45 Best Vegan Thanksgiving Recipes (easy, delicious)

Use this list of the best vegan Thanksgiving recipes to make planning your holiday feast easy and delicious! We included a good mix of veganized classic recipes and fun and unique dishes that will shake up a traditional table. From appetizers to mains, sides to desserts, this is your one-stop-shop for the tastiest meatless Thanksgiving. Every recipe is a proven crowd favorite, omnivore-approved, and most are family-friendly too!

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One of our favorite parts of going vegan has been recreating all our favorite holiday foods, like Thanksgiving!

And we’ve been doing this long enough now that we’ve built quite the library of recipes perfect for a Thanksgiving table.

Today, we are so excited to share this recipe list of holiday season favorites with you! We hope it helps to simplify your Thanksgiving menu planning and injects some fun into the process too.

Without further adieu, here are the best vegan and vegetarian Thanksgiving dishes!

Our Favorite Vegan Thanksgiving Recipes

Here is our complete list of the best vegan Thanksgiving recipes we’ve ever made. We’ve tested each one of these dishes on both ourselves and our friends and family at least once. If it wasn’t an instant hit, we left it off the list!

Plant Based Thanksgiving Appetizers

First, let’s start the party with some tasty small bites! These are the best plant-based holiday appetizers.

This savory curried pumpkin soup is an easy one-pot plant-based meal. Make it on the stove or in the slow-cooker with either canned pumpkin or fresh pumpkin and a few kitchen staples. It’s gluten-free, dairy-free (without coconut milk!), and includes an oil-free option. #vegan #pumpkinsoup #savorypumpkinrecipe

Spicy Pumpkin Soup

If you want to start your meal with a sit-down first course that’s easy but also a little fancy, try this savory curried pumpkin soup! Make it easily in one pot on the stove or slow-cooker. Gluten-free, vegan, and has an oil-free option!

Vegan Cheese Ball

A cheese ball was a mainstay at all my family’s holiday gatherings, and this vegan cheeseball is my personal adaptation of that classic spreadable cheddar! You’ll be shocked you made it with tofu and not cashews!

Vegan Sausage and Stuffing Balls

These vegetarian walnut sausage and stuffing balls are the perfect Thanksgiving appetizer recipe. They are like the best flavors of the holiday all in one bite! You can even make them ahead of time and freeze them for go-time.

Carrot Dogs in a Blanket

This is a great way to use the classic carrot dog recipe in appetizer form! Vegan pigs in a blanket are such a huge hit on a Thanksgiving spread and easy to make. There’s some marinating time but very little active work.

Hot Walnut Sausage Dip

Make this warm vegan walnut sausage dip for your Thanksgiving dinner! There’s flavorful sausage-style walnut meat and pinto beans baked in a cheesy dairy-free sauce until bubbling.

Vegan and Vegetarian Main Dishes

Second only to the appetizer, let’s get into the main dish. From veganized versions of the traditional staples to creative new ideas, there is a main course recipe here to star on every table!

Overhead close-up shot of a vegan holiday seitan roast with two slices so you can see the inside stuffed with vegetarian bread dressing.

Thanksgiving Seitan Roast

This Seitan Roast En Croute recipe is the perfect main dish for your vegan Thanksgiving table. Stuffed with vegetarian bread stuffing and wrapped in a beautiful puff pastry crust, this is a fantastic plant based replacement for turkey!

Vegan Thanksgiving Ham

This vegan ham recipe is an incredible seitan flavored with liquid smoke, maple syrup, and coated in a pineapple mustard glaze. The pink color – from the beet puree – makes this vegetarian roast the perfect centerpiece for your Thanksgiving gathering.

TVP Meatloaf

Nothing quite says comfort food the way meatloaf does, and you’re going to love this simple recipe for our super tasty vegan meatloaf! Packed with protein and flavor, this makes a spectacular Thanksgiving centerpiece.

