Let’s be frank here, the real star of Thanksgiving is not the Turkey. The real stars of the show are all the sides: the silky mashed potatoes, the warm rolls, the caramelized brussel sprouts, the fluffy stuffing, and the soft but crispy sweet potato casserole (yeah, I said what I said). The best part of it all, is that these sides are all vegetarian and can be easily modified to be vegan. So let’s go through a vegetarian/vegan friendly meal that’ll help you survive this Thanksgiving!
Starter
Butternut Squash Soup
There is no better time have creamy butternut squash soup than on Thanksgiving Day, it’s a perfect starter. This soup is vegetarian but can be made vegan by substituting out the heavy cream for almond milk or even soaked tofu.
Sides Sides Sides
Mashed Potatoes
Mashed potatoes are usually full of cream and butter making them soft and fluffy. Luckily, there’s no reason to sacrifice the taste or texture of your mashed potatoes if you’re vegetarian. Just replace the cream and butter for some olive oil and nutritional yeast, and you’ve got perfect silky vegan mashed potatoes.
Dinner Rolls
Now, I will personally never turn my nose up at a warm Costco roll with some butter. However, if you are trying to enjoy something similar as a vegan, all you have to do is replace the regular butter in the dough mix for vegan butter.
Brussel Sprouts
I, like many, used to hate brussel sprouts but there’s something about sweet and spicy roasted brussel sprouts that is just sooooo good. Once again, these are already vegetarian but if you wanted to make them vegan, all you have to do is swap out the honey for some sweet chili sauce often found at Asian markets.
Stuffing
Some like there stuffing with bacon, others with beef, and others with cranberries but I think simple and traditional is best in this case. A simple and traditional stuffing also doesn’t need much modification to be made vegan, just replace the chicken stock for vegetable stock when soaking the bread.
Sweet Potato Casserole
Sweet potato casserole is a hard Thanksgiving dish to beat because you’re basically getting an early start on dessert. My favorite way to eat it is with a nice layer of browned marshmallows on top but to make this dish vegan swap out the marshmallows for some oats dressed in plenty of cinnamon and brown sugar.
Kale Salad
Of course you can have salad any day of the week, any time of the year but this kale and chickpea salad is seriously amazing. The creamy caesar dressing and grated parm compliment the kale and chickpeas so well. For a vegan alternative, use a creamy avocado dressing and don’t add any parmesan.
Desserts
Apple Pie
Nothing beats a classic apple pie on Thanksgiving Day (apologies to the pumpkin pie lovers). Just think of the hot cinnamon flavored apple filling all encased in a beautifully flakey and buttery pie crust. While apple pies are already vegetarian, they can be made vegan by just replacing the pastry pie crust with an oat crust instead. Trust me, it’s just as enjoyable.
Whether you are vegetarian or vegan, just know that there is just about always more for you at the Thanksgiving table than just the side salad. With a few tweaks here and there, you can have a delicious and filling meal all while being surrounded by the people you are most thankful for :)
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