38 Festive Vegan Thanksgiving Recipes (2024)

FAQs

What is a vegan alternative to turkey on Thanksgiving? ›

by Gardein

Other protein-filled vegan options that could replace turkey in your vegan Thanksgiving table are tempeh, tofu and seitan.

For smaller crowds, swap the turkey with chicken, Cornish game hens, or stuff and roast individual quails for each guest, which is very elegant for a plated meal. Our roast chicken with sourdough stuffing, pomegranate roast chicken, and cranberry stuffed cornish game hen bring a festive Thanksgiving vibe to the table.

What is alternative turkey and ham made out of? Brands like Tofurky, Field Roast, Gardein, Beyond Meat, Lightlife, and more use plant-based ingredients in the products you can buy for any vegetarian/vegan guests.

Tofurkey (a portmanteau of tofu and turkey) is a plant-based meat substitute patterned after turkey, in the form of a loaf of vegetarian protein, usually made from tofu (soybean protein) or seitan (wheat protein) with a stuffing made from grains or bread, flavored with a broth and seasoned with herbs and spices.

Beyond saturated fat, beef has a little more iron, zinc and selenium than does turkey. Turkey has slightly more potassium and phosphorus, and turkey and beef provide similar amounts of protein. The take-home message is that both turkey and beef can be part of a healthy diet.

Many caterers offer a “silent” vegetarian option which is just part of the package and yet goes unadvertised on your menu (those people that want it would just need to ask for it) so you might want to ask your caterer!

Nut Roast. The most popular Christmas meal for vegetarians and vegans is the nut roast. This typically describes a mixture of nuts, breadcrumbs, leeks, onions, broth and either oil or butter. However, this recipe is malleable and offers the opportunity for many alterations according to personal preference.

The term "pollo-vegetarian" was first used in nutritional textbooks in the 1980s to describe a semi-vegetarian diet that incorporates poultry. Historian Rod Preece describes pollotarians as "those who refrain from mammals but are willing to eat the flesh of birds notably chickens."

Cornish game hen, goose, duck, ham, beef, salmon, and mushroom recipes make worthy centerpieces for holiday meals. This is collaborative content from Food & Wine's team of experts, including staff, recipe developers, chefs, and contributors.

And no, vegans do not eat chicken, turkey, fish, eggs, or even cheese, though they are often asked. But keeping a vegan happy on Thanksgiving is not difficult. Plenty of traditional dishes are (almost) vegan anyway, and the oven is on for baking special treats.

Is there a plant based turkey? ›

A vegan turkey roast offers savory flavor and hearty texture without the meat. A quality vegetarian turkey has up to 26 grams of protein per serving — about as much as real turkey. I'm a nutritionist, and here are 4 of the best vegan turkey substitutes that also taste good.