Thanksgiving Vegetarian Dishes

Thanksgiving Food & Thanksgiving Dinner Ideas for Vegetarians

_{Published: November 4, 2024 by Nicole Dieckman}

pin Thanksgiving Vegetarian Dishes — _{Pin this image to come back for vegetarian dishes to serve at Thanksgiving!}

Whether you’re trying to figure out how to entertain a vegetarian at Thanksgiving or you’re making a whole Thanksgiving dinner without meat, our Thanksgiving vegetarian dishes have you covered.

Having a Vegetarian Guest

During a holiday celebrating coming together and being considerate of each other, it is important for a host to remember their vegetarian friend or family member when cooking dinner.

Here is a list of important Do’s and Don’ts:

Don’t make a faux turkey.

This may be a hot take, but most vegetarians are trying to live a healthy lifestyle and prefer the flavors of real food. They’re used to eating all their meals without meat and don’t need a fake meat on Thanksgiving. If you make them a special faux turkey, they will feel pressured to eat it, but they probably won’t enjoy it, making the whole holiday less pleasant. If they do want a fake turkey, they will probably bring it themselves.

Don’t put bacon in your vegetable side dishes.

It’s tempting but as good as bacon can make your brussel sprouts or mashed potatoes, adding it takes a piece of the meal a vegetarian is looking forward to eating off the menu. It makes them feel like a burden and keeps them from feeling part of the community.

Do consider adding a pasta dish.

While a plate full of sides or even a great salad is often a perfectly acceptable meal for a vegetarian, a pasta dish can feel like a satisfying main course. At NestKeepr, we like either gnocchi or cheese and spinach ravioli.

gnocchi can make a good mail dish — _{Gnocchi can feel like a satisfying main dish at vegetarian Thanksgiving.}

Do have a salad.

This may seem obvious, but not all families incorporate salads into their Thanksgiving meal. A salad is filled with things vegetarians love and provides healthy vitamins for everyone involved in your special dinner. We love a good pasta salad — it can combine two Dos!

Thanksgiving Vegetarian Dishes and Dinner Ideas

If you’re making a whole vegetarian meal, the following dishes cover you from top to bottom. If you’re looking for a few dishes, choose from this comprehensive list.

Start with replacing the main dish, turkey, with something else filling and savory. Turkey is generally the heaviest food on the plate, so my go-to for replacing this is pasta. A savory gnocchi dish is perfect.
A hearty soup, such as butternut squash, is also a great way to bring fall flavors into the meal, create a new tradition, and add some really filling food to the meal.
If you don’t have an explosive amazing salad, what are you even doing with your life?

A gorgeous salad can be a star at any meal.

Let’s Talk Nostalgia

The rest of these are classic Thanksgiving food ideas that work for traditional and vegetarian Thanksgiving.

Mashed Potatoes. Classic mashed potatoes belong on everyone’s table. They are made with Yukon gold potatoes and a glorious amount of butter. This is not a vegan list.
Green Beans and Mushrooms. The green bean casserole is arguably one of the best dishes on the Thanksgiving table. Convince me otherwise.
Sweet Potato casserole. It is the only time marshmallows are allowed on the dinner table. No regrets.
Brussel Sprouts. In our opinion, they are only good pan-fried to a crisp or sliced thin and eaten raw in a salad. Is that wild? Maybe.
Cranberry Sauce. You might be asking yourself, what do I eat the cranberry sauce on if not on turkey? The answer is obviously…
Rolls. Rolls also belong on every single Thanksgiving table. If you don’t eat gluten, corn bread is fine.
A corn dish. For us, the nostalgia belongs to the classic corn fritter. For some reason, Thanksgiving was the only time of year these were made, so the very mention of a corn fritter brings with it images of kids playing games and begging for a fritter before the main meal. Sweet goodness. But if that’s too much oil for you, a classic corn salad or corn muffins is good, too.

And if that’s not enough food for you…

Apple Pie
Pumpkin Pie
Chex Mix
Brie Plate
Hummus Plate

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

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