Make a Show-Stopping Thanksgiving Spread With These 51 Vegan Recipes
Traditionally, every year, the Thanksgiving table is loaded up with animal products. There’s mac and cheese, creamy casseroles, and, of course, turkey. But actually, this yearly fall feast is quite easy to make vegan—especially if you have the right recipes at hand.
Below, we’ve compiled some of our favorite dishes to serve over the holiday season—including plant-based appetizers, mains and roasts, sides, and desserts. By the end of the meal, your guests will be asking for seconds, not questioning where the meat and dairy are—that’s a promise.
The best 51 vegan recipes to serve this Thanksgiving
Make room on your stovetop, clear out the fridge, and assemble every pot, pan, and serving dish you own. Here are 51 delightful vegan Thanksgiving recipes.
Plant-based Thanksgiving appetizers
Kick off your holiday festivities with these tantalizing appetizers.
Ilene Godofsky Moreno
1 Vegan Holiday Stuffing Flavored Hummus
Hummus is an every-occasion food. Sure, you may associate it with dipping baby carrots into your own personal hummus tub while lounging in sweats on the couch, but it can also be gussied up and served as a sophisticated Thanksgiving appetizer. The one thing we know for certain is that hummus is universal.
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Ashley Hankins
2 Vegan Crab and Cream Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms
If something is creamy, baked, and breadcrumb-topped, it qualifies as a Thanksgiving side. Serve these savory bites to keep family entertained as you prep the main meal.
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Andrea Soranidis
3 Easy, Creamy Pumpkin Soup With White Beans
Pro tip: make a creamy soup without dairy by adding white beans (cannellini or navy work best). Just a half cup of beans blended into eight cups of roasted pumpkin will lend a velvety, indulgent texture. No heavy cream required.
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Danielle Keith
4 Vegan Deviled Egg Potatoes
Deviled eggs are among many Thanksgiving traditions that certainly don’t sound very vegan-friendly, but this recipe proves you don’t have to miss out on the holiday staple. Just swap the eggs for potatoes.
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Little Pine
5 Crispy Herb-Roasted Maitake Vegan Crostini With Walnut Pesto Aioli
This multi-dimensional amuse-bouche will set the stage for the rest of the meal and lay high expectations for the dishes to come.
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Terry Hope Romero
6 Vegan Potato Leek Soup With Broccoli Gremolata
Give garlic a break—leeks are the often underutilized allium. Like garlic, they’re potent, flavorful, and play well with other ingredients. We’ll be sipping on this soup all fall and winter long.
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Moku Foods
7 Vegan Nut and Herb-Crusted Cheese Ball
Those who take pride in going above and beyond for Thanksgiving don’t simply buy vegan cheese—they make it. This is a fabulous make-ahead appetizer that will satisfy your guests’ munchies before dinner begins. Serve with vegan crackers, slices of crusty baguette, or crudité.
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Audrey Fitzjohn
8 Flaky Vegan Mushroom Turnovers
Depending on how many you eat, these wonderful little hand pies could turn into a meal. Serve with gravy and cranberry sauce, and your guests will never want to stop devouring these umami bombs.
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So Vegan
9 Garlicky Vegan Mushroom Swirls
This recipe is similar to the turnovers in that it involves carbs and shrooms, but instead of a flaky crust, you’ll bite into a tender, buttery dough. If making the bread from scratch seems a bit too daunting, store-bought pizza dough will yield similar results.
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Peggy Brusseau
10Vegan Pumpkin and Parsnip Soup
Need something simple to throw together? This six-ingredient (seven, if you count black pepper) recipe is straightforward and can be made in under an hour. Want to save even more time? Buy canned pumpkin.
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Rachel Morris
11Vegan Warm Kale Salad With Roasted Sweet Potato
Get something fresh and green on the table to balance out the decadent mains and sides. Thanks to the kale and sweet potato, this salad is hearty without being heavy.
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Holly V. Gray
12 Vegan Spinach and Mashed Potato Stuffed Mushrooms
Serve your seasonal mash a little differently this year by whipping it with spinach and garlic and stuffing it into some delicious baby bella mushrooms.
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13 Creamy Butternut Squash Soup
This nourishing, silky, creamy butternut squash soup is packed with delicious fall flavors. It is, of course, best served with crusty bread.
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Meatless Thanksgiving mains
After your guests have enjoyed light bites, it’s time for the main course! These vegan Thanksgiving entrées are even better than turkey.
Like a Vegan
14 Vegan Holiday Roast With Hazelnut Cranberry Stuffing
There are plenty of vegan holiday roasts on store shelves these days, but you can’t go wrong with homemade. With a tangy glaze and hazelnut cranberry stuffing, this vegan roast will look impressive on your Thanksgiving table.
