What does a vegetarian eat on thanksgiving?

Question

Hi, we are having our long time no see family members come over for thanksgiving and daughter in law is coming too but she is a vegetarian and we dont know what to make for her besides salads and fresh out of ideas can someone please help me I would highly appreciate it thank you for your time.

Answer 1

You could probably call and ask her. Just be honest and say you don't know what to make and she could give you some things that you might enjoy too.

Answer 2

I am a vegetarian myself. As long as she is not vegan, she will probably eat a lot of the stuff you would normally make, with the exception of the Turkey, Stuffing, and gravey.

For her entree you could make her a Boca or Morningstar Brand Chik Patty. Both of these chicken substitutes are meatless and made from Soy, and can be found in the freezer section of any big grocery store. All you do is microwave for 1 minute and they are ready to eat and are delicious.

You could also make her some vegetarian gravey using vegetable broth and a little flour to thicken.

Other than that I am sure she would eat most of the traditional side dishes....potatoes, squash, cranberry sauce, greenbean caserole, rolls, and pie as long as there is no meat based broth or gelatin in the ingrediants.

I am sure she will appreciate you taking the time to make sure that she does not feel left out on Thanksgiving.

Answer 3

I don't know what kind of thanksgiving you throw, but the ones I've been to always had plenty of vegetarian food on the table... corn, carrots, candied yams, string beans, mashed potatoes, olives, pickles, cranberry sauce, etc......

It'd be extra nice if you either made the stuffing or a separate batch of it without gravy and not in the turkey.

If you use prepared mixes (like Stove Top), a simple way to check for likely veg-friendliness is to look at the box, read the ingredients, and look for words like "beef", "chicken", "pork", etc. While not 100% accurate, it's a fairly good indication.

To go all out, you could get and cook them a Tofurky, or some other vegetarian loaf. But back in the day (before I really had a say) I would just basically eat everything else on the Thanksgiving table besides the turkey, and had little trouble filling my plate or my stomach.

Answer 4

The main challenge is to make sure there's enough protein in there somewhere and that you're not just eating side items.

Some general comments, strictly my opinion.
1. Tofu tastes nasty, and it's high fat. Why bother.
2. For folks who want to avoid marshmallows, which contain substances obtained from animals, try adding a little fennel to your glaze -- you may not like the licorice taste, but at least it brings the "candy" feeling back to the yams, which are otherwise kind of bland. Also, a little maple syrup helps.
3. The answerer who suggested nuts / beans is right on the mark. Both are excellent sources of proteins. And adding nuts to traditional stuffing (watch the eggs if you're not lacto-ovo-vegetarian!) isn't hard to do, tastes good, and probably won't weird out the family.
4. Mix traditional Thanksgiving sides with some that are from ethnic foods from countries that aren't so meat-and-potatoes focused. For instance, in additional to the usual, my wife and I sometimes have saag paneer (think creamed spinach with curry and Indian cheese)... keeping in mind that if you're vegan that won't pass muster. The flavor is delicious and goes well with the other stuff. Also there's an excellent Afghan dish called kadhu which is basically roasted winter squash with chili powder, cinnamon, a little maple glaze or similar sweet glaze, with a yogurt / dill sauce. In this case, the protein comes from the yogurt.

There's plenty to enjoy, no reason to go "cold turkey" on Turkey Day! :-)

Answer 5

I am a vegetarian and every year i too run into this problem. You could go with the classic tofu turkey but those can be really disgusting so what I do is i eat all the sides and such and make stuffing that isn't in the turkey and doesn't have animal broth in it like turkey or chicken. Then just pick up some nice soy things in the frozen section of the super market, make sure there is a variety so she can chose from them. Usually preparing that only takes about 1- 3 minutes in the microwave, Hopefully i could help in some way.

Answer 6

Well, I'm vegetarian, I don't want to eat "tofurkey" or whatever it's called, I didn't give up meat so I can eat something that looks and is supposed to taste just like it.

I usually eat the mashed potatoes, no gravy of course, green bean casserole, and stuffing, then there are always the corn or salad things that family members make but I can get that any other time of the year.

There's usually enough available to eat with this holiday, now, most of the family forgets I'm a vegemite til I get to the dinner table, so I wouldn't stress it.

Answer 7

The meat substitute would be Quorn but I recomend sevring that for Thanksgiving as it appears quite cheap and doesn't go well with the rest of the meal.

