Does a vegan Thanksgiving meal sound like all vegetables and no fun? These savory sides and decadent desserts prove you don’t need animal products for a festive feast.
This Thanksgiving, try these plant-powered twists on holiday classics:
Whole Roasted Cauliflower
Ditch the turkey for roasted cauliflower for a vegan-friendly feast. This plant-based dish is so mouthwateringly delicious even meat-eaters will love it.
Roasting the cauliflower whole helps it cook evenly and distributes the seasonings so every bite is flavorful. It’s also a visually stunning centerpiece for your holiday dinner table.
Best Whole Roasted Cauliflower Recipe
Cranberry and Orange Sauce
It wouldn’t be Thanksgiving without a gorgeous bowl of cranberry sauce to top your plate. Forget the artificial, jellied kind that comes from a can. This cranberry and orange sauce is a fresher alternative with tart, zesty, and sweet flavors.
Cranberry and Orange Sauce Recipe
Stuffing
Eating vegan doesn’t mean you have to say goodbye to stuffing. Preparing a side of stuffing without any animal products is surprisingly easy. With familiar Thanksgiving spices and plenty of dairy-free butter, this recipe tastes just like the stuffing you remember from childhood.
Gravy
Gravy is an essential part of any Thanksgiving meal. Preparing this thick and flavorful gravy requires a few ingredients and a couple of minutes. It rivals old-fashioned recipes and is the perfect savory topping for your piled-high plate.
Sweet Potato Casserole
Traditional sweet potato casserole contains butter, milk, and gelatin-based marshmallows. This year, try a vegan version that’s equally tasty but completely guilt-free. It uses dairy-free alternatives and plant-based marshmallows, incorporating all the classic sweet potato casserole flavors you love.
Vegan Sweet Potato Casserole Recipe
Mac and Cheese
Are you a dairy-free mac and cheese skeptic? This recipe will win you over once and for all.
It’s a plant-based twist on the classic baked pasta dish that doesn’t sacrifice taste. Everyone will return for seconds of this velvety and impossibly cheesy Thanksgiving side.
Best Vegan Mac and Cheese Recipe
Green Bean Casserole
You’ll have no issues eating your daily serving of vegetables on Thanksgiving with this vegan-friendly green bean casserole. This recipe puts outdated versions that used canned vegetables to shame.
Instead, it uses fresh green beans and mushrooms to make a luscious, creamy casserole. Your guests won’t have time to question the ingredients because they’ll be too busy gobbling it up.
Vegan Green Bean Casserole Recipe
Quinoa-Stuffed Acorn Squash
Stuffed acorn squash is a hearty Thanksgiving side that’s easy to make vegan. The quinoa filling trades meat for mushrooms and features classic fall elements like cranberry, sage, and thyme. It’s incredibly satisfying and perfectly balances the sweet, nutty, and salty flavors.
Quinoa-Stuffed Acorn Squash Recipe
Mashed Potatoes
Dairy-free mashed potatoes might sound too good to be true, but this recipe will make you a believer. It’s deceptively simple and ready to eat in less than 30 minutes, making it an easy addition to your Thanksgiving table. Thanks to the irresistibly fluffy texture, you’d never know that it uses vegan milk and butter.
Easy Vegan Mashed Potatoes Recipe
Cornbread Dressing
Elevate your plant-based holiday feast with this hearty cornbread dressing. Since it’s vegan and gluten-free, everyone can enjoy the savory deliciousness. You’ll love everything about this dish, from the tender vegetables to the cozy spices and buttery cornbread base.
Vegan Cornbread Dressing Recipe
Creamed Spinach
This creamed spinach is so tasty you’ll forget you’re eating vegetables. No one will believe it doesn’t use real butter or heavy cream. The secret is raw cashews, which give the spinach a depth of flavor and smooth consistency.
Simple Vegan Creamed Spinach Recipe
Butternut Squash Soup
Impress all your Thanksgiving guests with this rich butternut squash soup. While it tastes restaurant-quality, it’s unbelievably easy to prepare.
The squash’s natural sweetness pairs beautifully with the fresh herbs and ginger, adding a refreshing hint of spice. It also has an incredibly smooth texture that will make you swoon.
Apple Crisp
Save room for dessert to indulge in this vegan-friendly apple crisp. It features a dreamy combination of fresh apples, comforting spices, and a crunchy oat-and-pecan topping. Top it with dairy-free whipped cream or ice cream, and you’ll wonder if you’ve died and gone to heaven.
Pumpkin Pie
Pie is a staple of most Thanksgiving dessert tables. Switch things up with a plant-based pumpkin pie that tastes so good that it could pass for non-vegan.
The recipe is simple, with fewer than ten ingredients, but full of classic flavors. With a buttery, flaky crust and luxurious pumpkin filling, this pie is the definition of love at first bite.
Lighten things up with these good-for-you Thanksgiving delights
Skip the food coma this Turkey Day and choose a healthier holiday feast. These Thanksgiving recipes are equally tasty but much lighter than the dishes you’re used to overindulging in.
15 Healthy Thanksgiving Recipes That Won’t Induce a Food Coma
Pile your plate with the tastiest non-turkey offerings
Turkey may be a Thanksgiving tradition, but the festive side dishes often steal the show. These Thanksgiving sides are so delicious that you might forget about the turkey altogether.
14 Irresistible Thanksgiving Sides That Outshine the Turkey
Elise Armitage is an entrepreneur and founder of What The Fab, a travel + lifestyle blog based in California. At the beginning of 2019, Elise left her corporate job at Google to chase her dreams: being an entrepreneur and helping women find fabulous in the everyday. Since then, she’s launched her SEO course Six-Figure SEO, where she teaches bloggers how to create a passive revenue stream from their website using SEO. Featured in publications like Forbes, Elle, HerMoney, and Real Simple, Elise is a firm believer that you can be of both substance and style.
