12 Recipes for a Vegetarian Thanksgiving

Whether you need a full meat-free Thanksgiving menu or a few items to please your guests, these 12 recipes are oozing with seasonal flavors to round out your vegetarian Thanksgiving holiday table. Start with a crisp salad to begin the meal, followed by a main dish of quinoa stuffing, accompanied by mouthwatering side dishes like creamy baked Mac and cheese, coconut braised collard greens, and rosemary mashed potatoes. We’ve chosen a few dessert options to hit both the sweet and savory notes like candied sweet potatoes and cranberry casserole.

Quinoa Stuffing

Nothing says vegetarian Thanksgiving like a quinoa stuffing. This delicious twist on your traditional stuffing recipe is sure to make your guests come back for more as they bite into dried cranberries and celery mixed with sage, thyme, rosemary, and perfectly cooked quinoa.

Chile-Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

Soup season is well underway, and this is not your traditional squash recipe. Complete your holiday table with a creamy bowl of butternut squash soup, mixed with hazelnut, chiles, and brown sugar. This dish is packed with fall flavors and serves up to five guests.

Rosemary Mashed Potatoes

No holiday meal is complete without a fluffy, buttery mashed potato dish. These rosemary-infused mashed potatoes only require four ingredients and serve up to eight people at your Thanksgiving table.

Pumpkin with Dates and Ricotta Salata

While this recipe might have a few more ingredients than our other picks, the combination of savory and sweet flavors makes it worth your time. You can’t go wrong with pumpkin on your dinner table, especially mixed with sweet dates and creamy ricotta.

Green Bean Salad with Coconut Dressing

This green bean salad with coconut dressing is a delicious way to spice up the traditional green bean casserole on your Thanksgiving menu. Mixed with crisp, fresh apples, crunchy pistachios, and topped with crispy onions, look no further for a refreshing yet mouth-watering side for your holiday table.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Beurre Rouge and Almonds

These Brussels sprouts were curated by Atlanta chef Steven Satterfield and doused in a beurre rouge and topped with roasted almonds, garlic, and shallots, making them the ultimate side for your vegetarian Thanksgiving. The tangy red wine sauce adds a beautiful balance of flavor with the tender Brussels sprouts, for up to four guests.

Cranberry Casserole

A Thanksgiving table isn’t complete without a dessert. This family-inspired casserole from Kentucky chef Sara Bradley is a savory blend of two table favorites — cranberry sauce and sweet potato casserole. This baked-down apple and cranberry dessert is topped with a crunchy oat and pecan crust that is perfect for a delicious after-meal treat.

Candied Sweet Potatoes

Sweet potatoes are a Thanksgiving staple, whether you want them mashed, baked, candied, or roasted. We opted for candied on our vegetarian menu, with an optional marshmallow topping that we heavily encourage adding. These tenderly baked potatoes bring in all of your favorite seasonal flavors like brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, and butter.

Coconut-Braised Collard Greens

Nothing says Southern vegetarian Thanksgiving like collard greens. What sets these collards apart from other recipes, though, is the creamy coconut milk sauce they are smothered in, with paprika, cayenne pepper, and Spanish onion mixed throughout.

Baked Mac & Cheese

This baked mac and cheese hails from New Orleans and brings all of the Southern, melted, cheesy goodness with it. You can’t go wrong serving your vegetarian guests a blended mixture of cheddar cheese, pepper jack cheese, whipped cream cheese, and sour cream drenched over a bed of soft elbow noodles.

The Colonnade’s Corn Muffins

A Thanksgiving table isn’t complete without some sort of bread dish. We’ve chosen a cornbread recipe over the traditional roll because this would pair perfectly with our collard greens side dish. This sweet and golden cornbread is made completely from scratch with cornmeal, sugar, salt, buttermilk, and eggs.

Butterbeans and Breadcrumbs

Because you can never have too many bean dishes, this butterbean and breadcrumb casserole is the perfect blend of creamy and crunchy. To make this vegetarian, substitute the chicken stock for vegetable stock in your recipe.

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