EPIC POST! Yes, this is super epic guys. I spent the week celebrating Thanksgiving (which happened in October in Canada and hasn't even happened in the US, yet). But that doesn't matter because I wanted to make sure that you had all you need to make all the traditional holiday sides, totally vegan fabulous. Don't you worry your pretty little heads, I will be posting some awesome mains too, but I wanted to make sure I got the basics out there. Whether you are hosting a large gathering, attending a potluck, or just chilling at home, these recipes will please everyone. I'm not saying they will please just the vegans, put these dishes on the table and no one will be complaining... well people might complain when it's all gone.
If you have any traditional sides that I didn't include and would like to serve, leave a comment at the bottom of the page, and I will give you pointers on how to veganize your holiday season.
To make your life easier I included these prep ahead tips below. Whether you are making all of these dishes, or just a couple, you can use these tips to get most of the work done ahead of time so you can be all smooth and cool on the celebratory day. I also made these recipes printer friendly, so you can print, share, bookmark, pin, tweet, or however you like to save your recipes.
Prep Ahead Tips
1 or more days ahead:
- Print, save, share, or bookmark these recipes.
- Make a list, check it twice, and get all your grocery shopping done!
- Make the Classic Cranberry Sauce.
- Make the Quick Onion Gravy. It will turn into a solid jelly like blob in the fridge... yummy... When you are ready to reheat, warm over medium-low heat until it returns to liquid. Add more broth to thin as necessary if needed.
- Slice bread for stuffing and set out to get stale.
Day before:
- If you haven't sliced your bread for the stuffing yet, make sure you do that today. This is a must.
- Chop up any veggies you would like to get out of the way, onions, garlic, celery, mushrooms, brussel sprouts, and green beans. You can cook the green beans according to the directions so that's all done as well.
- Peel potatoes for mashed potatoes and store in a bowl or pot covered with water in the fridge. Drain off water and add fresh water when you are ready to prepare the recipe.
Morning Of:
- Make the French Fried Onions and set aside on a plate covered with a paper towel.
- Make biscuits and wrap in a cloth napkin to keep fresh. Warning, make a double batch as you will want to eat them all!
- Make the Classic Vegan Stuffing up to the point where you cover the dish with foil. Set aside until you are ready to bake.
Now for the vegan thanksgiving and Christmas side dishes:
- Vegan Green Bean Casserole
- Agave Glazed Carrots
- Vegan Garlic Mashed Potatoes
- Classic Cranberry Sauce
- Balsamic Roasted Brussel Sprouts
- Vegan Biscuits
- Quick Vegan Onion Gravy
- Classic Vegan Stuffing
Vegan Green Bean Casserole
Creamy green beans topped with crispy fried onions.
Servings:
Ingredients
For the fried onions:
- 1 large white onion, sliced into thin rings
- 1 cup non-dairy milk (such as soy or almond)
- 1 cup all-purpose flour (gluten-free if preferred)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 pinch black pepper
- Oil for frying
For the green beans:
- 1 lb fresh green beans, trimmed
- 1 tablespoon vegan butter or oil
- 1 225g button mushrooms, sliced
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 pinch black pepper
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour (gluten-free if preferred)
- 1 cup vegetable broth
- ½ cup full-fat coconut milk (the kind in a can)
- ½ cup non-dairy milk (such as soy or almond)
Instructions
For the onions:
- Soak the onions in milk for about 5 - 10 minutes.
- In the mean time, whisk together the flour, salt and pepper in a bowl. When the onions are soaked coat them in the flour mixture.
- Heat about ½ an inch of oil in a deep skillet, over medium-high heat. When hot fry the onions in batches until golden brown. Remove from oil and drain on a plate covered with paper towel.
For the green beans:
- Bring a pot of water to a boil, and boil the green beans for just 5 minutes. Drain and rinse with very cold water and set aside. The cold water helps keeps the bean bright green and pretty.
- Heat vegan butter in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms, salt and pepper and sauté for about 5 minutes until the mushrooms have shrunken and mushroom juices appear. Add garlic and nutmeg and cook for another minute.
