A vegetarian Christmas dinner isn’t as easy as leaving out the turkey – there’s a whole host of trimmings and treats that you can miss out on during the festive season. Gravy, stuffing, brandy sauce, mince pies, custard…. Happily these can all be made vegan friendly and here are some simple recipes to give you an idea how:

Stuffing (you don’t actually need to stuff anything!)

• 6 slices bread (either as crumbs or chunks)
• 2Tbsp oil
• 1 onion, diced
• 4 tsp sage
• pinch salt

Just add the onion to the oil and saute gently until transparent. Add the breadcrumbs, sage and salt. Press the mixture into a pre-greased oven proof dish and bake until brown and crisp on top.

Gravy

• 2 Tbsp oil
• 1 onion, thinly sliced
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 1 Tbsp flour
• 350ml veggie stock

Gently saute the onion in the oil until transparent. Add the garlic and heat for another couple minutes. Add the flour and mix well. Gradually add the stock, stirring well, to create a thick sauce. Simmer for another ten minutes, stirring occasionally. If you’re roasting vegetables already a nice flavour alternative is to roast the onion and garlic in oil before finishing the sauce on the hob.

Mincemeat

• 100g raisins
• 100g currants
• 1 small apple
• 1 small lemon
• 1/4 orange
• 1 tsp miso
• 250ml apple juice (the tarter the better)
• cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, clove powder to taste
• 1 Tbsp brandy (opt.)

Finely dice the apple. Zest the orange and lemon, then chop up the flesh of the fruit.  Put everything apart from the brandy in a pan and heat gently for 20-30 mins. Add the brandy and leave to cool.

Custard is easy as long as you can find some custard powder. These are mostly a mixture of cornstarch, vanilla flavour and yellow colouring. Make up with soy milk and sweetener to taste. In theory you could make up your own vegan custard from scratch using the same ingredients but this is one I’ve yet to try.