While many of you in the US are putting the finishing touches on your Thanksgiving plans, many of us Canadians are already starting to think about our December menus. Here are some of my favourite vegan holiday recipes that could suit many holiday meals, or perhaps simply a comforting dinner on a cold night!
See below for my tips on navigating the holidays as a vegan.
Soup & Salad:
Mushroom Millet Soup with Cheezy Garlic Bread
Spiced Red Lentil, Tomato, and Kale Soup
Holiday Salad with Cranberry Apple Orange Vinaigrette
Main Course:
High Protein Mashed Potatoes (also see my red lentil version on VegNews)
Cranberry, Apricot and Pecan Wild Rice Pilaf
This Ain’t Grandma’s Sweet Potato Casserole
Roasted Fingerling Potatoes and Brussels Sprouts with Rosemary and Garlic
Roasted Butternut Squash with Kale and Almond Pecan Parmesan
Dessert!
Vegan & Gluten-Free Pumpkin Pie
Serve with Whipped Coconut Cream if you’d like…
Sinless Sticky Toffee Pecan Pudding
Pumpkin Gingerbread with Spiced Buttercream
Breakfast:
What to do with leftover pumpkin pie? Meet Vegan Pumpkin Pie Breakfast Casserole!
Baked Apples Stuffed with Cinnamon, Date, Pecan Oatmeal
Sweet Potato Breakfast Casserole
Gift Ideas:
Slow Cooker Naked Apple Butter
Maple Cinnamon Almond Butter with Hemp, Flax, and Chia or 2-Minute Apple Cinnamon PB
Homemade Pumpkin Butter From Scratch (or from a can)
I’ve received many questions over the years about how to navigate the holidays as a new vegan. The first year I was “coming out” as a vegan, I recall being so anxious about holiday get togethers! It was the first time I was seeing many family members and I was nervous about explaining it to everyone. Thankfully, I anticipated it to be much worse in my own mind than it actually was, but that isn’t to say that I didn’t have my fair share of critics, comments, and questions too.
Here are some of my tips for navigating holiday dinners as a vegan:
1. If you will be eating at a family members house, let them know well in advance that you eat a vegan diet so there aren’t any surprises on the day of. Don’t be afraid to explain it clearly as it’s not unusual for someone to think a vegan still eats butter or eggs. It’s also helpful to remind them what you DO eat! Often people can assume that vegans have a super restrictive diet, so it’s helpful to let them know all the foods that you do eat – vegetables, fruit, legumes, beans, grains, nuts/seeds, oils, soy, herbs/spices, etc or remind them of foods that are naturally vegan.
2. After letting the hosts know, offer to bring a couple vegan dishes so they don’t feel like they have to scramble to find vegan recipes. A couple good options are the lentil loaf and the Cranberry, Apricot and Pecan Wild Rice Pilaf. For the lentil loaf, I suggest slightly undercooking it the first time if you plan on reheating it in the oven just before serving (so it doesn’t dry out). If you are traveling from afar, offer to help prepare a couple vegan dishes the day before. This again would be helpful to plan out before you arrive.
3. What if you are hosting the meal as a new vegan? When I hosted my first vegan Thanksgiving back in 2010, I let my guests know that the meal would be 100% vegan – and of course delicious! If you don’t want any animal products at your meal, make this clear in advance or you might find Uncle Ted showing up with his turkey the morning of.
4. Challenge some of your open-minded guests to “veganize” one of their favourite recipes and bring it to the dinner. Make this into a competition for the “best vegan dish” at your holiday meal and award a prize to the winner each year! How fun would this be?
5. What to do about naysayers? There will always be naysayers, comments, or questions about why you eat a vegan diet – and it’s good to be able to explain it to others in a few words. Just like they tell entrepreneurs to be able to describe their business in a single sentence, it’s important to be able to communicate why you are a vegan. Plan for these questions and you won’t be thrown off by them at the dinner table. If you are feeling really uncomfortable or cornered by a critic, you can always suggest that you discuss it after the meal. It’s easy to feel outnumbered as a vegan around the holidays, so I like to keep my sense of humour. Crack a joke right or sarcasm right back to a naysayer. It doesn’t need to be so serious.
