• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

The Vegan Atlas

  • Home
  • Easy Vegan Recipes
    • Appetizers & Snacks
    • Beverages
    • Breakfast & Brunch
    • Breads and savory baked goods
    • Casseroles & Skillets
    • Desserts & Sweets
    • Gluten-Free
    • Holiday Roundups
    • Jewish Vegan Recipes
    • Main Dishes
    • Pasta & Noodles
    • Pizza
    • Recipe Roundups
    • Salads & Sides
    • Sandwiches & Wraps
    • Sauces & Dressings
    • Soups & Stews
    • Stir-Fries
    • Tofu & Tempeh
    • Tortilla Dishes
    • Veganize This!
  • Good Food Guides
  • Tips & Trends
  • About
  • Nava’s Books
  • Contact

25+ Vegan Thanksgiving Sides & Salads

August 17, 2020Updated December 15, 2022 By Nava Atlas Leave a Comment

Vegans and vegetarians used to be limited to just side dishes at the holiday table, but now, vegan Thanksgiving sides & salads are delicious companions to your plant-based holiday entrees. 

Vegan Thanksgiving Sides & Salads roundup

Here’s an abundant listing of delectable sides and salads to embellish the holiday table with lots of seasonal produce. After all, the original intent of Thanksgiving was to express gratitude for the harvest.

Here you’ll find an abundance of vegan Thanksgiving sides and salads — dishes featuring Brussels sprouts, sweet potato, squash, corn, cranberries, and other good-for-you ingredients that add color and flavor to your menu.  There’s even a vegan update of the classic green bean casserole!

More Thanksgiving round-ups on this site

  • 21+ Vegan Thanksgiving Main Dishes (including holiday roasts)
  • 15+ Tasty Vegan Stuffings
  • 16+ Delicious Vegan Pumpkin Desserts

SIDE DISHES

Homemade cranberry sauce with apples

Classic Cranberry Apple Sauce: Vegan Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners call out for an easy classic cranberry apple sauce made from scratch with two fresh fruits.

Cranberry Chutney with Orange and Apple

Spiced Orange Cranberry Chutney:Embellished with apple, dried apricots, ginger, and sweet spices, this may just become your go-to cranberry sauce. 

veganized green bean casserole

Vegan Green Bean Casserole: Green bean casserole is a fall and winter favorite, especially for Thanksgiving. Here’s a recipe that easily updates the comfort food classic, making it one of your go-to vegan Thanksgiving sides.

Kale And Brussels sprouts with almonds recipe

Kale & Brussels Sprouts with Toasted Almonds: Kale and Brussels sprouts are a compatible pair in this very green side dish. A flexible recipe, you can use other greens instead of kale.

Brussels sprouts with chard

Brussels Sprouts with Chard or Other Leafy Greens: Brussels sprouts with chard (or other leafy greens) synergize nicely in a simple side dish. They taste and look fantastic together.

Roasted Collard Greens with Brussels sprouts and polenta

Roasted Collard Greens with Brussels Sprouts & Polenta: Roasted collard greens and Brussels sprouts are embellished with polenta in a simple and hearty side dish. This could be used as a gluten-free alternative to bread-based stuffing.

Glazed Brussels sprouts & baked onions

Maple-Glazed Baked Onions & Brussels Sprouts: Slow-baked maple-glazed onions and Brussels sprouts is a fantastic cool-weather side dish. Perfect for holidays or as a delicious, everyday way to use up surplus onions.

Balsamic and Maple Roasted Vegetables

Balsamic & Maple-Roasted Vegetables: In this medley of maple roasted vegetables, a touch of maple syrup and balsamic vinegar heighten the natural sweetness of roots and Brussels sprouts.

Smashed Potatoes with Mushroom Gravy: Smashed potatoes with vegan mushroom gravy — yum! And so much easier to make than traditional mashed potatoes.

