Healthy Vegan and Vegetarian Thanksgiving Menu and Recipes

A simple vegan antipasto appetizer.

Vegan split pea soup with carrots.

Vegan stuffed pumpkin with quinoa, pecans, cranberries and apples.

Vegan lemon tahini encrusted baked cauliflower.

Vegan sweet potato casserole with pineapple and pecans.

Garden fresh green beans with garlic, lemon and dill.

Vegan apple and blackberry crisp.

Vegan carrot cake with cashew cream icing.

A Healthy and Vegan Friendly Thanksgiving

If you are hosting a Thanksgiving dinner and have some vegan guests, here's what you need to know. Vegans do not eat any animal products - besides avoiding meat, fish and poultry,(that includes broth made from turkey, chicken or beef), they don't use milk, eggs, cheese, butter and honey (although some vegans eat honey so make sure to check). This menu provides vegan friendly recipes from appetizers to desserts. The quinoa stuffed sugar pumpkin makes a great main entree. Even if you aren't a vegan or vegetarian, these delicious dishes will make your Thanksgiving meal lighter and healthier.

How to Make Your Favorite Recipe Vegan Friendly

To make your own recipes vegan friendly, replace:

* Butter with a vegan buttery spread or olive oil

* Honey with agave syrup

* Eggs with EnerG egg replacer or make an egg by whipping up 1 tablespoon of ground flax seed with 3 tablespoons of water

* Chicken or beef broth with vegetable or mushroom broth

* Ricotta cheese with tofu processed in a food processor

* Cream with silken tofu

Healthy Vegan Thanksgiving Menu

[Please click on the recipe titles to link to the actual recipes and then hit the back arrow to return to this posting].

Appetizer

I love to serve a big Vegan Antipasto when we entertain. For the non-vegans, you can add baby buffalo mozzarella or chunks of provolone. This antipasto is very easy to make and can be assembled in minutes.

Soup

One of my favorite soups is Vegan Split Pea Soup with Carrots. You can make this ahead of time and reheat on Thanksgiving day. Or, make it early in the day and leave it in the pot. Set aside and warm it right before dinner.

Main Course

For the main entree we have Vegan Stuffed Pumpkin with Quinoa, Pecans, Cranberries and Apples. This is a very filling dish so if you make all the other side dishes, this recipe will serve 8. I've chosen 3 healthy and fairly easy side dishes to go with the stuffed pumpkin and/or with a traditional turkey. The first is Vegan Lemon Tahini Encrusted Baked Cauliflower. This dish makes a very elegant presentation and slices nicely. Although this recipe usually serves 4, with all the other dishes, a large cauliflower would probably serve 6 to 8. The next dish is Vegan Sweet Potato Casserole with Pineapple and Pecans. This light and healthy casserole will serve 8 and can be made the day before. The last side dish is Garden Fresh Green Beans with Garlic, Lemon and Dill. This recipe will serve 6 to 8.

Dessert

For dessert we have 2 options. The first is a Vegan Gravenstein Apple and Blackberry Crisp . Of course you can replace the Gravensteins with other apples and you can also replace the blackberries with cranberries or raisins. This recipe serves 6. The second dessert is Vegan Carrot Cake made with a cashew cream icing. The sheet cake can serve up to 30 people so if you have a smaller crowd, pour the entire batter in a 9"x13" pan, make only half the icing and just ice the top. That will still serve up to 20 people but you can eat if for several days or send some home with your guests!

Check out the 2010 Healthy Vegan Thanksgiving Menu!

I hope you enjoy these menus for your Thanksgiving or other winter holiday feasts.

Check out more vegan recipes and articles on vegan nutrition on my blog.

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