I know the stress of preparing a family Christmas Dinner… not because I have ever experienced this myself, but because I have watched my mom semi-stressing about it year after year. Of course my sister and I would help. But for the most part she did all the planning, the groceries and prepared everything that could be prepared some days before. Then, on the day of the actual Christmas Dinner we would all help and bake & cook together for hours, starting in the morning.
So if it isn’t already a lot of work to pull off a Christmas Dinner for your guests, imagine keeping track of everyone’s dietary wishes. Vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free, lactose-free, nut allergies etc.
In this post I will help you get started with some vegan/vegetarian recipes. But before I start want to address that all of the below pictures AND recipes are not mine. All rights belong to their respective owners. I simply wanted you to be inspired by some of my favorite vegan dishes and food bloggers out there! There is a link on each section which takes you to their website. Let’s begin!
This Sweet Potato & Butternut Squash Soup is delicious! It is creamy because of the coconut milk and has a lot of taste because of all the spices, so be sure to use them! See the full recipe here.
Salad
(Vegetarian Recipe! How to make it Vegan read below)
I absolutely love the look of this salad, with the red and the green, super Christmassy! And if you want to make this recipe vegan, simply swap the butter for a plant-based butter. I like to use this one from Alpro but there are many other brands. And if you want to use vegan feta cheese, try this one from Violife.
Main Dish
Mushroom and Asparagus Risotto
I really enjoy making risotto, I make it all the time (and I love to use some white wine!) My go to ingredients are mushroom and asparagus, but you can skip the asparagus if it is out of season, and use peas or spinach instead.
At first it seemed these potato cakes could pass for a side dish, but after making and eating them myself I realised they were filling me up pretty quickly! So I chose to select this as a main dish, knowing that there are multiple veggies waiting for us as a side dish. Also: when I made them I didn’t have any cornstarch at home so I made them without and it worked out fine!
P.S. When you fry the potato cakes in a pan, throw in a cork (from a bottle of wine) to prevent the oil from splattering.
Side Dish
(Vegetarian Recipe! How to make it Vegan read below)
This recipe is from Ottolenghi’s cookbook “Simple”. I had my mom send over a picture of the recipe and I thought about typing it out. But then I figured it could already be available somewhere online and, voilà!
Although this is a vegetarian recipe, it is fairly easy to make it vegan. I will simply use this as an alternative for the standard greek yoghurt and will personally skip the crème fraiche. But if you are determined to go by the recipe and are looking for a substitute for crème fraiche I found this one online. Also, as a substitute for the honey I used some agave syrup.
At first I didn’t know what to think about using cinnamon with my carrots, but this is honestly my favorite way to make carrots now! So I highly recommend to try it out.
Side Dish
Who doesn’t love ratatouille? Especially when it looks like this! The aesthetic of the food is very important to me when I am cooking for guests and this is simply fool proof. It is the perfect way to add some more vegetables to the menu.
Dessert
Vegan Chocolate Chip Sheet Cake
I absolutely love School Night Vegan. He is one of the few food bloggers I actually follow on instagram and whose website I visit frequently (all my other food inspo mainly comes from Pinterest). You will know why when you see his creations and the humor he uses to describe the process. I made this Chocolate Chip Sheet Cake at my sisters engagement “party” (just for the family because of Covid) and it was an absolute hit, if I say so myself.
P.S. Don’t be like me and try to use less oil, you won’t get the perfect batter. Learn from my mistakes! I figured it out tho, and it turned out wonderful.
I hope you are inspired by all of these lovely recipes and will enjoy cooking and baking for Christmas! Even if you are not a fan of a particular dish I recommend checking out the food bloggers and see what more they have to offer. Enjoy!