Whether you’re hosting a group of vegans or want some dairy-free options at your next holiday meal, these recipes are worth a look. If you think being vegan is no fun, I’m positive this roundup will change your mind. Believe it or not, there are tons of Christmas dishes that can be made vegan. They include anything from fancy vegan Wellington and colorful holiday salads to festive Christmas cookies. Heck, some vegan dishes are even better than their meaty cousins (looking at you, vegan mushroom gravy)! Drooling yet? Without further ado, here are vegan Christmas recipes yule love from head to mistletoe.
1. Vegan Wellington
Even the die-hard meat-eaters will have difficulty resisting this flakey and hearty vegan Wellington. Beef Wellington is notoriously difficult to execute well, but this vegan version is far more approachable for even kitchen novices. It earns its impossibly meaty filling from Impossible Meat (see what I did there?) and has a heavy helping of savory spices. Garnish with vegan butter for a flakey finish, and watch the Christmas ham suffer neglect at the dinner table.
2. Gluten-Free Cranberry Maple Lentil Loaf
Holiday food has a reputation for being unapologetically brown. This cranberry maple lentil loaf is worth checking out if you want to add a pop of holiday flair to the dinner table. It looks almost like a savory take on fruitcake. The cranberries give this loaf a touch of red holiday cheer and work so well with chopped nuts (pecans work great in this dish). Top this dish with an irresistible maple glaze to fuse the flavors of savory nuts, lentils, and cranberries.
3. Vegan Mashed Potatoes
These vegan mashed potatoes are a great way to sneak in a vegan dish without anyone being the wiser. Swapping vegan butter for dairy butter still infuses rich buttery flavors into creamy potatoes. Lift the heavy flavors in this dish with garlic and chives, and season with salt and pepper. No one needs to know that they’re vegan! (And they won’t find out).
4. Vegan Mushroom Gravy
Good gravy needs to check two boxes. It must be thick and hearty, and it needs robust flavors. Despite what you’re grandma may claim, you don’t need that questionable baggie of giblets to create a mouth-watering gravy. Infusing a thickened vegetable stock with rich herbs and mushrooms achieves the same earthy and savory flavors as gravy with meat. It’s so easy to make, and even the meat-eaters at the table may prefer it over the giblet gravy!
5. Quinoa, Kale, and Squash Salad
Christmas is a time to celebrate heavy carbs and empty calories—but it doesn’t have to be! If your Christmas table is seriously lacking any nutrition, this winter veggie salad adds color and nutrition to your holiday meal. You might not even require a post-dinner nap before digging into presents. Quinoa and kale work so perfectly together. Quinoa is soft and slightly nutty, while kale adds a bright crunch. Squash adds a bit of nuttiness, and pomegranate arils provide a pop of tartness and festive flair.
6. Vegan French Onion Soup
Let’s face it- French onion soup’s most exciting part is its heavy slice of cheese and bread on top. To make this dish vegan, you only need a good recipe for vegan Mozarella cheese. Vegan mozzarella cheese is surprisingly simple. Replace dairy ingredients with soaked cashews, and infuse with bright flavors. Top your delicious vegan broth with a thick slice of crusty bread, and top with vegan mozzarella cheese.
7. Best Vegan Lasagna
If your holiday table lacks vegan main courses, it’s time to bust out the lasagna pan. Even carnivores at the party have difficulty resisting the siren call of lasagna. It’s robust and fragrant with loads of wintertime veggies such as carrots, spinach, and meaty mushrooms. To keep it vegan, make a decedent mozzarella cream sauce using soaked cashews and Dijon mustard.
8. Vegan Sweet Potato Soup
Christmas isn’t Christmas without a healthy dose of sweet potatoes. Even without dairy, this soup is impossibly creamy with soft Christmas-y flavors that give grandma’s sweet potato casserole a run for its money! It earns its creamy notes from coconut cream that also adds a sweetness to combat those savory notes from nutmeg, ginger, and garlic. The bright orange coloring (from carrots and sweet potatoes) is hard to resist.
9. Winter Jewel Brussels Sprout Salad
This recipe is worth checking out if you need a bit of color to add to your Christmas table. The greens from the salad and the red pomegranate seeds are fit for a festive Christmas sweater. With plenty of wintertime veggies and a creamy mustard vinaigrette to pull all the flavors together, it’s sure to be a hit.
