Vegan Thanksgiving

November 2023 update, Trader Joe’s did the unthinkable and discontinued the roast! So this year I will be making my favorite vegan blog’s roast, Nora Cooks. Here’s the link if you’re interested!

Here’s a picture with mostly the same things I’ll be eating this year from Thanksgiving 2020. Somehow I didn’t take a single of any food on Thanksgiving last year?! Yikes! This year I’ll be having that same TJ’s roast, a hopefully less salty recipe of homemade stuffing (it was rough that year), and a vegan version of this same easy mashed potatoes recipe.

Wow I kind of can’t believe I am doing Thanksgiving as a vegan this year. We have done 2 years as vegetarians and honestly it’s less difficult than I thought it would be to either edit the recipes I’ve been using or find new ones. Most of what I plan on making is from my favorite vegan blog, Nora Cooks with a Trader Joe’s main and a recipe from it doesn’t taste like chicken! Best name for a blog!

I chatted with my mom a few days ago about making all of our recipes vegan other than their main. Usually this is the hardest part of gatherings with other people because I end up making duplicates of the food already there so I can eat it. And though I am totally capable of doing this I figured it would be easier to just make one set especially since my sister will be in town and she is dairy free.

I’ve linked the recipes that I plan on making so you can check them out if you want, and let me know what you’re going to make or if you’ve even thought about it yet! My friend Amy started talking about holiday planning weeks ago so me having enough foresight to plan what we are having and write a blog post about it is a huge win for me! Thanks Amy.

For appetizers I plan on making a vegan cheese ball and my favorite vegan caramelized onion dip. Our sides will be vegan stuffing, instant pot mashed potatoes, and homemade vegan dinner rolls. The instant pot mashed potatoes recipe takes some editing but thankfully it’s all easy subbing regular milk for oat, omitting the sour cream, and using plant based butter instead of regular butter. Then for the main I use my favorite Trader Joe’s Turkey-less Stuffed Roast and of course an extra batch of easy vegan gravy since the Trader Joe’s gravy never is enough and I like Nora Cooks’ recipe better. Also this Roast is my favorite, as soon as they get them in stock during the holidays I buy at least 4. Anyone else? Haha!

You might have noticed there’s no desserts listed here. It’s because I haven’t figured that out yet! My parents like pumpkin pie but we don’t love it so I’m still figuring out what I’ll make for our dessert! Stay tuned, I might have time to update this blog post once I figure it out.