Tips for a Vegetarian Christmas Dinner
If you’re hosting for a visiting veggie or planning an entire meat-free feast for Christmas Day, there’s absolutely no reason why you can’t prepare the sort of Christmas Dinner that will have meat-eaters looking up from their turkey with envy.
Here’s how to do it without breaking a sweat…
The Centrepiece
Rewind to Christmas Day 30 years ago and many vegetarians would be presented with the same as everyone else, just minus the turkey. Not any more...
A Vegetarian Visitor
You’ll have your hands full if you’re hosting on Christmas Day, so when it comes to a centrepiece for one or two guests, don’t try and juggle making something fiendishly complicated on the day, alongside everything else. Making a vegetarian Christmas dinner doesn’t have to be hard...
There are plenty of festive veggie recipes that store well, so try making something special in advance that you can just pop in the oven. A nut roast, for example, will be fine in the fridge for two days and freezes well, too.
Or you could buy something in. Here at COOK, we’re very proud of our Portobello Mushroom Wellington, which was a Good Housekeeping Institute pick. Whether you try it or not, there are lots of memorable options available these days. Not only delicious, our vegetarian and vegan Christmas dinner options are easy to cook too!
Alternatively, a larger nut roast will be a great centrepiece for any vegetarian guests and will serve as an alternative stuffing (and a break from all that meat) for everyone else.
Cooking For A Veggie Crowd
Is serving a Nut Roast to a veggie on Christmas Day a cliché? Of course. But so is serving turkey to meat-eaters. If you’re looking for easy but delicious alternatives to turkey for Christmas dinner and veggie alternatives to traditional sides, read on...
Christmas is all about the traditions, and you’ll have plenty of opportunities to get experimental with your veggie recipes over the rest of the festive season. So, providing there aren’t any allergies to worry about, we’d recommend going with a nut roast if you’re looking for a big meat-free centrepiece. Done right, they are utterly delicious and go brilliantly with the traditional Christmas sides like roasties, parsnips, bread sauce, sprouts and gravy. Which brings us on to…
Vegetarian Sides For Christmas
On the face of it, you’re fine with most of the traditional sides for a Christmas dinner. But if you’re not careful, many of them won’t be suitable for vegetarians or vegans. Because it’s the biggest meal of the year, people often pack in flavour using animal-based products, like goose fat for roast potatoes or honey for parsnips (which most vegans avoid). Luckily, there are loads of great meat-free Christmassy flavours, like hazelnuts, cranberries and chestnuts.
Roast Potatoes
At COOK we use rapeseed oil for our roasties at Christmas. As well as the crispness you’re after, it has a subtle nuttiness and gives them a gorgeous golden colour. Give the goose fat a miss and try it at home. You don’t sacrifice any of the flavour when you cook our delicious roast potatoes, and everyone can enjoy them as they’re suitable for vegans and vegetarians alike!
Pigs in Blankets
Hands down the most challenging side to recreate, as if you take away the meat there’s literally nothing left. While you can go down the obvious route – veggie sausages, veggie bacon – there are more imaginative alternatives. You can find a recipe for one from our Development Kitchen, with pieces of halloumi wrapped in slices of mushroom over on the COOK blog. For a take on devils on horseback, try wrapping dates in slices of parsnip or aubergine. Adding some soy sauce and a pinch of smoked paprika to the parsnip or aubergine slices before roasting will give them the appropriate saltiness.
Red Cabbage
You can pack so much flavour into braised red cabbage, like port, prunes, orange, apples, onion, garlic, spices or brown sugar. It’s a real wintry treat, and a favourite for vegetable lovers at Christmas!
Carrots
Great with a simple parsley butter, but you could also try them roasted with a little honey or maple syrup to bring out the sweetness. If you’re hosting a vegan, check if they eat maple syrup, as some brands use animal fat to de-foam the syrup. You can find vegan honey in most big supermarkets now, too. Our own roasted carrots are glazed in marmalade, orange & thyme to make sure they’re suitable for everyone.
Brussels Sprouts
Feared by children, beloved by adults, these are essential for Christmas and they don’t need bacon for an added layer of flavour. We make our sprouts and add sliced buttered leeks but you can add all sorts. Chestnuts are a classic addition, or push the boat out and cook them with pomegranate seeds and a sprinkling of chopped pistachio nuts.
Bread Sauce
An easy one to make vegan-friendly: just substitute cow’s milk for oat milk. Done. We love to make our bread sauce with sourdough bread crumbs, onion, thyme and other herbs.
Gravy
A common pitfall when hosting for veggies. A good vegetable stock, mushrooms and red wine will give your vegetable gravy a real depth of flavour. Again, if you’re planning on making two versions, either make it in advance or buy the veggie gravy in. Making a good one, as with any good homemade gravy, takes time and care.
Puddings
When it comes to Christmas desserts, why not get two medium-sized ones rather than one big one? It’s nice to give people the option – it is Christmas after all – but that’s especially true when you’re hosting for a veggie or vegan.
You won’t be limited for choices, especially for vegetarian options. We’ve come a long way in a short time and today you can find vegan and veggie mince pies, Christmas pudding, gingerbread and lots of other festive treats.
We’d suggest you embrace naturally vegan flavours of the season, like stewed winter fruits, berries, ginger and spices. A good polenta cake – as well as having the benefit of being gluten-free – can be full of Christmas flavours and is delicious served slightly warm.
Last but not least, remember to buy in some vegan cream or, best of all, ice cream. There are some terrific producers of ice cream today and we particularly like the ones made with coconut and almond milk.