10. Vegan Turkey Roast
You can’t go wrong with this vegan turkey roast if you need to impress a gaggle of vegans this holiday season. Vegan roasts can be a little bland, but this recipe is so rich in festive flavors you’ll forget all about turkey! It earns its rich and meaty texture from pureed chickpeas that add a ton of healthy protein and a meaty texture. When paired with fragrant herbs such as rosemary, thyme, nutritional yeast, onion, and garlic, it’s hard to resist.
11. Classic Baked Vegan Mac and Cheese
Vegans and carnivores alike will flock to this sinfully cheesy mac and cheese (sans the cheese). The vegan cheese sauce packs a powerful punch with punchy ingredients such as nutritional yeast (for that nutty finish), coconut milk, Dijon mustard, and smoked paprika. It’s the perfect dish for your next holiday party that needs a vegan dish that everyone—not just the vegans—will love.
12. Vegan Green Bean Casserole
Making traditional green bean casserole is so easy! Swap out dairy with vegan milk and creamer to achieve that sinfully creamy texture. Almond milk is a great choice that adds slightly nutty notes to this dish. It’s creamy, packed with savory flavors, and loaded with green beans. Although, everyone only tolerates those greens beans in favor of the crunchy fried onion topping anyway!
13. Vegan Orange Cranberry Sauce
No holiday dinner is complete without cranberry sauce. While it’s not something that anyone craves, it’s a great way to lift all those savory flavors off the plate. If you’re running short on time, this recipe comes together in 10 minutes and is much better than canned! The trick to this addictive cranberry sauce is the addition of maple syrup. Fresh cranberries are delightfully tart and pair well with rich and fragrant maple syrup and cinnamon. For an extra pop of flair and flavor, garnish with orange zest.
14. Vegan Thanksgiving Stuffing | Wild Mushroom Stuffing
Who says that you can’t get fancy with the stuffing? This rustic wild mushroom stuffing packs massive earthy flavors that don’t even require gravy. It infuses fresh veggies and herbs, and it’s baked in a bundt pan for a stunning presentation. The secret ingredient in this irresistible rustic stuffing is miso paste. Miso paste is a great way to include rich umami flavors without the need for meat, and a little goes a long way.
15. Vegan Scalloped Potatoes
Scalloped potatoes without dairy seem impossible, but it’s surprisingly easy (and delicious). Swap dairy milk and butter with vegan alternatives—that’s it! There is no need to make vegan cheese or buy cashews by the barrel. A great way to infuse a lot of flavor into your potatoes is to use fragrant vegetable stock and a touch of nutritional yeast for nuttiness. It’s easy to prepare and will surely be a big hit at your next holiday party.
16. Healthy Vegan Creamed Spinach
Creamed spinach isn’t exactly a health food. It has spinach, sure, but it gets lost in that heavy cream. This creamed spinach recipe is worth checking out to achieve creamy goodness without dairy (or heavy calories). It pairs vegan milk (almond works best for a slightly nutty flavor) with nutritional yeast to achieve that cream-like consistency. To add a little spice, stir in red pepper flakes. It not only adds a spicy kick but a hint of holiday flair!
17. Vegan Brown Butter Sweet Potato Casserole
Move over marshmallows; you aren’t needed. What’s great about this recipe is that it marries all of the robust flavors of fall in one seriously addicting dish. The sweet potatoes earn a savory fall-inspired punch from nutmeg, cinnamon, and a touch of vanilla extract. Top with a delicious crumble (no marshmallows needed), and watch as it disappears!
18. Perfect Vegan Cornbread
Nothing quite compares to cornbread slathered in butter and honey. Even without dairy, this recipe creates light and fluffy sweet cornbread with a perfect crumbly finish. Buttermilk lends tender and buttery flavors, but it’s easy to make a simple swap. Instead of using buttermilk, swap it out for almond milk and lemon juice. It has the perfect cornbread texture, ready for a healthy dollop of vegan butter.
19. Herbed Vegan Vegetable Pot Pie
No human can resist the call of pot pie. While traditional pot pie can take hours, this innovative recipe cuts the preparation time. Instead of making your crust, opt for pre-packaged phyllo dough to create a rustic and showstopping crust. The filling is rich and meaty (even without meat or dairy) and infuses classic winter vegetables in a savory gravy. It takes about an hour to come together, but it looks like you toiled away all day in the kitchen.
20. Chestnut and Cashew Nut Roast
Look no further if you approach every holiday gathering as an opportunity to blow the pants off your family with your mad skills. This fragrant and impossibly nutty chestnut and cashew roast almosts look too good to eat. The loaf infuses classic holiday fare such as chestnuts, squash, rosemary, sage, and thyme. The chestnuts add a meaty and chewy texture with a slightly sweet finish. Baking it in the oven fills your home with sweet and nutty aromas, and it’s bound to blow all other dishes out of the water.
