Build your own vegetarian Christmas dinner!
**This post was originally published in 2015, but rather than write a whole new round-up of vegetarian Christmas dinner ideas this year, I thought I’d just update this post with some new recipes. So if you think you’ve seen this image before, you’re not going mad! But there are plenty of new links below, so delve in and get festive!**
Ohhh yes, it’s that time of year again! Time for my annual round-up of vegetarian Christmas dinner recipes.
In 2014 I shared my ultimate vegetarian Christmas dinner menu.
The year before that, I shared 50 vegetarian Christmas dinner recipes that can all be served alongside the usual veggies and gravy.
This year, I thought I’d let you build your own vegetarian Christmas dinner from a selection of my favourite recipes from around the web!
…yes, all three of these posts are basically the same thing with a different title. But there are lots of new recipes here too! So hopefully you’ll be able to find plenty of inspiration here to build an amazing Christmas meal. Just pick one or two recipes from each category, and you’ll have an irresistible vegetarian Christmas dinner… then you just have to remember to send me my invitation!
I’ve marked on which of the recipes are vegan, but obviously a lot of the other recipes could easily be adapted to fit with any dietary requirements.
Enjoy!
First up:
The main event
It’s best to choose your main dish first, as it might determine what sorts of side dishes you want to serve alongside it. Since this will be the most important part of your vegetarian Christmas dinner, I have plenty for you to choose from!
Cheesy chickpea cake (pictured above)
Cauliflower cheese tart
Pesto and ricotta aubergine parcels
Mushroom and chestnut pie
Vegetable toad in the hole
Cheesy carrot nut roast
Vegetarian haggis and mushroom wellington [vegan]
Carrot and white bean veggie cutlets
Beetroot and shallot tarte tatin from Delicious
Seitan roast stuffed with shiitakes and leeks from Post Punk Kitchen [vegan]
Cheese and onion plait (pictured above)
Carrot and cashew nut roast
Sage and onion homemade seitan roast
Cheesy lentil slice
Spinach and ricotta strudel with chickpeas
Chestnut and chickpea roast
Brussels sprout and goat’s cheese tart from Planet Veggie
Rainbow carrot, taleggio and hazelnut tarte tatin from Food To Glow
Huge Christmas sausage roast from Mouthwatering Vegan Recipes [vegan]
Moroccan vegetarian bastilla from Franglais Kitchen
Creamy lentil and aubergine stack (pictured above)
Mini cheesy lentil loaves
Very veggie lentil bake
Cheesy potato and lentil pie
Mini mushroom picnic pies
Bulgar stuffed courgettes with pine nuts from Family Friends Food [vegan]
Tofu skin roulade with sage mushroom stuffing from Veggie Belly [vegan]
Mediterranean crescent ring from Erica’s Recipes
Feta and red onion marmalade roly poly from The Veg Space
Brie, potato and mushroom tart from Tinned Tomatoes
Potatoes
Next up, one of my favourite parts of the meal: the potatoes! a.k.a. the best vegetable ever. So good that it deserves its own category all to itself. I usually stick with roast potatoes, but if you’re not a fan, there are loads of other options.
Perfect roast potatoes (pictured above) [vegan]
Buttery chateau potatoes
Cheesy herbed potatoes Anna
Hasselback potatoes with gorgonzola and honey from Jamie Oliver
Potato roses from Family Friends Food
Easy Dauphinoise potatoes from Kavey Eats
Easy sideways potato gratin from Family Friends Food
Low-key vegetable side dishes
Not all dishes at the table need to be battling for attention – some vegetables are just happy being simply served with tasty flavours. With all the super rich dishes that are sure to be around at Christmas, it’s nice to choose to serve one or two more low-key vegetable sides as well to balance things out. Not to mention, they’re usually quicker and easier to prepare (leaving you more time to nibble on chocolate)!
Honey and soy glazed carrots (pictured above)
Salt and vinegar roasted cauliflower [vegan]
Slow cooker ratatouille [vegan]
Maple dijon roasted Brussels sprouts from Closet Cooking [vegan]
Maple roasted rainbow carrots with fennel seeds from Food To Glow [vegan]
Braised greens from Jamie Oliver
Mediterranean roasted vegetables from Fab Food 4 All
Roasted red cabbage from Recipes From A Pantry [vegan]
Roasted Brussels sprouts from Hungry Healthy Happy [vegan]
Fancy vegetable side dishes
Having said that… when else can you pour cream all over your vegetables and call it good, if not at Christmas? Here are some more fancy vegetable side dishes – just one of these will probably be plenty.
Whole roasted cauliflower cheese (pictured above)
Cheesy pesto white bean mash
Cheesy sweetcorn pudding
Creamed kale with chickpeas
Celeriac gratin from Jamie Oliver
Sweet potato gratin with chanterelle mushrooms and comté cheese from A Cozy Kitchen
Garlic and herb stuffed Brussels sprouts from Cooking Stoned
Mini sweet potato gratins from Oh Sweet Basil
Butternut squash and yogurt bake from Recipes From A Pantry
Stuffing
The dish that changes everything from an everyday Sunday roast to a super special Christmas dinner: stuffing! Even if you’ve got nothing to stuff, that doesn’t stop you from having some stuffing on the side, and there are plenty of flavours to choose from.
