Christmas recipes: Five Christmas dinner staples for vegetarians and vegans

Times have changed and vegans and vegetarians don’t have to stick to piles of plain vegetables on the most exciting day of the year for food. You can make your favourite Christmas staples vegan-friendly with a few tweaks. Here are five meat and dairy-free recipes to make on Christmas for your vegetarian and vegan loved ones.

Nut roast and cranberry gravy recipe

A nut roast is probably the most popular meat alternative for a roast dinner, especially on Christmas.

This one is vegan and only takes 40 minutes to make, but obviously, it’s not suitable for anyone with a nut allergy (or a celery or sulphite allergy).

This recipe from Mindful Chef also includes instructions on how to make a delicious cranberry gravy to compliment the nut roast.

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp ground almonds (Nuts)
• 20g whole almonds (Nuts)
• 4 dried apricots (Sulphites)
• 240g black beans (drained)
• 2 x carrot
• 2 garlic clove
• 20g hazelnuts (Nuts)
• 1 parsnip
• 20g pistachios (Nuts)
• 1 handful of fresh rosemary
• 2 x shallot
• 1 vegetable stock cube (Celery)
• 180g tenderstem broccoli
• 3 tbsp cranberry sauce

Method

Step one

Preheat the oven to 240C / fan 220C / gas mark 7. Boil a kettle. Peel the parsnip and carrot, then cut lengthways into quarters. Place on a lined baking tray with the broccoli. Drizzle with 1/2 tbsp oil; season with sea salt and black pepper. Roast for 20-25 mins, until golden brown.

Step two

Roughly chop the whole almonds, hazelnuts and pistachios. Save half a tablespoon of pistachios for later and add the remaining pistachios to a small frying pan with three-quarters of the ground almonds. Place the pan on medium heat and toast for two to three minutes, turning regularly. Remove from the heat.

Step three

Finely dice the shallots. Finely dice or crush the garlic. Finely chop the rosemary leaves (remove the stalks). Heat a medium pan with half a tablespoon of oil on medium heat, then cook all for four to five mins, stirring occasionally, until softened. Add half the shallot mix to the toasted nuts.

Step four

Roughly chop the apricots. Drain the beans and rinse. Add both to the pan with the toasted nuts, then add half a tablespoon of cranberry sauce. Season with sea salt, then use your hands or a fork to roughly mash the beans, incorporating the other ingredients to make a mix that holds together.

Step five

Form the bean mix into two equal balls, then shape into neat domes (try using lightly greased mugs to get an even shape). Place the domes onto a tray lined with baking paper. Use 1/2 tbsp cranberry sauce to brush the tops, then roast for 10 to 15 mins, until piping hot and slightly browned.

Step six

Meanwhile, dissolve the stock cube in a jug with 300ml of boiling water. Put the pan with the remaining shallots over high heat, then add the remaining ground almonds and cranberry sauce. Stir, then pour in the stock. Boil for eight to 10 mins, until thickened slightly. Serve the nut roast with the roasted veg and the sauce. Garnish with the reserved chopped pistachios.

READ MORE- ‘Jazz up your trimmings’: Christmas dinner ideas – maple parsnips

Method

Step one

First up, make the filling (usually make the day before serving). Add the leek, garlic, red pepper, carrots & mushrooms to a food processor and blitz until they’re chopped small. Preheat a large saucepan over medium heat and add the oil. When it’s hot add the leek mix to the pan and sauté for three minutes or until golden.

Step two

Stir in the tomato puree, sage, rosemary, bay leaf, salt and pepper then add the flour. Cook the flour out by stirring constantly for about a minute.

Step three

Then deglaze the pan with the red wine and vegetable stock. When the liquid comes to a simmer add the merchant gourmet chestnuts and grains, soy sauce, miso paste and cranberry. Let the mixture bubble away for 10 to 15 minutes or until the liquid has really thickened up, then transfer the mixture to a container to cool completely.

Step four

On the day of serving, add all the glaze ingredients to a small bowl and whisk together. Dust your surface with flour and roll out your pastry approximately 30cm and 30cm then cut it in half.

Step five

Make sure your filling is completely cool (ideally fridge cold) spoon the filling into the centre of one of the pastry rectangles, leaving a 3cm border around the filling. Brush the border with a little of the glaze then place the other pastry rectangle neatly on top. Seal the border together with your finger, then trim the edges to keep it neat. You can crimp the edges with a fork and use Christmas themed cutters with any off-cuts of pastry to top the wellington. Brush over a little glaze. Then set the wellington aside until you’re ready to cook it.

Step six

Meanwhile, add the red pepper dressing ingredients to a food processor and blitz until it forms a chunky paste. Set the dressing aside until serving.

Step seven

To make the caramelised onions, in a heavy-based saucepan over a medium add a touch of oil followed by the onions. Cook for three to four minutes stirring often until they start to soften and colour. Add the sugar, vinegar, seasoning and thyme. Stir well and turn the heat down very low. Cover the saucepan and allow the onions to caramelise for 15 minutes, stir/shake the pan every now & then.

Step eight

To cook the wellington, place it onto the middle shelf in a preheated oven set at 180 degrees C for 30 minutes. Apply extra glaze 25 minutes through cooking.

Step nine

Serve your wellington with lots of dressing, caramelised onions, crispy sage, pomegranate seeds, pistachio nuts, vegan feta and all your Christmas garnishes.

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Roast potatoes

You don’t need goose fat or dairy butter to make crispy, perfect potatoes, this recipe from Flora will do the trick.

Following these instructions, you’ll have four servings of vegan roast potatoes in about an hour.

Ingredients

• 1 kg bag of white potatoes (we recommend Maris Piper)
• 4 tbsp of Flora 100% Natural Ingredients
• A selection of herbs (e.g. rosemary, garlic cloves, thyme, bay…)
• Salt and Pepper

Method

Step one

Preheat the oven to 200°C, 190°C fan, gas mark 6.

Step two

Peel and cut the Maris Piper potatoes in half, then place in cold slightly salted water and bring to the boil.

Step three

Cook for 10 minutes and drain. Shake the potatoes in the pan to roughen the edges.

Step four

Add the Flora 100% Natural Ingredients to a hot roasting tin until it turns into liquid. Then simply add the potatoes to the tin and toss in the Flora. Season with salt and pepper.

Step five

Put into the oven for about 30 minutes until lightly golden. Take out of the oven and add some herbs – this is your personal touch! Put back into the oven for about 20 minutes or until perfect to your eye.

Brussels sprouts

Brussels sprouts aren’t boring without loads of bacon, you can make brussels delicious with some vegan butter.

Ingredients

• 850 g Brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved
• 2 tbsp Flora 100% Natural Ingredients
• 1 large shallot or small onion, finely chopped

Method

Cook Brussels sprouts in boiling, lightly salted water until tender, about seven minutes.

Melt Flora 100% Natural Ingredients in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat and cook the shallots for six minutes, stirring frequently, until golden and very soft.

Add drained Brussels sprouts and stir to combine. Sauté lightly until golden brown, about five minutes.