10 Tips for Welcoming a Vegan Guest to Thanksgiving
Here are 10 tips for accommodating vegans and vegetarians for Thanksgiving dinner.
Even though it is in the sixties Fahrenheit for highs today, it's a week from Thanksgiving, so it's time to discuss the question on many people's minds.
How can I accommodate everyone for Thanksgiving?
I'm not a complete expert on all dietary restrictions, food allergies, dish preferences, cultural differences, and so on. However, I can give you ten tips for accommodating vegans this Thanksgiving. These suggestions also work for serving vegetarians since all vegan food is vegetarian.
- Serve a vegan-friendly main course.
- Use a different utensil to serve every dish.
- Please do not ask about their food.
- Avoid having them assist in the kitchen.
- Treat veganism like an allergy.
- Ask for recipe recommendations.
- Have everyone bring a dish to Thanksgiving.
- Set the vegan dishes away from the nonvegan main courses.
- Practice creating the vegan recipes before the big day.
- Have a frozen vegan meal as backup.
1. Serve a vegan-friendly main course.
First and foremost, make a vegan-friendly main course. There are many great veggie main courses that most visitors would enjoy. Some examples include vegetable soup, butternut squash stuffed with veggies and grains, and roasted cauliflower.
Here are some of my recommendations for Thanksgiving recipes.
Megan McFadden
2. Use a different utensil to serve every dish.
Remember to have a separate utensil for every dish you serve. If you understand why you shouldn't scoop the cottage cheese out with the chili spoon, that is how a vegan would feel if you use the same utensils to serve turkey as their vegan holiday roast, except they will be a lot more frustrated with you after the fact.
3. Please do not ask about their food.
The biggest turnoff I get when I'm at a holiday get-together is when some relative asks about my food. I understand that some people are trying to be polite or are sort of curious what the only vegan on the guest list brought to eat. The truth is that question is extremely rude.
Vegans tend to get negative remarks, rants, and insults when they bring up their lifestyle choices into conversations, especially around mealtimes. It is best to toss that question out the window to save a fight at the dinner table.
4. Avoid having them assist in the kitchen.
How would you feel if your relative kept pressuring you to go trapshotting no matter how many times you said no because you hate guns? Similarly, food is a touchy topic for vegans, and they would be offended if a relative asked them to contribute in the kitchen.
Note, if you are making an entirely vegan meal, I highly encourage any vegan around to assist with cooking. In most situations, forcing a vegan to make nonvegan food is going to create unwanted tension. Even worse, if you convince them to assist, you will probably grow more distant from them in the long term.
Instead, have them set the table for supper or vacuum the living room before guests arrive.
5. Treat veganism like an allergy.
Do you have any idea how many times I've requested my dish to be replaced at a restaurant because they made it nonvegan? At least a dozen times, I got this same dish returned to me with some of the ingredients scooped out of my food or have been told to take the ingredients out of the dish myself.
What would happen if you used that same treatment to someone with a deadly peanut allergy? They would die, and the restaurant would shut down.
I understand this is an extreme example, but the fact of the matter is a vegan lifestyle is not a food allergy. Despite that, restaurant chefs, college cafeterias, and party hosts alike should use the same form of caution with food allergies and sensitivities with preparing and serving vegan food, from preventing cross-contamination to avoiding ingredients containing animal products.
6. Ask for recipe recommendations.
Just because you're a great chef, that does not mean you have more room to grow in your culinary expertise. It is okay to ask anyone you are making special food for to give recipe recommendations.
In fact, I keep a list on me of my favorite vegan recipes because I want to have some go-to recipes on hand in case I have a dish that I would like to make. My regular recipes are pasta, soups, and casseroles.
For example, I am going to my first Friendsgiving tomorrow, and I will make baked ziti from Healthier Steps and try baking pumpkin bars from Nora Cooks.
7. Have everyone bring a dish to Thanksgiving.
My family's Thanksgiving is an annual reunion over 100 people from my grandmother's side of the family. Each side of the family is responsible for bringing a different type of dish, from desserts to salads.
This year, my side of the family will make the meal. I doubt I will do any of the cooking, but I might assist with serving.
It is tempting to make the vegan bring their own meal to Thanksgiving, but that can be seen as cold when they are the only one bringing their own food. Instead, inform everyone they need to bring some form of food, beverage, etc. to Thanksgiving. That is way less work in the kitchen for you and prevents you from pointing fingers at the vegan because you disapprove of their lifestyle.
8. Set the vegan dishes away from the nonvegan main courses.
Organization is a strongsuit when it comes to successful party planners, but it is not that black and white. It is better to put vegan food in another section of the serving table than the regular courses.
My recommendation is by the desserts or next to the cold salads. That will prevent a lot of cross-contamination from happening. The main instances are sharing serving utensils and when people reach over one dish and having the other food fall in another dish.
9. Practice creating the vegan recipes before the big day.
World-renowned chefs did not wake up one morning with their secret recipe. They spent days, weeks, and up to years perfecting their timeless dishes.
Even though recipe creation is not the same as making a recipe from a cookbook, even top chefs do not get new recipes completely right the first time they make them. That is why it is best to make any new recipes, especially the vegan ones, at least once or twice before Thanksgiving.
10. Have a frozen vegan meal as backup.
Last but not least, have a backup plan in case the vegan dishes do not turn out or you run out of time to make them.
Some brands with great vegan individual meal options include Amy's Kitchen, Thrive Market, Daiya, and Purple Carrot. Just double-check to make sure there a vegan label on the food due to the food labels looking too similar on the front of the packaging.
Conclusion
No matter how familiar you are with veganism, it is important to know how to accommodate vegans, especially around the holidays. At the same time, you would also become the expert chef on making food dairy-free, egg-free, and vegetarian.
If you would like more specifics on how veganism works, here are the differences between veganism, vegetarianism, and plant-based. You may also like my recommendations for preparing for Halloween and Christmas. Ciao!