An overview of the Vegan Christmas meal I organised for my non-vegan family, and my top five lessons learned along the way; with recipes and tips for putting together your own vegan holiday spread!

I am very happy to report that my Christmas 2018 was a successful feast of vegan food! My family graciously tasted all of the vegan dishes served, from appetisers in the afternoon, to the main dinner spread, and dessert afterwards. They even gave some glowing reviews of it all! Keep reading to see the full menu of recipes, and my top five lessons learned from the whole experience.

VEGAN CHRISTMAS MENU

Here is a compilation of all the vegan food we prepared on Christmas Day. The final spread ended up a little bit differently from the original plan I set out in my Vegan Christmas Recipe Round-Up 2018. If you’re looking for inspiration to cater a special meal for non-vegan family and/or friends, I can highly recommend all of these recipes!

BREAKFAST

I made a big batch of @deliciouslyella’s Baked Banana, Blueberry and Raisin Oatmeal, perfect for a special Christmas morning breakfast.

NIBBLES

Vegan Cheese Board

• @fieldroast chao cheese
• @daiyafoods cheddar
• @kitehillfoods cream cheese with chives
• @nairnsoatcakes gluten-free oatcakes
• @aldiusa gluten-free crackers
• @rwgarciasnacks sweet potato crackers
• @wonderfulpistachiosuk salted pistachios
• Grapes
• Blueberries
• Mint leaves

Additional Snacks

• Baby carrots
• Cucumber
• @rwgarciasnacks sweet potato crackers
• @sabra hummus
• @terrachips veg crisps
• @eatwholly guacamole

Sweet Treats

• Christmas Pudding Energy Bites
• @pebblespantry gingerbread cookies

CHRISTMAS DINNER

• Mulled Apple Juice – Spiced Christmas Drink
• Vegan Nut Roast
• Bosh’s Maple Glazed Balsamic Root Vegetables
• Bosh’s Perfectly Crispy Roast Potatoes
• Deliciously Ella’s Sweet Potato Wedges
• One-Bowl Golden Cornbread
• Green beans

CHRISTMAS DESSERTS

• Gluten-free Vegan Apple Crisp
• @mydairyfreedream Vanilla Ice Cream

LESSONS LEARNED

This was the first Christmas meal I have ever been in charge of organising, and I was not quite sure how it would turn out. Thanks to my family’s help with chopping, peeling, and baking, everything came together for a delicious spread that went down a treat. Now that the event is said and done, I have some reflections on how the whole process could run a little more smoothly next time. Hopefully these tips can help you out next time you’re hosting a holiday or special meal too. These are my top 5 lessons learned:

1. Prep food early.

We did everything on Christmas Day – and when I say everything I mean it! It was quite a lot of work. But there were a number of steps we could have done in advance to lighten the load and make Christmas day run a bit smoother, including:

• Preparing the nut roast the day before, so we could just stick the mixture in the oven to bake on the day.
• Peeling and chopping veggies and potatoes the day before (leave peeled potatoes in water overnight and refrigerate to keep them fresh and ready for roasting the next day).
• Baking some treats (like cookies, or making energy balls) in advance so that they’re prepped and ready to be nibbled on the day.

2. Don’t be too overly ambitious.

My original plan for our Christmas spread included way too much food. I learned that:

• One main dish is enough (for 5 people) – I had originally planned on making two main courses. Chatting to my mum on Christmas Eve I realised this was unnecessary. In the end, the nut roast itself was more than enough, and we had leftovers to spare.
• One dessert is enough (again, for 5 people) – I had also planned on making multiple vegan Christmas desserts, including a vegan Christmas pudding and mince pies, in addition to a big apple crisp. We ended up just having the apple crisp, which was almost triple the amount we needed anyways.

3. Start roasting the potatoes and veggies early.

The recipes for the roast veggies and potatoes stated about an hour cooking time. Ours took much longer than an hour. We ended up having to wait for them to crisp up before we could serve dinner. It was worth the wait, but we could have stuck them in the oven earlier. That way, even if they had finished early, it would be easier to keep them warm until time to serve up the meal.

4. One complicated recipe is worth it (but no more than that).

Most of the recipes we used for dinner were quite straightforward. But the @bosh.tv roast potato recipe ended up being a bit more complicated to make than we had originally anticipated. The dish was absolutely worth the extra effort (shout-out to my sis for nailing the recipe). But alongside everything else we made, this one very involved recipe was about all we could have handled. For the future, I’ll make a point to use mainly simple recipes, and/or tried and tested recipes.

5. Add some easy, no-fuss dishes into the mix.

I knew I wanted something green on the Christmas dinner table (I’m all about eating that rainbow). So I threw on some frozen green beans to boil, and seasoned them with a bit of salt just five minutes before dinner was ready to serve. This was the perfect easy way to add some healthy green veggies to our dinner spread, with very little added effort.