Choosing festive and colorful recipes for a vegan Christmas dinner menu (suitable for any vegetarian as well) — as well as desserts and appetizers — doesn’t have to be difficult. VegKitchen is here to help with healthy holiday party fare! Feasting with family and friends, so central to this beloved holiday is made all the merrier when compassion is paired with the abundance of the season. Here’s a mix-and-match list to make planning your holiday gatherings easier and healthier. Pictured above, Black Rice with Corn and Cranberries; photo by Susan Voisin.
APPETIZERS & DRINKS
- Rosemary Roasted Mushrooms
- Smoky Cheddar Cheez (photo below)
- Spinach and Cucumber Spread
- White Bean and Sun-Dried Tomato Pâté
- Spiced Cranberry Nog
- Veggnog
- See also 8 Easy, Amazing Vegan Appetizers- VegKitchen’s Favorites
SEASONAL SALADS
- Mixed Greens Salad with Beets and Walnuts
- Spinach, Orange, and Red Cabbage Salad (photo below)
- Contemporary Waldorf Salad
- Cranberry Slaw
- Cabbage, Apple, and Raisin Slaw
- Massaged Kale Salad with Cranberries and Cashews
- Fruity Kale Salad
- Pear and Toasted Walnut Salad
- Roasted Root Vegetable Salad
- Wild Rice Salad with Corn and Black-Eyed Peas
- Leek And Corn Stuffed Peppers
- Quinoa, Black Bean, and Corn Stuffed Peppers
- Roasted Seitan, Peppers, and Portabellas
- Hearty Vegetable Pot Pie
- Ravioli in Sweet Potato Sauce
- Lentil and Mushroom Shepherd’s Pie (photo below)
- Sweet Potato and Edamame Shepherd’s Pie
- Classic Veggie Shepherd’s Pie
- Roasted Sweet Potato Mac and Cheese
- Quinoa, Broccoli, and Vegan Cheese Casserole
- Silken Tofu or White Bean Scalloped Potatoes
- Mozzarella Mashed Potato Pie
- Curried Sweet Potatoes with Chard and Chickpeas
SEASONAL SIDE DISHES
If you don’t want to add another recipe to make to your holiday meal, you can always serve a green veggie like broccoli, green beans, or Brussels sprouts, simply prepared with a little olive oil and garlic.
- Wild Rice Pilaf With Apples and Pecans
- Quinoa with Caulflower, Cranberries, and Pine Nuts
- Simple Quinoa Pilaf with Peas and Almonds
- Sautéed Red Cabbage
- Soy and Agave-Glazed Winter Squash
- Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes
- Roasted Potatoes and Tomatoes with Rosemary
- Orange-Glazed Beets
- Black Rice with Corn and Cranberries (photo at top)
- Black Lentil Celery Couscous with Jeweled Fruit
- Pan-Seared Winter Squash and Fresh Corn
- Bulgur and Sweet Potato Pilaf
- Glazed Baked Onions (photo below)
DESSERTS
- Cocoa Mock-Mince Pie
- Chocolate Chip-Pear Bread
- Orange-Cranberry Muffins or Mini-Loaves
- Pineapple-Orange Ambrosia
- Stewed Spiced Pears in Red Wine
- Pear and Apple Crumble (photo below)
- Cranberry Upside-Down Cake
- Gingered Winter Fruit Medley
- 12 Days of Vegan Christmas Cookies
- Here are more tips for keeping the Holidays and Special Occasions healthy!
- For lots more features on healthy lifestyle, please explore VegKitchen’s Healthy Vegan Kitchen page.
32 Comments
Holiday Treats Without the Usual Guilt |
December 19, 2011 at 5:19 am[…] Kitchen’s “Vegan Christmas Dinner Recipes” offers full four-course meals, including soups, appetizers, salads and entrees, as well as side […]
MARIAN ALLEN · Friday Recommends – A Very Vegan Christmas
December 22, 2011 at 9:29 pm[…] Veg Kitchen has a variety of Vegan Christmas Dinner Recipes […]
Julie G
December 2, 2012 at 3:09 pmWow, was really worried my vegan family members would not have anything special for Christmas. Just found this wonderful sight and now I’m really excited to get cooking. Well done and thank you.
