Vegan Thanksgiving Recipes (2024)

FAQs

Do vegans eat turkey on Thanksgiving? ›

And no, vegans do not eat chicken, turkey, fish, eggs, or even cheese, though they are often asked. But keeping a vegan happy on Thanksgiving is not difficult. Plenty of traditional dishes are (almost) vegan anyway, and the oven is on for baking special treats.

So those same foods get fixed for thanksgiving every year. The interesting thing is that not all families serve the traditional roast turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie that is considered to be the “traditional Thanksgiving meal”.

What is alternative turkey and ham made out of? Brands like Tofurky, Field Roast, Gardein, Beyond Meat, Lightlife, and more use plant-based ingredients in the products you can buy for any vegetarian/vegan guests.

Other protein-filled vegan options that could replace turkey in your vegan Thanksgiving table are tempeh, tofu and seitan. Choose one of these plant-based turkey alternatives, or combine more than one in your table, complimenting with veggies, rice, salads, or any other plant-based whole foods ingredients you want.

"For the third year in a row, cranberry sauce takes first place as the most disliked traditional Thanksgiving food. Over 31% of respondents, 82 million American adults, do not want cranberry sauce for their Thanksgiving dinner.

For the third year in a row, cranberry sauce takes the cake as the least favorite Thanksgiving food.

I think if we're all honest, we know that Thanksgiving is mostly about the starches. Mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, fresh-baked rolls – these are the true heroes of the meal, and there will be a lot of them on the table, which is totally fine.

What is a soft food for Thanksgiving? ›

Mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, gravy… Just add these soft, fluffy dinner rolls to the menu, and you'll have checked every box for a classic Thanksgiving feast.

It is also worth noting what was not present at the first Thanksgiving feast. There were no cloudlike heaps of mashed potatoes, since white potatoes had not yet crossed over from South America. There was no gravy either, since the colonists didn't yet have mills to produce flour.

For this reason, vegans avoid eating foods of animal origin, such as: Meat: Beef, lamb, pork, veal, horse, organ meat, wild meat, etc. Poultry: Chicken, turkey, goose, duck, quail, etc. Fish and seafood: All types of fish, anchovies, shrimp, squid, scallops, calamari, mussels, crab, lobster and fish sauce.

"A traditional Thanksgiving menu has lots of options for vegans and vegetarians: green beans, cranberry sauce, mashed or roasted potatoes, and sweet potatoes and yams—it's a carb-loaded feast, and we will happily lick our plates," says Peart.

Bulgar wheat is big in Turkey if you're into that, and oats are easy to find too. As I said, the fresh fruits and veggies are so good. Aubergines, courgettes, peppers, onions, cucumbers and potatoes are easy to find. There's a huge variety of spices at the markets and most small shops too.

Seasonal vegetables like squash, beets, and mushrooms are key to making vegan-friendly dishes that are festive for Thanksgiving. Add quinoa, nuts, and beans (like chickpeas or lentils) to create satisfying entrées that everyone at the table will want to try.