Every recipe that you need to make the BEST vegan Christmas dinner is on this list! These recipes will impress all of your guests, even the carnivores! A sample dinner menu + tips for prepping and planning are also included.
Whether you're a new vegan, an experienced vegan looking for new recipes to try, or a person with a vegan family member that you're going to be cooking for this Christmas, this vegan Christmas dinner recipe list has something for everyone! From classic recipes to unique non-traditional dishes, every recipe is a winner!
First of all, if you're not vegan and you're taking the time to research vegan Christmas recipes so you can make something special for dinner for your vegan guest, I want to thank you for doing that! Seriously, it will mean so much to that person and I know that they will be blown away by how thoughtful you are.
Christmas dinner can be difficult to navigate for vegans, especially if someone else is preparing the food. They may feel uncomfortable bringing up their dietary preferences to the host/hostess and asking which dishes are safe for them to eat because they don't want to make a big deal about it or draw attention to themselves in a group setting.
It can also be hard if you're vegan and you're the one hosting dinner, but nobody else at the table is vegan. You may be worried about finding vegan recipes to make that replicate classic Christmas dishes that are delicious and safe for everyone to enjoy. Especially, when it comes to the meat or roast for the main course.
Please don't worry! This list has so many tried and true delicious recipes that whether you are looking for a dish to bring to Christmas dinner or you're cooking the whole enchilada, I'm sure you'll find something on this list that piques your interest.
Best Vegan Christmas Roast Substitutions
Traditionally, people serve a roast as the centerpiece of their Christmas dinner. When I first went vegan years ago, figuring out what plant-based option to serve for the main course was so hard. Now we have so many options to choose from to replace the roast!
You could pick up a store-bought vegan roast, make one from scratch, or substitute a non-traditional main course instead. My top three favorite store-bought vegan roasts are listed below. All three are delicious and make an impressive main course.
- Gardein Holiday Roast
- Trader Joe's Breaded Turkey-less Stuffed Roast
- Field Roast Celebration Roast
If you're not interested in a store-bought vegan roast, here are some alternative homemade recipes for you to try.
- Vegan Wellington
- Vegan Christmas Nut Roast
- Vegan Maple Glazed Ham
- Mushroom & Chestnut Stuffed Seitan Roast
Once you decide what you want to make for the main course, it's easy to plan the rest of your menu around that. I also wrote out my personal vegan Christmas dinner menu at the end of this post + tips to help you plan your vegan Christmas dinner menu too!
Okay, let's get into all the delicious recipes! I separated everything by courses so it will be easy for you to skim through and find the recipes that you need.
Christmas Starters
Finger foods and small bites are a must! Whether you're having a sit-down meal or a casual buffet, you need to have a few platters of starters out that your guests can munch on while the main meal is being prepared.
Easy Vegan Spinach Artichoke Dip
This dip is absolutely delicious and it makes a great appetizer to share with family and friends. I can also tell you that this recipe is loved by vegans and non-vegans alike!
Christmas Pinwheels Appetizer
This easy Christmas starter is filled with pesto and sun-dried tomatoes! The beautiful red and green filling makes them a perfect hors d'oeuvres for the holiday season.
Cranberry Salsa
This Cranberry Salsa is perfect to bring to holiday parties! It takes less than 5 minutes to make, and will be the first thing gone off the buffet table!
Mushroom Crostini with Garlic Basil Vegan Ricotta "Cheese" Spread
The earthy flavor of mushrooms and fresh herbs combined with Garlic Basil Ricotta Cheese Spread on small toasted slices of bread makes it the perfect bite to share with friends and family.
Soups & Salads
After starters, serve something light like a delicious soup and salad!
Vegan Christmas Salad
This festive vegan Christmas salad is the perfect dish to serve with your holiday meal! Loaded with arugula, nutty wild rice, roasted pecans, juicy pomegranate arils, green onions, tart dried cherries, and tangy garlic dijon dressing!
Vegan Carrot Ginger Sweet Potato Soup
Fresh carrots, ginger, sweet potatoes, and coconut milk come together to create a rich and creamy soup that's bursting with flavor! This vegan carrot ginger soup is so vibrant that it looks like liquid gold!
Vegan Mushroom Soup
This savory mushroom soup is silky smooth, it's loaded with cremini and shiitake mushrooms, garlic, onions, and so much umami flavor! It's a delicious lighter option to enjoy before the main course.
Pumpkin Sweet Potato Soup
The combination of pumpkin puree, sweet potatoes, red lentils, fresh ginger, and coconut milk is incredibly delicious and festive!
Christmas Sides
For many vegans, the side dishes are the main course-- so they gotta be reaaaal good. For Christmas, I feel like the side dishes should be amped up a little bit more than normal. All of the following are extra special and delicious side dish recipes.
Vegan Scalloped Potatoes Florentine
Every bite of these cheesy vegan scalloped potatoes are super creamy and loaded with spinach! Complete your holiday meal and impress your family with this decadent oil-free and gluten-free side dish!
