Today we are going to start with the perfect vegan Thanksgiving main dish, homemade vegan turkey roast that is juicy and delicious! This recipe is a simple modification of one of the most requested recipes when I do catering and a favorite from my cookbook Give them Something Better. This recipe is even easier than the original and can be made days or even weeks ahead and frozen until the big day!

It is an ideal vegan main dish for a perfect vegan Thanksgiving or something you can bring to your traditional family Thanksgiving to let them know you aren’t missing out on anything with your new vegan, vegetarian or plant based diet!

In the next few weeks I’ll be posting recipes for a full Perfect Vegan Thanksgiving meal including, vegan Mashed Potatoes and Gravy, vegan Holiday Dressing, Vegan Green Bean Casserole, Vegan Cranberry sauce, and an easy vegan pumpkin pie recipe that will remind you of your grandmothers! So make sure you subscribe so you can have the best Vegan Thanksgiving Meal Ever!

Ingredients you need for a Vegan Turkey Roast

• Vital Wheat Gluten Flour – (also called gluten flour) This is wheat protein. You can buy it in health food stores or online. This high protein flour is what gives this roast its meaty texture and it is essential for this recipe. Unfortunately, there is no gluten-free option.
• Nutritional Yeast Flakes – (also known as nooch) are thin golden flakes, it has a delicious cheesy, nutty flavor. Nutritional yeast is rich in nutrients on its own, but most are fortifiedwith even more vitamins especially important to a vegan or vegetarian like b12. You can find it at health stores and the spice section of large supermarkets. But despite the name it is completely different from the yeast you use to make bread.
• Vegetarian chicken both powder – this is a vegetable based broth powder that can be added to water to make a no-chicken, chicken broth or added to anything to give a chickeny flavor. There are many brands on the market I use McKays Vegan Special Chicken style seasoning. This is usually an online order item but it can be substituted with Better Than Bouillon No Chicken Base which is available at most large grocery stores.
• Quick Cooking Oats – This is your regular morning oatmeal, I add these for texture and a hint of nutrition to the roast.
• Braggs Liquid Aminos – Braggs is a specialty soy sauce that is lower in sodium and has a milder flavor than traditional soy sauce. If you can’t find it low-sodium soy sauce will work fine.
• Poultry Seasoning – is a seasoning blend that can be found at nearly every store in the US it gives the roast a traditional turkey taste. This can be substituted for any seasonings you want to use like sage, thyme, marjoram, etc.
• Various seasonings – the recipe calls for a few other seasonings that are likely already in your kitchen like onion powder, garlic powder, salt, cayenne.

Sneaky Tip to help your family love your Vegan Turkey Roast

There are hundreds of recipes out there for Thanksgiving Turkey, different brines, and rubs. You can adapt this turkey recipe’s flavors to suit your families’ tastes. If your family has a favorite turkey recipe, rub or brine they have been using for years substitute the seasonings they use to make your vegan turkey taste similar. Or if you just saw an interesting turkey recipe somewhere you can easily adjust this recipe to include those seasonings, just be sure to adjust the amounts. Most turkeys are 15-25 pounds, and your roast will only be about 2 pounds so it won’t need as much seasoning.

I am curious if your family makes the same traditional recipes every year or if they like trying new things. If you have a favorite turkey seasoning blend let me know in the comments below.

Planning for your Vegan Thanksgiving

Your Vegan Turkey Roast is easy to make but takes a bit of time.  The good news is this roast is that “the longer it sits the better it gets.” You can make the roast early in the week or even a month or two early and freeze it until the day before you need it.

• If you want more recipes for the perfect Vegan Thanksgiving subscribe to my YouTube channel. You are not going to want to miss the pumpkin pie!

Vegan Turkey Roast

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Ingredients

• GLUTEN DOUGH:
• 2 ¼ cups vital wheat gluten
• ½ cup quick-cooking oats
• 1/3 cup nutritional yeast flakes
• ¼ cup whole wheat or all purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons No-Chicken broth Seasoning
• 1 tablespoon onion powder
• 1 Tablespoon Poultry Seasoning
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 2-2 ½ cups water
• BROTH:
• 13 cups water
• ¾ cups Braggs Liquid Aminos or low sodium soy sauce
• 1 chopped onion or 1 tablespoon onion powder
• ¼ cup No-Chicken broth Seasoning
• 2 tablespoons poultry seasoning
• ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder

Instructions

1. Mix all dough ingredients, except water, together in a large mixing bowl. If you have a stand mixer that would be best.
2. Add water and stir quickly; gently knead for 5 minutes once the dough comes together. If it looks dry you can add more water or if it is too wet add more flour. The dough should be still a little wet and sticky but shapeable and stretch able.
3. Shape dough into a ball, log or loaf, whatever shape you want your turkey to be, I like to stretch it out and tie it into knots.
4. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate anywhere from 1 hour to overnight.
5. Combine all broth ingredients in a large pot; bring to a boil over high heat.
6. While waiting for the broth to come to a boil add some oil to a large skillet and brown your dough ball on all sides. This is an optional step and does not add a lot of flavor but defiantly makes it look more delicious.
7. Add dough ball to the boiling broth. When it returns to a boil, reduce heat to a low simmer; cover and cook for 1 hour. Allow to cool in broth.
8. At this point you can freeze it or store it in the broth for up to a week. It is ready to eat, you can slice off a piece and make a sandwich if you want.
9. But for the big day you can place in a 300 oven in a pan with a tight fitting lid or aluminum foil with some broth and cook for 40-45 minute or until heated through.
10. To speed up the process you can slice your vegan turkey roast ahead of time.