Great Vegetarian Thanksgiving Recipes Everyone Will Love
Whether you’re vegetarian or simply looking to add more veggie-forward dishes to your holiday table this year, these easy vegetarian Thanksgiving recipes are cozy, colorful, and perfect for sharing. From roasted vegetables to hearty sides and creative mains, these dishes are packed with fall flavor — no turkey required.
Here, I’ve rounded up some of my favorite recipes that make Thanksgiving prep easier and a little more purposeful. And if you’re hosting this year, I’ve included my go-to kitchen tools, serving essentials, and pretty table touches that make the meal feel extra special!
Kitchen Essentials for Thanksgiving Dinner Prep
Table of Contents:
Main & Side Dish Ideas for a Vegetarian Thanksgiving
Cozy, colorful, and satisfying — these vegetarian Thanksgiving recipes double as hearty mains or flavorful sides for a full plant-based feast.
Homemade Vegetable Stock
While vegetable stock isn’t a dish in its own right, it can be a great base for the rest of the recipes featured here. Not only is this a great way to reduce food waste, but it also adds lots of great flavor to grains and lentils. It’s super easy to make and acts as a great base for any vegetarian Thanksgiving recipe. This stockpot makes simmering large batches easy.
Season it however you prefer; I like to add fresh cracked black pepper, salt, garlic, and smoked paprika. I also am finding some seasoning inspiration in this guide to substitutes for black mustard seeds; lots of great flavoring options!
Click here to learn how to make your own vegetable stock.
Brown Rice, Broccoli, & Butternut Squash
This rice bowl recipe is pretty easy to customize for the holiday, and it features one of my favorite fall vegetables: butternut squash. The recipe calls for brown rice, but the dish would also be great with quinoa, farro, or your favorite grain.
Simple and satisfying, this recipe is a crowd-pleasing and hearty vegetarian dish. Let the colors show off with a serving bowl like this.
Get the Brown Rice, Broccoli, & Butternut Squash recipe here.
Vegetable Quinoa with Chickpeas
This recipe is perfect for guests who prefer lighter, protein-rich options. Chickpeas are one of my favorite plant-based protein sources, and they’re a great option for vegetarian thanksgiving protein. They’re so easy to incorporate into any dish and add a nice bit of texture.
For this dish, I generally use spinach as my greens, but it also works well with kale. The recipe is designed to be cooked in one pot, whether you prefer a deep skillet like these or a cast iron Dutch oven.
The recipe linked below uses Better than Bullion — I like their seasoned vegetable base — but it would also work really with your homemade vegetable stock.
Get the Vegetable Quinoa with Chickpeas recipe here.
Polenta with Roasted Brussels Sprouts
Roasted vegetables are just the best! I love roasted Brussels sprouts, and I love polenta, so I decided to combine them in this recipe.
Polenta can be a bit tricky when you cook it for the first time, and I recommend going with the dry polenta rather than the pre-cooked version (the kind I used in the recipe), because I think it’d be less labor intensive. Combine the ingredients in a deep skillet and you’re good to go!
Either way, the dish turned out so well and is sure to be a crowd pleaser.
Get the Polenta with Roasted Brussels sprouts recipe here.
Tools That Make Holiday Cooking Easier
Bonus Tips & Tricks for Cooking Vegetarian Thanksgiving Recipes
Incorporate Microgreens and Nutritional Yeast for Additional Flavoring
Microgreens and nutritional yeast are great ways to add a bit of extra flavor and nutrients to pretty much any dish.
Microgreens are essentially vegetable or herb seedlings that are packed with both nutrients and flavor. Cooking with microgreens is really easy; I tend to add them in the same way I would spinach or another green. You can roughly chop them up a bit or add them whole; either way works just fine. I like to keep them in these containers to get the longest life out of them.
I use nutritional yeast in almost all of my cooking to add a nutty flavor. It really mimics cheese well, which is why it’s a favorite seasoning of vegans and vegetarians. And, as a vegetarian who still eats and loves cheese, I can tell you that it’s really a good substitute. Whether you add cheese to any of these dishes or not, it’ll just bring out the flavor. It pairs well with these hemp seeds, which add a nice bit of texture.
Check out my FAQ post on microgreens here, and information about nutritional yeast here.
Try Using Different Types of Plant-Based Protein
Besides the recipes listed above, another great option is to incorporate different plant-based proteins into your favorite vegetarian Thanksgiving recipes. There are so many great plant-based proteins out there, from tofu to tempeh, lentils to beans, that there’s sure to be a style — or styles — to suit your needs. Relatedly, you can opt for using lentils or quinoa as a base for dishes; both are great protein sources that really carry their weight flavor-wise.
Explore some of the most popular and versatile plant-based protein sources here.
Click here to learn more about cooking with lentils, and here to see why quinoa is such a great base for plant-based eating.
Kitchen Favorites for Thanksgiving Prep
Looking for more cozy fall kitchen favorites? I’ve gathered a few of my go-to tools, cookware, and tableware to make Thanksgiving prep simple and beautiful.
Fall Home Decor for Thanksgiving Hosting
Looking for some cozy fall decor to add autumnal ambiance to Thanksgiving this year?
Click here for the coziest fall decor finds for the home!
*This post was originally published in November 2021. It was most recently updated on November 10, 2025.
