For many people, Christmas dinner is the most important meal of the year, and while the classic Christmas turkey tends to rule the roost when it comes to the Christmas feast, it isn’t exactly the best option for a vegetarian Christmas...
The number of people on a meat-free diet is growing exponentially, and in the UK around 10% of people are now vegetarian, which means that millions of people need a delicious meat-free centrepiece for their vegetarian Christmas dinner.
Preparing vegetarian or vegan food can be tricky however, especially when it comes to balancing flavours, managing timings and ensuring everything is perfectly cooked.
To make sure you have a magical meat-free Christmas dinner, we’ve put together a guide on how to prepare the perfect vegetarian Christmas dishes, using delicious Aunt Bessie’s ingredients such as our Mini Roasties, Sage and Onion Stuffing Balls and Honey Glazed Roast Parsnips for both convenience and amazing flavour.
Our Favourite Vegetarian Christmas Starter
Aunt Bessie's Vegetarian Cauliflower Cheese
Cauliflower cheese is a great way to start any Christmas dinner, as it’s packed with flavour and has some mouth-watering textures too!
If you’re worried about time or stressed about preparing everything for your vegetarian Christmas dinner, fear not, as Aunt Bessie’s Cauliflower Cheese simply needs to be warmed in the oven for 40 minutes. Once cooked it will be ready to serve, taking the stress out of proceedings and giving you more time to focus on the main course!
If you’re looking for something to accompany your cauliflower cheese, why not try add Aunt Bessie’s broccoli florets in lemon and black pepper glaze.
The Perfect Vegetarian Christmas Main: Nut Roast
Nut Roast
The nut roast is one of the most popular and delicious Christmas main courses for vegetarians, known for how well it pairs with the usual Christmas dinner trimmings, as well as its sumptuous texture.
Ingredients:
- Olive oil
- 15g butter
- A large onion
- 2 sticks celery
- 200g chestnut mushrooms
- 1 red pepper, halved, deseeded and finely dice
- 100g red lentils
- 1 large carrot
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- handful flat-leaf parsley
- 2 tbsp tomato purée
- Vegetable stock
- 100g mature cheddar
- Breadcrumbs
- Mixed nuts roughly chopped
- 3 large eggs, lightly beaten
Our Method
1. Heat the oven to 180C for a fan oven or gas mark 4 for a gas oven.
2. Line the base and sides of a loaf tin with cooking parchment paper.
3. Heat olive oil and butter in a frying pan, then fry one large onion (finely chopped), and the celery sticks (also finely chopped). Fry them for about 5 minutes until they start to soften.
4. Add a diced pepper and your grated carrot, then fry for another few minutes, then add 1tsp oregano and 1tsp paprika. Cook for another minute or so.
5. Add your lentils and 100g of tomato puree, then cook for a minute before adding your vegetable stock (300 ml). Allow this to simmer on a low heat until most of the moisture has cooked away and the mixture is a little dry. This should take around 20 to 25 minutes. Once this is finished set it aside and allow to cool.
6. Stir in your breadcrumbs, your chopped nuts, 3 lightly beaten eggs and 100g of grated mature cheddar.
7. Add your parsley and then season with a few pinches of salt and pepper.
8. Stir the mixture well and then scoop it into your pre-prepared loaf tin, pressing the mixture down as the tin begins to fill up.
9. Cover the tin with some foil and cook for 30 minutes, then remove the foil and allow to cook for another 20 minutes.
10. Once out of the oven, allow the tin to rest for around 10 minutes, then turn it out onto a serving dish.
11. At this point you can either slice the roast up or present it as a whole, serving with vegan gravy.
Vegetarian Christmas Side Dishes
No Christmas is complete without trimmings, and the same goes for Christmas dinner. To make things simpler without giving up on flavour, try using Aunt Bessie’s Mini Roasties, Sage and Onion Stuffing Balls and Honey Glazed Roast Parsnips as the perfect complement to your main course.
- Mini Roasties – Roast potatoes are an essential part of any Christmas dinner, but many people struggle to get them just right, especially during the stress of preparing a huge Christmas roast. Thankfully Aunt Bessie’s roasties come out perfect every time, just follow the instructions and you’ll be eating crisp and buttery smooth roasties in no time.
- Sage and Onion Stuffing Balls – Stuffing is a great way to add a burst of flavour to any roast, and these amazing vegetarian stuffing balls from Aunt Bessie’s are a great way to avoid the fuss and get straight to the flavour.
- Honey Glazed Roast Parsnips – Not everyone loves parsnips, but those who do will love how fluffy and flavourful these are, while the cook will love how easy they are to prepare!
For something a little different, try our vegetarian Winter Salad Recipe, or prepare some vegan gravy to bring everything together beautifully.
Vegetarian Christmas Dessert
Vegan Christmas Dessert
If you’re looking for the perfect finale to your festive feast, you can’t go wrong with our vegetarian Apple Pie.
Filled with deliciously tart apple, and encased in buttery shortcrust pastry, this dessert is delectable, and also very convenient. Just pop it into the oven for 55 minutes or while you’re enjoying your main course, and by the time everyone’s finished a perfectly prepared pie will be ready for serving!
Hopefully this has given you plenty of inspiration to create an amazing vegetarian Christmas, but if you’re interested in our other vegetarian options you can check out our carrot and swede mash or learn more about how Aunt Bessie’s is working to make a difference and work towards a more sustainable future.