vegan Christmas recipes

This galette recipe is a vegan take on the classic French dessert. It has all the goodness of an apple pie, with about half the time and effort! With a flaky crust, and apple, cinnamon, and brown sugar filling, this vegan galette is the perfect dessert for Thanksgiving, fall, or really any time of year.

Galettes come in many forms, including savory and sweet. The king cake served at Mardis Gras celebrations comes from the French galette des rois. But in this recipe, we're using apples and a flaky, buttery crust to create a galette that's something like a rustic pie.

This vegan garlic bread is made with a fresh baguette, vegan butter, parsley and lots of fresh garlic and vegan Parmesan. It has all the flavor of traditional garlic bread with none of the dairy! This pull-apart bread is baked to perfection with a crispy crust and soft center, perfect for pairing with your favorite pasta or soup.

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.

This vegan French toast has the perfect soft, custard-like center and crispy fried outside with plenty of eggy cinnamon and vanilla flavor! It's incredibly easy to make, and it tastes just like the French toast you enjoyed as a kid. Perfect for lazy weekends and holiday brunches for a crowd.

On lazy weekends, I'm a huge fan of sweet and indulgent brunches. Along with pancakes, cinnamon rolls, and blueberry muffins, this French toast is one of those recipes that I make regularly when I'm craving a sweet breakfast.

If you're looking for a holiday brunch that the whole family will love, this French toast won't disappoint! Plus, it's incredibly easy to make.

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.