Lazy Vegan Thanksgiving Dinner for Two
This Lazy Vegan Thanksgiving Dinner for Two is filled with our favorite easy plant-based holiday recipes as well as tips on finding the best store-bought seitan roasts and choosing the perfect wine pairing. All your favorites are there including buttery mashed potatoes, a 15-minute gravy recipe, and warm cinnamon apples for dessert. There’s even a grocery list and step-by-step directions on how to put the whole thing together in under 75 minutes!
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Whether you call it Thanksgiving, Thanksliving, or Friendsgiving, maybe things look a little different for the day this year. Like you, many will be opting to celebrate simply this year with just their significant other. But maybe you’re both just a little tired right now and would like Thanksgiving to be a little more forgiving without sacrificing any of the deliciousness.
We understand. We empathize. And we got you covered.
Today, we’re going to share a simple yet delicious Thanksgiving feast…without a ton of effort. We’ve compiled all the courses and offer some suggestions to help streamline the process and save some of your precious time.
If you scroll to the bottom of this post, we’ve even included a printable grocery list and step-by-step instructions for putting this feast together. We hope it helps and can spark some of that holiday joy and magic we could all use this year.
These are some wonderful recipes you can make together, or you can send your partner to get the holiday decorations out of storage while you grab a little cathartic cooking time by yourself.
Vegan Thanksgiving First Course: Curried Pumpkin Soup
This time of year just shouts pumpkin from the hilltops. This gluten-free, dairy-free curried pumpkin soup comes together in about fifteen minutes in one pot. It’s spicy, velvety goodness can help warm and revitalize your holiday spirits!
Vegan Thanksgiving Main Course: Seitan Roast
While we love a good homemade seitan roast, we recognize not everyone may have the time or patience to make one. That’s why, for this Lazy Vegan Thanksgiving Dinner, we suggest trying one of the many store-bought vegan seitan roasts.
Here are some brands we suggest and that you’ll find easily in many of the major grocery stores. Call first to check the availability of items.
Field Roast – Field Roast’s Celebration Roast is stuffed with a sage and garlic bread stuffing and is always a hit. For something slightly fancier, you could try their Hazelnut and Cranberry Roast En Croute. Yes, en croute! Cook time for both these is listed at approximately 45 minutes.
Gardein – Gardein products are a huge fan favorite among vegans, and their holiday fare does not disappoint. They have a larger wild rice-stuffed full roast or smaller, individual stuffed turk’y in a pack of two. The holiday roast takes about 60 minutes thawed, and the stuffed turk’y takes about half that time fresh from the freezer. They also make great breaded turk’y cutlets if you like simpler fare.
Tofurky – The granddaddy of them all, Tofurky still puts out a quality stuffed roast many seek out. You’ll want to start defrosting yours in the fridge the day before. The website suggests 24 hours to thaw in the refrigerator. The roast itself takes about 75 minutes to cook. (Or 3 hours frozen, yikes.)
Easy Vegan Thanksgiving Sides
No matter the main, Thanksgiving is always about the sides. Here are some of our simplest, tastiest favorites we love for this vegan Thanksgiving menu.
Classic Buttery Mashed Potatoes (Dairy-Free!)
What is a holiday feast without a giant mountain of mashed potatoes drenched in gravy? There’s definitely a reason these are called “classic.”
Last-Minute Cashew Gravy
The simplest, tastiest gravy you’ll never ”cook.” This easy vegan cashew gravy is made in the BLENDER, saving on precious time and stove-top space.
Simple Vegan Caesar Salad
This vegan caesar salad is simple, delicious, and always a crowd-pleaser. Holiday dinners like this just scream for a caesar salad! Et tu?!
Vegan Thanksgiving Dessert: Warm Vegan Cinnamon Apples
These vegan sauteed apples taste like warm apple pie without the crust and come together quickly in your skillet! We suggest serving them over some dairy-free vanilla ice cream. We LOVE the brands Oatly and So Delicious (stick to their cashew or oat-based varieties for the best texture!).
Vegan Thanksgiving Dinner Wine Pairing
This year perhaps more than ever, wine is a vital part of our holiday meal! For fall holiday fare, I generally go with one (or both) of these 2 choices:
A juicy red wine like a Sangiovese, Beaujolais or Pinot Noir make AWESOME wine pairings for this menu. Their fruit-forward characteristics almost act like a cranberry sauce adding a tart, juicy quality to the whole experience while their slightly earthy qualities amp up the savory flavor in the roast and gravy.
