Christmas without a festive menu? Inconceivable! Getting together with your loved ones to enjoy a delicious meal ranks among people’s favourite Christmas traditions. In days gone by, households would mainly serve meat dishes, but these days (even at Christmas) more and more people are attempting to abstain from animal products. At ifolor we think this is great because vegetarian and vegan Christmas recipes can definitely hold their own against the originals. You can find our favourites in this article. We invite you to feature these in your Christmas feast to turn it into a culinary highlight. And in case you are still in search of a special Christmas present: How about designing your own photo cookbook with your favourite vegan recipes? Allow us to inspire you!

The best way to begin your vegan Christmas menu is with a delicious starter. Whether fingerfood, soup or salad: The first course whets your appetite for more, and the best thing about it is that there is a wide variety of recipes that feature vegan ingredients.

When the temperatures drop and perhaps the first snowflakes start to fall, soups become particularly popular as they warm us from the inside. For your delicious Christmas menu, we particularly recommend a creamy pumpkin soup as this is fast and without compromise quite easily prepared vegan, healthy and in addition completely delicious! Plus you only need a few ingredients.

For 4 portions you need the following:

• 1 kg pumpkin (Hokkaido or a Cucurbita moschata such as butternut squash)
  
• 1 onion
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 piece of ginger (about the size of your thumb)
• 400 ml coconut milk
• 750 ml vegetable broth
• 1 tsp curry powder
• 2 - 3 tbsp oil (we recommend coconut or olive oil)
• Salt and pepper to taste
  
• Toppings as desired, e.g. parsley, pumpkin seeds, etc.
  

Method:

• Wash and peel pumpkin. Quarter pumpkin, scoop out the guts and seeds. Then, cut into 2 to 3 cm cubes. Peel and dice onion. Peel and chop garlic and ginger.
• Heat oil in a large saucepan. On medium heat, simmer onion, garlic and ginger for a few minutes. Add pumpkin and curry powder, and lightly sauté. Meanwhile, prepare the vegetable broth.
  
• Add approx. 300 to 350 ml broth to the vegetables. Bring to the boil and, on medium heat, simmer for 15 to 20 minutes until the pumpkin has softened.
  
• Blend the soup with a hand blender until creamy, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve the pumpkin soup in a bowl, and garnish with the remaining coconut milk and freshly chopped parsley.
  

The most important part of Christmas dinner is the main course. In Switzerland, particularly cheese fondue, meat fondue, raclette or baked poultry are popular for Christmas dinner. Luckily, many classic meals can be easily adapted to be made without animal products, without having to compromise. If anything, the dishes are usually much easier to digest.

It’s hard to believe, but you can actually make a delicious cheese fondue without cheese. Are you vegan? If so, buy some of your favourite dipping ingredients and enjoy this incredibly good fondue, which also happens to be vegan.

For 4 portions you need the following:

• 200 g potatoes
• 150 g canned chickpeas, drained
• 2 garlic cloves 
• 1 large onion
• 3 tbsp vegan butter or margarine
• 250 ml dry white wine
• 240 ml unsweetened plant milk (e.g. soy milk
• 100 g yeast flakes
• 2 tbsp mustard
• 3 tbsp cashew butter
• 3 tbsp corn starch
• ½ tsp turmeric
• 1 pinch nutmeg
• Salt and pepper to taste
  
• For dipping: e.g. bread or vegetables
  

Method:

• Slice potatoes into 2 to 3 cm pieces, and put in a large saucepan. Add the chickpeas, and cover with water. Add some salt, bring water to a boil and, covered and on medium heat, simmer for approx. 15 minutes.
  
• Meanwhile, prepare the dipping ingredients, e.g. cut bread, wash and steam vegetables, etc. After approx. 15 minutes, drain the water and put the potatoes and chickpeas in a blender.
  
• Peel and chop onions and garlic cloves. Heat vegan butter or margarine in a large saucepan, and sweat onions and garlic on medium heat for a minute.
  
• Blend potatoes and chickpeas with onions, garlic, cashew butter, white wine, plant milk, yeast flakes, corn starch and spices on the highest setting until the sauce is smooth.
  
• Pour the sauce back into the same saucepan and, on medium heat, simmer for a few minutes. Season to taste with spices. As soon as the sauce has become a bit “elastic”, pour it into a fondue pot.
  

