The ULTIMATE Vegan Christmas Dinner Guide
Christmas is a time for gathering with friends and family, being thankful for one another, making memories and of course, enjoying some delicious food and drinks.
If you’re wondering how to make the ultimate vegan Christmas dinner you’ve come to the right place.
Whether you’re planning to cook up a storm in your student accommodation or looking to impress your family with a home-made roast dinner, our guide is must-read.
We’ll be including the 7 best plant-based recipes as well as discussing tips and hacks for making the perfect vegan Christmas dinner.
Even meat lovers will be blown away with your cooking after reading this post!
Tips For Cooking Your Vegan Christmas Dinner
If you don’t like a homemade Christmas dinner then what are you playing at?
It’s one of life’s simplest pleasures and something we look forward to all year round.
Although, it can be difficult to ensure it’s a success, with all the prep and time planning that comes along with it.
Not to mention, making sure that meat eaters alike enjoy your Christmas feast too – the stakes are high!
We’ve put together some helpful tips for making your vegan Christmas dinner.
Think About Your Main Dish
Our first tip for cooking your Christmas dinner is to think about your vegan main.
Are you just wanting a roast full of the usual veggie goodness or are you wanting a nice meat alternative?
If you’re cooking for non vegans then just vegetables could be a bit underwhelming, as normally meat is the centerpiece for a roast.
That’s not to say you can’t have a delicious roast dinner, you just need to think carefully about your menu and what dish you want to be the star of the show.
Remember to perfect your veg too so there’s no undercooked or overcooked veggies.
There’s nothing worse than burnt Brussel sprouts, bork!
Make More Than You Need
The next tip for cooking a vegan Christmas dinner is to make sure you make more food than you think you need, especially if you’re cooking for a large group of people.
You’d rather have more than enough than be scraping by to fill the plates, eh?
We reckon this tip is super important if you’re cooking for meat eaters as well, because there’s no meat for them to scran, they’ll be coming back for more roasties!
If there’s loads of leftovers you can use them for the days following Christmas, or whenever you’re cheffing it up.
Leftovers make for a tasty lunch!
Keep It Simple Yet Tasty
We know we just said to make more than you need, but you also need to ensure you’re not going too overboard trying to cram tons of different dishes into one day.
Making a three course roast dinner requires a lot of time and effort, and things could quite easily turn into a disaster.
Instead, focus on the main course and maybe squeeze in a dessert rather than trying to impress your dinner guests too much.
We’re sure they’ll keep coming back for more if you nail your dinner!
Plan In Advance
To ace your Christmas spread, we’d recommend making a plan in advance of what time you want to start cooking and what time you want to serve the dinner.
If you’re cooking solo and not wanting any help in the kitchen, you don’t want to leave things too late, as cooking a roast requires some multi-tasking!
Although you don’t have to worry about cooking meant and making sure it’s fully cooked, it can be a lengthy process to make a vegan dinner.
We suggest preparing your veggies ahead of time, such as by peeling and cutting them the night before so they’re all ready to go when it comes to cooking.
It’ll take off some of the pressure!
Don’t Forget The Seasoning
Like all good meals, seasoning is the key for enhancing your vegan dinner.
Without seasoning your vegan roast can be a little bland, so ensure that you use salt, pepper, garlic and mixed herbs such as rosemary and thyme to your advantage.
You can coat your dishes with any of your fave seasoning and olive oil to really bring out the overall flavour.
Focus On The Roasties
Roasties either make or break a roast dinner, don’t you agree?
It can be hard to get roasted potatoes fluffy yet crispy, but with our help you’ll make the best spuds.
First, wash and peel your potatoes, then boil the potatoes in water with lots of salt and pepper until they’re fluffy.
Now roast the potatoes in plenty of oil and rosemary, and turn them half way through cooking – voilà!
Make Your Own Stuffing
Our next tip for making your vegan Christmas dinner is to make your own stuffing rather than buying premade.
This is another dish that can really bring your roast together, so make sure it’s moist and not dried out.
We’d also suggest using plenty of fresh herbs if you can and don’t shy away from using lots of vegan butter.
Butter is your bestie for making legendary homemade stuffing.
Perfect Your Vegan Gravy
Whilst gravy is traditionally made from the juices of meat, you can still make a delicious vegan gravy.
We would urge you to stay away from gravy granules and store bought vegan gravy as they’re not as tasty!
Instead, make your own gravy using the likes of veg juices, herbs, vegan red or white wine, vegetable stock and a little Marmite (yep, it gives it that extra kick).
Gravy can really pull the whole dinner together after all, so make it next level.