A sparkling wine is a classic holiday pairing because it can take you through the whole meal from beginning to end! Plus, nothing says celebration like popping a bottle of bubbly! If you’re looking for a cost-effective option, I’d look for a Cava (sparkling wine from Spain!). We also LOVE this sparkling rose if you’re more of a pink wine person. And if you wanna splurge a bit, there’s always Champagne!
If you can’t make up your mind, try serving the red wine through your meal and end with the sparkling! The appley notes in this Ziobaffa Prosecco pair so well with the warm cinnamon apples!
How to Make Vegan Thanksgiving Dinner
We’re going to walk you through what we feel are the best steps to make the preparation of this meal manageable and easy, and most importantly, all come out at once. When working at this sort of pace, it is imperative you remember to set timers for anything that can burn or turn to mush.
You can do this entire meal in approximately 75 minutes. Or, you can open a bottle of wine and loll through it at your pace.
When to get the roast in the oven:
The cook times for all the roasts mentioned above vary anywhere from 20-75 minutes. Make sure you read the directions of your individual roast for best results. I’ll put some suggestions throughout these directions for when to put in various roasts. If your roast takes longer than 60 minutes, get it in the oven first.
ALSO!!! A lot of these require time (read: 24 hours) to thaw before cooking! Make sure you read those directions in advance!
Step 1: Make the salad dressing and chop all the vegetables.
Making the salad dressing now and getting it in the fridge will give it some time to set and thicken a bit. Make sure you rinse your blender well now to clean it for the gravy later.
As for the salad itself, you can either chop the lettuce now and store it in the fridge between paper towels or just buy a pre-chopped bag of romaine at the grocery story to make things as easy as possible. You can also buy pre-made croutons or make them the day before. Just be sure, if you’re buying store-bought croutons, to check the ingredients as many will contain random bits of dairy.
When doing a batch job like this, I like to cut any veg I may need throughout the meal (like the onions and ginger for the soup) first. This makes the process later more streamlined and manageable. It also helps keep a cleaner kitchen throughout.
You can also peel and chop your potatoes now and cover them with tepid water. However, save the apples for last so they don’t oxidize and brown.
**Roast Check – if you’re cooking a 60-minute roast, get it in the oven as soon as you’re done with this section.
Step 2: Make the cinnamon apples.
Saute the apples now for dessert. The apples can rest in the syrup and be easily reheated when ready for dessert. They take anywhere from 15-20 minutes to initially cook depending on the density of the apples you’re using.
Step 3: Start boiling your potatoes.
While the apples cook, get a large pot of water boiling for your potatoes. (To expedite this, boil the water in a kettle first, then add to the pot.) If your potatoes are soaking, drain them and add them to the pot once the water is at a full rolling boil.
The cooking process for the potatoes will take about 20 minutes, so set a timer and get started on the soup while they cook. (Note: To make your day even easier, you can also make the soup a day in advance to give the flavors time to really steep. Just try not to eat it all before serving.)
**Roast check – Any 45-minute cook time roasts should go in the oven now.
Step 4: Make the pumpkin soup.
If you’ve already cut your onions and ginger, this whole process can be done in the time it takes the potatoes to boil. Get your onion, garlic, and ginger in the pot to saute while you open your cans of pumpkin.
Add the pumpkin and cream to the sauteed veg, stir, bring to a boil, add your spices, stir, and voila! Then, turn the heat down to simmer and get back to the potatoes.
Step 5: Make the mashed potatoes.
By the time you’ve turned your soup down to simmer, the potatoes should be just about soft. Check them to see if they’re fork-tender. Then, strain them and add them to the mixing bowl.
Gravy prep: After you strain the potatoes, add all the ingredients for the cashew gravy in your blender to give the cashews time to soften.
Then, use an electric hand mixer or immersion blender to whip your potatoes. When finished, they can go in a covered, oven-safe container until ready to serve.
**Roast check – now is the time for any 15-minute roasts to get in the oven
Step 6: Make the gravy.
