Photo by Lexus Jacobs
Ah, the holidays. A time for family, friendship, food and blatantly ignoring the comments about the lack of turkey on your plate. As we all know, the main dish at a Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner is turkey and ham. Every year, 45 million turkeys are killed for Thanksgiving and 22 million more for Christmas, and as a vegan or vegetarian, it can be very hard to sit and watch as your family members slice into a bird at the dinner table. It can also be very isolating and intimidating going into your first Thanksgiving as a vegan when the whole day is centered around eating things you refuse to eat.
However, there is no need to dread, because there are many ways to enjoy your holiday as a vegan. Eating a plant-based diet is not about deprivation, meaning there is no need to sacrifice your taste buds during the holiday season just because you don’t want to partake in the death of sentient beings. Here’s my plant-based holiday survival guide.
1. Talk to the host. It’s truly all about communication. When going to a holiday celebration, you don’t want to be worrying about cross contamination and the possibility of accidentally eating animal products. Always talk to the host about food preparations, ask for them to have separate spoons for side dishes and ask if it’s possible to replace certain things in their cooking with plant-based options. For example, ask if the stuffing (if it isn’t in the turkey, of course) can be made with vegetable broth instead of chicken broth. Or if they have rolls, ask if they’re vegan. Ask to make substitutes such as using plant milk and vegan butter in food– I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter has a completely vegan butter substitute—and vegetable shortening in pie crust instead of dairy products and lard.
2. Cook a few dishes yourself. If your family is like mine, there are animal products in everything—even things you wouldn’t expect. People put bacon in green beans and baked beans and cabbage and the list goes on and on. You can bring your own side dishes in addition to the spread of food. This way you show people that eating a plant based diet isn’t restrictive, exclusive or boring. Here’s a few recipes I’ve tried at the holidays that my omnivore family enjoyed just as much as I did.
- A classic side dish for the holidays is green bean casserole, usually made from cream of mushroom soup, canned green beans and crispy onion strings. This recipe is extremely easy and uses fresh greens, homemade mushroom soup and guess what? Those crispy onion strings you buy at the grocery store are actually already vegan! So no crying while chopping onions!
- Everyone loves stuffing. We vegans/vegetarians just happen to prefer ours not stuffed in the butt of a dead turkey. Hot for Food on YouTube has a whole vegan thanksgiving playlist full of delicious food that vegans and non-vegans alike will love. Here’s three super easy vegan stuffing in one video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpYIelCUyM8
And if you’re more into the southern staple of cornbread stuffing, YouTuber FlyVegan—she specializes in Cajun vegan food—has a recipe for that too! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2BFba5ylS8 (FUN FACT: If you don’t want to make the cornbread from scratch, Jiffy has a vegetarian cornbread mix and there are vegan substitutions on the side of the box.)
- FlyVegan and Hot for Food also have vegan macaroni and cheese recipes that are heavenly. No need to miss out on cheesy, gooey, childhood favorites simply because you cut out animal products.
- FlyVegan
- Hot for Food
- Or if you don’t feel like using all that energy to make your own mac and cheese, the vegan cheese brand Daiya has a boxed mac and cheese that replicates the real thing! You can find it at your local Kroger.
- Now of course for the main event: Turkey. Or in this case Tofurky. Or Field Roast Celebration Roast. Or Gardien Holiday Roast. The amount of turkey alternatives that are available now is amazing. It’s becoming so widely accessible that you can go to Walmart and Kroger to find them, not just Whole Foods. It has the taste of meat without the cruelty (and it’s sway easier to prepare than a turkey!)
3. Breathe. Yes, your family might mock you for not eating meat. Yes, you’ll feel strange for a moment, seeing the difference between your plate and everyone else’s. Yes, you’ll watch your uncle carve the turkey and want to cry because that was once a living being. But you just have to breathe. You have to acknowledge that this is a tradition that’s been happening for years and just because you have a special connection between animals and food, doesn’t mean your family has it or ever will. And you have to be okay with this reality.
4. Enjoy yourself. Just because your diet changed does not mean you have. Eat until you’re stuffed and have to unbutton your pants. Laugh at your cousin screaming at the football on TV. Help your aunt set the table. Treat the holiday just as you normally would and have a great day—just without meat on your plate.