The onions stood out, while the gravy was rich and fairly 'meaty'.

At that point, I had a feeling that I had just eaten a traditional steak bake.

After sampling the other I then knew that it was, in fact, the real meat product, but in truth the tastes were fairly similar - the vegan version could certainly pass for a regular steak bake if you didn't know which you were eating.

If anything the gravy was a little rich for my own personal taste, but I'm confident that anyone who wants a vegan version of one of Britain's favourite high street dishes would be delighted with this option.

Greggs may well have landed on another winner here.