How To Have An Entirely Meatless Thanksgiving

Everyone loves a holiday that is all about stuffing your face while you get to spend time with your loved ones, but being a vegetarian at the Thanksgiving dinner table can be lonely. That's because finding vegetarian Thanksgiving recipes everyone will love can seem, well, pretty much impossible sometimes. The turkey, the gravy, even the stuffing — without a little planning ahead, you can be quickly relegated to eating rolls with butter while everyone else around you piles their plates high. But luckily, there are tons of delicious, seasonally appropriate vegetarian and vegan dishes out there. It's time to start prepping your menu now.

While going with a turkey substitute as your main is always an option (I am partial to the Trader Joe's variety, myself), I have also included plenty of ideas for main courses that you can whip up at home to make the carnivores jealous. (You can share with them if you're feeling generous — it is Thanksgiving, after all.) But everyone knows that Thanksgiving is really all about the sides, and I have got plenty of those as well. From vegan mashed potatoes to mushroom gravy, here is everything you need for a delicious, meat-free Thanksgiving dinner. See? That wasn't so hard, after all.

Sides

1. Creamy Roasted Brussels Sprouts And Quinoa Gratin

Want to combine something healthy with something decadent and Thanksgiving-worthy? This cheesy gratin from Cookie and Kate should do the trick.

2. Vegan Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes

The mashed potatoes can be a secret hiding place for meat stock, and almost always include dairy. Make them more inclusive with this delicious, creamy vegan version from Love and Lemons.

3. Brown Butter Rosemary Orange Cornbread

Fine, cornbread is usually vegetarian anyway, but do you really need an excuse to make this tantalizing version with herbs and brown butter from Joy the Baker?

4. Broiled Green Beans With Roasted Lemon Gremolata

Leave the soggy green bean casseroles behind with this version that includes a savory lemon accompaniment from A Better Happier St. Sebastian.

5. Maple-Glazed Pan-Roasted Brussels Sprouts With Chestnuts

Bring even more fall flavors into your meal by adding some maple syrup to your Brussels sprouts with this recipe from Food and Style.

6. Sweet Potato Casserole With Pecan Crumble

Don't let marshmallows (which aren't vegetarian) keep you from enjoying your sweet potatoes. Instead, give this version from Closet Cooking a try.

7. Sage And Onion Stuffing

Stuffing is another place where meat stock likes to hang out, but if you make your own with vegetable stock, like the Kitchn does, then you can stuff yourself (hahaha) to your heart's content.

8. Classic Mashed Potatoes

Nothing fancy here, just simple, creamy, perfect mashed potatoes from Steamy Kitchen.

9. Vegan Mushroom Gravy

And you can't have mashed potatoes without gravy, so Fo Reals Life has you covered with a gluten-free, vegan version that's guaranteed to satisfy you.

10. Sweet Potato Biscuits And Vegetarian Gravy

This one is a double-whammy, with light, fluffy biscuits and a meat-free gravy that you're going to want to eat on everything, courtesy of Naturally Ella.

Mains

11. Portobello Mushrooms With Parmesan-Herb Stuffing

If you can't stuff a turkey, you might as well stuff some juicy, earthy portobello mushroom caps. Big Girls, Small Kitchen shows you how.

12. Delicata Squash Stuffed With Mushrooms, Farro, Pecans, & Dried Cranberries

Why should mushrooms have all the fun? The Kitchn's vegan version uses delicata squash.

13. Lentil Mushroom Walnut Balls With Cranberry-Pear Sauce

Or go for some straight-up vegan comfort food with this combination of savory lentils and tart cranberries from Oh She Glows.

14. Roasted Sweet Potato, Caramelized Onion, And Gorgonzola Quiche

Someone once told me that caramelized onions are like vegetarian bacon. Try out this quiche from Naturally Ella, and let me know.

15. Forager's Pie

This vegan version of shepherd's pie has mushrooms, sweet potatoes, and a flaky spelt crust that will make you wonder why anyone would ever eat anything else. Get the recipe at Girlie Girl Army.

16. Chickpea-Vegetable Pot Pie

This may have technically been conceived as a Valentine's Day recipe, but I'm pretty sure that this veggie pot pie from Big Girls, Small Kitchen will translate perfectly to Thanksgiving.

17. Green Bean Mushroom Tart

Eat your vegetables in the best way with this easy green bean tart from A Spicy Perspective.

For more food ideas, check out Bustle on YouTube.

Images: Cookie and Kate; Love and Lemons; Joy the Baker; A Better Happier St. Sebastian; Food and Style; Closet Cooking; the Kitchn; Steamy Kitchen; Fo Reals LIfe; Naturally Ella; Big Girls, Small Kitchen; Oh She Glows; Girlie Girl Army; A Spicy Perspective