The Christmas season can be tough for vegans, between the dairy- and meat-rich holiday spreads and persistent family members who insist you try just one piece of ham! But fear not, there’s actually a HUGE variety of vegan recipes that are perfect for your Christmas dinner.
Here, you’ll find a mix of classic Christmas dishes like with a vegan twist, along with creative and inventive dishes that would be perfect on any holiday table.
Below I’ve rounded up 40 of the best vegan Christmas recipes, including some of my own recipes and lots of fabulous Christmas recipes around the plant-based internet. Whether you’re looking to a vegan roast or creamy casserole, this list has you covered!
Table of Contents:
1. Soups & Salads
2. Side Dishes
3. Main Dishes
4. Desserts
5. Drinks
Soups & Salads
Roasted Butternut Squash Kale Salad
Featuring crispy and chewy roasted butternut squash and cabbage, kale and carrot ribbons, chickpeas, a tangy vinaigrette, and a sweet-and-spicy almond crunch, my Roasted Butternut Squash Kale Salad is the comforting salad of your dreams! Hearty yet refreshing, it’s perfect for entertaining.
Easy Vegan French Onion Soup
This Vegan French Onion Soup by Julie of The Simple Veganista features caramelized onions and savory thyme broth served with warm and crusty sliced baguette and gooey cheese overtop for a delicious entree or starter soup!
Kale and Brussels Sprouts Winter Salad
This is my favorite salad recipe, and I make it every holiday season. Even my salad-hating family members (I’m looking at you, mom) devour this salad. There’s a little bit of everything in this salad – crunchy, creamy, tart, and sweet.
Creamy Chestnut Soup
This creamy, nutty, warming chestnut soup by Rosa of This Healthy Kitchen is the perfect starter for your Christmas dinner. It’s sweet, with earthy flavour and simple to prepare.
Creamy Cauliflower Soup
My Creamy Cauliflower Soup is unbelievably creamy yet dairy-free and vegan, thanks to cashews and cannellini beans. It’s easy and quick to make, freezes great, and is satisfying enough for a main meal.
Side Dishes
Crispy Baked Vegan Mac and Cheese
My Crispy Baked Vegan Mac and Cheese is the ultimate comfort food. An incredibly creamy (and easy) vegan cheese sauce gets paired with elbow macaroni, covered in a crispy and buttery breadcrumb, and then baked in the oven.
Maple Balsamic Brussels Sprouts
These sweet and savory Maple Balsamic Brussel Sprouts by Sarah of My Darling Vegan are the perfect side dish for your next holiday dinner. They are perfectly tender roasted and tossed together with roasted hazelnuts and rosemary.
Healthy Vegan Creamed Spinach
The best healthy vegan creamed spinach recipe by Florentina of Veggie Society is ready in just a few minutes but delivers in flavor like a boss. It definitely has to show up on your Christmas dinner table!
Vegan Wild Mushroom Stuffing
This Vegan Stuffing will wow your holiday guests with its taste and presentation! Like traditional stuffing, this Wild Mushroom Stuffing is tender and moist yet a little crunchy! Bake it in a traditional pan or turn it into a festive Stuffing Wreath for a unique holiday centerpiece.
Vegan Scalloped Potatoes
This recipe for Vegan Scalloped Potatoes by Shane and Simple is the best and so easy to make! Thinly sliced potatoes covered in a creamy cashew-based cheese sauce and baked to perfection. It’s the perfect side dish for the holidays or any other occasion. And, NO DAIRY!
Vegan Brown Butter Sweet Potato Casserole
My Vegan Brown Butter Sweet Potato Casserole is a cold weather comfort food and a must-make holiday side dish! Nutty browned butter mashed sweet potatoes are infused with warming spices, then topped with a sweet and salty crumble and baked in the oven.
Vegan Baked Candied Yams
These delicious Vegan Baked Candied Yams by Michelle of Healthier Steps are the ultimate flavorful recipe that you are looking for! They will be a hit at your Thanksgiving table!
