Your Ultimate Vegan Christmas Dinner Menu
Nov 27, 2022 (Last updated Nov 28, 2023) by Hannah Sunderani
Your Ultimate Vegan Christmas Dinner Menu
Planning a Christmas dinner menu is hard, and then you throw Vegan into the mix and it’s like – where do I begin?!? This Vegan Christmas dinner menu helps to take away all the guess work and planning.
The Menu at a Glance
- A nut roast replaces the turkey as a high-protein and satiating vegan holiday roast.
- Classic sides like mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy that are just as hearty, savoury and flavourful, yet 100% plant-based.
- Elevated vegetable dishes like roasted Brussels sprouts (so much tastier than steamed or boiled brussels!) and the BEST holiday salad you’ll want to eat all season long.
- Finished off with the most decadent slice of vegan pecan pie complete with an easy crust shortcut.
AND.. be sure to opt-in for the downloadable Vegan Christmas Dinner Menu Guide to make it really easy for you to succeed in creating this menu! (It includes a printable shopping list with all the ingredients you’ll need!)
How to make the Ultimate Vegan Christmas Dinner
Follow along making this menu with me on Season 1, Episode 1, of my YouTube Cooking show: Vegan Afternoon with Two Spoons.
What do Vegans Eat For the Holidays?
If you’re celebrating your first Christmas as a vegan this year, let me quickly put your mind at ease and say you can recreate all of your favorite dishes with a few simple plant-based swaps. Plus, the flavour is almost exactly the same as the nonvegan recipes you likely grew up with – in some cases even better!
Simple Vegan-Friendly Ingredient Swaps
Most Christmas recipes you may be familiar with are made with eggs, milk, butter, or meat-based stocks. Keep this simple list handy to know how to replace these ingredients with a vegan-friendly version.
- Eggs – Chia seeds or ground flaxseeds are popular choices for replacing eggs in vegan baking.
- Butter – Use vegan butter! For Christmas cooking and baking, I’d recommend purchasing vegan butter sticks. I like the brands Earth Balance and Myokos.
- Cheese – Nutritional yeast is an easy way to imitate a cheesy flavor without any dairy. Be careful not to confuse this with regular active yeast. Another cheesy ingredient is raw cashews.
- Bacon – Tempeh or coconut are great swaps for vegan bacon or bacon bits.
- Milk – Use a non-dairy milk such as almond milk, cashew milk, soy milk, or oat milk. For creamier, richer recipes, try full-fat coconut milk. When using milk in a savoury recipe, make sure to pick up an unsweetened plant-based milk or make your own almond milk at home.
- Chicken or turkey stock – Meat-based stocks are often used to add flavour to recipes like gravy, stuffing or other savoury dishes. Simply swap this stock or broth for a vegetable broth. Add a splash of tamari or soy sauce to give it a similar umami flavour.
- Alcohol – It may come as a surprise that not all alcohol is vegan-friendly. Use Barnivore to quickly check if a wine or other alcoholic beverage is free of animal byproducts.
The Vegan Christmas Dinner Menu
Below I’ve laid out 7 vegan Christmas dinner recipes, from side dishes to dessert and everything in between. I’ve also included helpful make-ahead options to make your holiday and Christmas dinner as stress-free as possible. Enjoy!
1. Holiday Salad
2. Maple Roasted Brussels Sprouts
3. Vegan Stuffing
4. Vegan Mashed Potatoes
5. Vegan Gravy
6. Nut Roast
7. Vegan Pecan Pie
Make-Ahead Options
If you’re hosting Christmas, it can be stressful to try and balance all of the vegan Christmas dinner prep at once. Not to mention hard to find the counter and oven space! Use these make-ahead options to do as much Christmas dinner prep as you can in advance, so that the whole day is more enjoyable.
1-2 days in advance
- Bake your entire pecan pie 1-2 days ahead of Christmas! In fact, I find vegan pecan pie tastes even better the next day because it’s had time to develop its flavour and makes the crust even more moist and tender. Once baked and cooled, cover the top with plastic or reusable wrap, then keep at room temperature.
The day before
- Make the nut roast. Similar to the pecan pie, nut roast is better when prepped in advance. It’s easier to slice and richer in flavour. To reheat, cover the nut roast with foil and reheat at 300F/150C for 20 minutes, or until warmed through sufficiently.
- Make the vegan gravy. Once prepped, allow to cool, then store the vegan gravy in the refrigerator in an airtight container overnight. Reheat on the stovetop with a splash of vegetable broth to thin out if needed.
The morning of
- Vegan mashed potatoes. For the best buttery and creamy mashed potatoes, wait to make until the morning of. Reheated covered in the oven at 300F/150C for 20 mins or in the microwave until warm. Add an additional splash of plant milk as needed.
- Vegan Stuffing. This can also be made the day before, but I prefer to make it the morning of to keep it as moist on the interior as possible. Reheat in the oven (covered) at 325F/190C for 10 to 15 minutes, or until warm.
