Vegan Comedian Sara Pascoe Says 'I Love Not Eating Animals'

Vegan comedian Sara Pascoe said, “I love not eating animals,” in a recent appearance on the Dish podcast.

Pascoe is a stand-up comic, actor, presenter, and writer. She has been a vegetarian since she was seven years old, and vegan for approximately 15 years.

On an episode of the Dish podcast published on YouTube earlier this month, Pascoe discussed her diet with the show’s hosts, Nick Grimshaw and Angela Hartnett.

She noted that while she is vegan and her husband, fellow comedian Steen Raskopoulos, is not, she believes that “food is so personal and we all have access to the same information, and we make our own decisions. I love not eating animals.”

Hartnett, a Michelin-star-awarded chef, served Pascoe black coffee and a plant-based version of a Martha Collison minestrone made with vegetable stock and vegan cheese. “Oh my god, it’s so nice,” Pascoe said. Minestrone is an Italian soup made with onions, garlic, celery, and carrots, along with beans, vegetables, and pasta.

‘There’s a lot of vegan standups’

Pascoe told Hartnett and Grimshaw that it was meeting “lots” of other vegans that inspired her to adopt the diet herself. “There’s a lot of vegan standups actually,” she said. “Comedians used to be quite rock and roll. They used to do cocaine and stuff, and now we’re all just having Naked bars and kombucha.”

To conclude the episode, Grimshaw and Hartnett give Pascoe a “fast-food quiz.” She told the hosts that her favorite sandwich filling is hummus, favorite herb is basil, favorite form of potato is “mashed,” favorite crisp flavor is prawn cocktail, and that her favorite bean is the butterbean. She also said that her “best” Sunday roast is a vegan Wellington, and that the dish she misses most while away from home is soup.

The Dish podcast and vegan guests

Photo shows vegan comedian Sara Pascoe speaking at a Women's March in Trafalgar Square, London, as part of an international day of solidarity and protests against US President Donald Trump — John Gomez / Shutterstock Sara Pascoe has been a vegetarian since she was seven years old

Pascoe is not the first vegan celebrity to appear on the Dish podcast. Last year, Cynthia Erivo of Wicked and Wicked: For Good and Natalie Portman of 2024’s Lady in the Lake and Thor: Love and Thunder each appeared on the show. Erivo highlighted the award-winning vegan restaurant The Aubrey, while Portman mentioned eateries in both Paris and London, including Gauthier and the Michelin-starred Plates.

“I love cooking. I’m not super skilled, technically, but I feel like I’m a good intuitive cook,” said Portman. “I have been making green curry often recently, I love a veg green curry. I do a lot of Middle Eastern stuff too, I definitely go heavy on tahini, veggies, salads.”