Main Dishes
Vegan Lentil Shepherd’s Pie
This is the best vegan shepherd’s pie you’ll try! A hearty, flavor-packed lentil and sticky onion filling meets fluffy mashed potatoes and cauliflower in my protein-rich, healthy plant based dinner recipe. It’s the perfect healthy comfort food for winter!
Incredible Vegan Wellington
A savory vegan loaf gets wrapped in flaky golden pastry and makes for the best winter comfort food. My recipe yields truly the best Vegan Wellington you will ever try! Includes step-by-step photos and detailed instructions so you can nail this Vegan Mushroom Wellington and wow your holiday guests!
Cashew Nut Roast
This Carrot and Cashew Nut Roast by Chris of Thinly Spread is a savory roast perfect for a vegan Christmas dinner. Shaped as a Christmas tree this cashew nut roast is a vegan showstopper!
The Best Vegan Mushroom Risotto
This is my recipe for the best vegan mushroom risotto you’ll ever try. It’s creamy and velvety and bursting with umami, just like classic risotto but it’s dairy-free and vegan. Plus, these tips will help you nail the perfect vegan risotto every time.
Vegan Tamales
A step-by-step guide by Jasmine & Chris of Sweet Simple Vegan on how to make the BEST vegan tamales this holiday season. Not only are these fairly easy to make, but they are also packed with flavor and will definitely impress your friends and family!
Creamy Lentil Stuffed Butternut Squash
In my recipe for Creamy Lentil Stuffed Butternut Squash, roasted butternut squash gets stuffed with the most flavorful, umami-packed lentil filling, then drizzled with a creamy sauce made from the scooped out butternut squash. A hearty and satisfying main course for any winter dinner, especially holiday meals!
Easy Vegan Seitan Roast Beef
This vegan Seitan Roast Beef by Carlo Cao is a perfect Christmas main course to serve with mashed potatoes and baked vegetables. Served the next day it becomes even more delicious as the texture becomes more “meaty”.
Creamy Vegan Mushroom Stroganoff
Here’s my recipe for the BEST vegan mushroom stroganoff you will ever try! It’s packed with umami, is super flavorful, and is so creamy you won’t believe it’s dairy-free and vegan. It’s the ultimate comfort food!
Desserts
At the end of this post, you’ll find a recipe for my incredibly FLUFFY Gingerbread Cake!
Vegan Salted Chocolate Cream Tart
The perfect last-minute holiday dessert! With a no-bake brownie base and a creamy salted chocolate filling, my Salted Chocolate Cream Tart is one of the best but easiest desserts! It’s rich and creamy but made with wholesome ingredients and requires no baking.
Baked Vegan Apple Cider Donuts
These fluffy Baked Vegan Apple Cider Donuts by Megan of Short Girl Tall Order are coated in cinnamon sugar to taste even BETTER than their fried donut counterparts! If you’ve never tried making homemade baked donuts before, these cinnamon sugar donuts are a must-make!
Perfect Vegan Sugar Cookies
Here’s a recipe for easy to make cut-out cookies that taste great by Sam of It Doesn’t Taste Like Chicken! Perfect for any occasion: the holidays, Christmas, Valentines, or anytime you might want to decorate a cookie! A fun activity for kids.
Vegan Yule Log
This delicious and indulgent Yule Log by Holly of The Little Blog of Vegan consists of a rectangular sponge rolled into a log with a filling, coated in chocolate ganache or buttercream. It’s a traditional Christmas dessert especially popular in France, Switzerland, UK, Canada, and Belgium.
Vegan Apple Pie
Turn those freshly-picked apples into this delicious Vegan Apple Pie brimming with a lusciously spiced homemade apple filling nestled in a flaky melt-in-your-mouth crust! This pie by David of Plant Based on a Budget is a classic, heartwarming comfort food ideal for holiday dinners!