21. Creamy Vegan Mushrooms Risotto
Risotto sounds intimidating, but it’s surprisingly easy. If you can work a spoon and stir, you have all the skills needed for an indulgent vegan mushroom risotto. The addition of mixed mushrooms provides a filling and meaty finish that pairs well with fragrant herbs. To save time, you can even throw all the ingredients into your InstaPot!
22. Garlic and Smoked Paprika Whole Roasted Cauliflower
Tender on the inside, crispy and fragrant on the outside—you’ll never look at cauliflower the same way again! What’s great about this recipe is that it’s perfect for those on a budget. An entire head of cauliflower is enough to feed a family and uses spices likely hanging out in your spice rack. You can get inventive with garnishes to make this cauliflower roast more festive for your holiday meal. Things like pomegranate seeds and fresh cilantro add flavor and flair to this super easy and affordable dish.
23. Simply Festive Stuffed Squash
Are you looking for something a little different for your holiday meal? Salads, casseroles, and potato dishes are great but get boring year after year. This festive stuffed squash is worth a look to shake things up this Christmas. Stuff sliced squash with all of the rich flavors of Christmas. It blends rich winter flavors such as chestnuts (for a meaty texture), cranberries, and fragrant herbs. You can serve it as a main dish (it’s pretty filling) or use smaller pieces for a side dish or appetizer.
24. Extra Tender Vegan Roast Beef
It’s a little surprising how much this vegan loaf resembles roast beef. It’s just as tender and succulent and has the same coloring as roast beef. How is that possible? The trick to this indulgent loaf is wheat gluten and beets. The wheat gluten provides a meaty texture, while beets add subtle sweetness and color. It’s impossibly juicy once you cut into it (no one like a dried-out roast) and packed with meaty flavors.
25. Vegan Mushroom Stroganoff
With thick noodles, meaty mushrooms, and a creamy sauce, this vegan mushroom stroganoff is sure to be a big hit. Plus, it comes together in just 15 minutes, including cooking time! It’s rich and hearty thanks to plenty of cremini mushrooms, and it’s so filling it works as a main dish. Garnish with fresh herbs or a sprinkling of vegan Parmesan cheese.
26. Spiced Red Wine Poached Pears with Cinnamon Cream
There’s nothing that screams Christmas more than delicate poached pears. They’re incredibly fragrant with that deep red hue that is pretty hard to resist. Pair it with vegan cinnamon cream sauce, and you have a dessert that everyone will talk about well into the new year. While this recipe calls for heavy cream for the cinnamon cream sauce, you can easily swap it out for coconut whipped cream. It’s a little sweeter than heavy cream, so you can play around with the portion of added sugar to ensure it’s not too sweet.
27. Secretly Vegan Eggnog
Eggnog without eggs—it’s possible. This holiday staple has persisted throughout the years because it’s rich in Christmas-y flavors from nutmeg, cinnamon, and vanilla. The frothy egg base is more of a vehicle for rich spices. Making simple swaps is easy if you want to keep it vegan (or don’t like the idea of drinking eggs). Use sweetened condensed coconut milk paired with arrowroot powder for that classic frothy consistency. Arrowroot helps thicken the vegan milk substitutes for a near-identical egg replica.
28. Vegan Gingerbread Cookies
Is it even Christmas without gingerbread cookies? You can use this vegan recipe for happy gingerbread men or building materials for a festive Christmas cabin. Swap out eggs for a flax egg mixture to achieve that same buttery snap. These cookies are rich in molasses and ginger flavors and highly addictive.
29. Vegan Sugar Cookies
Traditional sugar cookies don’t use eggs, so making a vegan option only requires swapping dairy butter for a vegan alternative. Easy peasy. Even the super simple frosting is dairy-free and comes together in a snap. When decorating your delicious sugar cookies, it’s important to note that not all food coloring is vegan. Always check the labels first, but opting for Watkins food coloring is always a safe bet.
30. Vegan Yule Log
If you want a vegan dessert that will surely impress, you can’t go wrong with a good old-fashioned yule log. This chocolatey dessert with a creamy swirled center is a little finicky to get right, but even wonky yule logs taste amazing! Garnish (aka cover mistakes!) with a rich vegan chocolate ganache and artificial berries (or cranberries) for a pop of holiday color.
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