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A festive spread of plant-based food across a table

Festive food tips for a delicious & animal-friendly Christmas.

Dreaming of a kind Christmas? Check out some of our favourite festive staples that will keep your bellies full, your family happy, and spare animals too!

Animals Australia

Animals Australia team

Last updated December 11, 2023

The festive season is upon us, which for many people, means one very important thing: food, and lots of it! If you’re one of the millions of compassionate Aussies who are eating fewer animal products – or cutting them out altogether – our kinder eating initiative, VegKit, is here to help with all the inspiration you need for a deliciously plant-based Christmas.

Choosing to eat kindly this Christmas (and indeed year-round) is one of the most powerful things we can do to help spare animals from cruelty. And that’s not the only benefit …

Piling up your plate with vibrant, plant-based versions of all the holiday classics can also do wonders for your health, drastically reduce your environmental footprint – and liven up your festive spread with even more bright colours and flavours.

Browse all the product recommendations and recipe ideas you need for a fun, festive, and animal-friendly feast below, or jump to:

Look for these delicious plant-based Christmas products in stores:

With so many people choosing to keep animals off their plates these days, there are more plant-based products available in major supermarkets and online than ever before. And when Christmas rolls around, a whole new range of delicious seasonal products joins their ranks!

We reckon any one of these drool-worthy plant-based roasts would look right at home among a traditional Christmas spread, especially with a side of roast veg and a generous drizzle of vegan gravy:

An overhead image of a table with bowls of salad and roast veg, with a pastry-encrusted roast on a wooden serving board. It has been cut to reveal the centre, and a hand is grabbing one slice with tongs.
Field Roast Hazelnut & Cranberry Roast En Croute
Image Credit: The Vegan Grocery Store
Veef's vegan roast chicken slices on a plate with mash and salad.
vEEF Plant-based Roast 'Chicken'
Image Credit: vEEF
An overhead image of a vegan turkey roast on a plate, cut to reveal stuffing.
Earth Grown Vegan No-turkey Roast
Image Credit: ALDI
A sliced vegan ham roast on a serving tray alongside roast potatoes, baby carrots and green beans.
Nature's Kitchen Christmas Ham-style Roast
Image Credit: Nourish Magazine
An image of a vegan roast cut to reveal the stuffing centre.
Suzy Spoon's Vegetarian Butcher Festive Roast
Image Credit: Suzy Spoon's Vegetarian Butcher
A full roast on a serving platter with all the trimmings.
Field Roast Celebration Roast
Image Credit: The Vegan Grocery Store

And it’s not just meat-free roasts … There’s a nifty, store-bought option for just about everything you could ever need for an animal-friendly festive season, including dairy-free advent calendars, stocking stuffers, candy canes, cheeses, seafood products, Christmas puddings, fruit mince pies, chocolatey desserts, ice creams, and so much more – all super tasty and made from plants. 🌿

An overhead image with mince pies piled on a saucer next to a cup of tea.
The Foods of Athenry Christmas Mince Pies
Image Credit: The Vegan Grocery Store
A front on image of mini pavlovas topped with berries.
Nature's Kitchen Meringue Nests
Image Credit: Garden of Life
Image of a gingerbread house beautifully decorated with finishing touches being made on the chimney with a piping bag.
Gingerbread Folk Traditional Gingerbread House Kit
Image Credit: Gingerbread Folk
A stack of wrapped panettone against an exposed brick wall.
Vergani Vegan Christmas Panettone
Image Credit: Vergani
Image of a box of brandy truffles with the lid open. The truffles have been decorated like Christmas puddings.
Constant Craving Christmas Brandy Truffles
Image Credit: Teros
A slice of pudding on a plate with a hand pouring custard over the top.
Cruelty Free Pantry Date & Butterscotch Christmas Pudding
Image Credit: The Vegan Grocery Store

Check out VegKit’s plant-based Christmas product guide for all the amazing options available this year, and where to buy them. Your festive shopping list will be done in no time!

Keen to make some animal-friendly festive dishes? Try these easy recipes!

When it comes to recipe inspiration for plant-based Christmas food, we’re similarly spoiled for choice.

Whatever your favourite holiday meal is, chances are there’s an easy-to-make plant-based version of it online – so you can still create and enjoy all the festive flavours you know and love, with the bonus gift of knowing that every single bite is making a difference for animals.

If you’re looking for a hearty centrepiece to impress your friends and family, try making one of these ‘meaty’ plant-based roasts, mushroom wellingtons, or festive logs. Don’t forget the gravy!