Mushroom and chestnut vegetarian stuffing (pictured above) [vegan]
Roasted garlic and cauliflower stuffing
Herb stuffing with Brussels sprouts from Heartbeet Kitchen
Southern cornbread stuffing from Food To Glow [vegan]
Classic sage and onion stuffing from The Kitchn
Mixed mushroom stuffing from Jamie Oliver [vegan]
Squash and kale stuffing with sour cherries and pecans from Food To Glow [vegan]
Gravy
And finally, to tie everything together – lashings and lashings of gravy. Who says you need meat juices to make an amazing gravy?
The best homemade vegetarian gravy (pictured above) [vegan]
Caramelised onion gravy from Oh My Veggies [vegan]
Lentil gravy from Sodium Girl [vegan]
Wild mushroom gravy with red wine from The Clean Dish [vegan]
Vegetarian onion gravy from Kitchen Treaty [vegan]
Rich spring onion gravy from Food To Glow [vegan]
Dessert
If all that wasn’t enough for you, you can always have dessert! These obviously aren’t specific to a vegetarian Christmas dinner, but hey, we vegetarians like dessert too, right? Stick with something traditional, or go for something a bit more out-there… or both.
Super easy caramel pear crumble cake
Brûléed rhubarb and ginger cheesecake
Easy peanut butter chocolate pots
White chocolate and cranberry skillet cookie
Toffee apple blondies
Homemade peanut butter millionaire’s shortbread
Traditional Christmas pudding from A Mummy Too
Oreo and caramel cheesecake from Tinned Tomatoes
Cranberry and cinnamon Swiss roll from Jen’s Food
Death by chocolate cake from Coffee & Vanilla
Traditional figgy pudding from The Hedge Combers
Festiva cranberry, orange and walnut layer cake from Supergolden Bakes
Chocolate and chestnut torte from Franglais Kitchen
Chocolate eclairs with cranberry and pistachio from Baking Queen 74
Cranberry and white chocolate trifle from Tin and Thyme
Want to check out last year’s collection too? Here you go: the ultimate vegetarian Christmas dinner!
And there you have it. Hopefully even the fussiest of eaters will be able to find something they like in that lot! What will you be serving up for your vegetarian Christmas dinner this year?
What a fabulous roundup of dishes. I can’t believe I missed it. No excuses for not knowing what to cook now. Thanks for linking to me too Becca.
I wasn’t at all hungry until I read this list – now I’m ready for a second dinner! Fantastic round-up and a great resource for anytime a vegetarian feast is required :-)
No need to worry about what I am having for Christmas dinner now. Thanks for some great recipes Becca.☓
Thanks for putting this together Becca, really useful stuff!
What an amazing collection of recipes, Becca! I’m going to pass this to my mum, she’s a pescetarian but often looking for vegetarian alternatives that are as appetising to the veggie guests as the meat and fish options are.
Oh wow Becca – what an amazing list. I am very excited for my veggie Christmas dinner this year. Thanks for adding my sprouts recipe :)
Because we are a very meat eating household I sometimes struggle with what to make for my veggie friends for xmas. No I have over 6o great ideas…
Oh, that all sounds amazing Becca!!! I’m not vegetarian but I could easily give up turkey (which I don’t really like anyway) for one of those dishes from your list.
The whole roasted cauliflower reminds me of my mum’s whole cauliflower with breadcrumbs she used to make…
And thank you for linking to my chocolate cake, much appreciated.
That sounds fab Margot, have you blogged the recipe?
Goodness me with the sound of all these delicious recipes I’ve half a mind to have a vegetarian Christmas!! Yum!
You should definitely do it! :) The meat just takes up precious space on the plate anyway ;)
Oh, I want to have this Christmas dinner and try a little bit of everything. Greedy I know, but it’s so rare to have a choice. Fab round up with loads of great ideas. Thank you :)
Haha to be honest I don’t cope well when there’s too much choice! I’m so used to having only two or three veggie options to choose from that I can never decide if there are too many options ;)
Wow these recipes all look amazing, I think I could quite happily go vegetarian on Christmas Day after seeing all these;-) Thanks for including my dish;-)
What an amazing collection of recipes. Have a lovely veggie Christmas dinner everyone!
Lovely collection so many amazing ideas! Perfect for the holidays.
What a valuable and good looking round up.
Who needs meat??! Brilliant round up Becca, I’m going to sit and go through it properly when planning this years menu as some of those dishes sound too good to miss out on!
Janie x
I’m going to have to definitely come back and take notes on all these, they look delicious!
What a delicious collection of recipes! Who cares about meat?
I genuinely find your post genious!:)
Must give it a go – there’s a very traditional way of serving Christmas dinner, particularly a Christmas Eve one, where I come from.
But this year, this year I will definitely try some of your recipes:)
Thank you.:)
What a festive roundup of gorgeous recipes…. any one of these would be fabulous for Christmas Dinner – I’ll be trying lots of these out – thanks Becca!
Lovely round up and so much to choose from there! I might need to have a veggie Christmas dinner before the day itself!
What a mega-tasty, bumper post you are treating us to. Has Christmas come early?? PS Thanks for including some of my recipes :-)
love this round up – great recipe store for vegetarians and non vegetarians too!