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Wondering what to serve for a vegan Thanksgiving? I have rounded up lots of ideas to help you plan your menu whether you’re cooking for vegans, vegetarians, or anyone who wants to add more healthy plant foods to their diets. Whether you are planning to cook for a crowd, for a small family meal, or for yourself, it is easy to enjoy lots of delicious fall favorites for the holiday. I hope you enjoy trying these recipes!
I think it is important to learn about another perspective on Thanksgiving. It is a Day of Mourning for Native and Indigenous people. Here is more information about Thanksgiving’s Dark Side from the Washington Post.
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Appetizers
I like to serve a garden salad (see the pumpkin vinaigrette dressing for a fall twist), and here are fall soups, a lentil salad, stuffed mushrooms, and an easy layered hummus dip also.
15-Bean Vegetable Soup
Flavorful and filling – try this spicy soup to warm up on a cold day! Enjoy the textures of barley, veggies, and beans in this comforting bowl. Lots of fiber, protein, and complex carbohydrates from beans and vegetables, with little fat.
15-Bean Vegetable Soup
Pumpkin and Sweet Potato Soup
This Spiced Pumpkin and Sweet Potato Soup is a delightful bowl of goodness! It is healthy, tasty, and easy to prepare.
Pumpkin and Sweet Potato Soup
Vegan Stuffed Mushrooms with Artichokes and Kale
This delightful Italian style appetizer is a sure guest-pleaser. Enjoy the fresh flavors of garlic, wine, artichokes, and herbs.
Stuffed Mushrooms with Artichokes and Kale
Kale Quinoa Salad with Lentils
Quinoa salad with lentils and kale is fresh, crisp, healthy and so delicious. With a variety of veggies,garlic lemon dressing, topped with cranberries and almond slices. A filling salad that you will most certainly love! From Roxana Begum PhD, RD
Kale Quinoa Salad with Lentils
Vegan Hummus Layered Dip
This easy snack elevates hummus to a new level with fresh, crunch veggies and Mediterranean flavors! You can increase the serving size for appetizers for a crowd, too!
Vegan Hummus Layered Dip
Thanksgiving Main Dishes
Here are some great vegan main dish ideas instead of turkey. What makes for the perfect entree on Thanksgiving? You can just enjoy lots of vegetable side dishes, but there is nothing like stuffed vegetables like squash, mushrooms, or peppers for something satisfying!
Seitan Turkey
Decadent yet healthy, this home cooked Seitan Turkey is moist, packed with flavor, and has a meaty texture. It’s perfect for a holiday centerpiece.
Seitan Turkey
umami vegan gravy
A mouthwatering vegan gravy recipe packed with flavor and perfect for any holiday dish or gravy craving. Even meat lovers will love it.
Umami vegan gravy
Savory Vegan Stuffed Acorn Squash Recipe with Wild Rice – Fad Free Nutrition Blog
Need a vegan main dish option for Thanksgiving? Look no further!. This Savory Vegan Stuffed Acorn Squash recipe is full of nutrients, flavors, and colors. From Melissa E. Nieves, LND, RD, MPH
Savory Vegan Stuffed Acorn Squash Recipe with Wild Rice
Stuffed Peppers with Butternut Squash and Quinoa
These Italian-style stuffed peppers with butternut squash, Great Northern beans, quinoa, and herbs are a great vegan meal for everyday, holidays, and entertaining. They freeze well, too.
Stuffed Peppers with Butternut Squash and Quinoa
Vegan Meatless Meatballs
These delicious, savory meatballs are packed with flavor (and veggies!). Make-ahead friendly, easy to freeze and meal-prep. The oven does most of the work.
Vegan Meatless Meatballs
Vegan Mushroom Wellington
Vegan mushroom wellington is a showstopping main course fit for your Thanksgiving table.
Vegan Mushroom Wellington
Side Dishes
Here are some recipes for healthier versions of Thanksgiving sides. Find even more in this new post: 18 Favorite Vegan, Healthy Thanksgiving Side Dishes.
Other great options are baked sweet potatoes or oven-roasted potatoes or sweet potatoes with a little olive oil, rosemary, salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
Another terrific thing to include is some freshly baked whole-grain rolls. Try making sweet potato rolls for something different. I am going to try making a turkey-shaped challah this year!
If you like stuffing, try making a vegan cornbread, adding cooked celery and onions, vegetable broth, cranberries, and pecans. This article from Prevention shows the favorite side dish in each state.
My favorite stuffing from my childhood was my grandmother’s Pennsylvania Dutch potato filling: which is basically bread stuffing mixed into mashed potatoes and baked. This could be made plant-based by just substituting with plant-based butter and using plain soy or oat milk instead of dairy milk.
Sesame Sweet Potatoes with Green Onions
Sesame sweet potatoes are an easy side dish with an Asian flair. A different flavor profile than the typical Thanksgiving ones: vegan and gluten-free.
Sesame Sweet Potatoes with Green Onions
10-Minute Vegan Pumpkin Pasta
This vegan pumpkin pasta is creamy and delicious and can be made in just 10 minutes! Pumpkin pasta sauce is healthy and perfect for fall.
Vegan Pumpkin Pasta
Roasted Sweet Potato & Banana Casserole | To Taste
This roasted sweet potato & banana casserole uses the natural sweetness of bananas; it’s a healthier version of a sweet potato casserole! by Chef Vahista Ussery, MS, MBA, RDN
Roasted Sweet Potato & Banana Casserole
Air Fryer Sweet Potato Chunks – Brown Sugar or Savory! – Chenée Today
Tender air fryer sweet potato chunks – brown sugar spiced cubes or savory seasoning option! See how long to cook sweet potatoes in air fryer!
