vegan Christmas recipes

Crème brûlée (literally "burnt cream," in French) is one of those desserts that just makes you feel fancy. It's perfect for Valentine's Day, or any special occasion. But this vegan version is so easy, you could have it every day. I've tried a few vegan crème brûlées that were on the bland side, but this one has a rich, creamy vanilla custard that will make you want to have more than just one.

If you're hosting a dinner party, this is the perfect elegant dessert to prepare for your guests (the combination of food and fire always seems to impress people). You can prepare the custard ahead of time, then caramelize the sugar right before you're ready to serve it. This recipe needs to chill for a couple of hours, so be sure to plan ahead!

Butternut squash is one of my favorite foods, as it's so versatile, delicious, and healthy. It's often just part of a dish with many flavors, but I also enjoy it on its own, as mashed butternut squash with a few added ingredients.

As much as I love butternut squash, it can be a headache to cut and peel it. Fortunately, this mashed butternut squash recipe doesn't require any peeling or cubing! After three slices (plus spooning out the seeds), the squash goes in the oven and then the flesh gets easily scraped away from the skin.

As a regular vegan home chef without any special training, the idea of making my own ravioli was a little intimidating not too long ago. But since I've managed to create beautiful, delicious ravioli at home, I am sure that you can too! And this vegan butternut squash ravioli recipe is worth all the work when you taste it.

For the butternut squash filling, I really wanted to let the flavor of the squash shine, so I didn't add any tofu or vegan cheese. Instead, I added garlic, almonds, lemon juice, and seasonings to enhance the creamy sweetness of the squash. I also used a basic sage-butter sauce with mushrooms to complement the ravioli filling without overpowering it.

Toss out that store-bought frozen vegan lasagna. Scrap all the other vegan lasagna recipes you've tried. Yes, this vegan lasagna recipe is that good.

Before we get to the recipe, I need to mention that the flavor of a good lasagna is highly dependent on the sauce you use. So if you don't make your own, I strongly recommend that you use a high-quality sauce, like Rao's or the Silver Palate. (Although these brands are pretty expensive, I can often find one or the other on sale at Whole Foods, and I stock up when I see them).

Some of my favorite childhood Christmas memories are of the holiday cookies. Each member of my dad's side of the family would make one or two types of cookies each year and bring them to my grandmother's house. In the basement were two long folding tables with endless tins of cookies of all types. After dinner, my grandmother would let us go downstairs and pick whatever Christmas cookies we wanted.

We also got to participate in making some of the cookies. As children, that usually meant roll-out sugar cookies that we got to decorate.

French toast is another one of my Sunday morning brunch favorites. It's pancakes' quicker and easier cousin. But both are equally delicious! It's also a traditional Christmas morning breakfast in the United States.

When I set out to make this vegan French toast recipe, it was important to me to get both the flavor and the texture right. That means I needed a little bit of a savory egg-like flavor, a touch of cinnamon, a firm toasted exterior, and a soft, chewy center. The nutritional yeast in this recipe helps to create the savory flavor, while a flax egg and aquafaba create the perfect texture. (Aquafaba is the liquid from a can of garbanzo beans.)

When I was in college and learning to cook, the first dishes I perfected were Italian pasta dishes, like lasagna, fettuccine alfredo, and of course, stuffed shells. Stuffed shells are a delicious comfort food for me, but they're made with cheese and eggs. Fortunately, I've managed to create delicious vegan ricotta from tofu, and stuffed shells are once again on the menu in my kitchen. A little bit of flour helps to bind everything together in place of an egg.

These vegan stuffed shells are so easy to make, they can be made any day. But they are also perfect for holidays like Christmas and Easter, or family gatherings; the whole family will love them.

My favorite way to prepare pretty much any kind of vegetable, from sweet potatoes to bell peppers, is roasting. Roasted vegetables are so easy to prepare, they're healthy, and they taste amazing. When Easter, Thanksgiving, or Christmas come around, I like to give my roasted vegetables a little something extra.

This roasted carrots recipe gets some added flair with a glaze made from vegan butter, maple syrup, and lemon juice, and a cashew-tahini sauce with a delicious blend of spices. Rainbow carrots add a colorful wow factor (but plain orange carrots work too!) This is the perfect side dish for the holidays or any special occasion.

Back when I was first teaching myself to cook, in my late teens, one of my favorite dishes to cook was a butternut squash casserole with goat cheese. It was simple, but delicious. Today, my version of butternut squash casserole has morphed into something a little more complex, and 100% vegan. But it's the most delicious version of it that I've ever made.

It's made with butternut squash, kale, leeks, and pecans, and tossed in a creamy sauce made of cashews. It could be described as comfort food, but it gets points for nutrition, too. This recipe has lots of vitamins A and C, plus 8 grams of protein per serving. To get to this masterpiece, I took some inspiration from this Epicurious (non-vegan) recipe, and this recipe from Oh She Glows.

You've planned your entire Thanksgiving feast. But now you're in need of the perfect appetizer for you and your family to snack on while Thanksgiving dinner's being prepared. Don't worry!

In years past, we've snacked on my delicious spinach & artichoke dip. This year, I'm adding a new menu item to the holiday appetizer list: vegan cranberry and cashew goat cheese crostini! (This recipe is also a great option for holiday parties.)

Crostini (an Italian word meaning "little toasts") share some traits with their better-known antipasto cousin, bruschetta. Both are finger foods made from toasted bread slices with various toppings. However, bruschetta traditionally uses larger slices of bread (from a loaf of Italian bread, for example). Crostini are made with smaller bread slices, typically from baguettes. Crostini are also toasted in the oven on a baking tray, while bruschetta is usually grilled over a fire.