I am British so I don't no the full extent of how Thanksgiving works but my American asked for a Turkey roast when he came to visit. The closest we have is Christmas as we have Turkey or Lamb. When the vegetarians come to visit we serve a nut dinner. Roasted nuts and a vegetarian gravy along with some vegetables. If they do not like nuts just do the vegetables and vegetarian gravy.

I would however, still ask your daughter in law as she will be used to this and shouldn't take offense to it as this a usual question

Hope I could help

Answer 8

I am vegetarian and we're making a veggie casserole with yukon gold potatoes topping a mushroom and gruyere/milk base. The other day I made a pie with leeks, garlic and goat cheese that would have been nice or you could try making a veggie loaf. I made something last year with garbanzo beans, bread crumbs, herbs and veggies held together with egg and wrapped in phyllo. Just google vegetarian cooking and see what you can come up with. I would steer clear of meat substitutes. Personally I think they are gross. Whatever you make, I'm sure she'll appreciate the effort. Just be sure there are a couple of all vegetarian side dishes. Hope that helps.

Answer 9

The best thing you can do for her is to make sure that you don't ADD animal products that she doesn't like to dishes that are overtly vegetarian. For example, if she doesn't drink milk, don't use cream of mushroom soup for the green bean casserole - make some concentrated non-dairy creamer from powder and use that and mushrooms instead (it'll be less salty unless you add some). Don't add butter to the mashed potatoes - just put the butter on the table.

Most vegetarians eat eggs and milk and don't really need a Tofurkey to make thier Thanksgiving complete. They're usually just happy if you don't put bits of turkey in everything, but you're going to have to call her and ask. If she's a daughter-in-law, it may be difficult to get her to say what she wants. Make her stick to the facts. Ask her if she eats dairy, fish, poultry, eggs, cow, pork. All you have to do is make sure that all the dishes you make are either centered around the ingredient or completely absent of it. Ask her if she's ever had Tofurkey. If she says no, don't worry about it.

Answer 10

My family does a pot luck dinner. Each household is expected to contribute something. In past years we've had all of these (Not all at the same time) on our menu and I found I wasn't left feeling hungry at all! Since Grandma buys and makes a HUGE turkey, that she doesn't even like herself, the rule is, nobody else can bring a dish that has meat in it!

Before the main meal:
A tray of fresh cut veggies and dips
A tray of cheese, crackers, and mixed nuts
Assorted chips and dips


The main meal:
A side of meatless stuffing
Mashed potatoes
Corn
Green bean casserole
Cheesy rice and broccoli casserole
Vegetarian style baked beans
Macaroni salad
Potato Salad
Egg Salad (Not a big hit)
Cooked asparagus with garlic and imitation butter
Broccoli and Cheese
Cooked carrots
Garden Salad
Penne Pasta, with zucchini, sliced green and yellow peppers and marinara sauce
Twice Baked Potatoes
Scalloped Potatoes
Fresh baked wheat and white dinner rolls
Fruit Salad
Cranberry Sauce
Deviled Eggs
Your choice of Beverage

Dessert:
Pumpkin Pie
Pecan Pie
Chocolate French Silk Pie
Apple Pie
Caramel Nut Coffee Cake
Carrot Cake
Cookies
Applesauce (All natural, no sugar added)
Jello (Sugar Free) with mandarin oranges and cool whip (Sugar Free)
Mixed Fruit

Its always something different every single time, so its not boring. Try the pot luck thing, include the meatless rule into it, and there is bound to be a few choices that will wow her!

Good luck and Happy Thanksgiving!

Answer 11

Just have what you'd normally serve. She can eat everything but the turkey & gravy and still eat well if your Thanksgiving dinner is anything like mine - I serve so many different courses that no one - vegetarian or not - goes away hungry. She's probably used to doing without the meat part.
I'm sure she eats other things besides salad and I'm sure you will serve other things that she can eat besides salad. She can eat the vegetables, sweet potatoes or squash, nutbreads, dinner rolls, cranberries, desserts. If you worry that she won't have enough to eat or enough variety, just add a course such as a soup not made with meat stock or add a second vegetable that is a legume. Black-eyed peas are popular in the south (and traditional at some New Year's dinners) or beans. Limas & corn mixed (beans and corn eaten together make a complete protein).