- Sprinkle flour over the mushrooms, stir and cook for another minute. Stir in the vegetable broth, coconut milk, and non-dairy milk. Cook for about 10 minutes until sauce has thickened to a creamy consistency that sticks tothe back of a spoon. Add in the green beans and heat through.
- Top with onions and serve hot.
Nutrition
Calories: 195kcal | Carbohydrates: 28g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Sodium: 791mg | Potassium: 325mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 820IU | Vitamin C: 11.1mg | Calcium: 116mg | Iron: 2.8mg
Did You Make This Recipe?Tag @itdoesnttastelikechicken on Instagram and Hashtag #itdoesnttastelikechicken
Agave Glazed Carrots
A quick and easy side dish that wows!
Servings:
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon vegan butter
- 1 16oz bag baby carrots (3 cups)
- 2 tablespoons agave
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
Instructions
- In a medium sauce pan, melt the butter over medium heat. Toss in the carrots, agave and brown sugar. Cover and let cook for 10 - 15 minutes giving them a stir every now and then, until carrots are fork tender. Add the thyme and lemon juice, stir to combine, and serve.
Nutrition
Calories: 51kcal | Carbohydrates: 9g | Fat: 1g | Sodium: 16mg | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 110IU | Vitamin C: 0.9mg | Calcium: 3mg
Did You Make This Recipe?Tag @itdoesnttastelikechicken on Instagram and Hashtag #itdoesnttastelikechicken
Vegan Garlic Mashed Potatoes
These vegan garlic mashed potatoes are sooooo creamy dreamy.
Servings:
Ingredients
- 8 medium yukon gold potatoes, peeled and chopped
- 6 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1 cup non-dairy milk (such as soy or almond)
- 1 cup full-fat coconut milk (the kind in a can)
- 2 teaspoons salt
Instructions
- Cover the potatoes with water in a large pot and bring to a boil. Boil for 15-20 until they are fork tender.
- In the meantime, in a medium saucepan, combine the garlic, non-dairy milk and coconut milk. Bring to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes.
- When your potatoes are cooked, drain, and return the potatoes to the pot. Mash and add about half of the garlic and milk mixture to the potatoes. Mix and add the remainder of the mixture until you reach the constancy you like. If you use all of the garlic and milk mixture and you would still like the potatoes softer, just add more coconut milk or non-dairy milk. Season with salt and serve.
Nutrition
Calories: 226kcal | Carbohydrates: 31g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Sodium: 823mg | Potassium: 1081mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 85IU | Vitamin C: 27.1mg | Calcium: 130mg | Iron: 8.8mg
Did You Make This Recipe?Tag @itdoesnttastelikechicken on Instagram and Hashtag #itdoesnttastelikechicken
Classic Cranberry Sauce
Homemade cranberry sauce is so easy to make but so much better than store-bought!
Servings:
Ingredients
- 1 12oz bag fresh or frozen cranberries (3 cups)
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1 cup water
- 1 ½ teaspoons lemon zest
- 1 vanilla bean or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Add all of the ingredients to a medium sauce pan. Bring to a simmer and cook for 10-15 minutes, until the cranberries have popped and it looks all saucy and delicious. It will be thin, but will thicken as it cools.
Nutrition
Calories: 131kcal | Carbohydrates: 33g | Sodium: 2mg | Sugar: 33g | Vitamin C: 0.7mg
Did You Make This Recipe?Tag @itdoesnttastelikechicken on Instagram and Hashtag #itdoesnttastelikechicken
Balsamic Roasted Brussel Sprouts
Roasting Brussel sprouts enhances their flavour and makes them addictively yummy!
Servings:
Ingredients
- 4 cups Brussel sprouts, cleaned and halved
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 425F (220C).
- Toss the Brussel sprouts with the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, garlic and salt.
- Spread on a baking sheet and bake for about 15 minutes until Brussel sprouts are cooked, and some bits are almost charred.
Notes
Air-Fryer:Â Preheat your air-fryer to 400F and cook for about 12 minutes, shaking half way through.