6. A delicious vegan dish can tame even the toughest critic. Win them over with the food. ‘Nough said!
I would love to hear your thoughts on this topic as well! Do you find it difficult to navigate the holidays as a vegan? What tips would you give to new vegans?
I think you are so right in that you can totally win anyone over with the food! I find that by offering to bring a dish (or multiple dishes!), the guests are more willing to try what I bring and they often ask for the recipe. I’m thinking the Sinless Toffee Pecan Pudding will be on the list this year =)
Amazing!!!
Great round up! I’ve made several of these recipes and they’re all great. The sweet potato casserole will be on the table on Thursday, along with your pull-apart dinner rolls! This is my first holiday season as a vegan, but I am the cook so dinner will be vegan as well. My family has definitely been pleasantly surprised at how delicious plant-based foods can be. Thanks Angela.
So what are some of the specific things people say as their “elevator pitch” about their decision to go vegan?
I would love to have some ideas, too. :)
I say it was a personal choice and nutritional decision and then I ask if they want the long or short version :-) They often follow it with what about protein and I like to answer that one with “where do you get your protein?” or “how much do you think we need?”…depends…if the person is being pushy or really just wants to know. And I usually follow it up or end it with “i dont’ really miss meat, sometimes i miss cheese and sometimes eggs” and that usually does it. :-) I have all the time in the world to talk about it, but zero time for the pushy types. :-)
I love that – “elevator pitch” :)
Great advice Allison – I love that you ask about the long or short version. I will have to try that next time. What do people usually respond with to you?
Love your tips, Angela! I eat a mostly vegan diet at home, but give myself a little leeway on special occasions such as the holidays. Only butter available? I’ll put a tiny bit on my bun. Eggs and/or dairy was used in making the pie? Just a small slice then. But I’ll definitely fill up on the vegan fare, and make sure I let the cook know how much I enjoyed it, so that they don’t feel offended when I pass up the turkey. :)
This might not work for everyone, but for me, I’d rather not make a big deal of it and know that I’ll have my diet back on track when I get home. Luckily, my family is really easy going and they LOOOVE the lentil loaf!
I do that too. If my daughter makes cookies…I have one..I never want to discourage someone for cooking for themselves. I won’t eat meat or cheese…but I may eat some butter or eggs…or something cooked with milk. And then load up on the veggies.
I’m glad you’ve found what works for you. I love reading everyone’s unique approach, as I’m sure do others. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for that, Sarah. Your comments have helped ease my mind and helped me make some decisions. This is my first holiday (U.S. Thanksgiving) as a vegan, and I am hosting the family. I’m going to make Angela’s butternut squash-kale-almond-pecan-parmesan dish for myself and to share, of course, but everything else will be the traditional meal. I’ll pass on the turkey and gravy, but I’ll have small amounts of dairy-containing foods. As you say, I’m not going to make a big deal of it. I also won’t impose my new way of eating on the rest of my family who are naturally expecting a traditional dinner. And now I won’t have to boil up that wretched turkey carcass for soup!
Good luck, LeeAnn! I’m not a fan of imposing my way of eating on my family either, but rather making kick-ass vegan sides and entrees that always get them asking for the recipe. Secretly seducing people to make more vegan meals is my specialty, muahaha! :)
Oh Ange, this post shows just how talented you are at cooking! I want to make EVERYTHING!
The holidays as a vegan can be tough, but more often than not people can accomodate it and I try and make them feel less anxious about it by bringing some of my own dishes. The lentil walnut loaf was a hit at our Thanksgiving in October.
I’m so happy to hear it was a hit. I’ll be making it for Christmas and I already can’t wait for it. hah. It will be hard to share…
Thankfully, because I was diagnosed with Celiac over 11 years ago, my family has been absolutely great and accommodating since transitioning to vegan. Yes, I do have to remind them of eggs, butter and dairy but I’m blessed to have a family that understands. This is my first Christmas completely plant-based, so this is when I will FINALLY make that delicious lentil loaf and make your sweet potato casserole again. It was a huge hit at Thanksgiving with all my family. Even my brother who can’t stand sweet potatoes!!