Recipe
December 22, 2012 at 7:18 amhi..
good blog for veg recipe and kitchen tips. i approciate it.
Evie
January 1, 2013 at 12:27 pmmy cousin made this for me on xmas. LOVED it!! thank you vegkitchen 🙂
Nava
January 1, 2013 at 12:29 pmWhich specific recipe did your cousin make, Evie? Glad you enjoyed it!
Lo
December 12, 2013 at 2:45 pmWonderful Recipes, I’m new to the world of Vegan Living and this is our first Christmas. This is great ideas for the holiday and all year long. I love them all. Merry Christmas to all.
Nava
December 12, 2013 at 10:17 pmLo, best wishes for your first plant-based holiday season!
Sheila
December 17, 2013 at 3:09 pmThis will be our First all Vegan Christmas and I am really glad to have seen your site. One question: any suggestions on how to make or purchase your own seitan? I would really like to start making my own vegan meat preparations instead of always purchasing ones that are high in fat content.
Thanks, great recipes!
Nava
December 17, 2013 at 3:19 pmHi Sheila, as long as you and your guests don’t have issues with gluten or wheat allergies, you’re good to go, as seitan is pure wheat gluten. Here’s a recipe on VegKitchen for homemade seitan: http://www.vegkitchen.com/recipes/homemade-seitan/ — it’s not difficult, but you’ve got to get a bit of a feel for it. Ready-made seitan is available in natural foods stores and food co-ops; not as many supermarkets, but that depends on where you live. You might also enjoy trying Sweet and Smoky Tofu or Tempeh Strips: http://www.vegkitchen.com/recipes/tofu-tempeh-and-seitan/sweet-and-smoky-tofu-or-tempeh-strips/ —these have a subtly “meaty” aspect, without being overly meat like. I think that the problems with commercial meat substitutes is that they’re high in sodium and often made with soy protein isolate, which is junk. Enjoy your all-vegan Christmas!!!
Hann
December 20, 2013 at 11:55 amI was looking what to prepare my family this Christmas and found your site. I am grateful for the posting!
Nava
December 20, 2013 at 12:05 pmThanks, Hann! Enjoy the holiday.
Somerset Wedding Gal
April 23, 2014 at 10:55 am‘Veggnog’ – LOVE it!
Patrice
November 10, 2014 at 9:40 amGreat site and love your recipes and all the beautiful pictures. Any suggestion for my Xmas guests who are vegan, gluten free, grain free ?
Nava
November 10, 2014 at 10:26 amHi Patrice, how nice of you to want to accommodate your guests! VegKitchen has a huge array of GF recipes. The choice is yours: http://www.vegkitchen.com/tips/healthy-eating-tips-tips/vegkitchens-gluten-free-vegan-recipes/
Louise
December 11, 2014 at 11:51 pmMy daughter and her boyfriend are both Vegan. My son, youngest daughter and I are not. So, I will be serving a turkey but need to make a meal that they can eat as well, I work overnight so it can’t be too hard to make. (the turkey cooks while I sleep). Any suggestions would be great.
Thanks
I love your site by the way.
Nava
December 12, 2014 at 8:24 amHi Louise — whenever I talk about vegan holiday meals attended by those of varying culinary persuasions, I encourage the vegans to bring a main dish with plenty to share. This way, everyone is happy, and the non-vegans get to see how yummy vegan fare can be! But it this isn’t happening in this case, I’d recommend the hearty vegetable pot pies — http://www.vegkitchen.com/recipes/everyday-meals/contemporary-casseroles/hearty-vegetable-pot-pie/ — as once you’ve got the potatoes baked ahead of time, it comes together easily. Black Rice with Corn and Cranberries is seriously delicious, and so easy to make, again, once you’ve got the rice cooked: http://www.vegkitchen.com/recipes/glorious-grains/black-rice-with-corn-and-cranberries/ Quick Black Bean and Sweet Potato Chili is another good and fast one, and one that can be shared with everyone at the table. Have a great holiday!