Creamy Dairy Free Mac and Cheese
This dairy free mac and cheese recipe is the only one you'll ever need because it's the real deal! It's super creamy, extra cheesy, kid-friendly, non-vegan approved, and it's ready in 30 minutes!
Maple Balsamic Brussels Sprouts
These little cabbages are super tender, they're coated in a tangy maple balsamic sauce, and they have the most delicious crispy, caramelized edges!
Creamy Vegan Mushroom Gravy
This truly is the best vegan mushroom gravy that you'll want to slather over mashed potatoes and vegan meatloaf and serve at every holiday meal! It's easy to make in just 30 minutes and it requires only 10 ingredients!
Lemon Tahini Courgette Salad
Lemon tahini courgette salad is a delicious vegan side dish that's ready in 20 minutes! This raw salad features crisp slices of courgette, sweet cherry tomatoes, tender artichoke hearts, and protein-packed chickpeas tossed in a light lemon tahini dressing!
Roasted Fall Vegetables with Rosemary
Carrots, butternut squash, shallots, baby potatoes, parsnips, whole garlic cloves, and fresh chopped rosemary all tossed in olive oil and roasted to perfection.
Maple roasted butternut squash with cranberries
This cranberry pecan butternut squash bake is the perfect blend of fall flavors and makes a great Thanksgiving or holiday side dish.
Hasselback Butternut Squash (easy squash recipe)
Made with only 5 ingredients, this Butternut Squash recipe is perfect for the holiday season as an easy and impressive make ahead side dish.
Christmas Mains
The main course of your vegan Christmas dinner is so important, it's the centerpiece of your meal! I included multiple traditional and non-traditional main course recipes for you to choose from. Each one is delicious and sure to impress your guests!
Vegan Lentil Mushroom Meatloaf (Gluten-Free)
This hearty vegan meatloaf has the best texture and it's so flavorful! It's loaded with vegetables and lentils, it has a delicious meaty flavor, and it can be served with a tangy tomato glaze or mushroom gravy.
Semi-Homemade Vegan Spanakopita
This vegan spanakopita is easy to make thanks to a couple of store-bought shortcuts that will save you so much time! Filled with an extremely flavorful mixture of spinach, fresh parsley, garlic, onions, and almond ricotta sandwiched between crispy layers of dough, this spanakopita is simply spectacular!
Vegan Spinach Artichoke Dip Lasagna
This incredibly delicious vegan lasagna features layers of creamy spinach artichoke dip, tomato sauce, roasted garlic mushrooms, and no-boil lasagna noodles.
Pesto Quinoa Stuffed Tomatoes
Vegan Stuffed Tomatoes are filled with a vibrant and flavorful mixture of creamy pesto, fluffy quinoa, and fresh spinach and then baked until tender! This red and green dish is perfect to serve for the main course at Christmas dinner!
Vegan Instant Pot Portobello Pot Roast
We're talking meaty portobello mushrooms, meltingly tender vegetables and a thick, really rich and flavourful gravy. Plus as well as tasting amazing, it's super easy, quick and convenient with minimal washing up.
Mini vegetable pot pies with chickpeas (vegan)
Mini vegetable pot pie is the perfect entrée option for a holiday gathering. These adorable little pies are packed with vegetables and chickpeas in a luxuriously creamy cashew sauce.
Vegetarian Wellington
Portobello mushrooms, butternut squash, spinach, and a mushroom pate mixture are wrapped with puff pastry in this elegant vegan dinner entree. Wellington is perfect for Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner.
Vegan Lentil Shepherd's Pie
Lentils and mushrooms are cooked in a rich, savory wine sauce and topped with homemade mashed potatoes in this healthy, comforting vegan lentil shepherd's pie.
Christmas Desserts
No Christmas dinner is complete without dessert! From cake to mini pecan pies and cookeis, all of these choices are delicious!
Indulgent Vegan Chocolate Cake with Coconut Whipped Cream
An indulgent vegan chocolate cake that's perfect for Christmas. It's easy to make with simple ingredients and turns out perfectly every time.
Chocolate Peppermint Rice Crispy Bars
Crunchy cereal bars with lots of chocolate and a subtle peppermint flavor. These Chocolate Peppermint Rice Crispy Bars taste like your favorite peppermint mocha!
Chocolate Peppermint Bark
Chocolate Peppermint Bark is made with deep rich chocolate that has hints of a minty flavor and little bits of peppermint candy cane. So easy to make!
Mini Vegan Pecan Pies
These vegan pecan pies are naturally sweetened with no corn syrup. These are the perfect make-ahead dessert for Christmas dinner, or for giving instead of Christmas cookies.
Christmas Drinks
A special signature drink is a really nice touch for your vegan Christmas dinner and it can be alcoholic or not.
Date-Sweetened Vegan Eggnog
Seriously, what would the Christmas season be without eggnog?! This date-sweetened vegan eggnog is perfect for vegans and health-conscious people!
Dairy-Free Gingerbread Hot Chocolate
Cozy, creamy, and loaded with Christmas spice, this vegan Gingerbread Hot Chocolate is the perfect warming drink for the holidays!
