When it comes to the season of festivities, meals are an opportunity to come together and celebrate. There are traditional favorites like mac and cheese, turkey and gravy, but what do holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas look like for people who can’t eat any of those foods? 

People who are vegetarian and vegan don’t eat meat or any products with meat, like the broth in stuffing. In addition to that, vegans don’t eat any animal products at all. This means all the classic dishes that are cooked every year aren’t options. These choices are made for a number of reasons. Protesting animal cruelty and lowering individual carbon emissions for the betterment of the planet are more popular, but people also have health concerns and some cultures restrict what foods are acceptable to eat. 

When it comes to meal time, there’s normally the occasional family member who just eats whatever food is available that follows the dietary rules, like myself, but there are whole vegetarian or vegan families that change up the menu altogether.

 As this has become more popular, there are tons of new and creative substitutes for entire meals. There are burmese tofu recipes to replace turkeys, squashduckens that can be cooked as a dessert or a main course and roasted cauliflower thrown in as a delicious side. With all these new substitute ideas, there are more vegan and vegetarian products available and on the rise. You can find products like dairy-free milk, nuts and seeds and more tofu and soy alternatives then ever before on grocery store shelves everywhere.

Vegetarian and vegan folks may not do it like everyone else, but they make these important meals totally worthwhile.