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Simon Smith
15Vegan Stuffed Squash Roast With Cranberry-Orange Sauce
Another option for a stunning Thanksgiving centerpiece is this stuffed squash. It not only looks colorful, but it’s also bursting with flavor thanks to the glazed onions, wild rice, and sauteéd mushroom filling.
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Lauren Lovatt
16Vegan Roasted Sweet Basil Squash
Sweet, caramelized, and basil-scented, these thick crescents of onion squash could make for a meal. This particular recipe pairs them with a wild rice and mustard greens salad, but the squash slices are exceptional on their own.
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Chef Bai
17Glazed Vegan Honeynut Squash With Mint and Feta
Creamy feta, tangy lemon, and mint bring a powerhouse of flavor to this delicious glazed honeynut squash recipe.
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18Vegan Garlicky Herb-Roasted Whole Cauliflower
Cauliflower is often thought of as a tame, mild vegetable, but we argue that’s not a bad thing. It can take on the flavors of whatever you pair it with, which, in this case, is garlic, herbs, and cheese.
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19 Herbed Vegetable Roast With Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Treat your guests to a rainbow of tasty roasted vegetables with this simple recipe, which goes beautifully with whipped garlic mashed potatoes.
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Lauren Toyota
20Meaty Vegan Bangers and Mash With Herbed Gravy
This may be a traditional English dish, but the flavors of this UK staple lend themselves perfectly for a Thanksgiving feast. Garlicky mashed potatoes, homemade meaty sausages, and herbed gravy? Feast away!
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Alexandra Shytsman
21 Vegan Butternut Harvest Roll
Winter vegetables and puff pastry are a dream combination, especially when they’re drizzled with plenty of hearty, rich vegan gravy.
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Allyson Kramer
22Gluten-Free Baked Butternut Squash Risotto
This gluten-free butternut squash risotto, which is baked in the oven like a casserole, makes for an ultra-comforting, filling Thanksgiving plate.
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Vegan Thanksgiving sides
What’s Thanksgiving without an array of mouthwatering sides? From mac and cheese to stuffing, these sides complement any holiday main.
Ryan Shepard
23Pomegranate Stuffing With Lemon-Cashew Cream Sauce
A holiday meal isn’t complete without stuffing. Juicy pomegranate seeds, tangy lemon sauce, and fresh herbs work together to make this version ultra-flavorful and delicious.
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Hannah Kaminsky
24Best Ever Vegan Mac and Cheese
What defines the best mac and cheese? To us, it’s a thick cheese sauce, baked breadcrumbs, a super soft and silky center, and crisp edges. This is a side that could be enjoyed as a meal on any day other than Thanksgiving.
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Barb Musick
25Foolproof Buttery Vegan Cornbread
Do you take your cornbread sweet or savory? It’s a polarizing question. This particular recipe leans heavily toward sweet, but you can balance it out by adding sliced jalapeños or pulling back a smidge on the sugar (not completely, though, as it’s necessary for texture here). Serve with your favorite non-dairy butter.
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26 Vegan Sweet Potato Swirled Mashed Potatoes
Mix together two Thanksgiving favorites in this swirly, fluffy mash recipe. It’s colorful, delicious, and sure to go down a treat with all of your loved ones.
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Kate Lewis
27Balsamic Roasted Brussels Sprouts
When it comes to Brussels sprouts, this six-ingredient recipe is about as minimal as they come. Don’t worry—the flavor isn’t jeopardized by the lack of fussy ingredients. This recipe allows the Brussels sprouts to stand on their own, ever-so-lightly supported with aromatic garlic and bright balsamic vinegar.
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Alex Shytsman
28 Cashew Mac and Cheese With Lobster Mushrooms
If you fancy something a little different this year, enjoy a creative twist on this Thanksgiving classic by adding dried lobster mushrooms and roasted garlic cashew cheese sauce.
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Matthew Pritchard
29 Cheesy Vegan Asparagus Straws in Buttery Puff Pastry
Store-bought puff pastry is a magical ingredient. It can turn anything into a fancy appetizer with the most minimal effort. This recipe uses asparagus, but almost any veggie would do here.
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Simon Smith
30 Hasselback Potatoes With Cheese Sauce
Hasselback veggies look far more complicated than they actually are. For those who crave crisp and creamy, this potato preparation is the way to go. Each little slice and crevice gets mouthwateringly crispy and simultaneously serve as deep crevices for cheese sauce. Genius.
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Shanika Graham-White
31 Vegan Maple-Herb Glazed Carrots
These tender, maple-herb glazed carrots, which are packed with flavor and goodness, bring some vibrance and a burst of color to the holiday table.
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Rich Landau and Kate Jacoby
32Shaved Brussels Sprouts With Creamy Mustard Sauce
Technically a salad, this light side is ideal for those who don’t love chomping into a thick piece of Brussels sprout. Even the kiddos will gobble up this festive fall side.