Nutrition
Calories: 92kcal | Carbohydrates: 6g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 113mg | Potassium: 234mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 440IU | Vitamin C: 50mg | Calcium: 25mg | Iron: 0.9mg
Did You Make This Recipe?Tag @itdoesnttastelikechicken on Instagram and Hashtag #itdoesnttastelikechicken
Vegan Biscuits
Buttery, flaky, vegan biscuits!
Servings:
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup vegan butter
- 1 cup non-dairy milk (such as soy or almond)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425F (220C).
- In a medium bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Use a pastry cutter or a couple of forks to cut the butter into the flour until all the butter is mixed and the flour looks like fine crumbs. Pour in milk and stir until the dough just holds together. Don't over mix!
- Lightly flour a clean surface and dump the dough on to the flour. Use your hands to pat the dough together and flatten until you make a disk that is about 2 inches deep. Don't use a rolling pin, you want to do this by hand. Use a biscuit cutter, an upside-down glass, or a cleaned tin can to cut out 8 biscuits, using up all the dough.
- Bake for 10 - 15 minutes until the bottoms are golden brown.
Nutrition
Calories: 168kcal | Carbohydrates: 25g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 207mg | Potassium: 222mg | Vitamin A: 335IU | Calcium: 107mg | Iron: 1.7mg
Did You Make This Recipe?Tag @itdoesnttastelikechicken on Instagram and Hashtag #itdoesnttastelikechicken
Quick Vegan Onion Gravy
This vegan gravy is so yummy, you'll want to pour it over everything!
Servings:
Ingredients
- ¼ cup vegan butter (such as Earth Balance)
- 1 yellow onion, chopped
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour (use a gluten-free flour if preferred)
- 1 ½ cups vegetable broth (regular or low-sodium)
- soy sauce or tamarai to taste (optional)
Instructions
- In a medium sauce pan melt the vegan butter over medium heat. Sauté the onion in the butter until the onion is caramelized. If you're in a rush, you can do this quickly, but the slower you go, the more rich the flavour will become.
- Mix in flour and cook for 1 minute. Now whisk in the broth and cook until the gravy thickens. Add soy sauce or tamari to taste if needed, this will also make the colour a richer brown.
Nutrition
Calories: 74kcal | Carbohydrates: 4g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Sodium: 297mg | Potassium: 27mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 485IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 4mg | Iron: 1mg
Did You Make This Recipe?Tag @itdoesnttastelikechicken on Instagram and Hashtag #itdoesnttastelikechicken
Classic Vegan Stuffing
The vegan stuffing is easy to make
Servings:
Ingredients
- 1 lb loaf day old bread, cubed
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 yellow onion, chopped
- 4 ribs celery, chopped
- 3 firm apples, chopped (optional)
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon dried sage
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 pinch black pepper
- 2 - 3 cups vegetable broth
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400F (200C). Toast bread for about 10 minutes until it starts to brown. Check it to make sure it doesn't burn! Remove from oven and set aside.
- Toast bread for about 10 minutes until it starts to brown. Check it to make sure it doesn't burn! Remove from oven and set aside.
- Reduce oven temperature to 350F (180C). Lightly grease a casserole dish.
- In a large pot, heat the olive oil over medium high heat and sauté the onions, celery, and apples until they begin to caramelize. Add in the garlic, sage, thyme, salt and pepper and sauté 1-2 minutes more until fragrant, then remove from heat.
- Stir in the bread cubes and 2 cups broth. Add more broth as needed until bread is softened but not soggy. Spread the stuffing into the casserole dish, cover with foil and bake for 25 minutes. Remove foil and bake another 10-15 minutes until top is browned.
Nutrition
Calories: 245kcal | Carbohydrates: 39g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 457mg | Potassium: 252mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 11g | Vitamin A: 125IU | Vitamin C: 5.3mg | Calcium: 98mg | Iron: 2.3mg
Did You Make This Recipe?Tag @itdoesnttastelikechicken on Instagram and Hashtag #itdoesnttastelikechicken
More scrumptious vegan thanksgiving and Christmas recipes:
Mandi says
I just made the onion gravy and omgoodness it is to die for. I will be swapping my brown gravy recipe for this one! I am not a mushroom gravy fan and my brown gravy was alright but not make me eat it out of the pot like this one!