Drinks
Healthy Vegan Gingerbread Hot Chocolate
While hot cocoa is typically laden with dairy and refined sugar, my Vegan Gingerbread Hot Chocolate is a health food. Made with cacao powder and blackstrap molasses, it’s a hot chocolate you can feel good about. But thanks to a secret ingredient, it has a creamy, pudding-like texture!
Vegan Peppermint Hot Chocolate
This Vegan Peppermint Hot Chocolate by Jess of Choosing Chia is packed with rich chocolate flavor, and made with all natural ingredients. Serve it topped with crushed candy canes for a festive holiday drink!
Creamy Vegan Spiced Eggnog
My Creamy Vegan Spiced Eggnog is rich, sweet, and indulgent, just like a holiday beverage should be. Plus, it’s so simple to make and so satisfying that you’ll never go back to traditional eggnog.
Want to start the holiday season with something gingerbread flavored? Try this Fluffy Gingerbread Cake!
Vegan Gingerbread Cake and 40 more Vegan Christmas Recipes
This is the BEST vegan gingerbread cake you’ll try! It’s incredibly fluffy and tender, uses simple ingredients, and features a homemade gingerbread spice blend and vanilla cream sauce that take it over the top. A must make during the holiday season!
Gingerbread Cake
- 2 cups (240g) all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled or weighed (see “tips section”)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
Gingerbread Spice
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- Heaping 1/4 teaspoon allspice
- Heaping 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 6 tablespoons (90 mL) aquafaba (the liquid from a can of chickpeas)
- 1/2 cup (120 mL) oat milk (or other unsweetened plant-based milk)
- 7 tablespoons (105 mL) sunflower oil (or any neutral-flavored oil)
- 2/3 cup packed (125g) organic brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup + 1 tablespoon (95 mL) unsulphured molasses (not blackstrap molasses)
- 1/3 cup (80 ml) strongly brewed hot coffee
For serving
- Vanilla Cream Sauce (recipe below)
- Pomegranate seeds (optional)
Vanilla Cream Sauce
- 1/2 cup (60g) organic powdered sugar
- 4 tablespoons (56g) vegan butter
- 1/2 cup (110g) coconut cream*
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 pinch sea salt
Gingerbread Cake Directions
Preheat the oven to 350°F/176°C. Arrange a rack in the bottom third or middle of the oven. Line a 9×5-inch (23×13 cm) loaf pan with parchment paper, letting the excess hang over the long sides to form a sling.
In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves. Whisk well to ensure the baking soda is evenly mixed in.
Pour the aquafaba into a small bowl. Using a handheld electric mixer or stand mixer, whip the aquafaba on medium speed for 45-60 seconds, or until uniformly foamy.
Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Add the whipped aquafaba, oat milk sunflower oil, brown sugar, and vanilla.
Wipe out the bowl used for the aquafaba. Pour the molasses and hot coffee into the bowl, and whisk until well combined. Pour into the well with the liquid ingredients.
Using your electric mixer on slow speed, combine the dry and wet ingredients just until combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Stop mixing as soon as the batter comes together – do not overmix. It’s okay if there are some lumps.
Pour the cake batter into the lined loaf pan and smooth the surface with a rubber spatula. Bake in the preheated oven for 50-55 minutes, until the cake is relatively firm and springs back when touched and a toothpick inserted into the top sides of the cake comes out with a few moist crumbs.
Transfer the pan to a wire rack and cool for 10-15 minutes. Then, using the parchment paper handles, remove the bread from the pan and cool on the rack for at least 20 minutes before slicing. When ready to serve, drizzle the Vanilla Cream Sauce on top and scatter with pomegranate seeds, if using.
Vanilla Cream Sauce Directions
Add the powdered sugar, vegan butter and coconut cream to a small or medium saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the butter has melted.
Bring to boil and keep at a boil for 3 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla and salt.
Allow to cool for a few minutes before spooning over the cake.
* Coconut cream is the thick, solid white cream-like substance you’ll find in a can of full-fat coconut milk. You can also buy canned coconut cream.
