Vegan recipes for the holidays

Pull out your favorite apron. If you like to concoct festive dishes for the holidays, you will be delighted by the wealth of recipes for vegetable delicacies. Silky soups. Decadent desserts. Succulent sides.

It is possible to delight and impress your family and friends with delicious dishes that do not require eggs, butter, meat and milk. With vegan dishes, your holiday feasts – and your snacks – are enhanced with preferable ingredients for environmental sustainability and animal welfare.

To inspire your vacation kitchen adventures, vegan enthusiasts and vegan brands offer some of their favorite vacation recipes and cooking tips.

Cheerful Fruit Pies

Gretchen Dossa from Fat Badger Bakery is a fan of fruit pies for holiday dinners.

Her busy mom tips include:

• Use crushed cookies for a no-bake pie crust
• Fill the pies with pieces of dough cut into festive shapes with cookie cutters.

“I’ve tried apple, peach, blueberry, pumpkin, mango, blackberry, strawberry, and fruit cream pies. Tart flavors like blackberry or cranberry that I like to temper with a more “neutral” fruit like pear… I like to add a little good vanilla to my pies. I may be heavy handed with spices, but pies are something you can really tweak the flavors to your liking without ruining the dessert. Switch up the nuts if you don’t like pecan pie. Add peanuts and chocolate (if so), that’s what you like.

Wild mushroom stuffing

Nisha Vora of Rainbow plant life and Rainbow Plant Life on YouTube described his Wild Mushroom Stuffing recipe as an elegant dish that is easy to prepare and delights vegans and non-vegans alike.

“This wild mushroom stuffing is tender and moist but a bit crunchy. It’s bursting with holiday flavor and is perfect for your Christmas or Thanksgiving table,” Vora said. “You can do this in a 13×9-inch or 3-quart baking dish, but I recommend using a tube pan if you have one lying around. This will turn this stuffing into such a beautiful, festive wreath shape.

Vora offered a few more tips:

• If possible, use a mixture of mushrooms. If you only use button mushrooms, the stuffing may be a bit runny.
• This recipe calls for fresh sage, thyme and rosemary, but I also made it with thyme and oregano. Both combos are great, but whichever variety you choose, don’t skimp on the herbs as they infuse the stuffing with plenty of savory Thanksgiving flavor.
• I like to use a hearty rustic bread in this dish, like a good quality baguette, French bread, or ciabatta. Do not use sandwich bread, it will not fit in this recipe.
• To keep this recipe soy-free, omit the miso paste or use chickpea miso. If you omit the miso paste, you might want to add just a little more salt.
• Use more olive oil if you don’t want to use vegan butter

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons vegan butter (I use Country Crock vegan butter)
• 1 pound wild mushrooms (hard stems removed and cut into 1-inch pieces)
• ½ pound button or cremini mushrooms, hard cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1½ teaspoons kosher salt, divided
• freshly cracked black pepper to taste
• 2 large leeks (white and light green parts only, diced)
• 4 large garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh sage
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped rosemary leaves
• 2 tablespoons thyme leaves, coarsely chopped
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 1 tbsp white miso paste
• 1 flax egg (see step 2)
• 1 large baguette or loaf of French bread (about 16 ounces or 8 to 10 cups cubed)
• 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh parsley
• 1 to 2 cups of vegetable broth
• ½ cup vegan parmesan (optional)

If that sounds appealing, follow the stuffing instructions on rainbow plant life.

Some other vegan holiday favorites from Vora:

Sweet potatoes as a starter or dessert

Denise Zheng, who helps organize Richmond Vegetable Festivalrejoices in a sweet potato recipe she chose online. The dish features a maple and pecan filling. Zheng loves the layers of texture, flavor, and recipe versatility. “It matches the season with pumpkin spice seasonings. I love how it can be served as a starter and as a dessert,” she said.

The soup is on

Tammy Haldren, Educator of the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program of West Virginia State Universityis a fan of Cookie + Kate’s lentil soup recipe that she uses professionally and for her family. Even picky eaters like it, she says. “This recipe is so easy and made mostly with staples. I always add kale, rather than spinach or other greens; however, one can definitely add one’s favorite.

Rainbow Plant Life’s Nisha Vora also recommends her Vegan cauliflower soup.

For more vegan soup recipes, read Plant-Based Soups – Great for You and the Planet.

Pumpkin Gingerbread Casserole

food for life share a recipe Gingerbread Pumpkin Casserolewhich includes Ezekiel 4:9 Almond Sprouted Whole Grain Cereal.

Ingredients

• 4 cups pureed pumpkin or winter squash or 3 cans (15 ounces) pureed pumpkin or unsweetened sweet potato
• ½ cup maple syrup
• ½ cup canned coconut milk
• ¼ cup melted coconut oil
• ¼ cup chopped candied ginger, optional
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 inch fresh ginger, peeled and minced or grated
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
• ½ teaspoon ground allspice
• ¼ teaspoon ground cloves

Ingredients for the filling

directions

1. Line a fine-mesh colander with a clean, thin kitchen towel and place over a bowl. Scrape the pumpkin into a colander, fold the edges of the towel over the pumpkin and weigh with a small plate or bowl and a heavy can for 1 hour.
2. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Lightly oil a 9 or 10 inch square baking dish.
3. In a large bowl, combine the pumpkin, maple syrup, coconut milk, oil, optional candied ginger, flour, fresh ground ginger, cinnamon, vanilla, salt, chilli Jamaica and cloves. Pour into a baking dish.
4. In a medium bowl, combine cereal, ginger, coconut and coconut oil. Sprinkle over the top of the casserole. Bake until browned, about 40 minutes.

More sweet vegan recipes for the holidays

For more vegan dessert recipes, read Yum! Make delicious and easy vegan desserts in a snap.