Slow Cooker Vegan Corned Beef

If corned beef is more your style, make our slow-cooker vegan corned beef for Thanksgiving! This meaty homemade seitan recipe – with beets for that bright pink color – is simmered in your crockpot before being baked with a black pepper crust. The result is 100% worth the time that goes into it!

Vegan Cottage Pie Cupcakes

This savory Vegan Cottage Pie Cupcake is a veganized – and slightly fancified – version of a classic cottage pie or shepherd’s pie. Great for single servings at Thanksgiving dinner, you’ll love the buttery mashed potatoes in addition to the savory plant-based beef filling!

Overhead shot of a vegan mushroom wellington wrapped in crispy puff pastry sitting on a round white plate, surrounded by sauteed mushrooms and onions and a sprig of rosemary

Mushroom Burger Wellington

This Vegan Burger Wellington is the perfect main dish for Thanksgiving dinner if you’re looking for something homemade, easy, and small-batch. Two vegetarian burgers layered with caramelized onions, mushrooms, and a melty slice of dairy free cheese encased in a crisp puff pastry crust!

Seitan Sausages

This is our go-to recipe for THE most meaty, mouth-watering, and memorable seitan sausages of all time! If you’re a new seitan-maker, this is a great recipe to start! We also have a spicy vegan Italian sausage version of this recipe.

Vegan Pot Pie Casserole

Vegan Pot Pie might not be a traditional Thanksgiving main, but no one will complain once they take their first bite! Make it with tremendously simple and easily found ingredients like store-bought puff pastry and frozen mixed vegetables.

Vegan Tetrazzini

Another surprisingly satisfying Thanksgiving entree is this vegan tetrazzini recipe. This vegan version of the classic baked pasta dish is just as cozy and comforting as traditional tetrazzini without any of the dairy!

Vegan Thanksgiving Side Dishes

It’s time to talk about sides next. Side dishes are really the unsung heroes, and maybe the best part, of the table. And for vegans, we’re lucky it’s super easy to veganize a host of classic Thanksgiving sides! Here, you’ll find our favorite easy vegan Thanksgiving sides.

This easy vegan cashew gravy takes 10 minutes, uses 3 ingredients, and is made in your blender. You don’t even need to turn on your stove! This quick side dish is the perfect vegetarian gravy for biscuits, waffles, or mashed potatoes. It’s great for Thanksgiving or Christmas and appeals to lots of dietary needs because it’s gluten-free, dairy-free, oil-free but still FULL flavor.

Vegan Thanksgiving Gravy

This easy vegan gravy takes just 10 minutes, 3 ingredients, and a blender. You don’t even need to turn on your stove, and the flavor is unreal!

Note: This is an oil-free vegan gravy but because it uses cashews, it’s not low-fat. If you’re looking for an oil-free and low-fat vegan gravy, check out our Vegan Turkey Gravy.

Baked Vegan Mac and Cheese

Baked mac and cheese is a classic dish on any table, and you are going to love this veganized Stouffer’s copycat! The sauce is budget-friendly, made with tofu and not cashews.

Sweet Potato Mac and Cheese

This homemade Sweet Potato Mac and Cheese recipe is easy to make with a dairy free sweet potato and cashew cheese sauce that you will want to drink with a straw! This is the perfect addition, a combination of two Thanksgiving classics: sweet potatoes and mac and cheese!

Classic Vegan Mashed Potatoes

The BEST vegan Thanksgiving side! This is our go-to vegan mashed potato recipe for Thanksgiving because they’re buttery and fluffy, just like the “real thing” we grew up eating.

Healthy Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes

In addition to our classic mash, we love this healthy version! These Dairy Free Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes are a healthy vegan mashed potato recipe packed with flavor. Made without any vegan butter or milk, they use a lemon thyme roasted garlic cream sauce made with silken tofu!

These Dairy Free Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes are a healthy vegan mashed potato recipe packed with flavor. They are a great plant-based holiday side dish or cozy everyday dinner side. Instead of butter, they use a creamy roasted garlic sauce made with silken tofu that adds extra protein without a ton of fat!