Right before serving
- Maple Roasted Brussels Sprouts – These are best served out of the oven while warm because while they’re nice and crispy. If prepped too early, they can lose their crispness overtime.
- Holiday Salad – Best to prepare right before serving as the salad leaves will wilt over time and the avocado will brown from oxidation. Serve the dressing on the side for drizzling. This will help the salad leaves stay fresh and crisp for a few hours at room temperature. (Note: The salad dressing can be prepared 1-2 days in advance)
Additional Vegan Christmas Recipes You May Be Interested In
With the above 7 recipes, you’ve got everything you need to enjoy the ultimate vegan Christmas dinner this year. However, you may be interested in a couple of these vegan-friendly Christmas recipe ideas to try as appetizers and make the day even more special.
8. Vegan Spinach Artichoke Dip
9. Vegan Cashew Cheese (Holiday Platter)
10. Green Beans Almondine
11. Vegan Eggnog
12. Gingerbread Lattes
I hope you love this vegan Christmas dinner menu as much as we do! If you do make this on Christmas Day, please let me know in the comments below what you think! I truly love hearing from you, and I’m always here to answer any questions you might have.
And don’t forget to opt-in for our Christmas Dinner Menu Guide freebie, including a full shopping list so that you have everything you need to succeed on Christmas Day!
And of course, tag me on Instagram with your pictures using the hashtag #twospoons. Nothing makes me happier than to see your recreations.
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Nut Roast
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup ground chia seeds or ground flax seeds
- 1 cup water
- ½ cup walnuts
- ½ cup brazil nuts
- ½ cup cashews
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 yellow onion finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic
- 8 oz cremini mushrooms chopped
- ½ cup fresh sage chopped
- ¼ cup nutritional yeast
- ¼ cup gluten-free tamari
- 2 tbsp tahini
- 1 tbsp rosemary fresh, chopped
- 2 tsp thyme leaves
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- ½ tsp sea salt
- 2 cups cooked brown rice
Mushroom Topping
- 1 tbsp vegan butter
- 4 oz cremini mushrooms chopped (optional for topping)
Other:
- Vegan Gravy (optional for serving)
Instructions
- Make the chia eggs: In a bowl, combine the ground chia seeds and water. Mix to combine and let thicken at least 10 minutes.
- In a food processor, pulse the walnuts, brazil nuts and cashews into a nut-meal like substance. Set aside.
- Preheat oven to 350F/175C. Line a 9-inch loaf pan with parchment paper with overhang on both of the long sides.
- Bring a large deep skillet to medium-high heat, add the olive oil, onion, garlic and mushrooms. Cook, stirring often, until softened, about 10 minutes. Add the sage, nutritional yeast, tamari, tahini, rosemary, thyme, oregano, and sea salt. Mix to combine.
- Add the mushroom mixture to the food processor with the nuts and pulse a few times until the mixture is well combined, ground, and slightly doughy in texture.
- Transfer the mixture back to the skillet (with the heat off) and add the chia eggs and cooked brown rice. Mix everything to combine. Scoop the nut roast mixture into the prepared loaf pan and press gently to create a smooth, even surface.
- Bake the nut roast in the oven for 50 minutes, or until lightly golden around the edges and on the top. Let cool slightly in the pan, about 10 minutes, to solidify before serving.
- To make the mushroom topping (optional): melt vegan butter in a skillet on medium high heat and add the cremini mushrooms. Cook, stirring often until the mushrooms have browned and turned golden in colour, about 12 minutes.
- To make the vegan gravy: In a small saucepan, melt the vegan butter on medium heat, add the vegetable broth, miso, onion powder, tamari and nutritional yeast, Whisk to combine. Add the corn starch and whisk again. Simmer on low heat until the gravy has thickened, approx. 8-10 minutes.
- Serve the nut roast on a platter topped with the mushroom topping and vegan gravy on the side.
Watch The Video
Notes
Approvals
Nutrition
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AND RATE THIS RECIPE!
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The nut roast sounds delicious and I want to try it. I was just wondering, is the sage quantity correct? 1/2 cup seems like a lot of sage.
Hey Camelia! The amount of sage used is perfect for the recipe! If you don’t like sage you can always use an alternative ☺️
OMG! This Nut Roast is a keeper!!! I made it 2 days in advance for the flavours to fement and it was incredible and I loved having the leftovers for lunches.
That nut roast is such a great meal prep recipe! (It keeps so well!) So so happy that you enjoyed it. 🙂
Excellent, made this tonight and it was a hit! Will definitely make again. I made this recipe exactly as given except for the herbs, as I used the dry equivalent.
Thanks Hannah!
Excellent, made this tonight and it was a hit! Will definitely make again. I made this recipe exactly as given except for the herbs, as I used the dry equivalent. Also, the gravy was the best vegan gravy I have made thus far, it was easy and delicious.
Thanks Hannah!
Oh Nancy I am SO thrilled that you enjoyed this menu so much – we LOVE that gravy too.Thanks for the very kind comment!