While I am definitely a carnivore, I fully embrace vegetable forward cooking. With some vegans in the family, I love challenging myself to create more elaborate vegan dishes. This year, I really wanted to offer some ideas for a vegan Thanksgiving. First and foremost, we needed a main dish, so we developed this Vegan Risotto.

How to Make a Delicious Vegan Risotto

The first thing I thought about while making this Vegan Risotto was how I could accomplish enough flavor to make up for the lack of cheese. This starts with nutritional yeast, which gives some cheesy flavor, but you also want some liquid aminos for more umami. The magic to this is a quick mushroom broth using dried mushrooms. Rather than using chicken broth, we used this broth to bring the risotto together.

Vegan Risotto Final Product

To bring in something meaty, we used Trumpet Mushrooms on top. They are a great size and texture for a meat replacement in your dish. Not to mention they are just delicious. We also included peas for some more vegetables and flavor to create the perfect bite. Check out the recipe below.

What Else to Serve at a Vegan Thanksgiving

The vegan risotto is a fabulous main course, but we can also incorporate some beautiful sides to make it an entire feast. I absolutely love making these Smashed Potatoes with Pesto. They are a special kind of comfort food that is so lovely in the fall and winter.

Vegan Smashed Potatoes with Pistachio Pesto

For more greens, I think you cannot go wrong with Green Beans with Garlic and Pepitas. It’s a lighter dish since it’s primarily green beans and nuts, but it still has that luscious holiday feel with its garlicky goodness. It’s a great complement to the starchiness of the potatoes and risotto.

Vegan French Green Beans with Garlic and Pepitas

If you’re looking to go over the top, you could even incorporate elements of our Vegan Mediterranean Feast. You can make the whole platter, or for extra protein, just make up the tofu and serve it with the rest of your meal.

When you make your Vegan Risotto or Vegan Thanksgiving, be sure to review it below and let me know what you think! If you’re looking for more inspiration, sign up for our Friday Favorites newsletter, and follow along on Pinterest and Instagram to join in all the fun!

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Vegan Risotto Final Product

Vegan Risotto

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  • Author: Teri Turner
  • Prep Time: 15 minutes
  • Cook Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
  • Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
  • Yield: 4 servings
  • Category: Dinner
  • Method: Stovetop
  • Cuisine: Vegan
  • Diet: Vegan
Print Recipe

Description

This Vegan Risotto would be perfect for a holiday feast, or for a lovely meal the whole family will enjoy.

Ingredients

8 cups of water

2 ounces dry mushrooms (we used a blend of dried mushrooms)

½ cup frozen peas (optional)

8 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided

12 ounces trumpet mushrooms, thinly sliced lengthwise

1 tablespoon chopped garlic

1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt, divided, plus more to taste

1 cup chopped shallots

1 ½ cups Arborio rice

½ cup white wine

1 tablespoon porcini mushroom powder (dried porcini mushrooms blended)

2 tablespoons unsalted nutritional yeast

2 tablespoons Braggs liquid aminos

2 tablespoons unsalted vegan butter, we used Miyoko’s

1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley, to garnish

1 to 2 lemons, to garnish and serve

Instructions

In a large pot, add 8 cups of water and 1 ounces of dry mushrooms. Bring to a boil over high heat and turn off. Let them sit for about 15 minutes to create a wonderful mushroom broth.

 

Strain the mushrooms with a very fine mesh sieve, but keep the broth in the pan over low heat. Double strain the broth if you are still able to see some mushroom bits. Meanwhile, finely chop the soaked mushrooms into tiny pieces. Set aside.

 

In a small pot, put your peas in ½ cup water. Simmer until al dente, about 4-5 minutes. Drain and set aside.

 

In a large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium high heat and add the finely chopped dried and soaked mushrooms. Sauté until brown and crispy for about 5 minutes. Then, add 6 tablespoons of olive oil if adding trumpet mushrooms, if using a wild mushroom blend then add 4 tablespoons olive oil. (Why? Trumpet mushrooms absorb more oil.) Sauté the mushrooms until golden brown, for about 12 to 20 minutes (this will depend on the type of mushrooms, trumpets take longer). Then add the garlic and ½ teaspoon of salt and stir. Cook for about 30 seconds. Turn off heat. Set aside.

 

In a large skillet, over medium heat, add 2 tablespoons olive oil and add the shallots. Stirring constantly, cook until translucent for about 5 minutes.

 

Add the rice and stir to coat completely with the olive oil, continue to cook for about 3 minutes. Stirring constantly. Stir in the white wine and allow it to reduce and evaporate. Add 1 teaspoon kosher salt.

 

Slowly add the warm mushroom broth to the rice, ½ cup at a time, stirring constantly. Once the first ½ cup of broth is absorbed by the rice, add another ½ cup of the broth, stirring constantly until absorbed. Repeat this step until you have used all the broth. Never stop stirring or you risk it sticking to the bottom of the pot. It will usually take  30 to 35 minutes.  Add the porcini powder and stir completely. Add liquid aminos, nutritional yeast and stir to combine. Add 2 tablespoons of the vegan butter and stir to combine. Salt to taste.

 

To serve, top the risotto with the golden trumpet mushrooms and crispy bits, peas, fresh chopped parsley and then squeeze the juice of half of a lemon. Serve with extra lemon wedges.

Keywords: vegan risotto, vegan thanksgiving