It’s already November! You know what that means– pumpkin spice and everything nice. Or, at least that’s what it means for most people; for plant-eaters, it can mean diet restrictions seeming even more impossible to keep up with. I mean, who wants to eat a plate of just mashed potatoes while everyone else is eating turkey and gravy?

These days, I’m the one cooking Thanksgiving dinner, so we eat all plant-based all day; but, of course, it definitely wasn’t always that way. I have spent a million Thanksgivings eating plate after plate of mashed potatoes and salad; let’s not let this year be a repeat of a mashed potato nightmare– this recipe has a little bit of every good (meatless) part of Thanksgiving, all together in one dish. Whether you want to make this for yourself, or as a side for any herbivore guests, this is the absolute best vegan Thanksgiving recipe.

I wanted to kick off this month with this particular recipe because this is the perfect dish to make as a main dish for an all plant-based family; or as a side dish that everyone can enjoy, but especially your non-meat-eating guests.

I am obsessed with winter vegetables and squash, so this year for Halloween I spent most of my day baking and puréeing whole pumpkin so that everything can taste like pumpkin for… quite a while; which is actually perfect, ’cause I am going to be making Thanksgiving-style food all month long. For this casserole, I decided to mash some of my pumpkin purée into the three-potato mash, and it turned out fantastic.

I’ve made a few different single-dish vegan casseroles for Thanksgiving, but getting that pumpkin flavor in there totally completes the holiday flavor spectrum. This recipe has all of my favorite parts of Thanksgiving food, with all the great savory flavors of pumpkin, winter veggies and stuffing, plus some sweetness brought by dried cranberries and cookin’ the green beans in maple syrup– seriously, this is all the good parts of Thanksgiving in a bowl… minus the turkey, of course.

This recipe took me about two hours to make from start-to-finish, which isn’t a very long time for a Thanksgiving main dish, but would definitely seem like a while if you wanna make it as a side. However, since most of these elements are versions of things you might be making on Thanksgiving Day anyways, making this dish would hardly take extra time at all! Especially considering how thankful your vegan guests will be to you this year!

I’ve got the recipe on the next page, so check it out and make it this year for Thanksgiving… or immediately.

Meatless Thanksgiving Bake

Prep for 1 1/2 hours

Cook for 35 minutes

Ready in 2 hours 05 minutes

Serves 4-6 people as main dish, or 8+ as a side.

It’s Vegan! ✌🏻

Ingredients

Veggies & Bulk:

Yukon Potatoes (5)
Russet Potatoes (3)
Garnet Yams (2)
Sweet Yellow Onion (1)
Green Beans
Pumpkin Purée
Stuffing Mix, Herb Seasoning Blend
Dried Cranberries
Plant-Based Butter, i.e. Earth Balance
Not-Chick’n Bouillon Cubes

Seasonings & Extras:

Paprika
Black Pepper
Minced Garlic
Fresh Sage
Chili Powder
Olive Oil
Pure Maple Syrup
Salt
Water

Preparation

First, wash all of the potatoes, and chop each of them in half, and the yams in quarters.
Toss the potatoes into an Instant Pot or pressure cooker, along with two (2) cups water and one (1) cup broth prepared with Not-Chick’n Bouillon. Cook on the ‘Pressure Cook’ setting for about 28 minutes, depending on exact weight of your potatoes.
Preheat your oven to 420F.
Now, in a large pan, melt about four (4) tablespoons of Plant-Based Butter on low heat to start cooking the stuffing.
Rough chop half of one (½) Sweet Yellow Onion, and throw it in the pan!
Turn the heat up to medium-low.
Stir the onion constantly, and when they have cooked to the point of becoming transparent, add one cup of water and turn the heat to medium-high. Cover, and bring to boil.
Once the water begins to rapid boil, which will happen quickly, pull of the heat and add the Stuffing Mix gradually, stirring lightly.
Turn the heat to low, and place back on the heat source, and leave covered for about five (5) minutes.
While the stuffing is sitting, take this time to wash, trim and halve your green beans until you have about a cup of green beans ready.
Now, take your stuffing off of the heat source, and set aside remaining covered.
Grab yourself a small frying pan, and throw your green beans in there. Cover your green beans liberally with Pure Maple Syrup, and then include a bit of Olive Oil and Salt. Turn the heat to medium-low, and cover.
You’ll want to leave the beans alone until the syrup liquifies and begins to boil, and then allow them to cook in the boiling syrup for about 7-8 minutes. So, while you are waiting, work on those potatoes!
Start by removing the potatoes from your pressure cooker, and using a colander to remove all extra water and broth.
Place the potatoes into a large mixing bowl, and add a few tablespoons of Plant-Based Butter and mash!
Once the potatoes are mashed down pretty well, but not quite all the way, add in a quarter (¼) cup of Pumpkin Purée, and then finishing mashing until smooth.
Now, add quite a bit of the following into the potatoes, to taste: Paprika, Black Pepper and hand-torn fresh Sage. Incorporate fully.
All of your elements should be ready now– the pumpkin mashed potatoes, stuffing and green beans! All that’s left is to assemble!
Grease a deep 11” x 7” baking pan, and layer your stuffing along the bottom, pressing it down slightly using a spatula. Make sure it’s even!
Top the stuffing with a layer of about one (1) cup of Dried Cranberries.
Now, over the cranberries, spread your green beans evenly across the dish. Use a fork or perforated spoon to do this part, in order to not get too much pure syrup into the final dish.
Finally, just spread the potatoes evenly over the top of the dish as the top layer!
Top with a few dashes of Paprika, Black Pepper and Chili Powder (for just a hint of heat!)
Cover with aluminum foil, and place in the oven for 35 minutes!
Viola!

Thanks for reading!

~ Chef G.