Cranberry mimosa: Easy holiday cocktail
Made with just three ingredients, this cranberry mimosa is a festive and easy holiday cocktail!
Expert Tips
- If you're going to someone else's house for dinner on Christmas, always bring a dish or two to share. That way, you'll at least have something safe for you to eat for dinner. Also, remember to bring a hostess gift.
- I understand that you might feel uncomfortable talking to the host/hostess about your dietary preference, but the sooner you do it the better so you both have time to plan. You never know, it might be an easy ingredient swap for them to make a dish vegan!
- If you're cooking the whole dinner, try to prep as much as you can a few days before Christmas. You can even make some dishes further in advance, freeze it, and then defrost it for Christmas.
- If you don't want to cook at all, many grocery stores now offer vegan options that you can pick up. Some even offer the whole meal! Last year, my local health food store and Whole Foods had all the fixins for a holiday plant-based dinner available to pre-order.
- For a store-bought dessert option, the Daiya Pumpkin Spice Cheesecake with So Delicious Coco Whip or a scoop of So Delicious Salted Caramel Ice Cream is great!
Sample Dinner Menu + Prep Tips
This is my menu that I'll be making for dinner on Christmas. I thought it might be helpful to write it out and share it with you in case you need some inspiration. I also included my notes for prep time. I try to make as much as possible in the days leading up to Christmas so I won't be stuck in the kitchen most of the day on Christmas.
- Spinach Artichoke Dip - You can make this dip a day or two before, it reheats really well (350 degrees for 30 minutes, covered). You could also make it way in advance and freeze it. It may look a little wet when you defrost it but once you stir it and heat it up you can't even tell that it wasn't made fresh that day.
- Scalloped Potatoes - You can make this dish the day before and then reheat it (covered) for dinner, it will be just as delicious.
- Dairy Free Mac and Cheese - You can make the cheese sauce sauce 2-3 days ahead and store it in the fridge. Warm it up right before you're ready to serve and mix it with the hot noodles. You may need to add additional unsweetened plant milk to loosen the sauce when you reheat it.
- Christmas Salad - Make the dressing and prep all the salad ingredients the day before and store everything separately in the fridge. Combine the salad ingredients and add the dressing right before you're ready to serve.
- Balsamic Roasted Brussel Sprouts - I don't love the texture of reheated brussel sprouts, so I make this dish right before I want to serve dinner so it's hot and fresh.
- Mushroom Lentil Meatloaf - You can prep the meatloaf the day before and then bake it fresh for Christmas or you can bake it the day before and then reheat slices of it.
- Maple Cinnamon Butternut Squash - This dish is best baked fresh right before serving.
- Peppermint Rice Crispy Bars - These rice crispy bars are the most crispy when made fresh but one day won't make a huge difference if it will save you some time in the kitchen on the big day!
- Date-Sweetened Eggnog - You can make this the day before and keep it in the fridge until the big day.
I hope all of these vegan Christmas recipes make your holiday extra festive and delicious! Merry Christmas!
Did I miss any of your favorite vegan holiday recipes? Let me know in the comments!
Want More Vegan Holiday Recipes?
- Vegan Halloween Recipes
- Vegan Thanksgiving Dinner Menu
- Vegan Valentine's Day Breakfast
- Vegan Easter Dinner Recipes
- Vegan 4th of July Dinner Recipes
If you make any vegan Christmas recipes from this list, please share a picture of it on Instagram and tag me @Stacey_Homemaker or use the hashtag #StaceyHomemaker so I can see your creation! You can also FOLLOW ME on FACEBOOK, TWITTER, INSTAGRAM, and PINTEREST to see weekly delicious vegan recipes.
This is my first vegan Christmas, and I’m cooking for a non-vegan BUT vegan friendly crowd. There are only 6 of us, so that takes some pressure off, but I also have Celiac disease (so no gluten) and my mom has a restricted diet as well (no corn, nightshades and very minimal on the grains). Your list was a great place to start! Thank you thank you thank you!
I'm so happy the list was helpful to you! I hope you and your friends/family enjoyed the recipes, Merry Christmas!
This is such an amazing collection of vegan Christmas recipes! And I love how you laid out the details on how to get it all done like a pro! Thank you!
Thank you, Holly! I'm so glad that you found the guide helpful! Merry Christmas <3
While I'm not a vegan, nor am I vegetarian, in my faith we don't eat any kind of pig meat, nor shellfish of any kind, so your recipes are wonderful for us to have with the meat dishes we do eat. I don't know where to begin to make something for our weekly Sabbath meal together--my local brethren and I meet at our minister's house with him and his family for Sabbath services, and then we share the evening meal together--because every recipe sounds so delicious. I guess I'll just have to make one each week and share it with the 14 other eager recipients 🙂
Thank you so much for sharing this with me, Joyce! I'm so happy that you can work these recipes into your Sabbath meal, I hope you enjoy each recipe! I like your idea of making a new one each week to share, genius!
Thank you, Dawn!