Fabulous tips, and glorious looking recipes as always, thank you Angela!
That is exciting! You’ll have to let us know how it goes. :)
That post has just made me so hungry!!! I really want to make that Pumpkin Gingerbread with spiced frosting too, it looks so good!!! :)
HI
I was just bringing a green salad to Thanksgiving but this post has challaged me to bring and share more yummy vegan dishes. My 7 yr old yesterday asked me “what my favorite Thanksgivnig food was and I can’t say salad”. Even though greens are great I need to share more vegan dishes with relatives.
thanks
That is such a great attitude! What do you think you will bring?
Angela, thanks so much for this post! I was actually already planning on making your lentil loaf as my main course when I saw your post on it a little while back. It looks amazing, can’t wait to see how it turns out.
Great post! This will be my first christmas as a vegan. :)
I already have my lentil loaf , aint your grandmas sweet potato casserol, and a slice of pumkin brownie made and in the freezer for me to take with me!!!
you are so prepared!!! That’s impressive. Thanks for trying the recipes!
Those photos are UNREAL… I think I need to figure out how to start taking better photos of my food..! I’m not a vegan myself but some of your dishes look unreal and I will definitely be trying them out! Thank you for sharing! :)
Drooling over all these wonderful recipes!!! They all look fabulous and delish. Happy Holidays!
I’m preparing a full spread and taking it to our family Thanksgiving. My fiance is excited that he’ll essentially be getting two delicious meals in one day (he eats vegan at home but eats meat when he’s around family/friends/coworkers) and I’m excited to show off some delicious vegan recipes. Rather than restrict myself to eating only vegetable side dishes (most of which will have butter all over them), I prefer to spend Wednesday in the kitchen so that I can enjoy Thanksgiving to the fullest extent- entree, main course, sides, dessert… I feel like it’s an opportunity to show what’s possible and to create more options for everyone. Since it’ll all be mixed together on the same table, I think some people might be suprised what they end up wanting for seconds :)
And of course I’m lucky to have a family that accepts food offerings as a positive and doesn’t think I’m trying to upstage the turkey…
That is fantastic! It sounds like your family is in for a real treat. You’ll have to report back.
Great tips! I’m not vegan (hate labels), but love to eat vegan most of the time. I’m thinking about arranging a 100 % dinner for my meat and fish loving family during the Christmas holiday, so I’m really grateful that you gathered this to one post!
Just a comment on the red lentil mashed potatoes: I see that others have commented that the texture became gluey and not very attractive when using the blender, just like my mash (glad I didn’t try it the first time for an important dinner!). Next time I’ll blend the lentils etc, and mash in the potatoes manually. Perhaps this could be commented on in the recipe?
100 % VEGAN dinner, that is. *facepalm*
Yes, I will see if that can be added to the recipe for sure. I didn’t experience this problem, but I can see how that could be possible if processed too long. Have fun with your dinner!
The best thing for the naysayers, I have found, is to just be 100% confident in all of your decisions and rationales to pursue whatever food/diet choices you have chosen. This helps me feel less bothered when people start criticizing or questioning my choices. I also just like to make awesome vegan dishes that no one knows are vegan and then follow through with tip number 6. Thanks Angela!
I LOVE your table setting…and the photography! Great job on both!
Thanks for the great recipes, Angela! This will be my first holiday season since I’ve begun following a plant based diet & although there’s a bit of anxiety around it, I’m confident that my choice to not eat meat/dairy is the right one for me. Like you I explain that following a vegan diet makes me feel so much better physically & mentally, and I don’t judge others for their food choices. I’m looking forward to trying these recipes. Happy holidays to you and your family!
Ok, I have a painter in my kitchen right now so I can’t make dinner until he leaves, and you have just made me INSANELY hungry!!!! I love the setup of the first shot, and all the food ones of course! That holiday soup for the soul is exactly what I need right now. As you know, I’m not vegan but having an all-vegan Thanksgiving is perfectly fine by me…. especially when you’re cooking!
We will have to do it again soon!!! Seriously that was so much fun. :)