Air Fryer Sweet Potato Chunks
Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Pistachios and Pomegranate
Roasted brussels sprouts are nothing new, but Brussels topped with pistachios and pomegranate arils take them to another level! by Kaitlin Williams Eckstein MPH, RD, LD From Rebecca Bitzer RD and Assoc.
Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Pistachios and Pomegranate
Garlic and Rosemary Potatoes
Make these Simple Garlic and Rosemary Potatoes for a flavorful and satisfying side.
Garlic and Rosemary Potatoes
Balsamic Roasted Root Vegetables
Earthy root vegetables are roasted until crispy, then tossed with diced apples and pecans for the perfect side dish. From Cassidy Reeser, RDN, LD
Balsamic Roasted Root Vegetables
Baked Vegan Mac And Cheese (Nut/Gluten-Free)
Learn how to make the best baked vegan mac and cheese ever! It is kid-approved, whips up quickly, and gluten-free as well as nut-free!
Baked Vegan Mac And Cheese
Wild Rice, Cranberry, and Collard Greens Stuffing
For a warm vegan stuffing full of aromatic flavors your entire Thanksgiving table will enjoy, try this Wild Rice, Cranberry, and Collard Greens Stuffing. From Chelsey Amer RD
Wild Rice, Cranberry, and Collard Greens Stuffing
Cranberry Apple Orange Sauce
This crowd-pleasing cranberry sauce is packed with the flavors of apple, orange juice and zest, lemon zest, and cinnamon, and sweetened with maple syrup. By Alena Kharlamenko, MS, RD
Cranberry Apple Orange Sauce
Desserts
No vegan Thanksgiving would be complete without dessert! Try these individual pumpkin pies, apple crisp, or brownies for a sweet ending to your meal.
Homemade Pumpkin Pies
Homemade pumpkin pies at their best. No gluten, no dairy, and no-bake! A creamy pumpkin-cashew filling with a rich nutty-date crust, these are the perfect dessert choice this Fall. Think you don’t have time to pull off a pie, these are done in under 30 minutes. From Shahzadi Devje CDE MSc
Homemade Pumpkin Pies
You can make this dessert in a slow cooker or Instant Pot, which is very helpful if you need oven space.
Slow Cooker Apple Crisp – Gluten-free and Vegan
Soft apples with warm spices and a crumbly, crispy topping – just the right dessert for a cool fall day. Easy to make in the slow cooker: fill your home with a delicious aroma. Gluten free, vegan, and with little added fat or sugar.
Slow Cooker Apple Crisp
Vegan Pecan Pie (Without Corn Syrup or Oil)
This healthier vegan pecan pie is SO good! Rich, nutty, not too sweet, easy and gluten-free. WFPB oil-free, no refined sugar, soy or coconut.
Vegan Pecan Pie
Vegan Peanut Butter Brownies for the Instant Pot
Fudgy, moist brownie made easily in the Instant Pot – plus lower in added sugar and saturated fat compared to mant recipes. Perfect tasty dessert or snack especially when it is too hot to bake.
Vegan Peanut Butter Brownies
Vegan Pumpkin Pie
This Vegan Pumpkin Pie recipe has a velvety, spiced pumpkin filling with a gluten-free oat crust. It’s easy to make with 10 ingredients!
Vegan Pumpkin Pie
Vegan Thanksgiving Planning and Cooking Strategy
These are my tips to have a less stressful Thanksgiving day. This does not mean that I have everything done before guests arrive: in fact, quite the contrary. I thrive on a little pressure and like to take some time that morning to get out for a walk!
About 2 weeks ahead of time: write out a rough draft of your menu. Check over the recipes for ingredients and make a shopping list. This is a good time to read the recipes and print them out if they are online.
One week ahead of time: buy non-perishable foods. A convenient suggestion I recommend is Thrive Market. There you can find staples to help you cook these recipes like chickpeas, lentils, wild rice, nuts, pumpkin, and spices: all organic and shipped to your home. It’s a great time saver and they have a low-price guarantee too! Please learn more from this link:
A few days ahead: organize the dining room: decide on your tablecloth, napkins, dishes, silverware, any place cards, table decor, and your centerpiece.
1 – 2 days ahead of time: buy perishable foods. Finalize the menu. I usually make adjustments based on which vegetables look good at the store or farmers’ market. if you have time, prepare a dish or two.
Set out serving dishes. Make a post-it note for each food you will serve. Place a post-it note in each dish and include a serving utensil. This helps me so much!
Write out a schedule for yourself for your plant-based Thanksgiving day cooking. If you are also making a turkey, of course carefully check your cooking time and plan to get up early enough. Then you need to see how you will cook everything else. Using other appliances like a slow cooker, electric skillet, or pressure cooker can help.
Many people recommend not cooking new recipes for guests. I disagree. I think it’s fun and exciting to try new recipes on a holiday. However, as sometimes things are unexpected, it’s not a bad idea to include some recipes you have made before too.
More Posts You May Enjoy
I hope these recipes help you have an enjoyable Thanksgiving!
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Which of these vegan Thanksgiving recipes do you plan to try? Please let me know in the comments below:
Originally published 11/8/20. Updated 11/3/23.
Love all these recipes especially then zuchinni cups!