Hurley
October 29, 2015 at 7:23 amThis is my first vegan xmas and this means a lot. I’m only 15 and nobody else in my family is vegan or even vegetarian, so I better get my cooking skills on! Where do I get the smoked tofu stuff from, it sounds nice.
Nava
October 30, 2015 at 9:17 pmHurley — you can find smoked tofu at natural foods stores. If you can’t find it, any variety of baked tofu works. One of my favorite brands is Soy Boy. Good luck and enjoy your first vegan Christmas!
Cecilie @A Story of Freedom
December 21, 2015 at 10:47 amHi nava!
I am currently writing an article about the top 5 best vegan Christmas dinner ideas. I would like to provide a link to your website, as one of the ideas, since you have such an abundance of options for Christmas here! Can I use one of your pictures, in the section where I talk about your website, while clearly writing the source and linking back to your site? I would use one of the pictures from this article.
Thank you for your help!
Cecilie
Nava
December 21, 2015 at 10:50 amCecile — of course! Thanks for asking, and thanks for spreading the plant-based love.
Lea
December 22, 2015 at 4:50 amHi, my big cousin and I are both vegan, and our family are not understanding. And this year, we have to make our own Christmas dinner, I was trying to find recipes but none sounded appetizing. Then I found this website and we are both so excited to try these recipes!! Thank you!!
Nava
December 28, 2015 at 6:46 pmSo happy that you found this useful, Lea — and hope it helped you and yours enjoy the holiday meal!
Cecilie @A Story of Freedom
December 22, 2015 at 6:59 amThank you so much nava! I will send a link to the finished article here, when it’s done. Just a question: Are all the pictures yours? One of them says photo by Hannah Kaminsky. It was actually the one I was going to add to the article under the section about your website. Do you own the rights of this picture or is it better I use another one? (since I only have the permission to share from you and not from Hannah).
Thank you for your help!
Nava
December 22, 2015 at 7:53 amCecille — Hannah’s photos become the property of VegKitchen once they’re published. So as long as you credit them and link back to VK, we’re good to go!
Cecilie @A Story of Freedom
December 22, 2015 at 3:29 pmThank you so much for your help, Nava 🙂 I have now published the article, you can see it here: http://astoryoffreedom.net/plant-based-christmas-dinner-ideas
Let me know if you desire that I refer to your site in any other way.
Thank you so much for letting me refer to your site with a picture, it makes it look so much better ( and probably makes people click through the links to your site more than the others! ).
All the best and Merry Christmas to you!
Cecilie
Nava
December 28, 2015 at 6:05 pmThanks so much for spreading the plant-based love, Cecille! Happy holidays to you as well.
yesenia
October 5, 2016 at 9:20 pmA family member recently discovered she is allergic/intolerant to dairy. So, I’ve been stressing over the upcoming holidays.
I can’t wait to try some of these and hope they turn out picture perfect in my kitchen!
Nava
October 9, 2016 at 7:30 pmI hope you and yours enjoy these for the holiday season!
Bob
November 14, 2016 at 6:41 amHi … I’ve been asked to make a vegan cake for Christmas, does any one have a good recipe … bob
Nava
November 15, 2016 at 8:22 amHi Bob, you’ll find lots of easy vegan cakes and pies here: http://www.vegkitchen.com/category/recipes/vegan-baking-and-sweets/cakes-and-pies/
Jane
December 2, 2016 at 11:37 pmGreat recipes! I’d like to prepare healthier meals for our Christmas Dinner. Less meat, more vegetables and wholesome food.