A Vegan Thanksgiving

This is my first official FULL vegan Thanksgiving. When you decide to go vegan, there is a transition period. My first year being "vegan" ended up being more pescatarian in practice. I had removed meat but I had kept seafood. The next step was removing the seafood and cutting out cheese and dairy. On my second Thanksgiving, still transitioning to vegan, I made a few side dishes for myself and the family to try. Now in my third year and finally a full fledged vegan, I have a better understanding of what I want to cook, how to cook it and how to turn some of my favorite Thanksgiving staples into a vegan meal.

If you have considered going vegan or just want to include plant-based options into your diet, check out my replacement guide to help you transition your foods to vegan friendly options.

Thanksgiving Menu

1. Vegan Stuffing

2. Roasted Portabella Mushrooms Caps topped with Stuffing

3. Mashed Potatoes

4. Roasted Carrots

5. Sweet Potato Casserole

6. Vegan Pumpkin Pie

Vegan Stuffing

Ingredients:

Vegan Stuffing mix - Arnold Premium Seasoned Cubed Stuffing

4 tablespoons of butter - Earth Balance

1 cup of diced onion

1 cup of diced celery

2 cups of vegetable broth

Extra Virgin Olive Oil - for coating casserole dish

Note: Read the ingredients before purchasing your stuffing mix. Many stuffing mixes include chicken or turkey broth as an ingredient for seasoning, which means the stuffing is not vegan.

Supplies:

Casserole Dish

Medium sized Pot

Aluminum Foil

Directions:

Most stuffing boxes include directions on the back of the box but I'll also include them down below for your convenience.

1. Melt vegan butter in a medium sized pot over medium heat.

2. Add your diced onion and celery: cook for 5 minutes

3. Add vegetable broth: bring to a boil

4. Coat a casserole dish with olive oil

5. Add stuffing cubes to a large casserole dish and pour broth mixture over the stuffing: mix well

5. Cover your casserole dish with foil and bake at 350 degrees F for 20 minutes

6. Remove foil and bake until the top is lightly browned and crisped: about 10 minutes

Roasted Portabella Mushroom Caps

Ingredients:

Portabella Mushrooms Caps

Olive Oil

Supplies:

Roasting Pan

Directions:

Go to the grocery store, buy portabella mushroom caps and roast in the oven at 350 degrees F for 10-12 minutes.

Add a scoop of the stuffing on top of the mushrooms and bake for an additional 5-10 minutes or until stuffing is golden

Roasted Carrots

Ingredients:

Long Carrots

Olive Oil

Supplies:

Roasting Pan

Aluminum Foil

Directions:

Another simple one is roasted carrots. Grab a bag of carrots and a well oiled roasting pan and pop the carrots into the oven at 350 degrees F for about an hour. Turn the carrots every 15-20 minutes.

Note: There are a bunch of options when it comes to roasted vegetables. You could also roast green beans or brussels sprouts. You could roast acorn squash . You could also sauté spinach in a pan or steam broccoli.

Mashed Potatoes

Ingredients:

Potatoes

Almond Milk

Vegan Butter

Salt

Supplies:

Chopping knife

Cutting board

Large Pot

Optional: Serving bowl - the whole mixture can be made and served in one pot if you want to cut down on dishes.

Directions:

1. One of the coolest tricks I have learned with potatoes is to cut them in half and then cut shallow slices like you were going to cut the halved potatoes into quarters. When you boil the potatoes these cuts will make the skins super easy to remove.

2. I boiled the potatoes for 45 minutes. Your potatoes could take more or less time depending on size. The smaller the potatoes, the quick the potatoes cook. The tell tale sign of when your potatoes are done is when they are "fork tender" which means a fork easily pokes into the potatoes

3. After you've boiled the potatoes, drain the water and allow the potatoes to cool before removing the skin.

4. Use a fork or an electric masher to break up the potatoes

5. Add vegan butter and almond milk SLOWLY. There is no exact measurement. The best part about cooking is the taste testing so taste test as you add ingredients. You can always add more but you can not take it out once it is added. Slowly add small amounts of vegan butter and almond milk until your potatoes are a smooth consistency.

Note: I noticed extra water separated out of the potatoes later in the night. This is normal since there are no milk starches to hold this liquid in the mixture.

Sweet Potato Casserole

by: Nora Cooks

Ingredients:

9 cups peeled and chopped sweet potatoes

1 cup full fat coconut milk (from a can)

1 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

Butter Pecan Topping

2/3 cup brown sugar

5 tablespoons earth balance vegan butter: softened to room temperature

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup pecans

Instructions:

As I mentioned earlier, one of the coolest tricks I have learned with potatoes is to cut them in half and then cut shallow slices like you were going to cut the halved potatoes into quarters. When you boil the potatoes these cuts will make the skins super easy to remove.

Boil the sweet potatoes for 20-25 minutes until the potatoes are fork tender. The smaller you cut the potatoes, the quicker the potatoes cook.

Drain, then add them back to the pot or a large bowl.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and lightly grease the casserole dish.