An overhead image of a whole vegan turkey on a platter surrounded by roast veg.
Vegan Roast 'Turkey'
Image Credit: Zacchary Bird
Image of a beautifully decorated festive log taken from above and sliced tor reveal the centre.
Mushroom & Lentil-stuffed Festive Log
Image Credit: VegKit
Image of thick slices of vegan roast chicken served in a black skillet with roast potato and carrot.
Vegan Roast 'Chicken' with Balsamic Cranberry Glaze
Image Credit: School Night Vegan
Image of a meatloaf on a tray, sliced to reveal stuffing.
Beyond Meat Meatloaf with Stuffing
Image Credit: My Quiet Kitchen
Image taken from above of a vegan pork tenderloin roast in an oven tray with slices of apple and onion.
Vegan 'Pork' Tenderloin
Image Credit: Planted365
Image of a delicious looking roast cauliflower on a plate with some greens and a side of dipping sauce.
Whole Roasted Cauliflower
Image Credit: Minimalist Baker

Then it’s time to add a few sides to the menu. You can’t go wrong with seasonal veggies, Yorkshire puddings, mushroom and lentil sausage rolls, and roasted Brussels sprouts with cranberries and toasted almonds – but there are countless recipes to choose from.

A rectangular oven tray sits on a table filled with crispy garlic roasted potatoes.
Garlic Roasted Potatoes
Image Credit: VegKit
A serving bowl of creamy potato salad with a side plate sitting next to it. A salad server sits on the side plate with a small portion.
Creamy Potato Salad
Image Credit: VegKit
A round tart sits on a cooling rack, with two slices cut and sitting to the front of it, revealing the centre, which is not unlike a quiche.
Pumpkin, Caramelised Onion & Rosemary Tart
Image Credit: VegKit
A rectangular tart made with flaky filo pastry topped with tomato, basil leaves and dollops of pesto.
Tomato Filo Tart with Pesto
Image Credit: VegKit
An overhead shot of a plate full of salad with charred and halved Brussels sprouts.
Roasted Brussels Sprouts, Cranberry & Almond Salad
Image Credit: VegKit
A chunky red dip sits to the left of a table setting, surrounded by pita bread, olives, chilli flakes, and a jar of olive oil.
Roasted Red Pepper & Walnut Dip
Image Credit: VegKit

Last but not least, dessert! Whether you’re in the mood for sticky date pudding, fruit cake, mince pies, truffles, pavlova, peppermint slice, or something even more decadent like a fig-laden dark chocolate tart, there’s an easy animal-friendly recipe to satisfy every sweet tooth this Christmas. 

Three individual sized pavlova topped with berries and garnish sit on a green plate.
Mini Pavlova Cups
Image Credit: VegKit
An overhead shot of a slab of peppermint fudge slice with four squares cut with a knife lying to the side.
Christmas Peppermint Slice
Image Credit: VegKit
An overhead image of an iced Biscoff cheesecake. A slice is being pulled out on cake server with a hand in shot.
Biscoff Cheesecake
Image Credit: VegKit
An overhead image of a tart topped with brightly coloured fruit.
German Fruit Cake with Custard
Image Credit: Bianca Zapatka
Image of chocolate truffles on a plate. Half are dusted with cocoa, the other half with coconut.
Spiced Chocolate Christmas Truffles
Image Credit: VegKit
A full slab of peppermint bark, with some pieces broken off. The white chocolate side faces up with crushed candy cane topping.
Dark Chocolate Peppermint Bark
Image Credit: The Conscious Plant Kitchen

You can find all of these ideas (plus some Christmas-inspired drinks and cocktails!) in VegKit’s festive recipe round-up. 

New Year, new food?

If all this talk about bringing fresh, flavour-packed dishes to the table for Christmas has you feeling inspired to explore plant-based eating in the new year too, be sure to grab your free Veg Starter Kit!

It’s packed with all the support you need to get the year off to a compassionate, food-filled start – including animal-friendly recipes, plant-based product and dining recommendations, nutrition tips, lifestyle advice, and more. You can also check out hundreds of recipes at VegKit.com.

GET YOUR FREE KIT

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A hand reaches out to gently caress a young lamb's face.
Image credit: Edgar's Mission

Psst… Looking for last-minute gift ideas? We’ve got a whole range of Christmas presents that are perfect for all the animal lovers in your life. 🎁

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