Vegan Broccoli Ranch Twice Baked Potatoes

These Vegan Broccoli Ranch Twice-Baked Potatoes are the perfect dairy-free AND gluten-free side dish for Thanksgiving. Russet potatoes are baked, then filled with a creamy ranch-and-broccoli-infused whipped potato filling and re-baked to crispy perfection.

Vegan Au Gratin Potatoes

Our vegan au gratin potato recipe is SUPER easy and only requires a few simple ingredients. We make a simple parmesan with nutritional yeast, cashews, and spices. This dish is perfect paired with our seitan ham and pineapple stuffing!

Easy Roasted Potatoes

This is our go-to recipe for perfect crispy roasted potatoes made in the oven! They can be made ahead of time and are a crowd-pleasing addition to any Thanksgiving feast.

Vegan Hash Brown Casserole

This vegan hash brown casserole dish is an easy recipe and great for a comfort food side for Thanksgiving that’s easy to make and can be made ahead! It’s also perfect for breakfast or brunch with any out-of-town guests!

Vegan Thanksgiving Stuffing

This vegetarian stuffing is a perfect side dish for your traditional Thanksgiving table made vegan! It’s warm and bready on the inside and slightly crisp on top.

Sesame Roasted Brussels Sprouts

This is the best brussels sprouts recipe for Thanksgiving because it’s the recipe that got me to love Brussels sprouts! Drizzled with sesame oil and dusted with spices then roasted to crisp perfection, this simple recipe is easy to make and packed with flavor.

Overhead shot of a plate of charred green beans and red peppers.

Seared Green Beans

Spice up your Thanksgiving green beans with our pan-seared green beans and peppers recipe. This simple recipe might be your new favorite way to eat these lovely legumes!

Vegan Pineapple Stuffing

This vegan pineapple souffle is our egg-free and dairy-free take on the traditional side dish on many Thanksgiving tables. It’s so family-friendly, everyone will want seconds!.

Air Fryer Crispy Onion Strings

Make crispy delicious onions in your air fryer! These homemade french fried onions are a healthy alternative and perfect for topping green bean casserole or your entire plate!

Easy Vegan Caesar Salad

This easy vegan caesar salad recipe is the ultimate crowd-pleaser for Thanksgiving. Silken tofu creates a creamy but light base for the dressing and 9 simple ingredients add the unmistakable caesar flavor!

Vegan Herb Biscuits

These classic vegan biscuits are loaded with homestyle chicken and herb flavor but super easy to make. They’re buttery and flaky but made with half whole wheat flour, non dairy butter, and no milk. My mom’s favorite!

Close up head-on photo of a pile of bread rolls on a rectangular cutting board

Fluffy Homemade Dinner Rolls

Wow your guests with these beautiful, fluffy homemade vegan dinner rolls. Simple to make with minimal active time, this dinner rolls recipe is perfect for Thanksgiving dinner.

Vegan Broccoli Rice Casserole

Vegan Broccoli Rice Casserole is a family-favorite! It’s rice and veggies and gravy all cooked up together with tender meaty soy curls and little bits of chopped broccoli throughout.

Cranberry Sauce

We don’t have a homemade cranberry sauce recipe just yet, but most commercial cranberry sauce you can buy is vegan-friendly. Always read the ingredients to make sure!

Vegan Thanksgiving Desserts

It’s finally time for dessert! Vegans don’t have to miss out on the sweetest part of the night either.

Vegan Apple Pie

This vegan apple pie is as easy to make as it is delicious, using vegan-friendly pie crust in addition to a simple filling.

Easy Vegan Cherry Pie

This classic cherry pie is sure to be a crowd pleaser! Serve it as-is, topped with our vegan whipped cream, or a la mode with a big scoop of vegan ice cream.

Vegan Peanut Butter Pie

This vegan no bake peanut butter pie recipe is made right in your food processor with simple ingredients. Nestled in a vegan graham cracker pie crust, is every bit the decadent dessert as the original we know and love.

Easy Vegan Cheesecake

This no-bake vegan cheesecake recipe is made in your food processor with Tofutti® vegan cream cheese, vegan butter, lemon juice, powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and refined coconut oil blended together and set in a graham cracker crust. This simple recipe is the real deal and perfect for first time cheesecake makers!

