Vegan Christmas Recipes

Frisée and radicchio are both assertive, slightly bitter greens that add color and texture to any salad. Match them with mellower-flavored greens, such as red leaf lettuce, baby spinach or even Boston lettuce.

A splash of cranberry juice in sparkling wine and a garnish of cranberries and rosemary sprigs makes an exceptionally festive party-ready cocktail that's easy to make, too.

Use whatever fresh or frozen fruit you have on hand to make this old-fashioned crumble. Typical crumble topping has as much as a half cup of butter--ours has just a bit of canola oil and, for richness, chopped almonds, which are full of healthy monounsaturated fats.

These curried cashews are impossibly addictive--every time we made them in the Test Kitchen they disappeared in a flash. If you use salted cashews, omit the added salt.

With just a few minutes of preparation, you can make this gorgeous grape chutney recipe to serve with roast pork or chicken or to use as a sandwich spread. Purple grapes give it the richest color, but red grapes taste and look great too.

Diced sweet potato, bell peppers and apples make a vegan stuffing inspired by the flavors of sausage. To add that savory flavor, we use poultry seasoning (don't worry, there's no actual poultry in it!). Piled into portobello mushroom caps, it creates a beautiful and filling plant-based main dish--perfect for the holidays.

Vinegar is the key to making this sautéed kale recipe special. Look for vinegar that's cloudy--it likely still has some of the mother in the bottle and will give you a sweet acidity rather than a harsh bite. Organic apple cider vinegar is usually your best bet. For the most eye-catching version of this side, use different colored varieties of kale.

A fresh twist on a classic cocktail, this quick drink recipe uses sweet tangerine juice to balance the tang of bourbon.

The combination of cloves, cabbage and cider vinegar gives this slow-cooker cabbage recipe its sweet-and-sour flavor. Don't skip the apples-the hit of natural sweetness is worth the time it takes to core and chop them.

We cook then cool the beans in advance so they can be heated up and seasoned moments before the meal. If you don't like tarragon, substitute dill or leave it out completely.

This easy, comforting pear crumble is sure to please. Serve it as is or with low-fat ice cream.

This pear and arugula salad recipe is topped with homemade candied walnuts, which are incredibly easy to make in the oven. For a touch of heat, add a pinch of ground chipotle or cayenne to the walnuts before baking.

This salad was one of the favorites chosen from over 1,000 salad recipes for our 30th anniversary issue. In 2004, Deborah Madison waxed poetic about winter ingredients, particularly nuts. “In the chill air of winter, nuts move up to center stage as do their warming, substantial, golden oils--so good with winter salad greens and vegetables, such as shaved fennel, all of which are likely to end up in a salad together,” she says. Madison suggested using a mix of lettuces that balance each other here--a mild, tender variety, such as Boston, with a more intense and sturdy green, such as escarole, for instance.

Use these festive-looking sugared fresh rosemary sprigs to decorate any holiday dessert platter. They look especially beautiful alongside a traditional yule log cake.

Oven-frying lightly battered onion slices produces the kind of crispy onion rings we all love, but with less fat and fewer calories. Plus, we use almond milk to make this crispy onion topping dairy-free and vegan--perfect for topping a vegan green bean casserole!

In this quick German-inspired side dish, red cabbage is cooked until just tender and combined with sweet apples, caraway and a tangy vinaigrette. Serve with roasted pork loin or turkey kielbasa.

Serve with sliced baguette for dipping.

Give some zing to your traditional cranberry sauce recipe by adding jalapeño and lime. This healthy, homemade cranberry relish pairs beautifully with turkey, but also works just as well as a spread for sandwiches or even as a taco topping.

Roasting intensifies delicata squash's flavor. Seasoned with rosemary and maple, this recipe's great with pork or turkey.

Most cranberry sauce recipes add tons of sugar to mask the tart taste of the cranberries. In this simple cranberry sauce, we lighten things up by skipping the sugar and opting for a healthier combination of dates and apple cider which adds just enough sweetness without overpowering the cranberry flavor.

The highlight of this gorgeous vegan holiday main dish recipe is the surprisingly rich dairy-free mushroom gravy. The roasted cauliflower is also pleasantly delicious thanks to a little caramelization while roasting. Smother a side of vegan mashed potatoes with any extra gravy.

Reader Jennifer Sanders contributed this salad, which offers a wealth of color and texture, as well as antioxidants.

This natural decorating sugar recipe replaces artificial food coloring with fruit juice or natural dyes to produce colorful sanding sugar perfect for creating beautiful cookies.

This is our go-to recipe for homemade cranberry sauce. It's simple (just five ingredients!), is lightly sweet without being too sugary and has just the right amount of zesty flavor from orange peel. Plus, it's so easy--it goes from stove to table in just 20 minutes!