Now that your cashews have had time to soften, simply blend up well on high until smooth.
Step 7: Serve and enjoy!
Pull it all together, and give yourself a pat on the back, my friend. Dinner is served.
More Lazy Vegan Thanksgiving Recipes:
If you try this vegan Thanksgiving menu, let us know! You can do that by leaving a rating and comment below or tagging us in your holiday feast photos on Instagram. If you’re not already hanging out with us over there, we’re @theplantpowercouple with the “the”.
Enjoy your holidays, friends. Whatever they look like this year!
Lazy Vegan Thanksgiving Dinner for Two
Ingredients
For the main dish:
- Vegan seitan roast of choice
For the pumkin soup:
- 2 Tbsp vegan butter
- 1 cup diced onion
- 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes optional, for spicy
- 2 Tbsp fresh ginger minced
- 4 cups water
- 2 15-oz cans pumpkin puree
- 1 15-oz can full-fat coconut milk
- 1/3 cup nutritional yeast
- 1/4 cup vegan chicken-style bouillon powder
- 1 Tbsp ground cumin
- 1 Tbsp garlic powder
- 2 tsp curry powder
- 2 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp celery salt
- 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
For the vegan Caesar salad:
- 2 bags of chopped romaine lettuce
- 1 14-oz package silken tofu
- 3 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 lemon juiced
- 2 tsp white miso paste
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 2 large cloves garlic
- 2 teaspoons capers
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
For the vegan mashed potatoes::
- 3 lbs russet potatoes peeled and diced
- 1/2 cup vegan butter
- 3/4 cup plain unsweetened non-dairy milk
- 1/2 Tbsp sea salt
For the cashew gravy:
- 1 1/2 cups hot water just-boiled
- 3/4 cup raw cashews
- 3 Tbsp vegan chicken-style bouillon powder
For the cinnamon apples:
- 6 firm small apples peeled and cut into large chunks
- 3 Tbsp light brown sugar
- 3 Tbsp vegan butter
- 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 Tbsp water
- 1 pint vegan vanilla ice cream
Instructions
- PREP: Print all the recipes you’ll be using, put in your grocery order, and read the directions on the seitan roast you are buying. Some require up to 24 hours to defrost before cooking.
- SALAD DRESSING + VEGGIES: Start by making the caesar dressing now and set it in the fridge. Make sure you rinse your blender well now to clean it for the gravy later. Then, cut the onions and ginger for the soup. You can also peel and chop your potatoes now and cover them with tepid water. Chop the apples for the dessert last so they don’t oxidize and brown.
- **Roast Check - if you’re cooking a 60-minute roast, get it in the oven as soon as you're done with this section.
- MAKE THE SAUTEED APPLES: Saute the apples now for dessert. The apples can rest in the syrup and be easily reheated when ready for dessert. They take anywhere from 15-20 minutes to initially cook depending on the density of the apples you’re using.
- START BOILING THE POTATOES: While the apples cook, get a large pot of water boiling for your potatoes. (To expedite this, boil the water in a kettle first, then add to the pot.) If your potatoes are soaking, drain them and add them to the pot once the water is at a full rolling boil. The cooking process for the potatoes will take about 20 minutes, so set a timer and get started on the soup while they cook.
- **Roast check - Any 45-minute cook time roasts should go in the oven now.
- MAKE THE PUMPKIN SOUP: Get your onion, garlic, and ginger in the pot to saute while you open your cans of pumpkin. Add the pumpkin and cream to the sauteed veg, stir, bring to a boil, add your spices, stir, and voila! Then, turn the heat down to simmer and get back to the potatoes.
- FINISH THE MASHED POTATOES: By the time you’ve turned your soup down to simmer, the potatoes should be just about soft. Check them to see if they’re fork-tender. Then, strain them and add them to the mixing bowl. After you strain the potatoes, add all the ingredients for the cashew gravy in your blender to give the cashews time to soften. Then, use an electric hand mixer or immersion blender to whip your potatoes. When finished, they can go in a covered, oven-safe container until ready to serve.
- **Roast check - now is the time for any 15-minute roasts to get in the oven
- MAKE THE GRAVY: Now that your cashews have had time to soften, simply blend up well on high until smooth.
- Pull it all together, and give yourself a pat on the back, my friend. Dinner is served.
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