Vegan Champagne Cheesecakes

Vegan Champagne Cheesecakes are perfect for the celebratory vibes of the holidays. It’s no-bake and has an amazing flavor and texture. Made from tofu instead of store-bought cream cheese!

Warm Cinnamon Apples

These vegan sauteed cinnamon apples are made on the stovetop and the best fall topping for dairy-free ice cream. They make an easy, accessible dessert the whole family will love too!

Hot Vegan Butterbeer

This easy vegan butterbeer recipe is the perfect hot and cozy drink for after Thanksgiving dinner.A dairy free version of the drink made famous in the Harry Potter series, our butterbeer recipe is easy to make with or without alcohol.

Vegan Whipped Cream

And lastly, what would all these desserts be without some wonderful vegan whipped cream to top them?! This 5-ingredient vegan whipped cream is easy to make with canned coconut milk instead of heavy cream. It’s freezer-friendly, and is a delicious take on classic whipped cream recipes.

A grid with 4 photos each of a different variation of vegan cream of soup. Clockwise: cream of mushroom, cream of potato, cream of cheddar, and cream of chicken

Vegan Condensed Soup Substitutes

While these aren’t necessarily Thanksgiving recipes in themselves, we’ve developed a variety of vegan condensed soup substitutes that can be used to veganize all your favorite holiday casserole recipes!

We have a whole guide on how to make these condensed copycats, along with a few specific recipes you may enjoy:

Vegan Thanksgiving for Two

If you’re looking to keep things small and simple this year, we have a whole post on creating a perfectly grand feast on a more intimate scale for just two people: Our Lazy Vegan Thanksgiving Menu for Two

Our 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!

Purple Carrot Thanksgiving

As of 2023, the Purple Carrot “Celebrations” boxes are, sadly, no longer available. They do, however, offer some of the former celebration box recipes in their normal meal kits this time of year.

Check out our honest Purple Carrot review for our thoughts on this vegan meal service and more details on what the experience is like.

FAQs

We’d like to end this article by answering a few common questions we’ve been asked about vegan Thanksgivings. If you have a question we didn’t answer here, please leave it in the comments, so we can make this a more complete resource!

What do vegans eat on Thanksgiving?

Vegans eat lots of things on Thanksgiving, just without animal products. Instead of turkey, they may have a seitan roast. They may make mashed potatoes, stuffing, and mushroom gravy with vegan butter or olive oil. And for dessert, many Marie Callender pies are accidentally vegan (make sure you read the ingredients) or you can make your own with canned pie filling and vegan-friendly pie crust.

What do vegans eat instead of turkey on Thanksgiving?

Instead of turkey, vegans might eat a seitan roast on Thanksgiving. There are many store-bought options for seitan roasts like Field Roast, Gardein, Trader Joe’s, and Tofurky. You can also make your own vegan turkey seitan with our stuffed seitan turkey recipe!

How do you host a vegan Thanksgiving?

To host a vegan Thanksgiving, we recommend looking up veganized recipes for the dishes you would normally serve. You’ll want to buy or make a seitan roast or gluten-free option if needed to serve as a main dish. Also look up accidentally vegan Thanksgiving foods like Pepperidge Farm stuffing bags (use vegan butter and vegetable broth), French’s Fried Onions, and Marie Callender pies (some varieties) to make it easy on yourself.

How do vegetarians celebrate Thanksgiving?

Vegetarians celebrate Thanksgiving just like anyone else: with family, friends, and food! That food just doesn’t include turkey or any other meat (including poultry and fish). As a main dish, vegetarians often enjoy a seitan roast purchased from a store or homemade.

Lastly, we hope you found this vegan Thanksgiving guide helpful and that it made your holiday planning just a little bit easier!

We’d love to hear what you thought in the comments! And furthermore, let us know if there’s a Thanksgiving recipe you’d like us to veganize next!

Happy Thanksgiving!