Traditional Christmas dinners are full of calorie-heavy, large meals like roasted meat, and casseroles with creamy desserts. For vegans, Christmas can be an experimental time when it comes to recipes that match up with the expectations of Christmas dinner without meat or dairy. If you’re having guests over for your vegan Christmas dinner, you may wonder what they will enjoy most, especially if you’re having non-vegan guests over.
In this post we’ll look at some delicious Christmas meal ideas that will have your guests going back for seconds. You may also want to have a look at the Christmas table decoration ideas to set up before sitting down for your delicious vegan meal.
Vegan Christmas Main Meal Ideas
1. Vegan Wellington
A vegan mushroom wellington makes a perfect meatless vegan roast that will impress all of your guests. It’s simple to make, hearty, flavourful and delicious. You can make any sort of veggie wellington with a mixture of veggie stuffing wrapped in pastry, and plaited into a beautiful pattern if you like.
2. Vegan Swedish Meatballs
This dish is a no-meatballs meal, rich in plant-based protein from lentils, replacing the meatballs with mushrooms for a nice texture. They are coated in a simple creamy vegan gravy, making it a great Christmas dinner for vegans and non-vegans.
3. No Meatballs And Mash
An easy meal for Christmas dinner, for this one you can either make meatless meatballs, or prepare mushrooms instead. Top it off with mushroom gravy and serve it over mashed potatoes for the perfect Christmas dinner.
4. Vegan Potato Bake
A potato bake with mushrooms and zucchini will make a perfect side for your vegan Christmas dinner. It’s creamy, flavourful, cheesy, healthy, and very simple to make. This meal can be a main course or a side dish for a delicious dairy-free holiday dinner.
5. Vegan Mashed Potatoes
Everyone likes mashed potatoes, so for your Christmas dinner, why not try making creamy vegan mashed potatoes with roasted garlic? It’s super quick and easy. Transform regular potatoes into a flavourful side dish using other plant-based ingredients, it’s sure to be loved by all of your guests.
6. Vegan Croquettes with Spinach
Crispy on the outside and soft and creamy on the inside. For vegan potato croquettes, simply stuff mashed potato rolls with vegan cheese, spinach, dill and other herbs. They can be paired with your favourite dip or enjoyed as they are for a great snack or side dish for your Christmas dinner.
7. Mushroom And Lentil Ragu
A hearty meal for your vegan Christmas dinner – a healthy take on Italian Bolognese pasta, except this one will be loaded with earthy flavours of mushrooms. Serve lentil ragu sauce with your favourite pasta or over mashed potatoes.
8. Sweet Potato Soup
A sweet potato soup is a perfect addition to your vegan Christmas lunch. With carrots, ginger and coconut milk, this soup is delicious, healthy and quick to make. It can be served with crusty roasted bread, making it a delicious and nutritious appetiser.
The Braai
Most South Africans love a braai on Christmas day, even vegans. For a vegan braai, you will want to have a variety of salads, including potato salad, coleslaw and pasta salad. You can use an egg-free mayonnaise such as Tastee, Bwell, or Crosswell Trim. For the braai, you can buy quality meat alternatives at most supermarkets.
Look for Fry’s Family products, Beyond Meat, Linda McCartney’s range of foods, and any other brands you can find in the same sections. These brands have a delicious range of burgers, schnitzels, meat-free mince, strips and other snacks. These sorts of vegan products don’t take long to cook on the braai, so you can have a hearty South African meal prepared in no time.
Vegan Christmas Desserts
1. Vegan Chocolate Cranberry Cake
A dessert that everyone is sure to love is a chocolate cake filled with vegan dark chocolate chips and fresh cranberries. You can make the cake using whole wheat flour, and coconut sugar to sweeten the cake instead of granulated sugar. Once the cake is made and has cooled down, pour a vegan chocolate glaze over it. The cake can be served on its own or with whipped cream.
2. Vegan Cinnamon Star Cookies
You can find a number of simple recipes for these treats online. They are flourless, naturally gluten-free, dairy-free, and made without eggs. They are a delectable Christmas treat to make with kids during the festive season.
3. Sticky Toffee Pudding
You can make individual-sized cakes that are baked in separate muffin pans so that each one can be drizzled with a delicious maple caramel sauce. Before drizzling, poke a hole in them with a skewer so that the sauce can soak through. A sticky toffee pudding is super sweet and decadent, making it one of the best Christmas desserts, especially when paired with vegan ice cream or coconut whipped cream.
Conclusion
We hope that you got some inspiration from these vegan Christmas meal ideas. It can be a stressful holiday time for vegans and their non-vegan family members, usually because they are unsure of what to make or prepare for a vegan family member, especially if there’s only one vegan family member. These recipes are simple to make, and can be enjoyed by vegans and non-vegans alike.
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