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Lauren Hartmann and Julie Grace
33Vegan Baked White Mac and Cheese
For the die-hard fans of the lesser-known white cheddar mac and cheese, this recipe is for you. Made dairy-free with a decadent blend of cashews, tahini, silken tofu, mustard, and nutritional yeast, it’s an unexpected but not unwelcome detour from the traditional yellow-orange pasta.
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Sara Kiyo Popowa
34Sweet Potato and Chili Dauphinoise With Spicy Pumpkin
Upgrade your Thanksgiving table with this classy, spicy dauphinoise dish, which also makes use of two seasonal favorites: sweet potato and pumpkin.
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Ashley Madden
35Easy Cheesy Broccoli Potatoes
Yes, there is room for more than one or two potato dishes on the Thanksgiving table. Serving as a textural contrast to the classic creamy mash, these potatoes are charred, crispy, and studded with roasted broccoli florets.
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Julieanna Hever and Ray Cronise
36Healthy Vegan Tarragon Mustard Brussels Sprouts
Consider this fresh rendition of Brussels sprouts as a palate cleanser between heavier bites of non-dairy mac and cheese and gravy-loaded biscuits. In lieu of the traditional maple syrup-coated and roasted preparation, these tiny cabbages are covered in a bright sauce that will wake up everyone’s taste buds.
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Hollan Hawaii
37 Vegan Creamed Corn
Coconut creamer is the secret to making this decadent holiday side vegan. It’s super simple to make and is guaranteed to be a hit.
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Danielle Keith
38 Vegan Cheesy Cauliflower Potato Casserole
This casserole ticks all of these boxes—it’s creamy, cheesy, and savory.
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Kate Jacoby
39Roasted Asparagus With Hazelnut Picada
Fresher than a green bean casserole, this side is still belly-warming and comforting. The asparagus is perfectly tender while the hazelnut breadcrumb mixture provides that crunch we all crave.
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Akhtar Nawab
40Crispy Brussels Sprouts With Tamarind and Cashews
Tamarind offers an unsuspected yet pleasant sour note to any Thanksgiving spread. This side kicks it up another notch with spicy chilies and a good amount of garlic. Serve over mashed potatoes to cool down your palate.
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Hollan Hawaii
41Vegan Holiday Dinner Rolls
Calling all bread bakers: this is your time to shine. All these fluffy white rolls need is a thick pat of butter—no other adornment necessary.
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Jeremy Patton
42Vegan Southern Buttermilk Biscuits
You just need four pantry ingredients to make vegan buttermilk biscuits your grandmother will be proud of. Serve piping hot with a boat of mushroom gravy and all will be right with the world.
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Dairy-free, egg-free Thanksgiving dessert
Whether you prefer classic pies or creative innovations, bid your guests adieu with these decadent holiday desserts.
Ed Tatton
43Vegan Whole Wheat Pecan and Maple Pie
This Thanksgiving classic is a must-make, complete with a shortbread-style pastry crust.
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44 Simple Vegan Apple Tarte Tartin
Apple pie is an American classic for good reason, but if you’re looking to amp up your usual holiday dessert, this buttery, country-style sweet treat is sure to win over your dinner guests. It’s delicious, looks like a work of art, and is deceptively simple to make with the help of ready-made vegan puff pastry.
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Kirsten Kaminski
45Easy, Vegan 3-Step No-Bake Pumpkin Cheesecake
Pumpkin pie gets a healthy makeover in this raw, indulgent, three-step, no-bake recipe.
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Sara Stevens
46Vegan Vanilla Tarts With Cranberry Compote
Treat your guests to these bite-sized tarts topped off with sweet and tangy strawberry compote for a delicious, one-of-a-kind ending to a Thanksgiving feast.
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Micah Siva
47Easy Vegan Banana Coconut Pudding
Get creative this Thanksgiving, and opt for banana coconut pudding in place of banana cream pie. Silky cashew pudding layered with wafer cookies, banana, and yogurt makes for an easy and delicious dessert.
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Joanne Molinaro
48Vegan Sweet Red Bean Pecan Pie
This twist on a Thanksgiving classic from The Korean Vegan cookbook cuts some of the cloying sweetness of pecan pies and will become a new favorite in your holiday rotation.
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49 Apple Pie With Nutty Crumble Topping
This recipe takes the classic to another level, by adding in a tasty, crunchy oat-walnut crumble topping.
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50Pumpkin Pecan Cheesecake
It’s rich, indulgent, and packed with fall flavor. There’s no better dessert to serve on Thanksgiving than this pumpkin pecan cheesecake.
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51Easy Vegan Pumpkin Pie
Prefer classic pumpkin pie over cheesecake? This six-ingredient recipe is beginner-friendly and yields one delicious pie.
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