I'm whipping up a batch of your stretchy mozza cheese and using this gravy for poutine tomorrow night, can't wait 🙂
Jamie says
I've made this green bean casserole and gravy every year since I went vegan in 2017! They are delicious and my omni family enjoy them too. Preparing to make them once again this year! 🙂
Sam Turnbull says
Haha! Amazing!!!
Laura says
Thanks you so much for all of these wonderful recipes and for all of your hard work.Take care...
Shelley Brown says
I LOVE LOVE LOVE your recipes and energy! Could you please create a vegetarian cabbage roll and also a meatloaf recipe? I purchased your cookbook on Amazon.ca. I had to go on a waiting list as it was back ordered. Not a bad problem to have!! lol
Sam Turnbull says
Haha! Thank you so much, Shelley!! I've added both of those ideas to my recipe idea list 🙂
Mitchell says
Your dishes all look great! Can’t wait for the holidays to come around! Just want to point out though that the nutritional facts are the same for all of them.
Sam Turnbull says
Hi Mitchell! Yes, I am working on fixing that, it's a problem with the recipe writing program I use. 🙂
Susan P says
I'm excited to make the onion gravy along with the stuffed butternut squash. Both recipes call for 1 yellow onion. Can you give a measurement for the chopped onion, such as 1/2 cup, or 2 cups, etc? The size of yellow onions can vary GREATLY. Thanks so much.
Sam Turnbull says
It won't matter too much if your onion is a little larger or a little smaller. I don't have a cup measurement for that, so I would just recommend using a medium sized onion. Enjoy!
Yulca says
Omnivore hubby is not a fan of sauces such as gravy and asked me to make only enough for myself bc he would "only try a spoonful" along with your pumpkin shepherd's pie.
Hahaha, good thing I didn't listen & made enough for 2 anyway, bc he ended up gobbling up 3/4 of the entire sauce & had to admit it was "really good" :-D. Thanks!
Sam Turnbull says
Bahaha! Love it!!
Kelly says
Just made the gravy - amazing!!! I’m waiting for my potatoes to finish cooking and I’m just eating it straight right now haha!
Super delicious!
Sam Turnbull says
Haha! Awesome. So happy you enjoyed!
Julie says
Thank you so much for all these recipes and especially for the prepare ahead tips! Because of lockdown, this will be the first time I ever make a whole holiday meal myself, and those tips have helped it be much less overwhelming!
Meg says
you're my hero!!! i went vegan this summer. I'm going home from college this christmas and am making my (recently vegetarian but soon going vegan thanks to me) family these wonderful goodies! also will try to make that amazing puff pastry lentil loaf!! IM PUMPED.
Sam Turnbull says
Yay!!!! Have a happy Christmas and I hope everyone loves every dish 🙂
Kaleigh says
Thank you so much for the recipes! This was such a huge hit with my husband and his friends, who are not vegan 😉 That's a win for me! Happy Holidays!
Sam Turnbull says
You're most welcome! I'm so happy they were enjoyed 🙂
Christy says
Do you think I could freeze the stuffing ahead of time? Last year I made all of these and it was a hit but this year I won't have much time so I'm gonna start preparing from this weekend. I'm afraid if I do then things will be mushy from being frozen :(.. How do you think I should go about freezing the stuffing?
Sam Turnbull says
From what I've read, stuffing freezes well! Enjoy 🙂
Vee says
My partner and I recently went vegan and were worried about coming home and doing traditional Thanksgiving dinners with our families. I made all the side dishes, including your glazed carrots (subbed with maple syrup), the stuffing, and the gravy. Everything at the table was vegan (except for turkey, of course), and our guests couldn't tell the difference. We loved your recipes and they were beyond easy to make. So glad that we could enjoy our holiday without compromising our diet or making it a huge fuss for everyone else. Thanks so much! Will be using these again in the near future.
Sam Turnbull says
That's so amazing, your Thanksgiving sounds delish! So happy you enjoyed, Vee. If you are looking for a vegan centerpiece as well, I recommend my Puff Pastry Wrapped Lentil Loaf, my Stuffed Roasted Butternut Squash, or Lentil Shepherd's Pie. Omnomnom!