Dishing Up a Vegan Holiday Season

Holiday time ignites the anticipation of food that warms and comforts us. We plan. We shop. We prep. And we look forward to sharing meals that satisfy our need for gratitude and togetherness with the familiar flavors of the season. At Catskill Animal Sanctuary, we believe animals are friends, not food, and that we can enjoy creative, delicious meals that celebrate compassion for all beings. Here’s how we dish up a vegan holiday season! These vegan holiday recipes are free from animal ingredients and will delight eaters of all kinds. Whether you’re hosting or bringing, we invite you to give them a try this holiday season!

For more delicious recipes and heartwarming sanctuary stories, get our cookbook, Compassionate Cuisine: 125 Plant-Based Recipes From Our Vegan Kitchen.

Roasted Cauliflower-Garlic Soup

We love a bowl of soup to start a holiday meal. It’s so civilized! It also nourishes us so we pace ourselves for the rest of the meal. This Roasted Cauliflower-Garlic Soup is incredibly simple but when you top it with micro greens or fresh herbs, the presentation is lovely. Everything gets roasted and then puréed–what’s easier than that? Cashews add luscious and compassionate creaminess without using dairy.

Butternut Wellington

Let this magnificent dish dispel the notion that vegans have to dine on side dishes. Butternut Wellington compassionately reimagines the original concept of a filet rolled up in pastry and mushroom pâté by using butternut squash. As a centerpiece to a holiday meal, there is no comparison: It’s festive, gorgeous, and scrumptious…and doesn’t leave a carcass behind! The color, when sliced is a spectacular, vibrant orange. An easy mushroom pâté and store-bought puff pastry add a rich and savory aspect to this gently sweet squash. Definitely a home run for all kinds of eaters!

Creamy Mashed Potatoes

Some holidays just aren’t complete without creamy mashed potatoes. If you’re looking for a vegan version for yourself or guests, all you need to do is make a couple of simple swaps to make this a compassionate holiday side dish.

Crispy Oven-Baked Potato Latkes

Yes, you can make latkes without eggs…and you can skip the labor-intensive frying and bake them instead! The recipe calls for ground flaxseed as an egg replacement but you could also use a store-bought product like Just Egg. These latkes are light and crisp and are a pleasure to make and eat.

Rich Vegan Gravy

This delicious gravy makes a wonderful topping for just about any dish that needs a rich, creamy, and savory finish. It also proves that you don’t need drippings to make flavorful gravy.

Best Green Bean Casserole

Forget the canned cream of mushroom soup–the best green bean casserole is vegan! This version replaces the dairy ingredients with easy-to-find, healthy alternatives and includes a scrumptious topping made with homemade breadcrumbs and crispy-baked shiitake and shallots.

Cauliflower Kugel

Kugel is typically made with egg noodles, sour cream, cottage cheese, and eggs. By creatively replacing some of the key ingredients, this beloved dish gets a vegan makeover. The result is creamy, slightly tangy, custard-like inside, and crispy on top. Seconds, anyone?

Sourdough Sausage Stuffing

Stuffing is another dish that can easily be reimagined without causing harm to animals. Why not use vegetable broth instead of chicken? How about including vegan sausage for added taste and texture? And plant-based butter is one of the easiest swaps to make today.

No-Bake Pumpkin Pie

Save room for dessert because you’ll definitely want to dig into this Creamy No-Bake Pumpkin Pie. Spiced just right with cinnamon, ginger, and cloves, this pie is a delicious way to have your vegan pie… and eat it, too! The crust is a simple, flavorful blend of dried fruit and nuts, so it’s perfect for gluten-free guests. 

Cashew-Macadamia Cheesecake

Smooth, rich, and luscious, this is a cheesecake made without cream cheese! Macadamia nuts and cashews blend beautifully to create a creamy base for this dessert, but the real secret ingredient is chickpeas! Everything comes together in a blender and the graham cracker crust takes only minutes to make and uses vegan butter instead of dairy. While the salted caramel is optional, we think it’s more than worth it!
(Image: Alexandra Shytsman, for our cookbook Compassionate Cuisine)

Raspberry-Almond Rugelach

Rugelach is traditionally made with a rich pastry dough that includes butter and cream cheese. In this vegan version, easy swaps of plant-based butter and cream cheese stand in for the usual dairy versions. The filling is a tempting mixture of raspberry jam, ground almonds, and a touch of cinnamon. The finished cookies are rich yet light, just sweet enough, and wonderfully tender.