Country Living editors select each product featured. If best christmas dinner buy from a link, we may earn a commission. 25 Vegan Christmas Dinner Recipes Everyone Will Actually Want to Eat Yes, you can have a big festive meal your plant-based guests will enjoy.
Trust us: Christmas dishes definitely don’t require animal-based products! Some of the most iconic flavors of Christmas—think cinnamon, savory herbs like thyme and rosemary, and bright citrus flavors—are entirely vegan. So it’s not that much trouble at all to whip up a few dishes or even an entire meal that is start-to-finish animal free. Just check out the recipes below that we’ve assembled from our archives and from around the web. Use your favorite wild rice blend to make this apple cider-infused recipe.
The additions of cinnamon, garlic, and scallions make every bite extra flavorful. Looking for a new way to serve sweet potatoes? This hasselback version, coated with maple syrup and thyme, is just the thing. There are plenty of sweet and spicy flavors in these beautiful, presentation-worthy eggplant boats. For those who enjoy bold flavors, this mix of bitter radicchio tamed with earthy mushrooms and a sweet balsamic dressing is the perfect celebration. Apple cider and red onion add extra zippy flavor to this vegan recipe you can make all winter long. This may be the ultimate winter salad.
Crispy roasted sprouts combine with mixed lettuce, crunchy apples, and toasted almonds, all topped with a sweet vinaigrette. Swap the shaved cheese for a sprinkle of nutritional yeast to keep it vegan. This dish is simple and classic, but the best part of this recipe has to be the 20-minute prep time. It doesn’t get easier than that! Who says salads have to be boring?
Amp up your greens with warm roasted vegetables and pomegranate seeds. This salad will give guests a break from the heavier fare on the table. Dressed with a simple tangy red wine vinaigrette and loaded it with crunchy Persian cucumbers, we top it all off with a smattering of local parsley, basil, and fennel. Crispy capers add an amazing amount of flavor and are well worth adding. Top this tomato-filled salad with fresh flat-leaf parsley. Grilling the mushrooms gives this dish a lovely smokey-char flavor. Whole-roasted rainbow carrots make this delicious green salad both beautiful and filling.
To keep it vegan, skip the dressing, or use dairy-free ingredient substitutions. Skip the red sauce and opt for hearty sweet potatoes, a bright pesto, and toasty pine nuts. To keep it vegan, sub out the cheese in the pesto. Nutritional yeast is a great alternative. Trust us: Guac and chips make a great appetizer while guests are getting ready for the meal.
Finish off this traditional avocado mixture with an additional sprinkle of toasted seeds, and serve with your favorite tortilla chips. Mexican granite mortar and pestle, called a molcajete. This protein-rich combo of nuts and wild grains makes a good side dish or a hearty main all on its own. One note: Vegan butter substitutes won’t “brown” the way butter does, so you can skip that step, but the toasted hazelnuts will impart plenty of rich, nutty flavor.
This hearty grain and winter squash dish is delicious warm but tastes even better after it’s had a day for the flavors to marinate. Skip the blue cheese and add a little nutritional yeast instead. This stunning dish gets a burst of citrusy flavor from lime zest. It just isn’t Christmas without sweet treats. Swapping regular butter for margarine or a vegan alternative makes these perfectly animal-free. These simple sweet treats—made from cranberries, cinnamon, and fruit pectin—are absolutely delectable. While typically a more traditional New Year’s dish, no one will fault you for making these delicious beans a little early.
Get the recipe at Marisa Moore. Give your holiday dinner a sweet, warming boost with this citrusy chocolate drink. Get the recipe at That Girl Cooks Healthy. When the veggies are this bright and beautiful, they’re impossible to resist. The platter is as stunning as it is delicious. Get the recipe at Vegan Yack Attack. The best way to enjoy this deep dish dessert?