Hi guys, let’s put down some amazing vegan recipes for Thanksgiving dinner, shall we?
Let that poor turkey live, ffs.
Thanksgiving is all about gathering family, stuff yourself with delicious food and a big fat roasted turkey in the middle of the table.
But you’re vegan. And you finally got the chance to do a thanksgiving dinner, surly you’re not going to put meat on your table.
But what’s Thanksgiving without a turkey?
Well, ladies and gentlemen, thanksgiving dinner without a turkey is a thanksgiving dinner just the same but without a dead bird in the middle of the table. Easy as that.
Today, we’ll put together a mouthwatering vegan recipes for Thanksgiving dinner that will fill bellies of reluctant dad’s that grumpily agreed to eat “whatever you vegans eat” and impress a fully evolved vegan friends.
We’ll stay traditional, beacuse we’re already breaking all the rules by letting the turkey live, so we’ll tweak traditional Thanksgiving recipes in a delish vegan versions.
This was an excellent post on vegan recipes that can be used for the traditional Thanksgiving meal but I think they can be used at any time of the year as well. They all look delicious and I would be proud to serve them at any time of the year. Thanksgiving as a vegan can be a hard time but these dishes will definitely brighten the eyes of the beholders.
I agree with you that we should opt out of the turkey thing, as it is a cash cow for the big corporations that often abuse the animals prior to slaughtering them for our use on that day, and a lot of times I have seen massive waste that goes on when food is thrown out because there is simply too much that cannot be consumed,
I am a huge lentils fan. I eat them at least two to three times a week and my dishes are favorites with family and friends. It would be nice to prepare them in new ways so the taste does not get old. The sloppy joe recipe will do just that. This is possibly going to be another favorite, they look really good (and the taste is there too I am guessing).
The pie sounds also like a dish that everyone can enjoy. Mention bourbon as an ingredient, and immediately I will have some converts to that dish. This recipe calls for a tablespoon only of the alcohol, so I do not have to worry that my guests will go home under the influence either.
Thanks for thinking outside the box to come up with some vegan recipes that anyone can get behind and serve for Thanksgiving or any time of the year really. I have bookmarked the page and will be back to read more, I think you have a lot of great ideas for us.
Hi Dave, thanks for leaving your comment.
I’m super glad you’ll find use of some recipes, specially the sloppy Joe’s! I really put thought in this, because I wanted to be something that everyone loves 🙂
Bourbon pie got me as well, rich flavour and easy to make.
Hope you’ll enjoy the dishes!
Katya
Thank you for this post. I appreciate it, not because I am vegan (I’m not) but, because I have a vegan friend that will be coming to Thanksgiving for the first time and I want to offer her vegan friendly options. That said, there;s still going to be a Turkey on the table.
The green beans and mushroom casserole looks amazing and I’ll simply replace my usual casserole with this one instead.
You’re right about garlic. There definitely will be garlic mashed potatoes on the menu.
I might just replace the Stouffer’s stuffing with your cornbread offering too. It sounds delicious and I’m a sucker for cornbread.
As for the main course offering, I’ll give the sloppy joe a try.
Thanks again,
Scott
Hi Scott, I’m glad to hear you’ll give it a go. Although you can make turkey to be vegan, you can usually always tweak side dishes into a vegan options. Leave out the butter and use some other plant oil (for example: olive oil and plant based milk would do the butter’s job), instead of chicken stock use vegetable one, maybe have sour cream on the side so she can avoid it but you can put it on your dish if you want..thing like that..nothing fancy.
Good luck,
Katya
Hi Katya, what a delightful time I had reading and learning from your article. I am not vegan, but vegetarian, and all throughout my married life, my in-laws would try to prepare the most preposterous dishes for me at Thanksgiving (example: soy veggie protein stuffed into turkey mold)!
These dishes you are sharing with us look scrumptious and I can’t wait to try some of them, especially the heartwarming pumpkin soup and the vegan sloppy joe’s (for my husband). And of course, no Thanksgiving dinner would be complete without the green bean and mushroom casserole (that was the dish I always brought to meat-eating family gatherings.)
Thanks you so much for sharing these fabulous recipes! FFS, I never cold understand the appeal of a giant dead bird as a centerpiece when we’re supposed to be giving thanks!
Sue
Hahaah, I know right. But everyone is “Thanksgiving without turkey? WTF?” It’s ok, it’s not the end of the world.
Yeah, I actually checked how the protein turkey mold dish is done, but I think if you don’t eat meat or any animal foods you should just own it and come up with something mind-blowingly delish and make the dinner memorable. Plus, I think that if the roles were reversed – when plant based person would do a protein stuffed turkey, the omnivores would just love cracking jokes over it…I know I would even now 🙂
Katya
Hi Katya, I am so glad to see all this information in one place. Some members of my family are vegan and I am always challenged to find tasty, attractive and nutritious meals for them. The kids tend to like the dishes in which the vegetables are somewhat hidden and I am sure they are going to enjoy the mashed potatoes with garlic, the sloppy joes, and the stuffing. Thank you for this article.
Hi JJ, you’re so very welcome. I hope your family will have a great meal together and that kids won’t make a fuss over veggies 🙂
Katya
Thank you for these great recipes, a couple of (Mashed Potatoes with Roasted Garlic and the Roasted Vegetables) which I do already. The others I will definitely try out, especially that Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Pie. I love anything chocolate, especially dark chocolate.
Personally I am not a Vegan but I do want and like to eat vegan dishes. I am what you call a Flexitarian or Semi-Vegetarian bordering on Pescatarian. I will eat some kind of lean meat about two or three times a month but tend to have fish as my meat source.
I can honestly say that at this time in my life I do not think I can become a full on vegan but can see myself as a Lacto-Ovo Vegetarian. But regardless I do eat a mostly plant-based diet and I will definitely use these recipes for myself and my family this coming Thanksgiving.
Hi Robert, that’s great. You found what feels good for you, and that’s what matters. You can always change and experiment with food 🙂 Moderation and balance is the key.
Best,
Katya
These recipes all look amazing; especially the roasted vegetables and the cornbread stuffing! These meals would definitely fill me up and I most likely will not even miss the turkey not being there. In the recipe for the chocolate bourbon pecan pie, you mention flax eggs? Where or how do I get that? Also plant milk? Can I substitute with almond milk? If not, do you have suggestions as to where I can get plant milk? Plus instead of using straight up bourbon, is there an extract, like rum extract? Except bourbon extract?
Robert
Hi Robert, I’m glad to hear that 🙂 I was aiming for a crown pleaser type of menu. Flax egg is a plant based substitute for eggs – table spoon of flaxseed meal + table spoon of water = flax egg. It binds ingredients together like an egg would otherwise. Instead of flax egg, you can also buy a plant based egg replacer and will do the same job. Plant milk is any milk coming from plants, thus almond milk is a plant milk. Let’s say you have an animal milk: cow’s, goat’s, sheep’s, well any mammal has milk. And then you have plant milk: soy, rice, almond, cashew, coconut, etc. Because it’s vegan or in other words plant based recipe, I use milk from plants and not animal 🙂
I don’t know about the Bourbon and extracts, I know you can get essential oils you can use in reipes but that’s not really what you’re looking for. Yeah, I actually don’t know where to find an extract for bourbon or rum, sorry.
If you have any other questions let me know,
Katya