Roasted garlic mashed potatoes with thyme

Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes: Here’s an easy way to elevate a classic side dish. Roasting a whole head of garlic makes it buttery soft and tempers its bite, leaving a soft, smoky flavor. 

Maple Mashed Sweet Potato with Toasted Pecans

Maple Mashed Sweet Potatoes & Pecans: Subtly sweetened and topped with crunchy toasted pecans, maple mashed sweet potatoes is a perfect Thanksgiving side dish, though you need not wait for a special occasion.

Mashed sweet potatoes with leeks & walnuts

Mashed Sweet Potatoes with Leeks & Walnuts: Try this festive side dish of mashed sweet potatoes with leeks and walnuts to dress up the fall and winter holiday table, or any other special occasion.

Tarragon and Maple Roasted Sweet Potatoes

Maple Roasted Sweet Potatoes: Here’s a holiday-sized portion of maple roasted sweet potatoes in a preparation that enhances the natural sweetness of this well-loved vegetable.

Roasted sweet potatoes & apples with maple syrup & sweet spices

Maple Roasted Sweet Potatoes & Apples: Maple roasted sweet potatoes and apples is a side dish that’s as welcome for fall and winter holiday meals as for everyday fare.

Roasted Butternut Squash

8 Roasted Vegetable Dishes that Hardly Need Recipes: Here are some easy roasted vegetable dishes that barely need a recipe to make. Use these ideas as a springboard for your own. That’s the nice thing about roasted vegetables — you need not slavishly follow a recipe.

Red quinoa pilaf with corn and kale

Red Quinoa Pilaf with Kale & Corn: Red quinoa pilaf with kale and corn is packed with tasty and good-for-you ingredients. It’s a perfect grain side dish for Thanksgiving. And of course, you can substitute any other color quinoa.

Quinoa Pilaf with Salsa Verde

Easy Quinoa Pilaf with Salsa Verde: Salsa verde, AKA tomatillo salsa, makes a bold flavor statement in this easy quinoa pilaf. It has a somewhat smoky aspect that adds a distinctive flavor to dishes.

Dairy-free vegan Scalloped corn casserole

Vegan Scalloped Corn Casserole: Just one simple tweak is needed to convert the classic side dish into vegan scalloped corn  — simply swap in plant-based substitutes for the dairy.

Black rice pilaf with corn, cranberries, and herbs

Forbidden Black Rice Pilaf with Corn & Cranberries: This forbidden black rice pilaf is made colorful with corn, cranberries, and herbs. It’s easy enough for everyday meals and festive enough to serve as a winter holiday side dish.

Wild and brown rice pilaf with pecans and apples

Wild and Brown Rice Pilaf with Apples and Pecans: A festive side dish, this makes a generous amount and is perfect for fall and winter holiday or special occasion meals.

SALADS

Fall or Winter Kale and Butternut Squash Salad with Apples and Cranberries

Kale and Butternut Squash Salad with Apple & Cranberries: This gorgeous kale and butternut squash salad has “fall” written all over it. It’s a lively composition of seasonal fruits and vegetables that’s perfect for the holiday table.

Kale Salad with Cashews and Cranberries

Kale Salad with Cashews & Cranberries: Here’s a simple massaged kale salad with cashews and dried cranberries, that’s festive enough for holidays and easy enough for everyday meals.

Apple and Kohlrabi Coleslaw

Apple & Kohlrabi Coleslaw: Colorful and crisp, this slaw is great any time of year, especially welcome in the fall. A wonderful selection that goes well with typical vegan Thanksgiving fare, this recipe is from Chef Bryant Terry’s book, Vegetable Kingdom.

Jicama, fennel, & citrus salad

Jícama & Fennel Salad: A tasty autumnal dish using two often-neglected vegetables, jícama and fennel salad gets a lovely citrus lilt from fresh oranges and a lime dressing.

Quinoa and fennel salad with cranberries & walnuts

Quinoa & Fennel Salad with Walnuts & Cranberries: Quinoa and fennel salad features the anise-flavored vegetable, and is made festive with toasted walnuts and dried cranberries.

