10 Vegan Holiday Mains From the Pre-Made Roasts to the Best Recipes
5 Mins Read
Dig into these delicious vegan holiday mains you can get at your local supermarket, order online, or make at home.
When it comes down to it, there’s nothing more magical about the holidays than gathering around the table with the people who matter most. These precious moments are the real gifts, after all. They’re also perfect moments to forge new traditions, starting with what’s at the center of the table. Make these vegan roasts and mains for a perfectly plant-based celebration that brings the deliciousness of compassion to your holidays.
Store-bought roasts
1. Tofurky Roast, Tofurky Ham
The classic Thanksgiving dish makes an impressive Christmas or New Year’s centerpiece. Meaty, tender, and so savory, it’s sure to please meat-eaters, vegans, and everyone in between. Had your fill of Tofurky roasts? Give the vegan ham roast a try. It’s perfectly seasoned with a salty, maple glaze that doesn’t disappoint.
Find Tofurky at Whole Foods, Sprouts, and major supermarket chains.
2. Very Good Butchers Stuffed Beast
This holiday roast is bursting with flavor. The roast is so tender and juicy you’ll want to wear some loose-fitting pants. Made with beans and seitan, the “Beast” is stuffed with a delicate veggie-forward stuffing filled with yams, cranberries, carrots, and celery.
Order this one online in the U.S. and Canada.
3. The Herbivorous Butcher Turkey Free Feast
Why stop with a roast? The Minneapolis-based Herbivorous Butcher has put together an entire holiday feast complete with a stuffed vegan roast, Portuguese-style sausages, maple bacon, fig brie, and olive Havarti. You can feed 8-10 hungry feasters with this fully plant-based celebration. And don’t be alarmed if they ask for more.
4. Field Roast Hazelnut Cranberry Roast En Croute
Need your feast to be a little extra? Give the Field Roast holiday roast in puff pastry a whirl. It’s got all the leanings of a good wellington with a meaty, perfectly spiced center. Field Roast packs its melt-in-your-mouth hazelnut-infused vegan meat with a rosemary, candied ginger, and sausage stuffing. And the puff pastry gives it a buttery crunch your guests will love.
5. Trader Joe’s Turkey-less Stuffed Roast
Your friendliest neighborhood grocer never disappoints. Trader Joe’s delivers a juicy, tender vegan roast stuffed with wild rice and cranberry stuffing. It’s about as classic a holiday dish as you can get and an easy substitute for holiday dinner traditionalists.
Vegan holiday main recipes
6. Gordon Ramsay’s Beet Wellington
Even if you are cooking a traditional roast, vegan or not, make this beet wellington from Gordon Ramsay. Yes, beet. The longtime anti-vegan has come around in a big way, embracing the brilliant simplicity of plants. Here, he brings together mouthwatering flavor, texture, and beauty. This dish will bring oohs and aahs even years after it’s gone.
Get the recipe here.
7. Vegan Seitan Roast With Chestnut Stuffing
This is a recipe I crafted nearly a decade ago at a time when Tofurky didn’t have nearly the competition it does today. I went vegan in my early 20s, so after a few decades of Tofurky roasts, I wanted to explore some other options. I’m glad I did! This recipe is similar to a Tofurky with a seitan-bean base (I used red lentil), but I made it a roulade, which was a fun way to go.
Get the recipe here.
8. Whole Roasted Cauliflower
There are two kinds of people in this world, those of us who really love vegetables and those people who don’t know what they’re missing. Roasted cauliflower may be the dish that bridges that rather large gap once and for all. The cauliflower is no meat replacement, but it holds its own and pairs incredibly well with mashed potatoes and gravy.
Get the recipe here.
Quorn
9. Vegan Wellington
This traditional-looking vegan wellington gets its meaty center from UK-based vegan meat brand, Quorn. Paired with butternut squash, kale, lentils, and all kinds of savory goodness, you’ll want to double up this recipe and freeze one for a rainy day that needs a festive spin.
Get the recipe here.
10. Vegan Meatloaf
Let the meatloaf critics say what they want. They will change their minds after tasting this one from Nora Cooks. Made with a chickpea base, the loaf is soft and full of flavor in every bite. It pairs perfectly with seasonal holiday sides, or keep it simple with roasted Brussels sprouts and mashed potatoes.
Get the recipe here.
For a perfect holiday feast, be sure you remember the sides!
Lead image: Tofurkey
Author
