Healthy Plant-Based Recipes for the Holidays (2024)

Looking for a little plant-based inspiration for your holiday meals? We've gathered our favourite festive recipes together in this article, to help keep you healthy, happy and full of delicious food throughout the holiday season.

The holiday season is, traditionally, a special time of year when we get togetherwith our family and friends, sharingfood, gifts, laughter andlove. It's also, traditionally, a period of serious indulgence!For days, or even weeks,there are celebratory lunches and dinners to attend, sweet treats at every turn, and oftenpiles of leftovers to get through even after it's over. While this is of course a time of year that we all look forward to and enjoy, these weeks offestive eating can leave you feeling prettytired, sluggish, and bearing a few extra unwanted pounds as you enter the new year.

So, what's a great way to stay healthy and feeling good throughout the holidays? By eating predominantly healthy,plant-based dishesof course!With somany plant-basedrecipes available online, you can prepare a feast so delicious and satisfying, you'll wonder how you ever even had room for Turkey!In fact, we've enjoyed plant-based holiday dinners in our homeevery year for the last 6 years, and each one has been more delicious and memorable than the last.Most years we have beenjoined by family members, who havethoroughly enjoyed all the food that was on offer as well (thanks guys!)

This year, we thought we'd put together a simple collection of holiday dishes andmeal ideas. This guide is ideal for those of you who are new to plant-based cooking and eating, or for anyonelooking to expand their festiverecipe repertoire to include more healthy fare.

Breakfast

Get your celebratory day off to the right start with a deliciousVegg-Nog Smoothie! This isa healthy riff on the traditional Christmas beverage, with no eggs, dairy, alcohol,or added sugar.We like to share a platter of seasonal fresh fruits for breakfast as well, but you could make someplant-based pancakesorCranberry Spice Granolaif you're looking for something more sustaining.

The Main Meal

Turkey and other roasted meats tend to be the focus of holiday meals, but they certainly don't have to be!There are plenty of fantastic oil-freelentil roast,nut roast, andseitan roastrecipes out there, which are a great alternative totraditional 'meaty' mains.

Fortunately for plant-based eaters, most traditional holiday sidedishes are vegetable-based, and can easily be adapted to be oil-free as well. Some of our favourites include:

• Roasty Toasty Tatersand / or Roasted Sweet Potato
• Smoky Maple-Roasted Brussels Sprouts
• Braised Leeks and Peas
• Simple Savoury Herb Gravy
• Assorted steamed vegetables, such as carrots, green beans, broccoli and cauliflower
• Potato, sweet potato, or carrot & parsnip mash, made with plant-based milk and / or vegetable stock in placeof butter and cream (you can usethis recipefor mashed potato as a basic guide)

If you live in the southern hemisphere, a traditional hot meal smothered in gravy probably won't suit the climate!You can check out our range ofsalad recipesforsummer-friendly options, as well asdips and spreadsto serve with vegetable crudite.

For Dessert

When it comes to desserts and sweet treats, there are plenty of greatplant-based optionsto choose from. Our favourites for the holidays include:

• Sticky Date Pudding
• Pear and Apple CrumblewithVanilla Creme
• Chocolate Cookie Dough Bites(just add 1/2 a teaspoon ofrum extract, and you've got healthy Rum Ball Bites!)

In addition to the food itself, holiday meals and family gatherings can present another set of challenges when you're choosing to eat plant-based. Others are likely to ask you questions aboutyour food choices, and you may have your own concerns about offending (or inconveniencing) your hosts by choosing to leave animal products off the menu. If you'd like some guidance and pointers for approaching these situations, be sure to check out our.

Article photo courtesy ofAustin Kelmore via Flickr.