Avocado and Radicchio Salad

Avocado & Radicchio Salad with Lime Vinaigrette: Sometimes, it’s the combination of ingredients rather than a lot of ingredients than makes a great salad. Case in point, this simple yet stunning avocado and radicchio salad.

Roasted Butternut Salad with Arugula and Pumpkin Seeds

Roasted Butternut & Arugula Salad: Roasted butternut squash salad tossed with arugula (or other baby greens of your choice) and embellished with pumpkin seeds proves that a few well chosen ingredients can produce a wow factor.

Cabbage and Apple Coleslaw

Crunchy and Colorful Cabbage & Apple Slaw: This colorful and subtly sweet and tangy cabbage and apple slaw has an appealing crunch. And it might just be the kind of salad that older kids and teens will actually enjoy eating!

Roasted Root Vegetable Salad

Roasted Root Vegetable Salad: Since they taste just as good at room temperature as they do hot, roots are presented here in an appetizing roasted root vegetable salad.

Corn and black bean salad with tomatoes and avocado

Black Bean & Corn Salad for a Crowd: Here’s a classic black bean and corn salad recipe featuring avocado and grape tomatoes, dressed in lime vinaigrette. It’s an economical salad for when you’re feeding a crowd, or if you need to take a dish to share.

Southwestern Quinoa Salad with corn, black beans, and avocado

Southwestern Quinoa Salad with Black Beans & Corn: In a similar theme to the salad above, black beans, corn, and avocado come together in a hearty southwestern quinoa salad that’s good as a main dish for everyday meals or as a side salad at the holiday table.

If this selection isn’t enough for you, here’s another great resource to explore for vegan Thanksgiving sides.

Filed Under: Easy Vegan Recipes, Vegan Holiday Roundups

About Nava Atlas

Nava Atlas is the author of many vegetarian and vegan cookbooks, including Vegetariana, Plant-Powered Protein, 5-Ingredient Vegan, Wild About Greens, Vegan Holiday Kitchen, and many more. A longtime dedicated vegan, find out more about her on this site's About page.

Previous Post: « Maple Mashed Sweet Potatoes with Pecans
Next Post: 4 Epic Roundups = 75+ Vegan Thanksgiving Recipes »

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published.

Primary Sidebar

More results...

Generic selectors
Exact matches only
Search in title
Search in content
Post Type Selectors
Filter by Categories
Appetizers & Snacks
Beverages
Breads and savory baked goods
Breakfast & Brunch
Casseroles & Skillets
Desserts & Sweets
Easy Vegan Recipes
Gluten-Free
Good Food Guides
Jewish Vegan Recipes
Main Dishes
Nava's Books
Pasta & Noodles
Pizza
Recipe Roundups
Salads & Sides
Sandwiches & Wraps
Sauces & Dressings
Soups & Stews
Stir-Fries
Tips & Trends
Tofu & Tempeh
Tortilla Dishes
Travel & Dining
Uncategorized
Vegan Holiday Roundups
Veganize This!
  • facebook
  • pinterest
  • instagram
  • twitter
  • rss
  • youtube

Vegan Recipes & Tips Delivered to you weekly!

Recent Posts

Tempeh recipes roundup

37+ Easy, Tasty Vegan Tempeh Recipes

green bean recipes roundup

45 Plant-rich & easy green bean recipes

Whole Pistachios in the shell

A Guide to Pistachios, with tips and recipes

Tender mixed greens salad with cucumber, radishes, and herbs

Mixed Greens Salad with Cucumber, Radishes, and Herbs

Lemony spinach and orzo soup

Lemony Spinach Orzo Soup

Spicy Eggplant and tofu in garlic sauce

Spicy Eggplant and Tofu in Garlic Sauce

Copyright © 2023 The Vegan Atlas · Privacy Policy · WordPress · Log in