Vegan Christmas Recipes
Vegan roasts can still be mouth-watering and full of flavour, with tons of main dishes to blow the dinner table away, seasonal side dishes and indulgent desserts to cook up.
Of course, veggies steal the show with this type of hearty roast dinner.
We’ve handpicked the 7 best vegan Christmas dinner recipes that are exactly what you need for the holiday season – you’re welcome!
1. French Onion Soup
If you’re looking to kick things off with a nice and tasty starter for your Christmas dinner, then French onion soup is a real crowd pleaser.
Whilst traditional french onion soup is made with beef broth and dairy cheese, you can still make a mouth-watering vegan recipe.
For a real comforting dish, add in some cripsy bread with butter to dip in – mmm!
2. Vegan Mushroom Wellington
As we mentioned earlier, you need to find the perfect centerpiece for your vegan roast, and this first recipe is exactly that.
This vegan version of the classic Beef Wellington will really blow away your guests and is one of our favourite vegan Christmas dinner recipes.
It’s pretty straightforward to cook and full of flavours, with the main ingredients being mushrooms, with garlic, onions, sage and vegan puff pastry.
You can find tons of recipes to follow to make a showstopping Christmas menu.
Our favourite Vegan Mushroom Wellington recipe is by the BBC Good Food.
If you’re not a fan of mushrooms (what kind of vegan are you?!) you could make a butternut squash wellington instead.
3. Lentil Loaf
This next vegan Christmas dinner recipe is one that the whole family will LOVE.
A Lentil Roast is a staple of any vegan dinner so it would be rude not to include a good hearty recipe within our guide.
You can use any veggies you like paired with lentils, we like to use lentils, chestnuts, mushroom, sweet potato and herbs.
The best part is, this dish can have a similar texture to beef and can even taste like it too, when it’s seasoned right.
A Lentil Loaf is easy to make, full of flavour and is super filling so if you’re looking to add something good to your dinner table this Christmas, give this one a try!
Plus, it’s easy to make a gluten free Lentil Loaf too!
4. Vegan Pigs In Blankets
PIGS IN BLANKETSSSS, they’re just the best.
Just because you’re having a plant based Christmas dinner doesn’t mean you have to miss out on the flavoursome appetizer, and we’re sure others won’t want to miss out either.
Many shops have started to sell their own plant-based pigs in blankets but if you ask us, most of them are pretty flavourless and nothing special.
Instead, make them homemade using vegan sausages, puff pastry, dried sage and vegetable oil as the main ingredients.
Add some pigs in a blanket to your Christmas table with this easy to follow recipe.
5. Cheesy Vegan Cauliflower
A holiday gathering wouldn’t be complete without some Cheesy Cauliflower, it’s the perfect appetizer!
This dish is completely addictive when the cheese is nice and golden brown.
Don’t worry, you can still make these festive faves without using dairy.
You don’t need too many ingredients for this one simply get some cauliflower, vegan butter, vegan cheddar, breadcrumbs, flower, vegan milk (we like to use soy or almond), garlic and olive oil.
If you want to kick things up a notch, add in some Dijon mustard too!
Bring the cheesy goodness to your roast with this Vegan Cauliflower Cheese recipe.
6. Maple Roasted Carrots & Parsnips
So, you’ve heard of honey roasted carrots and parsnips, but a great vegan alternative is swapping out the honey for maple syrup.
This recipe is the ideal side plate for your Christmas dinner and it still adds a nice and sweet flavour to your veggies.
It’s incredibly easy to make, simply bake your carrots and parsnips in a tray with olive oil, roasted garlic, cover them in salt and pepper and glaze them in maple syrup.
After all, you want your veggies to be deliciously tender and sweet.
Remember what we said before about burnt and dull veggies? Nope, not happening in this kitchen!
7. Vegan Mince Pies
Next up on our list of delicious recipes to make for your plant-based Christmas Dinner is vegan mince pies.
If you’re looking for a festive treat that everyone will enjoy, even Christmas pudding haters out there, then this recipe is ideal.
A lot of stores are now offering a vegan alternative to the traditional dessert, however, when you make it homemade you won’t only wow your guests but yourself too.
The best part is, they can be ready in no time at all.
Why not pair your dessert with a nice glass of mulled wine for your fam or friends?
Get the festive flavours flowing and the party started!
So, we’ve discussed some of our favourite recipes for a vegan roast dinner, but there’s still tons of other meat-free dishes that will please everyone this Christmas Day.
If we mentioned them all, we’d be here all day!
Remember, just because you’re on a plant based diet doesn’t mean you can’t make the perfect holiday meal.
We hope our tips have been helpful for you, if you do try any of these recipes let us know @urbanstudentlife.
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