This delicious dish will make your mouth water! Meatloaf is a particularly popular Christmas dish in German-speaking Switzerland. With lentils, mushrooms and beans, the traditional Christmas recipe can be creatively, tastily and quite easily transformed into an even better version. We recommend serving this with mashed potatoes or potato dumplings and of course a vegan gravy. The dish is served with cranberry jelly.

For 4 portions you need the following:

• 130 g hard lentils (brown or green)
• 1 onion
• 4 garlic cloves
• 1 tbsp oil
• 75 g rolled oats
• 2 tbsp flaxseed
• One 400 g can kidney beans
  
• 100 g walnuts
• 100 g sunflower seeds
• 200 g mushrooms
• 120 g carrots
• 2 tbsp tomato pureé
• 1 tbsp mustard
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp dried thyme
• 1 tbsp dried rosemar
• 2 tbsp chopped parsley
• 1 tsp paprika powder
• Salt and pepper to taste
  

Ingredients for the gravy:

• 1 onion
• 1 garlic clove
• 150 g mushrooms
• 1 carrot
• 1 tbsp oil or vegan butter
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tbsp tomato pureé
• 1 tbsp flour
• 60 ml red wine
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 300 ml vegetable broth
• 1 tsp mustard
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 thyme sprig
• ½ tsp peppe
• Salt to taste
  

Method:

• For the “meatloaf” first cook the lentils according to the packet instructions. Meanwhile, peel the onion and garlic. Dice the onion and finely chop the garlic. Heat oil/vegan butter in a saucepan, and sweat onion and garlic on medium heat for a few minutes. Then, remove from the pan and put aside.
  
• Grind rolled oats and flaxseed in a blender to form a fine powder.
  
• Add the cooked lentils, kidney beans, walnuts, sunflower seeds, onions and garlic, as well as 3 tbsp water. Chop everything, but it should still be a bit chunky. Pour the mix into a large bowl.
  
• Now add finely grated carrots, chopped mushrooms, tomato purée, mustard, soy sauce, paprika powder, thyme, rosemary, parsley and salt and pepper to taste, and mix everything together. If the mixture is too dry or too wet, you can mix in some water or rolled oats.
  
• Line a 25 cm baking tray with baking paper. Pour the lentil mixture into this, and smooth down with a spatula. Then, bake in the oven at 200°C (top/bottom heat) for approx. 60 minutes. Allow to cool slightly, and then carefully remove from the tray.
  
• For the sauce peel and finely chop onions and garlic. Heat oil/vegan butter in a saucepan, and sear onion with finely diced mushrooms for approx. 3 minutes.
  
• Finely dice carrots. Add to the garlic in the saucepan, and continue to sweat everything on medium heat for approx. 6 minutes.
  
• Generously mix brown sugar and flour into the vegetables, and pour red wine, balsamic vinegar, soy sauce and broth over this. Mix in tomato purée and mustard, and add thyme and bay leaf. Simmer everything on low to medium heat without a lid for 10 to 15 minutes until the sauce has thickened.
  
• Now remove the bay leaf and pour the sauce into the blender. Blend until smooth, season to taste and add more seasoning as needed.
  

The wonderful finish to your Christmas menu is of course a delicious dessert. In the world of vegan recipes, there are many delicious vegan desserts. How about some vegan vanilla crescent biscuits? They are also a wonderful gift in the run-up to Christmas. On a photo greeting card you can write some thoughtful words for the lucky recipient.

Ingredients for 40 biscuit:

• 280 g flour
• 70 g sugar
• 100 g ground almonds
• 210 g cold vegan butter
• 1 vanilla bean
• 2 tbsp icing sugar
• 2 tbsp vanilla sugar

Method:

• Mix flour, sugar, ground almonds and the seeds of the vanilla bean in a bowl. Dice vegan butter, and add to the mixture. Knead everything to form a smooth dough.
  
• Shape dough into a roll with a diameter of approx. 4 cm, wrap in cling film and put in the fridge for about an hour.
  
• Cut dough into approx. 1 cm thick slices, and shape into crescents. Place on a baking tray lined with baking paper, and bake in the oven at 180°C (top/bottom heat) for approx.. 15 to 17 minutes.
  
• Meanwhile, stir together icing and vanilla sugar in a bowl. Take the finished vanilla crescents out of the oven, and cool for approx. 2 minutes. Then, roll in the vanilla sugar mixture while they are still warm. Bon appétit!