Last year I had a very typical Thanksgiving. My mom, brother, and I went to a family friend’s house in San Francisco to celebrate the holiday with a bunch of people I’d never met before. Obviously, I spent the majority of the afternoon playing with the host’s dogs and avoiding the strangers whom my mother continuously and enthusiastically introduced me to throughout the day. Then, like any good Thanksgiving, we ate.
Before I go further with this story, it is important to note that I am a vegetarian. I haven’t eaten meat or fish in over five years. While I won’t eat foods cooked with or containing meat, I still eat dairy and eggs (despite my lactose intolerance, I couldn’t imagine a life without cheese). For the last couple of years, every holiday feast has been a celebration of side dishes — potatoes, rolls, green beans, cornbread. I don’t even miss the turkey and ham anymore.
So, for last year’s Thanksgiving, I was excited to chow down on the typical sides and desserts. When dinner was officially served, I was the first person sitting down at the table. Looking through the various platters, it seemed like the evening had been sponsored by Wendy’s Baconator. There was bacon in the Brussel sprouts, bacon in the beans, bacon in the side stuffing. After everyone had settled down to their seats and were beginning to serve themselves, I tried to ask the host if there was anything vegetarian. There was not. He had not been informed that a vegetarian was dining with them that evening and everything (including the bread! How does that happen?) had been cooked with grease from meat or meat products.
It probably does not shock you when I say that this was not my favorite Thanksgiving.
Because of the pandemic, there aren’t going to be as many Thanksgiving parties with strangers who don’t know your dietary restrictions. This holiday season is (hopefully) going to be a collection of small family dinners, maybe even cooked at home. Good. One of the only good things about quarantine is that we’re not forced into going to awkward dinner parties with our parents.
Still, Thanksgiving and many American holidays are usually very meat-centric. Despite the growing trend of meatless diets, it can still be very difficult for vegetarians and vegans to navigate eating around the holidays. While side dishes are usually our main go-to’s, they’re not always terribly reliable (again, people put animal products in the strangest places).
So, I have assembled some of my personal favorite recipes for herbivores below. While some are more labor-intensive or complicated than others, they all offer great alternatives (or additions) to any Thanksgiving celebration you may be having this semester.
Sides
Main Dishes
Desserts
I don’t know about you, but I like my dessert table to cater to a variety of my sweet desires. Pumpkin pie definitely has its place (especially around this holiday), but I like to represent many different desserts in my feast.