How to Make Vegan Turkey: A Step-by-Step Guide

Looking to serve up vegan turkey at your next holiday dinner? We’ll show you how to make a simple and delicious meat-free turkey for the holidays.

Turkey is one of the most popular main dishes for Thanksgiving and Christmas in American households. It is very common to serve roast turkey with stuffing, but it is not necessary to use meat for holiday meals if you don’t want to. If you want to stick to the tradition but would like to make it meat-free, here we’ll show you how to make a vegan turkey that will keep any tummy happy over the holidays.

This recipe contains both a vegan stuffing and a vegan turkey. You’ll prepare the stuffing first, then use it to fill your vegan turkey.

How to Prepare the Stuffing

Ingredients:

• 11 oz. bread (cubed)
• 2 small onions (diced)
• 4 stalks celery (diced)
• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• Rosemary, garlic powder, thyme, nutmeg, black pepper, and salt, to taste
• 1 cup fresh parsley
• 3 cups vegetable broth

How to Make Vegan Turkey Stuffing:

1. Cut bread into cubes and place on a baking tray. Leave in the oven at low to medium temperature until crunchy.
2. Add chopped onion and celery to a large skillet with a drizzle of olive oil. Add all seasonings and cook until tender.
3. Place bread cubes into a large bowl along with the onion mixture and the chopped parsley.
4. Pour veggie broth over mixture until bread cubes are moist. Set aside to fill your vegan turkey later.

How to Make Vegan Turkey Roast: Step by Step

Ingredients:

• 2 blocks extra-firm smoked tofu
• 4 tbsp. tomato paste
• 1 cup soy sauce
• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1 cup chickpea flour 
• 1 tbsp. balsamic vinegar

How to Make Vegan Turkey Roast:

1. Press the tofu with a tablecloth or kitchen towel to get as much water out of it as possible.
2. In a food processor, blend the tofu alongside the tomato paste, soy sauce, olive oil, and minced garlic.
3. Once the mixture is combined, add chickpea flour and blend until thick.
4. In a loaf pan, use a spatula to spread ¾ of the mixture across the bottom and the sides of the pan. You will need the batter to be thick enough to act as the “meat”.
5. Add the stuffing and press until firm.
6. Cover the stuffing with the remaining tofu mixture until sealed and cook for 35 minutes at 340°F. The oven will already be warm from making the stuffing.
7. Remove the vegan turkey roast from the loaf pan and transfer it to a baking sheet. With a brush, cover your turkey with balsamic vinegar and little olive oil to get a turkey-like caramelized texture on the outside.
8. Cook for another 35 minutes. Let it sit for a few minutes before slicing.

Estimated prep and cooking time: 1 hour 40 minutes

Servings: 8 servings

Tips for a Smooth Cooking Process

It can be stressful to cook holiday meals if you are hosting and have many mouths to feed. Here’s a few suggestions to make your life easier and avoid chaos in the kitchen on the day of your holiday dinner.

• Make the breadcrumbs in advance. If you are using the oven a day or two before for something else, take advantage of that and make your breadcrumbs. You can store them in a glass container until you are ready to use them.
• Make the tofu mixture for your vegan turkey in advance as well. Depending on the quality and size of your food processor, you may have to make the tofu mixture in two batches. If you do it the day before, you can store it in the fridge and jump straight to the baking process on your big day.
• Plan on having the homemade vegetable broth ready a day or two in advance. You could also make the broth from vegetable scraps in order to avoid food waste. This will save you time and space in the kitchen the day you need it the most. You can store it in the fridge as well.

Serve Your Vegan Thanksgiving Turkey Like A Pro

You may agree that a Thanksgiving dinner without mashed potatoes is not a proper Thanksgiving. Consider making these healthy mashed sweet potatoes to go with your vegan turkey and you won’t disappoint anyone. Finally, if you want to make your holiday meal even more special, make this easy vegan gravy recipe and serve it on top of the vegan turkey or the mashed potatoes.

If you have leftovers, you can store them in the fridge for up to four days, preferably in a glass container. You can reheat them in the oven or microwave.

Read on: 

• 9 Ideas for a Green Thanksgiving
• Food Waste: 10 Pro Tips for Reducing Food Waste
• How to Make Mushroom Soup: Easy & Vegan Recipe 

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Tags: Guide Recipes Vegan